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ICON CLASS UPDATE


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22 minutes ago, Mike.s said:

I 100% love it.... RC will have a Ship that fit everyone..... can't wait to book

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Looks absolutely incredible, especially for families who are looking for lots of thrills and activities to entertain the kids. That said, I highly doubt our family will sail Icon as we prefer the more relaxed smaller and midsized ships. Oasis class, and now Icon, are just way too big for us - too many people, lines and crowds. We cruise to relax, chill and enjoy the culture of ports, but I know many cruise for the ship. Icon will no doubt be a hit with families. 

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18 minutes ago, Firefly said:

Looks absolutely incredible, especially for families who are looking for lots of thrills and activities to entertain the kids. That said, I highly doubt our family will sail Icon as we prefer the more relaxed smaller and midsized ships. Oasis class, and now Icon, are just way too big for us - too many people, lines and crowds. We cruise to relax, chill and enjoy the culture of ports, but I know many cruise for the ship. Icon will no doubt be a hit with families. 

Yup. They could practically do 7 sea days on this ship and I don't think you'd have any complaints.

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1 hour ago, Mike.s said:

Over 250000 tons and 7600 passengers, too big for me but I guess I'm not it's target cruiser

Nor am I. If the focus of this ship is families and basically having a resort experience at sea, then I will never be sailing her. My kids are both grown and out of the nest, and I cruise to see ports and experience new places. This ship will be just as limited in port options as the Oasis class, if not more.

 

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2 hours ago, Firefly said:

Looks absolutely incredible, especially for families who are looking for lots of thrills and activities to entertain the kids. That said, I highly doubt our family will sail Icon as we prefer the more relaxed smaller and midsized ships. Oasis class, and now Icon, are just way too big for us - too many people, lines and crowds. We cruise to relax, chill and enjoy the culture of ports, but I know many cruise for the ship. Icon will no doubt be a hit with families. 

That is kind of my concern as well. We booked our first Royal Caribbean cruise for this December after my wife and I have cruised on Carnival. We booked Freedom partially because of it not being as big as the Oasis class ship. We have one daughter who is 9 but isn't much of a daredevil. I wonder how crowded it will be and of course how pricy it will be as well. 

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I think one of the strong aspects of what I'll call the "redesigned boardwalk" is that in addition to being a great place for families with young children to conveniently stay in one area, for the rest of us, families with smaller children will remain in one known area that can be avoided.

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1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

Great looking ship, but is it too much? i hope it's not a jump the shark moment for the cruise industry

I was thinking the same thing, it felt like sensory overload when I first looked at the website and the ship.  But then I walked away had my breakfast started working and was like let me take another look.  The second time around I didn't feel overwhelmed like it is too much.  The second time around I completely understood where Royal is coming from with Icon where the Ship is truly the destination unto itself.  Oasis Class comes close to being a destination but from my perspective it appears as though Royal has perfected Oasis Class with Icon Class and for the first time made a ship that really is the destination.  

 

I'm looking over the deck plans right now again and I'm loving what I'm seeing.  I realize Icon my not be the ship for everyone, and it just might be to busy for some people's taste, but I don't think this is a jump the shark moment for Royal.  

I can wait to book a 2024 cruise on Icon.

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Not sure if I missed it when looking at the deck plans but I didn’t see Cafe Promenade.  In fact, the only eating place I see in the Promenade area is Sorrentos.  Can someone confirm?

Otherwise it does look amazing and yes definitely looks like it is geared toward family cruising or maybe younger couples.  It will be interesting to see how the pricing fits the pocketbook!!

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1 hour ago, billnye97 said:

That is kind of my concern as well. We booked our first Royal Caribbean cruise for this December after my wife and I have cruised on Carnival. We booked Freedom partially because of it not being as big as the Oasis class ship. We have one daughter who is 9 but isn't much of a daredevil. I wonder how crowded it will be and of course how pricy it will be as well. 

Icon is going to be pricey right out the gate just like every other new ship Royal has launched since Oasis, and it is going to be crowded.  At full capacity with every berth full I think she can hold over 7,000 guest.  

For those individuals who want to cruise on a newer ship but don't want to deal with the crowds and are not interested in all activities Icon offers, I would suggest looking at either a Quantum Class ship on Royal Caribbean or look at Royal Caribbeans sister company Celebrity Cruises and book a cruise on any of their Edge Class vessels. These are newer ships but don't have the crowds or are not as busy as an Oasis Class ship or the upcoming Icon of the Seas.

The reason the cruise industry has been growing exponentially over the past decade or so is because of the cruise ships themselves becoming more immersive, larger, ships like Icon are now the destination with a lot of things onboard to keep anyone who wants busy.  Icon is going to be one of the largest ships to every set sail, there literally has to be plenty of things for people to do while onboard.

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17 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Not sure if I missed it when looking at the deck plans but I didn’t see Cafe Promenade.  In fact, the only eating place I see in the Promenade area is Sorrentos.  Can someone confirm?

My feeling is Cafe Promenade and Sorrentos is going to become Pearl Cafe on deck 6 at the top of The Pearl. The video Royal released had a name while the deck plans don't.

Screenshot_20221020-094820_YouTube.thumb.jpg.a782ef3321f0112197a93118f7f65a00.jpg

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30 minutes ago, JasonOasis said:

I was thinking the same thing, it felt like sensory overload when I first looked at the website and the ship.  But then I walked away had my breakfast started working and was like let me take another look.  The second time around I didn't feel overwhelmed like it is too much.  The second time around I completely understood where Royal is coming from with Icon where the Ship is truly the destination unto itself.  Oasis Class comes close to being a destination but from my perspective it appears as though Royal has perfected Oasis Class with Icon Class and for the first time made a ship that really is the destination.  

 

I'm looking over the deck plans right now again and I'm loving what I'm seeing.  I realize Icon my not be the ship for everyone, and it just might be to busy for some people's taste, but I don't think this is a jump the shark moment for Royal.  

I can wait to book a 2024 cruise on Icon.

I will be curious to see how many suites are available. That is a huge area for a typical number of suites.

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46 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said:

 

I can’t believe the people complaining 🤣😂🤣😂 ……. What did you expect it to be??????  A large ship with nothing to do on it?????? 🤣😂🤣😂  Maybe a huge “Empress of the Seas” clone???

 

Perhaps people should book which Virgin Voyages I hear the only highlight onboard is the food.  However, there is literally nothing to do onboard their ships except yoga and boxing 🙊😇🤣

I'm just joking around I hope no one takes offense.

I sincerely hope people will give Icon a chance and if it isn't the ship for you that is okay.  Royal has 26 other ships in its fleet. I have no problem saying Vision Class ships are not a class of ship for me, if the destinations are where I want to go I will consider Radiance Class ships, but if a Voyager Class or larger is going to the same destinations as a Radiance Class ship in the past I've actually chosen a Voyager Class ship over Radiance because in my opinion the smallest class of ship I'm willing to sail on is a Voyager Class ship, and that is okay.  Every class of ship isn't going to be for every passenger who sets sail on Royal Caribbean.

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24 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I will be curious to see how many suites are available

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/ships/deckplans-hub/Icon_2250_v2023.pdf

Here's the deck plans from Royal's site to get an idea of how many suites there are. I'm not super familiar with total numbers of suites from other classes of ships, but it looks like a lot.

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First impressions watching the video:

(TL:DR - I'm super impressed and SO excited!)

  • The crown's edge looks SOOOO fun!
  • I really like that there are 6 free slides on the ship. I doubt I'd ever pay for the slides at CocoCay so the ship would allow me waterslide fun and then I could enjoy the free fun on the island without feeling like I'm missing out on too much.
  • I LOVE Cloud17. The solarium was always nice but small. This seems a bit bigger and I like that it's open air again.
  • As someone without kids, I think the kids-focused neighborhood in the new not-boardwalk area is really smart. It gives them a whole space that doesn't feel shoved away in a corner or forgotten so they can feel like guests in their own right. But also I imagine it will cut down on kids running all over the ship to get to different venues or hang out areas (my one complaint with Allure - preteens and young kids running all over and even at one point playing Ding dong ditch with our room's doorbell). Plus, the balcony rooms over looking this area would be great for families so guardians can chill in the room and maybe watch their preteens and teens below.
  • The Aquadome is the baby between aquatheater and two70 and that's very cool! Not just in set up  but also i think in entertainment type since there are large robotic arms and screens in addition to water features.
  • PRIVATE POOL FOR THE SUITE NEIGHBORHOOD! Yes! And TWO exclusive restaurants?!
  • So glad the promenade will have windows! One of the biggest comments I hear about Oasis class and most Royal ships in general is that they focus in vs out, so one can essentially go the entire day having fun but without seeing the ocean. I think this will go far in addressing those comments AND really brightening up the promenade.

 

If I'm honest...I don't think I'll be able to afford a sailing on her for another decade or so when she's "old" and "forgotten" lol but I'm still hyped for that day!

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2 hours ago, JLMoran said:

If the focus of this ship is families and basically having a resort experience at sea

This is exactly in line with the way Royal is moving forward. They have said repeatedly that they don't consider other cruise lines to be their competitors but rather other land-based vacation destinations such like the all inclusive resorts and theme parks. With each new class of ship they seem to be embracing that more and more.

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I will save my negative comments for a later time and after more details are revealed.

 

But I do have to say, congratulations Royal on creating a unique family environment! Quit trying to compare yourself to Disney or as a poor man's Disney option. Branding Royal as an "instead of" is an idea full of faults. However, creating an alternative that is exciting and appealing but for different reasons than what Disney offers....that's a winner! 

 

Congratulations Royal Caribbean!

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Checking out the deck plans and:

 New look to the elevator banks. I wonder if the circular area will make flow easier since, ideally, you'd be able to see them all from one spot and can load and unload on the right area faster.

image.png.a2420b36a0d09427d4f61942a0b8b8cf.pngimage.png.25171156c42374b8e3ac7081f3a1ed72.png

 

Also noticing the escalator?! Would be SO cool if this is open for to the public and not just for at ports.

image.png.702264b2cb108bde10187d489a264b8c.png

 

As for food it's going to have Hooked and El Loco Fresh up on the pool deck:

image.png.f63fb1ae5fe075f52eff8b3302d7a493.png     image.png.f360350dcb4ffbb8d3f7eab1c18faf34.png

 

And finally there are 2 dry slides mentioned, one on deck 6 mid at central park and one on deck 16 foreward.

image.png.6bb5d75b14f806b618fd7fefb64fa6df.png    image.png.8ee282a9e6304eae5810dfa91d95c3c5.png

 

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13 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

That corner suite looks awesome !  It’s nice to see some JS gettin’ some love.  They’ve always been the suite step child.

we like the sweet step child 😂

but i wish all the bathrooms were the split/2 separate the way they are on odyssey with the shower bath and sink in one and the sink and toilet in another.

it just frees up so much more when you're sailing with another person. (as i am assuming most junior suites don't sail with single occupancy. i could wrong though,,,, you know what happens when you assume 😅)

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This ship was built for someone like me who feels the ship is as important/more important that itinerary. This ship is the destination baby!! As someone mentioned above, you could literally do a cruise to nowhere on Icon and never run out of things to do (or drink). It really is like a sea based theme park. I know some won't like this, but that's what radiance and vision class are for. I like big ships and I cannot lie!!

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