TheMaxRebo

Well, glad I just paid the balance (including gratuities) for our Feb cruise so covered. Still wish they would just include this in the cruise fair vs a separate charge

Just a heads up that for World Pasta day they are running a discount on Giovanni's table today, if you were interested in booking that - 20% off Dinner and 35% off lunch. For lunch it brings it down to $15.99 adults and $8.99 for kids (we booked it for lunch for day 6)

Quick googling shows Anthem of the Seas will sail from Southampton in 2024 and that would be a great ship. Agree with others that the newer, larger ships would have more to do We have kids similar ages and did our first RCL cruise this past Feb on Symphony of the Seas and had a great time. We are booked on Icon for this coming February

A little funny (if that is the right word) as we migrated to Royal as were p iced out by Disney, and now Royal seems to be following and pricing is increasing so much, that upcoming Icon cruises are priced as high or even more than Disney So guess it is my fault lol Still obviously options that are cheaper and still ways to make things work, but prices are going up everywhere - just some places more than others and maybe have to work a little harder to find options that fit your budget or maybe just cut back how often you go (definitely my dream of taking a bunch of "cheaper" cruises maybe won't be realized)

Yeah, that is what we did - had a great time, enjoyed all the planes coming in and the restaurant there has decent food. We also took a walk into town to go to the Yoda (Star Wars) museum which was very cool. No need for special excursion on St Marteen

I totally get it - and if you are planning to do a whole pool day then, factoring the champagne and water, etc, it works out to not much per hour I am someone who can't do more than an hour or so at the pool so doesn't make sense for me (unless they did like an hourly rate lol) but in your scenario I can totally see it being worth it

To the original question, I think it can vary a bit by ship and just some nights on some sailings the cooking is better than others - so your millag may vary For our cruise (the one we have done with the new menu) the Royal night was honestly one of the better meals I have had in a while anywhere everything was really good and I ordered the steak and the lobster and our server combined them into one plate for a "surf and turf". While a little thin the steak was cooked really well and the seasoned butter was yummy On the flip side, Mexican night was rather bad - things just not cooked well and didn't enjoy it (and I generally love Mexican food)

We just booked a flight to PBI for our cruise out of Miami next February.... the cost savings for a flight we found were just too great vs other options to FLL/MIA (like $400/person better, and there are 5 of us, even cheaper than budget airline options with less good times) So we will see how it goes. Still debating how we will transfer down, though my wife found a good rate on one way car rental which will give us a car for the day since flying in a day before cruise Flights for Presidents Week out of the NYC area have just been crazy so willing to give this a try

Oh, they can definitely do what they want for sure - but there is a complementary adults only space on the ship and there isn't one in the island and the previous indication is this would be included and now it isn't So I can understand people being a little bummed And do get people are willing to pay for exclusivity/lower crowds - same thing as people paying for after hours events at Disney World

I would assume so too ... though I am a little curious if some of the "craft cocktails" here and also some of the more elaborate cocktails shown in the teaser video for Icon won't be covered (or fully covered) by those vouchers or the drink package

Glad to hear they called you back and got it figured out. Guest recovery is very important and feels like they made things right, even if some initial stress occurred Hope you all have a great time and you daughter has a happy birthday!

I the complaint about the costs is you are paying for access to the island as part of the cruise - it is part of the cost for a cruise that stops there. An excursion at another stop is not factored into the cost for the cruise So the expectation was this would just be a section that was set as adults only for something you are paying for in your cruise fare. But seems they are pitching it as an upcharge/special access type thing vs just an adults only designated area of the general experience

recently vinyl actually outsells CDs

Definitely would be interested to what land based vacations they are talking about and how they compare Something like a week at Walt Disney World, when adding in food, would definitely be more than the cost of an average RCL cruise - but 2.5x as much? and there are land based vacations that you can do for cheaper, so just not sure given how well Icon initially sold and how well they have been doing I can definitely see them them thinking it was a bit underpriced, but I think they have swung too far in the other direction (especially when you factor in more things at PDCC costing money, signature dining going up, etc on top of the base cost)

The DJ aspect does make it feel a bit repetitive to Oasis Pool Maybe they remove the DJ from there and then the Hideaway is the Virgin/Party area, Oasis is the Disney/Family area, South Beach is the quiet/relaxing area, etc Obviously oversimplifying but will be interesting to see what folks are drawing the paid area vs included areas

I have seen some posts from people very excited for this though and seems they want to move the "party" away from kids and crying babies and stuff ... so I guess we shall see Maybe they remove the DJ from oasis pool and let that be a bit more chill/family focused?

True - though our last cruise had 2 royal ships there so that is what I am used to/comparing to ... so any reduction off that level would be nice

Saw the video @Matt put out and thought he made a good point - or at least a hopeful positive take - that maybe this will lessen the crowds in the Oasis pool which would be nice as that got pretty crowded and was jumping with party people a bit during our last cruise

I think it will be interesting to see who this appeal too In the video the fake people they depict all seem on the younger side - like 20s, etc - so are they marketing this as like a 21+ party place and then the Beach Club is the more refined restricted area? or is that just promo stuff and really it is for all adults and won't be crazy party time or anything and DJ will be fun but not too loud or anything?

Video out too on their YouTube page Wonder if just came out today and starting to role out across the various ships over time https://youtu.be/xI0shqIWcR8?si=9T-dXYNUpe679xCO

We used to sail Disney and moved to RCL partly due to the pricing (plus the kids are getting older) - but the 2025/26 pricing of Icon is right there with the Treasure (both very high compared to current ships/pricing) - but definitely makes one think if a key differentiator isn't there going forward like it used to be Having done both I see positive/negatives to the offerings of both when comparing them - but if better pricing is gone, makes me think a little

Definitely get that and they do need to maximize their profits for investors, etc. ... I think the frustrating part is these increased costs don't necessarily come with an improved experience and maybe a reduced experience Seeing the same thing with Walt Disney World - increase costs but then shorter park hours, reduced staffing, now charging for the skip the line tool that used to be included, etc. Now here, increased costs, reduced options at main dining room, specialty restaurant costs way up, the new adults only area on PDCC is an upcharge, etc. That combination can really negatively impact guest feelings

Honestly if it was just my wife and I I would consider it - it does sound nice with craft cocktails, etc But as we are traveling with 3 kids I don't want to just leave them for the whole day and don't want to pay this for just a small amount of time to check it out Do hope the offerings, in reality, are great and feel special and worth the cost for those that go

If anyone is interested bookings for Hideaway Beach on Perfect day are open Looks like you need a day pass to go there ($62)

That was one thought I had was will there be more unsupervised kids in the rest of the island It does sound nice with the variety of bars and stuff, but after all that we are paying for the cruise to start with not really wanting to spend more just for access to this