TheMaxRebo

Part 7 - Fun and Games and Surf and Turf After lunch we went to see the 2nd Ice Show which was the family show and themed to fairy tales. There were no reservations and was first come, first served and we were worried it would be super crowded but it really wasn't We saw it with friends and we had all the kids sit in the front row and they got high fives from the performers which was fun We then went and did the science trivia, since we are fun at parties ;), and did pretty well but another group got more of the bonus questions. A bonus for me was.getting a toasted marshmallow old fashioned which was delightful There Ethan was a singing contest thing and my youngest made it to the finals and won a pretty cool Royal Caribbean hat ... Only issue was keeping telling her to calm down as she was very hyped to be on stage This was "Dress you Best" nigh a.k.a. lobster night and Peter opted to hang with his friends but the rest of us had a delightful meal. I know some people feel the food quality in the main dining has gone down a bit but we found it to be quite good this trip and this meal was no exception After, we went down to Surfside as rumor has it some ducks were hidden recently. We also picked up some drinks at the Lemon Post - this was sort of an underrated place with some more unique drink options. Don't sleep on it Then we went to Dueling Pianos and hung, standing, near the bar as all seating was taken, but ran into some fireman so was all good. Another great time - but I do hope they increase the size to f the venue on Star of the Seas Coming up next: Perfect Day on Coco Cay ... Or is it?!?!?!?

Fortunately neither my son nor I were concerned with the hotness of the captain

Part 7: a Low Key Sea Day Morning The next morning everyone was being rather lazy, which was fine as it was a sea day, no big plans. I was up and out a little early to get breakfast (Park Cafe) and attend the tour of the Central Park gardens with the head of the agriculture for the ship and the fleet really as he has put together all of the Central Parks. The tour was really interesting and you can feel his passion but also some of the frustrations he has trying to make all this work but then other areas (structural, etc) get in the way and having to balance everything. Also mentioned how people hiding or sleek ng for ducks can mess up the watering systems lol After this I went down to get in line for the ship model signing with the captain. This was one thing my son really wanted to do and something to do together ... And a lot of people had similar ideas as the line was quite long even when I got there like 30mins early. It moves pretty fast though as he was quick with the signing and short conversation and photo, pretty efficient. (BTW, we had Captain Theo as the regular Icon captain was on vacation ) Then we had lunch at one of our favorites - Hooked! Another place we got at the 40% off discount so $11.99 for people to get all the oysters and lobster rolls they want is a pretty good deal. As you can see, Emma was quite happy to get her Oysters! We each are a dozen (plus Judi and I did some of the shooters) along with a bunch of other food and it was all very good. We always seem to get really good service at Hooked too. Our server did comment it was I testing set up there as they are surviving while all the aquatheater shows were going on or practice happening, etc. Coming up ... A low key afternoon! Plus Formal night and some more Dueling Pianos Action

the music was pretty much non-stop the entire time When we came in it was just the piano and bass player. and then there were times it was just the singer and the bass player and also a time when it was just the piano player so they did change out a little bit so they each got a little rest but there was always some music going on other than when the singer was make intro announcements or thanking the staff, etc.

Part 6: Paradise Beach and a Fancy Schmancy Dinner ... oh, and It's My Birthday! Day 5 found us in Cozumel - another new port for us, but first, needed coffee and breakfast. I am already missing these steak and egg they had at the Pearl Cafe - and love the windows in this area We were keeping it pretty simple and just going to Paradise Beach for the day to enjoy the water and food and drinks and chill out a bit - though I think Matt needs to have them trim this tree as it is blocking the Royal Caribbean dot Com promotion a bit My wife and son explored the area a bit and then my kids talked me into doing the inflatables in the water - that was actually a lot of fun but quite the workout for someone who is not in shape We didn't stay too long as my kids were getting bored and asking to go back - they just really aren't beach people but thought they would enjoy the pool and relaxing more than they did. Oh well - I could have sat at the edge of the pool with a beverage for a lot longer When we got back it was only about 2 or so and ship was still a bit empty so my son and I figured since we already had our bathing suits we would do the Category Six some more. We did one slide but then he ran into some of his friends and asked if he could do a raft slide with them, which I agreed to ... only issue is after they finished that they ran off to explore some more without him telling me what was going on, how long he would be gone, etc. After about 30 mins I got tired of waiting and asked the parents of some of the other kids to tell my son to come back to the room when they saw him as he didn't have his phone or anyway for me to reach him. He eventually got back to the room and was upset I left and I was upset he ran off as it was supposed to be some time for us and he didn't tell me what he was doing, etc. This trip was the first cruise he was able to go off on his own and definitely this was a growing pain moment - but also a learning moment for both of us. So in the long run it was good it happened but was frustrating in the moment. He was much better the rest of the cruise with checking in and keeping to timelines we gave him, etc - so guess he learned something. To try to improve the relationship in the moment though I encouraged him to come with me to watch the Anchors Aweigh Parade. I love how off the wall this parade is - especially the Admiral Admiral. I enjoyed the added Top Gun segment too - and it was good to spend time with my son and just have some positivity. Then it was time for our Empire Supper Club Dinner. My wife spent several hours working on her hair and getting ready and I think we both cleaned up pretty well. Note: Prior to the cruise this was scheduled to be "White Night" so we planned our outfits to be fancy but fit the White theme, but during the cruise they changed around a bunch of the nights, getting rid of White Night (this became a casual night, and then another night became Red, White, and Blue night and they added Colorful 70s night as well). I wrote up another thread with more of a full review of the experience, but all I will say is that the Empire Supper Club is amazing and totally worth it. The quality of the food, the creativity of the cocktails and the pairing, the level of service, and the entertainment was amazing and just the right complement. Obviously not something we would do every night but for a special occasion I can't recommend it enough (note: definitely order the seabass, best of the entrees) Link to full review: After dinner we stopped by Lou's to try another drink that was on our Bar Crawl (the Jazzy Saz) and just to try to make the night last longer. Pretty eventful birthday but definitely a reminder of how lucky I am Up Next, another sea day, 36 oysters, surf and turf, and more dueling pianos!

dang, usually we only ruin current cruises ... bully to us for ruining past and future ones as well lol

So there definitely isn't a dance floor area so don't expect to be able to do the dancing that I think you are looking for They will do bits that involve dancing - for example I got asked to lead a conga line and at one point they had a couple that was celebrating a baby moon come up to dance in front of everyone, stuff like that ... but it is mostly about the performers and singing along

There are some areas that are marked as for handicap (they have plackards with the handicap symbol on them) - I'd say that was like 25% of the area or so.

We just finished up an amazing week on Icon of the Seas, sailing from February 17th to the 24th of 2024. We were a family of 5, staying in an Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony room, and there were definitely some things we learned along the way and since lists are always fun thought I would share some of them in a Top 10 format Obviously this is all just based on our experience and everyone cruises differently, but thought this could create some discussion and would be interested to hear tips from others who have cruise on Icon as well. Also should mention the ship was not at full capacity yet - there were about 6,000 total guests, with 1,200 of them being children. Also, we were seeing them making some tweaks to schedules and what is included in various packages, pricing for things .... basically, your experience may differ from what ours With that out of the way, here we go .... 10. You Will Need to Prioritize What You Want to Do This goes without saying but this is a massive ship with a ton to do and a ton of new stuff not seen on other Royal Caribbean ships. Because of that at the end of the week my wife and I were commenting about the things we didn't get to. For example we never ate at El Loco Fresh and never visited the Sports Court - whereas on our last cruise those were two locations we spent a lot of time at. A week goes really fast and if there is something you are really looking forward to checking out, make it a priority / add it to you "calendar" in the app. 9. Consider Skipping a Port To Stay On the Ship On a related note, you may want to take advantage of a less crowded ship when in port to accomplish more of your priority list. We found on sea days the pool decks to be very crowded and longish lines for water slides and crowded venues. We decided to not get off the ship when it docked at Perfect Day at Coco Cay and it turned out to be a great call as we got to check out multiple pools and hot tubs, ride the water slides a bunch, attended a trivia session with only 3 total groups, not lines at bars, minimal folks in the Hideaway Area pool, ... you get the idea. Just to give you an idea, here is a photo of the Royal Bay Pool, the main pool in Chill Island, at about 11am: It was just really nice to explore this ship with low crowds and made for a really relaxing day. 8. You Don't Need to Pack as Many Mutli-Port Adapters One thing the rooms on Icon have is outlets, especially USB ports. Between the desk, the shelf near the TV, in the bathroom, by the beds - there are outlets all over the room. Our room also had multiple USB-A outlets near the bunkbed area. If I counted correctly, we had 4 US Outlets, 1 European Outlet 10 USB-A Outlets, and 2 USB-C outlets. We did utilize one multi USB-A plug on the desk just to keep things more organized with phones and battery packs, etc. but we absolutely could have made it through without anything. This is very different than other ships where we felt like we had multiple multi-port adapters in use at all times. There are also outlets out around the ship with the Overlook area having an exceptional amount and a great place to go if you need to get on a laptop or similar. 7. You Will Want to Pack Magnetic Hooks to Hang Things From in the Room One negative things we found about the rooms (and heard from others as well) is the lack of storage compared to other ships like the Oasis class. For our family of 5 we struggled to fit everything on the hanging racks and just ran out of shelf space. We fit everything, but was tight. Additionally, there is no close line in the bathroom for hanging up bathing suits or other wet items - only a couple of knobs to hang a few things from. We are glad we brough a number of magnetic Hooks to use on the walls (which are metal) as it allowed us to hang things like hats up but also put nearly-but-not-quite dry bathing suits to air out and finish drying - and just not get other stuff damp. Bonus tip: Bring at least 1 more swimsuit than you think you might need, but also try to not overpack other items as storage is at a premium. 6. Bring Ear Plugs if You are a Light Sleeper While we overall really liked the room we had and the rooms in general on Icon, thought I would mention another slide negative thing we found which is that the walls appear to be quite thin as we could definitely hear our neighbors on both sides - with one group being rather loud with quite a bit of screaming (from both kids and adults). If you are someone who needs things really quiet to sleep or just wants quiet when relaxing in the room, consider bringing ear plugs or headphones or something that can block sound out 5. If You Are Debating It, Get the Drink Package I know the drink package, especially for this ship, is expensive - but if you are someone who is contemplating getting it, go for it. There are sooooo many unique bars and drinks on this ship that we got so much use out of our package and really enjoyed trying different things that we might not be as open to ordering (for fear of not liking it) if we were paying per drink. Also, consider doing a bar crawl as motivates you to check out the different bars and different drinks - and you can spread it out over the course of the cruise, you don't need to do it all in one day 4. Similarly, If Contemplating The Empire Supper Club - Book It! Speaking of things that are not cheap, we got to experience the Empire Supper Club and it did not disappoint - one of the best meal experiences i have had in my life. The food was wonderful and creative, really interesting cocktails - with some pairings I would never have thought of but worked - and excellent music that absolutely complemented the meal without taking away from being able to have conversations. And probably the best service I have ever had on any cruise ship. It's probably not something you are going to do every cruise but for a special occasion or if just something you think will appeal to you, go for it! A meal like this on land, when factoring the cocktails and entertainment, would likely cost 2-3x what they are charging. 3. Pearl Cafe is a Game Changer One of the best changes they made for this ship was the opening up of the promenade and the addition of the pearl Cafe. I cannot overstate how much of an upgrade this is over Cafe Promenade. The setting is lovely with the large windows, view of the Pearl, and the artwork above your head. The food is really, really good - the steak and egg breakfast sandwich become an everyday item for me - and it is open 24 hours a day. I will say the line for the coffee where you can get lattes and the like made with Starbucks coffee can get rather long - the crew there is working hard, just lots of people want their coffee! 2. Seating for the Shows - Including Non Reserved Seating for the Aqua Show. Royal Caribbean entertainment is generally amazing and what is found on this ship is no exception - probably don't need me to advise you to go see the Wizard of Oz, the Ice Shows, or the Aquashows ... but for each, here are a few tips for where to sit. Wizard of Oz - do you best to sit in the lower section, as close to the middle as you can, but if only thing available is on the side that is fine too. Just being closer to the stage is great and a number of effects will, literally, go over your heads and really adds to the experience Ice Shows in Absolute Zero - Outside of a few seats that may have a pole impacting your view, there really aren't "bad" seats, but I would advice to get as close as you can and even going for the front row. Especially for the secondary show which is aimed at families as we had the kids in our group sit in the front row and at times the performers would come by and give them high fives and they loved that. AquaAction - this is probably my best tip overall all. The reservations for the shows in the aqua theater (there was only one ready on our sailing) are just for the wooden benches and chairs within that area, NOT for the chairs behind the benches. We wanted to see the show twice and just showed up early and found we could just sit in the chairs at the back and they are way more comfortable than the wooden benches (plus have tables for your beverage or a crepe from the Aquadome Market). While slightly further away, the view is just as good and I would take these over the area the reservations are for Before my #1 tip a quick bonus: Ranking the Water Slide We did get a chance to ride all of the water slides in Thrill Island and I would rank them in this order 1a/b - Storm Chasers Mat Slides: These were definitely my favorite as they were fast, fun, long, and had great lighting effects in the tubes. The lighter blue colored slide was my favorite, but both were excellent 2 - Hurricane Hunter: This is the pink colored family raft slide and was an absolute blast - also very long and with a lot of different lighting effect. Just not as fast/adrenaline filled as the mat slides, but really, really fun 3 - Storm Surge: This is the green colored family raft slide with the "leaf" that goes out over the edge of the ship. This was also quite fun but just noticeably shorter than Hurricane Hunter. Also, they were only allowing 3 people in this one vs 4 for Hurricane Hunter. 4 - Pressure Drop: The yellow drop slide that is located with the raft slides. This is a straight forward drop slide and rather short, but gives a kick of adrenaline and is overall a positive experience. 5 - Frightening Bolt - I feel a bit bad listing this one last as it does what it says it will do, which is dop you, and then is a nice long ride after the drop, but the drop was pretty severe/hard and I wound up banging my head some. Just was one of those "well I did that and don't need to again". By far the most "extreme" of the slides 1. Dueling Pianos is an Absolute Must Do - But Get There Early! One of the most fun experiences I have had anywhere let alone on a cruise ship was at Dueling Pianos on Icon of the Seas. The level of talent and engagement with the crowd is off the charts and just singing along with hundreds of strangers/new friends and laughing with the antics of the performance, you just can't not smile. The "bit" they do for Piano Man was one of the funniest things we have experienced in quite a while. That said, it is really popular - you will want to get there at least 30 minutes prior to showtime if you want a seat and you will, unfortunately, see people "Saving" seats with drinks for an hour or prior like they are deck chairs. You can see the large crowd reflected in the mirror of this photo Also, the earlier shows seem to attract more kids and they try to go with the crowd (I mean, they did take a request for Baby Shark) so I would suggest going to a later show for the full experience where it gets a bit more "PG-13" And there you have it - my top 10 list of tips and thoughts from our week long cruise on Icon of the Seas. I could probably add 10 more but this post is already more than long enough. If you have sailed on Icon of the Seas, what tips to you have for new cruisers? If you have a sailing upcoming what other advice would you want to know?

so prior to this question, I hadn't even considered this, but thinking about it, I really don't think it would work logistically to dance during the event. There really isn't room and the food and cocktails are coming out at a pretty regular clip, and many, many servers moving around, etc. They didn't ever explicitly say you cannot dance but also didn't invite it and didn't see anyone try. The vibe they are going for is "speakeasy" and they "lock" the doors and you have to be escorted by someone to a back "secret" door to get to a bathroom, so I think it really is more about the food and cocktails and the music to enhance that vs a dancing situation. Probably not response you were hoping for. There is a separate Jazz club in Central Park and still Baleros which has room for dancing, just don't think this is the venue for it, at least based on our experience

Just got off Icon of the Seas and my wife and I dined at the Empire Supper Club for my birthday on February 21st. It was hands down one of the best meals of my life and can't recommend it enough. The creativity with the dishes and the cocktails, the amount you got, made the food alone worthwhile but the music just made the event - they really nailed being totally present but still allowing for conversation to take place. The service was just top notch - but without being fru-fru or anything as well. My only minor not pick is the wagu wasn't exceptional and they served it on a plate so hot the side touching it got a bit more cooked. So if on the fence for which entree to get, get the Sea Bass for sure. The Raviolo was probably my favorite of the courses Happy to answer any other questions but if you are contemplating it and think it is something you would like, do it. I know not cheap but a comparable meal, inclusive of the cocktails would cost 2-3x as much

Depends how into Seafood you are. We love it and my kids always get a ton of oysters there so we get our money's worth for sure. They do have a surf and turf option there as well.. We did Giovanni's Table as well on Icon and thought it was good but nothing amazing (the desserts were really good though) and it being open to the promonade made it really noisy. Can't comment on Chops as we didn't do it but for us we would pick Hooked over Giovanni's

Just got off Icon and had the 5pm dining slot (when we booked it was 5:30 but it was moved to 5). Our servers asked us to let them know if f we had any show times that might conflict and they could speed things up On a verage meals took b/w an hour and 90mins, most closer to an hour

We just got off Icon, boarded in Miami on Sat, Feb 17th. We had an 11:30am boarding and we allowed some extra time for traffic so got picked up at 10:25am at a hotel near the airport. We were in the ship at 10:52. Process was Soooo smooth and next to no traffic

No, this was this past Tuesday, Feb 20th

Part 5: Costa Maya and Fun and Games This was now day 4 and our first port of call which was Costa Maya which we had never been to. We were doing the Chacchoben Extreme Tour through Native Choose. Within the Facebook group for this cruise a few others decided on this tour so we made plans to walk over together ... Though we were a bit unorganized this morning and they left before we were ready .... In the end it works out well as we all got along great and each of the other families had kids close to Peter and Emma's ages and we hung out a lot later in the cruise too I have to say, this port area was like a maze to get through and tons of shops and pool areas with people lounging out and just was a bit stressful and felt like it went on forever - maybe we just haven't been to that many ports but this one seemed a bit excessive The Chacchoben Extreme tour is a combination of tow tours, first stopping at the Chacchoben Mayan Ruins and then to the 7 Color Lagoon. Seeing the ruins was one thing I really wanted to do this trip and I really enjoyed it - I thought they were really cool and we had a really good tour guide who provided a lot of interesting information - like how they would only sacrifice members of Royalty which is why they would fight other groups to capture their royalty to be sacrificed rather than their own. At the 7 Color Lagoon we were at a resort that first provided a taco lunch (with beer and margaritas included) and then time in the lagoon including kayaking It was really beautiful and something a little different. The tour overall was about 5.5 hours and we got back to the ship in plenty of time. Definitely recommend. The Icon was docked next to the Radiance of the Seas and can definitely tell the slight size difference Once we got back since we were already in our swim suits Judi and I decided to check out the Swim and Tonic. This is a really cool addition but kinda feel they shouldn't allow kids at the actual bar or at least better enforce them wrestling there and splashing people. But we still enjoyed our drinks (we both got the lemonchello and tonic) We then had dinner in the Main Dining Room again and overall enjoyed it - felt like the food overall was of better quality than our cruise last year on Symphony, and everything was hot and fresh, etc. only slight negatives was bar service as sometimes was slow and a few times got us the wrong wine. After dinner we had reservations for the AquaAction Aqua Show - though quick tip, you only need reservations for the wooden beach area, the comfy chairs at the top aren't subject to them - we sat in them (ones at the high top tables) later in the week with no reservations and they are more comfortable Anyway, the show is phenomenal, tons of great music and high energy. I think the slack liners are my favorite part. They definitely are still working on it/it isn't complete (they showed us a segment they are working on later in the week and during the day you could see them working on the skateboard ramp). Can't wait to see the whole thing some day Judi and I went to the Perfect Couple competition with the other couples from the tour that day and it was historical. Definitely helped that another couple we knew from the other Facebook group activities participated and wound up taking 2nd place. Definitely a hard PG-13 rating for it so probably a little uncomfortable for the kids their with their parents, but a good time. When we got back our invitation for the Super Club was waiting for us .... But that will be for another update. Coming up: well, the Super Club, but also another excursion and other fun

Emma is my youngest, Olivia is the one who had the birthday and was just sort of down all day, sorry for any confusion She started doing better the next day, just was having a rough time

Part 5 - 2nd Sea Day and First Hibachi for Us Quick note, I have heard there are around 6,000 total passengers on this sailing with about 1,200 of them being kids Day 3 was my oldests' birthday as she turned 15! It also started much sunnier than the prior day. We continued trend of sleeping in and first thing I had to get ready for was the 2nd part of the Bar Crawl Lanyard giveaway which was at 11am at the Hideaway. Gave out about another 10 or so - definitely enjoyed the drinks here and the bartenders are working hard but definitely gets crowded (I found a seat at the bar but all the comfy seats out away from the bar were all taken) Judi and the younger two spent some time at the pool but found them really crowded and hard to find a spot - I think with the rain the day before, everyone was out trying to enjoy the weather. We had lunch reservations at Izumi Hibachi for lunch and to celebrate Olivia's birthday. We do How bachi quite often at home but hadn't done it on a cruise ship before and have to say we really enjoyed it! Obviously some of the effects they do are different as can't do anything with fire, but they mixed in lots of different things and everyone enjoyed their meal. Doing the prepaid lunch option (which I got 20% off) made it pretty affordable too. At the end they sang Happy Birthday to Olivia the afternoon was a bit of a downer as Olivia was feeling quite down as she hadn't made any friends on the ship and was missing being home and her cat. So she spent much of the day in her bed with the covers over her head on her phone. We tried to encourage her to come do stuff with us or to try the teen club again but she just didn't want to do anything Judi and I did have a group slot pull that afternoon which was also a downer as we didn't win anything - but was a fun way to meet people and spend some time. We had literally never been in a casino before so was a good first step. I don't think anyone was feeling doing dinner in the Main Dining Room that night so we kept it low key. First I took Emma to the black light puppet show at Adventure Ocean and that was really fun. They use a lot of water and bubbles and fake snow effects and the kids all had a blast with that. We just did Aquadome Market for dinner (actually was pretty chill that time of day). The Feta Mediterranean stall is excellent.also tried the Asian stall which was ok, and he kids loved the crepes, they each had two for dinner - gotta love vacation. When we got back to the room they had done up a towel cake for Olivia for her birthday and a few treats provided by our travel agent were left as well, so that was nice. We kept it pretty low key at night, I think we were all a little tired. Emma did was to go to this family Know It, Sing It game show so Judi and I took her for a bit while Peter was off with some friends. It was ok but Soooo crowded and was giving me a headache so I left after a bit but Judi and Emma stayed a little longer and Emma did get up in stage with a friend to sing at one point. Coming up next, our first port day with a great excursion, but also a bit tiring

Lots of people at the Taylor Swift Trivia too ... And heard hundreds of tweens singing the songs was definitely something! Definitely fining some of the individual venues are undersized for the ship - Dueling Pianos and Swim and Tonic come to mind but other areas as well

Part 4 - a cloudy, rainy, no good day .... That was still lots of fun The next day was a sea day and we all slept in a bit ... I gotta say the window screen really make the rooms day as it was after 8 by then but was still pitch back in the room. I went to Pearl Cafe for coffee and food and the steak and eg sandwiches are pretty great At 11:30 we had a meetup for a shot glass exchange which was fun to meet a bunch of people and we picked a mystery shot glass which was a custom made on for the cruise which was cool We then had much at Giovanni's Kitchen - overall we enjoyed it - with he meat platter, pasta carbonara, pizza, and tiramisu being our favorites. I will say the open concept for this in the promonade did make it really noisy and felt more like a restaurant in a mall or something. As mentioned I had created the lanyards for a bar crawl and set up a couple of meeting points for people to get them and then hamg bout any maybe hit a bar or 3 ... First one was after lunch and we met at the 1400 Bar. We really liked this bar overall and the 1400 is a great drink - was awesome to get as the group (gave out about 40 lanyards at this meet up) with everyone getting the drink with the smoke bubble. After hitting up a few bars with folks it was getting close to dinner time. I definitely prefer a set dining time vs the My Time Dining but 5pm is pretty early. I guess my sone enjoyed the escargot he tried the day before as he got his own for dinner that night. There was a slightly different menu for Icon for Day 2 that featured Main Lobster - our server didn't know how long it would last, might only be 1-2 months total We then had reservations for the Ice Skating show and we really enjoyed it..the one on Symphony of the Seas was just weird and we kept finding holes in the plot. This was sort of odd too but it just worked better as a collection of segments vs a storyline type show. Victor, the juggler, was really good - definitely recommend this show Later that evening we did Taylor Swift Trivia in the Music Hall - which my 9 year old took very seriously We had reservations for the Comedy show that night but while we made it to the Attic prior to start of the show, they said they were full and you had to get there 15mins prior to start of show with reservations. It was annoying in the moment but it worked out well as we stopped by Dueling Pianos and saw some folks we met earlier had a spot up front and we joined them and had an absolute blast. I think I got on Sarah's good side by requesting a Janice Joplin song so got picked for a number of things including leading the conga line - which is not something normal to my personality, but we were about 7 bars into the bar crawl by that point These shows get packed so definitely get there at least 45 mins early if you want a seat Was really late for us so we headed back to bed at that point. Coming up next, a much sunnier sea day but people were making up for lost sun and the pool deck was packed!

Part 3 - Aquadome, The Wizard, And Rover, oh my! After dinner we stopped back at the room and it was made up for night time - since we only had one person for the couch bed, they just made it up that size, it didn't pull out to a full size bed. Definitely helps to leave some more walking room. Also got some nice sunset views out the "balcony" We then went to the Aquadome/overlook area to check it out and we're able to get one of the pods. Very cool area and just feels like a totally different place than rest of the ship. We also got to meet Rover - who is definitely a good girl We then went to see the Wizard of Oz and it was a fantastic show. Well, my wife and oldest went, the younger two didn't want to so my youngest went to Adventure Ocean and son just went off exploring. Huge cast that was very talented and the little be orchestra makes a big difference. The effects/staging was amazing, can't recommend enough, it's a must do (we definitely may try to see it again) Only issue is the show starts at 8:30 and is 1 hour 40 mins lon so we were anxious about picking up yh you get for AO since now a bit after 10, but the line to pick up kids was super long so wasn't an issue Thus ends a great first day - definitely feel like we got a lot done and yet parts of the ship we didn't even step foot in yet Coming up next, a cloudy / raining but very fun day - including the (official) start of the bar crawl!

I asked our server last night if the lobster on might 2 in the main dining room was permanent for Icon or just limited time - he said he wasn't sure but the thought only first 1 to 2 months

Part 2 - Drinks, Food, and Getting our Bearings While set up on Thrill Island I did order my first drink of the trip from a passing bartender: got the Category 6 from th Basecamp Bar. This was really good, but definitely has that floater of Kraken at the top - strong first sip! Kids wanted to go swimming so we went to the main pool in Chill Island which was quite nice and bounced between the pool and hot tubs. Picked up margaritas from Cantina Fresco which were quite tasty! We then went to Windjammer for lunch - or, considering they still have the steak and l better and other seafood, it is definitely the Wind Jahmehr! Good way to start off the cruise foodwise Rooms were ready at 1pm so we went there and also able to locate all our suitcases, which was great. Kinda were enjoying the infinite veranda part - my son definitely liked playing with the window (probably more than his siblings enjoyed him playing with it.) We are a full day now in the room and the space is really nice - the you get two having there separate area is really nice and kinda keeps them and their stuff contained. The infinite veranda area is nice for relaxing in - the chairs are comfy. One negative so far is there isn't enough storage - struggled a bit to put away all the stuff for 5 people. Could use more drawer space especially. Having the split bathroom is really nice but it does result in each part feeling a bit tight. We will see how we feel at the end of the cruise but so far more positives than negatives but not perfect. Oh, and as a size comparison, this is my 5'5" wife on one of the bunk bed beds - she fits no issue and they are great for my 12 and 9 y ah old but would be tight for like a teen who is like 5'10" or more We then heard they were selling Wow bands so we went to get two for the younger two and then went to check out Adventure Ocean and the Teen Club. They said my 12 year old could use either - but had to pick one, he couldn't be registered at both. He decided on Adventure Ocean as he met some kids his age there and there is a ton to do there and so much space - definitely a big step up from the club on our last cruise which was on Symphony of the Seas. I then got another drink and hung out with my sone in the Peal Cafe area - this is quickly becoming one of his favorites spots and he enjoyed watching the other ships leave port before ours left. Unfortunately we missed sail away as we had 5pm dinner and it didn't happen until then - we could actually see us start to move out the windows int h Main Dining Room which was cool. Dinner was good the first night - I got escargot and the prime rib. My son tried the escargot and went back for a 2nd so guess he liked them Coming up, evening entertainment, enjoying the Overlook, and a cloudy start to day 2

Part 1 - Travel Day a.k.a. planes, trains, automobiles, and one giant ship We started our travels the morning of Friday, February 16th. Because basically all of the Northeast has schools off flights were crazy expensive into Miami or Ft Lauderdale - I was afraid we would have to drive from NY but we found a good rate on a flight from Westchester Airport (local to us) to West Palm Beach. Photo of my son wearing merch for his favorite airport Flight was a bit bumpy to start but we arrived on time and picked up a rental car to start the journey south to Miami. About 2/3rds of the way we stopped to see my wife's cousin which was nice to spend time with them and my.kids played with her daughter for a bit. We then made it the rest of the way and spent the night at the Comfort Suites Miami Airport North. It was ... Fine. Got the job done and room for the 5 of us and included breakfast, but nothing special. We then returned the rental car in the evening, taking the fake-o-rail back to the terminal (the "trains" part of this journey) and then shuttle back to hotel They offered a free shuttle to the port but the times were either 9am or 12:30pm, which really didn't work for our 11:30am boa ding time, so we reserved an Uber. That worked out really well - and the driver referred to the Icon as a "monster". We got to the port about 10:50 and got on within 5 minutes - fortunately we were selected for Express after we completed the safety videos in the app, but even without it it would have only been a few minutes more, all was very efficient It felt a bit surreal to be on the ship 478 days after having booked it. But first impressions were that it was beautiful and the openness of the promise with the Pearl and the windows is really nice. We went to our muster station and then put to Thrill Island to do some water slides. The area is amazing and the slides are legit (we did 3 of them, the mat slides were my favorite Coming up next, food, drinks, more drinks, room tour, and meeting Rover!

Hello all, thought I would do a trip report/live blog for our cruise on Icon of the Seas - which is in only 3 days (eek!) This is the February 17-24, 2024 sailing and is doing the Western Caribbean itinerary: Day 1 - Leave Miami Day 2 - Sea Day Day 3 - Sea Day Day 4 - Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico Day 5 - Cozumel, Mexico Day 6 - Sea Day Day 7 - Perfect Day at CocoCay Day 8 - Return to Miami (sad face) Who we are - we are a family of 5 from New York that are looking forward to escaping the cold and snow we currently have on the ground. It is me (Phil), my wife (Judi), daughter Olivia (14), son Peter (12), and daughter Emma (9). Here is a photo of us from our cruise the same time last year (on Symphony of the Seas) having completed a Pirate Scavenger Hunt we did on St. Thomas (which was tons of fun) (we look basically the same, just a year older) As the title implies, we are staying in one of the new classes of rooms, a Family Infinite Oceanview Balcony. I was excited to try out this room mostly due to the space for fitting all 5 of us - we shall see if we like the Infinite Balcony (a.k.a. window) or not. We have a few fun things planned - including celebrating both my birthday and Olivia's - she is turning 15 and I am, well, more than 15. For her birthday we have booked Izumi Hibachi for lunch (first time doing that) and for my birthday Judi and I are doing the Empire Supper Club (very excited for that). We also have booked lunches at Giovanni's Italian Kitchen and Hooked - last cruise my kids had a combined 42 oyesters at Hooked so figure we will get our money's worth there, especially as we got these 40% off during Black Friday sale. I have also been planning a bar crawl with members of a Facebook Group for this cruise and ~60 people have expressed interest, so we will see how that goes. I made up lanyards with required drinks based on suggestions from JJ Cruising. Our travel day down to Florida is in 2 days - due to this being a school holiday week in New York the flight prices to Miami and Fort Lauderdale were just crazy so we are actually flying from Westchester (our local airport) to West Palm Beach and then getting a rental car to drive down to Miami to stay over for one night. I have watched tons of videos on the ship and have my spreadsheet ready! ... just hope we are.