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Just like us, there are many potential travelers wondering if the Star Class service will compare to other high end vacations. We just got off the Icon of the Seas sailing from Miami on Oct 5th. Here are my 5 cents. Would I recommend it? Yes, depending on your lifestyle As a couple on our 50s we still love to have entertainment and late night fun. We are regular guests at Four Seasons, Rosewood, Ritz Carlton, St Regis etc. so we understand what a high end service should be. We even run a small luxury hospitality business in Los Cabos. We knew a 7500 passenger cruise is not exactly a private retreat, but other smaller luxury vessels would not offer the entertainment we were hoping for. The Star class cabins are a good match of service-entertainment The cabins themselves are nice but don’t expect a Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons yacht cabin. Ours was a loft and having 2 full baths make our life easier, but the decoration look more like a regular Hyatt than a high end hotel. The veranda has a decent size but we never considered having any meal inside or outside. I personally don’t think it’s worth it, as our objective was to try as many places in the ship as possible. The speciality restaurants are included except one. We tried almost all, including the multi course and pairing dinner. The food was above our expectations ( for a massive cruise), without being spectacular. The wine list is short compared to high end cruises but they still have 3 good ones ( at a price) : Opus One, Caymus and Duckhorn. No real good europeas, though. Also they are short on high end digestive like cognac. I found an XO ( for a charge) on one of the bars and was able to get it sent to other venues where there are none. The Genie concept is what it really makes it work. She or he will take care of your reservations and will escort you to every show where reserved seats will be waiting for you. This is a real treat as opposed to be there 30 minutes before the show, to avoid the rush hour. There is a dedicated dinning room and pools for Suites. The food is good in both the general dinning and suite dinning restaurants but service is a premium on the suite’s venue. While on the swimming pool, forget about someone helping you to install yourself in a lounge or a waiter coming every few minutes, or asking for additional towels. Here is all about self service. I found this to be a shortcoming that could really be improved. The best: the shows on the Icon are world class. The wizard of Oz, the skating spectacle, the Effectors and the water show are all really professional productions. Broadway or Las Vegas quality. They even have a 16 musicians orchestra and a music Director. Include top of the line L-Acoustics electronics setup, stunning lights and laser and you’re immersed into a really great show. The Music Hall also had great live music. Phoenix rock band covers are amongst the best I’ve heard. The sound equipment of the venue is there to match. So again, should the discerning traveler get on board of this ship? If you can manage a week in Universal Studios and Disney World with a behind the scenes personal assistant to guide you, the answer is yes. As for the island visiting we rented nice cabanas at Four Seasons Neves and Ritz Carlton St John and that way we had both of best worlds in the same trip. Anna our Genie and Christian in charge of housekeeping, were always there to help with a sincere and warm heart. Thank you so much to both. Congratulations to the Entertainment group. You’re advertising doesn’t do justice to the type of production you have in place. I hope with some feedback, RCL will be able to cater to other discerning travelers, but as for us, I’m really happy we decided to book this one.

Heading aboard Enchantment in a few days (soooo excited) with my sister and elderly mom. We chose late dining but see the Headliner shows are at 7:15 & 9:30 - They look to be 45 minutes - how bad is it to show up a few minutes late for dinner? i.e. if we went to the 7:15 show which gets out at 8:00 then walked to dinner is that a total faux pas? The 9:30 would also work, but that bumps up against many of the game shows and karaoke ^^ and who wants to miss THAT!?! (not a tragedy, but would love to get seasoned travelers advise. Thanks!

I have already booked a cruise on the Independence of the Seas in June 2020, I also downloaded the Royal Caribbean App. The App will not let me book anything except stuff that you have to pay for, when can I go on and make reservations for stuff like comedy shows and theater nights?

I am concerned about missing shows. I have 6:45 my time dinning and the shows start around 8-8:30... 6:45 is the earliest I can choose so my question is first will I make it to the shows and second how can I choose earlier eating times and if I can how and what time should I choose?

We will cruise at the end of March 2018. We used to use dining room service and paid all tips. However, this time we might not do it because we have really active 5 years old. So we decided to just get the food and go. Anyway, RCI will charge tips for dining services that we will not be using. Is it possible to take all the tips for 3 of us out? Anyone have any experience about this?