Lovetocruise2002

One interesting note.  Marla is leaving Icon next week (May 11th after vacation, she is going to Ovation for Alaska cruise season.
Here replacement on Icon is Alan Pucheta Ruiz.  He is a new genie and was shadowing her this week.  So now we have 3 Alans 🤣
so as of next week Icon will have Alan, Anna and Fredric.  Claudio got Ill and left a will ago.

We will be on Just after you as we are b2b starting 4/14.

We always feel that way after Izumi as well! It's all the carbs lol.  And you went on your last night so you're getting the cumulative effects of SC eating all week 😂
We have the ATS coming up on Utopia as well in March 2025. Looking forward to that one quite a bit.
I can't believe it's over already! Thanks for sharing your week with us. I am still jealous of the Yeti 😉

We always feel that way after Izumi as well! It's all the carbs lol.  And you went on your last night so you're getting the cumulative effects of SC eating all week 😂
We have the ATS coming up on Utopia as well in March 2025. Looking forward to that one quite a bit.
I can't believe it's over already! Thanks for sharing your week with us. I am still jealous of the Yeti 😉

We always feel that way after Izumi as well! It's all the carbs lol.  And you went on your last night so you're getting the cumulative effects of SC eating all week 😂
We have the ATS coming up on Utopia as well in March 2025. Looking forward to that one quite a bit.
I can't believe it's over already! Thanks for sharing your week with us. I am still jealous of the Yeti 😉

We always feel that way after Izumi as well! It's all the carbs lol.  And you went on your last night so you're getting the cumulative effects of SC eating all week 😂
We have the ATS coming up on Utopia as well in March 2025. Looking forward to that one quite a bit.
I can't believe it's over already! Thanks for sharing your week with us. I am still jealous of the Yeti 😉

We always feel that way after Izumi as well! It's all the carbs lol.  And you went on your last night so you're getting the cumulative effects of SC eating all week 😂
We have the ATS coming up on Utopia as well in March 2025. Looking forward to that one quite a bit.
I can't believe it's over already! Thanks for sharing your week with us. I am still jealous of the Yeti 😉

If I don't feel that way at the end of a cruise I feel I've done something terribly wrong.
Thanks for sharing and safe travels home!

Ok, recap of the last night.
We had dinner at Izumi sushi.  It was really good this trip!
Seaweed salad.

Various rolls and some nigiri 🍣 


 
After dinner they had to bring in a wheel barrow to haul us out of there.
We may not have to eat for a week.
Once recovered, I managed to play 3 card for a bit and came away a whole $25 richer.  I'll take it.  Came away up quite a bit over all. 😉
This morning we were off by 7:30 and at the airport by 8.  We board in just about 2 hours.
Final Thoughts:
It’s going to be hard to go back to Oasis.  We liked it that much.  The ease of movement, the new layouts and venues. The hideaway, swim and tonic. Just incredible!
My only complaint was playmakers.  It’s bigger than oasis, but we didn’t spend any time there because it is constantly loaded with teenagers playing air hockey and various other things.  (It’s right next to the teen club). Also, the ice show crowds.just make it not a good vibe.  They seem to be aware of the issues but may not be something they can fix until second generation of icon class.
Really that was our only gripe.
Other than night one we didn’t spend much time in coastal kitchen or the grove. For no other reason than just so much to do and explore on that ship.
We have Utopia up next in A1 ATS.  After that, we are going to Try Celebrity and have an Edge Villa booked on The Excel when it comes out in 2026.
Cheers all and thanks for putting up with our shenanigans!

Wouldn't you have preferred "I-CON-ADA"? Not even sure if that was funny, lack of sleep. 😴
@JohnK6404 Love the well-organized preface. Happy 20th! Our anniversary is 6/1 and we usually wind up sailing right after it. Have a cruise booked for 6/2 the next two Junes. It's our 22nd this year.

Good morning!
Oh, and @WAAAYTOOO will love this!  😃
We will be keeping our eyes 👀 open for 3 very important "subjects"... both human and canine!
Capt. Henrik (aka "Capt. Hottie" per my wife 😳), Rover, and Chris (@CHRIS WONG)!
 

 
Capt. Henrik and Chris should be relatively easy to find during the course of the cruise, but Rover is the wildcard!  🤣
On our Facebook group established for this sailing, I suggested we create a real-time "Rover Alert" 🐕‍🦺 ... it's gaining traction with tons of likes and comments! 
I'm starting to feel the "pressure" to book Star OTS! We also have to meet Sailor! 🦮
We'll see how many of these "icons" 😆 we can see or meet on this sailing!  😎

I know! We really didn't expect our bid to be accepted! We are so excited! 1 more week! 🤗

Love the title! And the lock screen photo! 

Phew! All done! The most stressful part of committing to a live blog is naming it!  🤣
@Lovetocruise2002 sets the bar so high! I waffled between “ICON Sea Clearly Now” and “ICONic Anniversary Cruise”.  I hope I made the right choice!  😀
Once again, starting the blog a little early to get a head start. We set sail in 7 days! It’s so crazy how time flies… we booked this cruise almost 19 months ago back in late OCT 2022 when they first opened up the bookings for Icon!

 
My wife (Christine) and I (John) will be celebrating our 20th Wedding Anniversary 💒 🍾 a little early on this cruise. Our actual anniversary is June 4th… the not so clever “6404” in my screen name!  😆
It will be just the two of us this time since none of our cruising cohorts could make this sailing due to scheduling conflicts (both couples booked, but had to back out early on… they are soooo jealous! 😉). Our last “solo” couple cruise was back in OCT 2021 on Oasis shortly after the return to cruising.
There will be a number of new experiences during this vacation both on land and on the cruise. Of course, Icon is completely new to us! So excited and ready to go!
This itinerary has eluded us to date. We had booked this itinerary on Harmony prior to the shutdown. Harmony turned into Symphony (moved us as Harmony’s planned dry dock was moved up at that time), but when Covid hit, that sailing was of course cancelled. This will be our first visit to Costa Maya and Roatan!
 
* Time for some trip details…
Cruise Details:  
Icon of the Seas, 7-night, Western Caribbean & Perfect Day itinerary Out of Miami, FL 5/11/24-5/18/24 Itinerary:
Day 1 (5/11):    Miami, FL Day 2 (5/12):    * At Sea * Day 3 (5/13):    Roatan, Honduras Day 4 (5/14):    Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico Day 5 (5/15):    Cozumel, Mexico Day 6 (5/16):    * At Sea * Day 7 (5/17):    PDCC, Bahamas Day 8 (5/18):    Miami, FL Cabin Details & General Plans/Stuff:
Ocean View Balcony Stateroom (Deck 12, Midship, Starboard side) Selected Traditional Dining (5:00 PM) Purchased the Deluxe Beverage Package Purchased VOOM Surf+Stream Package Purchased 10-Photo Package Purchased a-la-carte specialty dining lunches (Chops Grille, Hooked, and Izumi Hibachi) Purchased Chef’s Table... wanted to try Empire Supper Club, but the $472 charge for the 2 of us was a little too steep this time around! Purchased the Day Pass to Hideaway Beach (CocoCay) Purchased “Semi-Sub Glass Bottom Boat and Monkey & Sloth Park” excursion in Roatan (Christine insisted) Purchased “Chacchoben Extreme Tour” through Native Choice in Costa Maya Purchased admission to Nachi Cocum in Cozumel Purchased Crown’s Edge for both of us (Note: Christine is terrified of heights, but insisted on joining me when I booked it! 😳) Booked all major entertainment via Cruise Planner (The Wizard of Oz, Starburst: Elemental Beauty, Aqua Action!, Headliner: Adam Kario, The Effectors: The Origin Story, Adult Comedy LIVE! (x2) What did we skip this time?
The Key… we do not feel it’s worth it right now with all of the changes and price increases. We’ve purchased it 4 times since 2019 – very familiar with the changes to the program over the last 5 years. It’s also been holding at $49.99/day pp for our sailing! Unlimited Dining Package… tried it for the first time last OCT/NOV on Wonder. We enjoyed it, but we don’t feel it’s necessarily worth purchasing every cruise (our decision will likely be based on cost and itinerary). Will try it again down the road. Currently selling for $420.99 pp! We traditionally purchase the 3 Night Dining Package, but also skipped it this time and elected to go with specialty lunches and Chef's Table for a change. Miscellaneous Stuff:
Flight on Southwest Airlines out of Islip/MacArthur Airport (ISP) on Long Island (NY) very early 🥱 on FRI (5/10) morning to Ft. Lauderdale (FLL). Taking a shuttle (SAS Transport Service) from FLL directly to our hotel. Staying overnight at the InterContinental Miami (booked a Bay View room). Plan on exploring Bayside Marketplace and some other local areas as time permits. Our current plan is to use Uber or Lyft from the hotel to the port on SAT morning. We booked the earliest boarding period available (11:30-12:00) for our sailing (completed check-in right after midnight). We likely will arrive a little earlier just in case! We love to start our vacation and exploration of the ship ASAP!  🚢🍹🧉🍷  * Oh yeah! We'll finally be Diamond after this sailing!  🥳 🎉 🍾
 
I think that’s it for the synopsis... now we just need to pack this weekend! 
*** As always, please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to post pictures of something you are interested in... I'll do my best to keep up throughout the sailing!
 
My current iPhone lockscreen… always a pic of the next ship we’ve booked!
Having at least one in the hopper, even if it's a year away, helps soften the pain of disembarking the ship! 

 
Have a good night everyone!

Maybe I jumped the gun on taking her off moderation. 😂

Psst... wrong live blog. What did you drink at CocoCay? 🙈
@calvink669, keep an eye on your better half, lol.

Yes, we are, definitely will report back! Obviously still using the zip top bag to satisfy Heathrow but I should be able to make a good judgement of how strict FCO is.
- Ashley

There is definitely truth to this lol 
I have noticed this too regardless of the ship. Must be those magical mirrors lol

I just went to turn off your post moderation and I think it's already off. One of the other mods probably let you loose. 😄

Wait...aren't you "anti fly to the port"? Don't you just use the cup holder in your car? lol

Are you trying to get me to miss them more?! lol
Take me back....

Wait...aren't you "anti fly to the port"? Don't you just use the cup holder in your car? lol

We will celebrate that milestone with some Patron!

Yes! This was our exact experience in Heathrow in the summer of 2022. We had to move our liquids from our Ziploc bags to theirs. So annoying.
Oh...good to know. Are you returning back from FCO after your cruise? If you are, let me know what happens. I am always interested in how I can carry more liquids.
Good to know. Thanks!

I normally use something like this for my liquids bag (and definitely fit a lot more in it than a zip top bag, you can also find cheaper ones on Amazon, I just got this one when I had container store rewards): 

https://www.containerstore.com/s/travel/makeup-toiletries/rezip-zippered-travel-quart-bag/12d?productId=11022247
From my experience in Heathrow this trip, this definitely would not fly as they were stopping people with reusable bags and making them transfer their items to the zip top bags Heathrow provides, although I know that rule will be going away soon there. Also, based on my research (no direct experience on this yet), a reusable bag would be fine in FCO, they have the new scanners and have stopped having you take out your liquids bag like Heathrow still has you do. So really our only problem child was Heathrow. Of course these are fine in the US thanks to TSA pre check, and I don't think they are that picky when you have to take them out either.
Our Vatican Tour today was booked through LivTours and the guide was absolutely wonderful! Anyways, the golf cart tour stopped numerous times, we got out to take pictures of the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, etc. We were in the Borghese Gardens when it was still raining so we didn't stop and get out but I think normally you would. The guide also parked at the 2 churches we went to and guided us through some things inside them (he was really into optical illusions in some of the art and stuff 😂). We all enjoyed our golf cart tour so I am sure you will have a blast!