tonyfsu21

Last week by 10:30 we had already toured Icon and had a sandwich in hand from the Pearl Cafe! I guess the FL ports just have the logistics under control. I can’t stress enough how boarding times are fluff. They don’t even bother putting the signs up any longer in Miami.

Yeah but it’s still a cruise ship and lacking authentic food across the board. I can’t think of a single venue that would check that box (maybe the Indian food???). The Mason jar has some really great food & drink and an excellent ambiance.

Regardless, it’s important to note how profitable the casino and its devoted players contributions are to the companies bottom line. A bottle of Mondavi 2020 is an insult to players gambling 5 figures over the course of a seven day cruise.

Wonder all the way based on Mason Jar alone! I’ve been in both 3x each and I would say Wonder is the better choice (but you can’t go wrong!!!).

Yes, Fort Lauderdale is a world away from Miami (traffic wise) during the week. The trek from South to North during rush hour is a much better scenario then starting from Miami.

Weekend? If not, you got lucky because I-95, 395 traffic on any given weekday is horrible until you get north of the Jupiter exit in WPB. I personally wouldn’t chance it after 47 years of this crap under my belt.

Day 7 on Icon and it’s been a royale butt kicking from the casino. I did receive a bottle of Mondavi “vintage 2020” and a nice 9000 point certificate. The casino is very nice with plenty of space and machine/table variety. I return to Icon for Thanksgiving and hope to turn my luck around. Icon has been AWESOME outside the casino!!!!!

I think it’s also open for lunch

Same thing happened to me. We realized it’s easy to walk in w/o reservations. I am currently on Icon and we have had dinner at Pier 7 twice with no reservations. Keep in mind this is a full to capacity cruise on spring break with tons of kids and there are no issues eating at Pier 7.

Here’s the lowdown. 1. Assumes you and whomever you travel with is able body. 2. No major customs issue hold up ship in PC from arrival. 3. Get off the ship WAAAAAAAYYYYY before 8:30am. More like grab the luggage and be downstairs on the departure deck ready to walk off the ship before 7am. 4. A game plan is in place for a vehicle to get to by 8am and be headed West on the Beeline before 9am. 5. No major traffic accidents on I-95 (if so, transfer to Turnpike). 6. Arrive at Port of Miami between 12-1pm and board the ship. The rush hour traffic will not impact you because it will end before you reach South Florida in the 10-11am timeframe. **** Note: disregard everything I just said if you plan to flip the trip and go from Miami to PC on a Thursday in the AM because it most likely will cost you a cruise.

This can very easily be done with minimal risk (especially on a weekend).

This would be more of a hassle logistically than just driving IMHO.

Yeah it was a stretch. Curious to hear what others say after trying hibachi on Icon.

Yes:

This would be ideal. The price might not be ideal though in April (especially early April).

I should have counted but they were bigger than Wonder. I’m guessing 14-16

We ate at Izumi Hibachi this evening which is always a hit. The food was top notch (as always) but I couldn’t help but notice the new and considerably larger table size has made it very difficult to hear what the hibachi chef is saying. The table size also made it much harder for the food to be dispersed across the table to the guests. In an effort to serve a larger volume of customers, the experience suffered. We will no doubt ALWAYS return here to eat but it was a very obvious issue.

I will check tomorrow but I believe so

But then you need to rely on a shuttle to/from port. $22/day is a bargain for this:

Parking at terminal A was no problem. We are parked on the 2nd level next to elevator. Perhaps we got lucky?

I am running about the same (points wise) but we don’t cruise every 6 weeks. I am getting the standard issue cheap wine, cheap champs and the fruit. I seriously think the company needs to up the ante on the program if they want to keep the higher level players active.

It was more of a soft Asiago bread and went great with the steak and egg.

The food is great but the ship overall is even more impressive. The Icon makes the Oasis class seem boring (as crazy as that sounds). There’s so much to see and do!

This is my new “go to” spot for a quick breakfast! I normally go to park cafe but decided this morning to try something different. The steak & eggs sandwich and classic breakfast sandwich (sausage,egg,cheese,ham) are equally delicious! The service was very quick at 6:45am. There are 2 lines that eventually form, one to the left for speciality coffee (most likely drink packers speciality coffee option) and one to the right for food. The food line was short!

Fast spins are your friend. It makes the mind numbing task of pressing a button much more exciting.