Large families on ICON of the seas

[Mike6453]

Anyone disappointed in the lack of suites for families larger than 4 people on icon of the seas....

as much as they tout it as a "family" ship where are these rooms????

[Ryan79]

Icon does have suites for families larger than 4. Not many, but they are there. No cruise ship is going to have tons and tons of them as 4+ families mainly only cruise for a fraction of the year. Couples cruise all year long so they aren’t going to dedicate a disproportionate amount of ship space to a disproportionately small customer base. It doesn’t make economic sense. Yes they are a family line, but families of 4+ don’t fill the boat and pay the bills year-round. 

[Mike6453]

16 minutes ago, Ryan79 said:

Icon does have suites for families larger than 4. Not many, but they are there. No cruise ship is going to have tons and tons of them as 4+ families mainly only cruise for a fraction of the year. Couples cruise all year long so they aren’t going to dedicate a disproportionate amount of ship space to a disproportionately small customer base. It doesn’t make economic sense. Yes they are a family line, but families of 4+ don’t fill the boat and pay the bills year-round. 

There are only two rooms (ultimate family townhouse and RLS - one each) in suite class that hold more than 4. in non suite class there is the family infinite ocean view balcony that does hold six assuming you can fit all six in 285 square ft (it might better to sleep on the pool beds in the back of the ship). Just saying for a family ship there are not many options and booking two rooms becomes exorbinantly expensive compared to even other RC options. While this will likely change in the future at least in pricing as newer ships come out it is still disappointing.

[AlmondFarmer]

I’m trying the 6 person family balcony on Icon. Would prefer a two bedroom grand suite or 2 bedroom Aqua suite which Oasis class has. 
Not willing to pay $70K for Royal loft or family townhouse for my family of 5. 

[jp1]

51 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

I’m trying the 6 person family balcony on Icon. Would prefer a two bedroom grand suite or 2 bedroom Aqua suite which Oasis class has. 
Not willing to pay $70K for Royal loft or family townhouse for my family of 5. 

$70k is what I paid for my first house.

[Ampurp85]

I think the draw of Icon was to have more "regular" rooms for families as many cannot afford the suite life or more than one cabin sometimes. It is a situation where both things really cannot be had, and it seems like they made an executive decision. Give the families what they want but keep the suites as exclusive as they can be. 

[Mike6453]

20 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I think the draw of Icon was to have more "regular" rooms for families as many cannot afford the suite life or more than one cabin sometimes. It is a situation where both things really cannot be had, and it seems like they made an executive decision. Give the families what they want but keep the suites as exclusive as they can be. 

I can totally understand that, but even below suite class there is only one room in the balcony class that holds more than 4 and it has one bathroom. Getting ready for dinner could be tricky with six people and one bathroom. The Surfside suite looks really nice with the split bathroom but the other sleeping spaces are bunks not a bed (an only holds 4) I agree that they made choices, but on such a massive ship and compared to what's on an oasis class they could have had a few more. I have the choice which ship to sail just wish that icon was on of them.

[FireFishII]

What my family used to do is to get a balcony for the adults and an inside room for the kids. We were a family of 7. I think 1 kid slept in the parents room. Of course this goes back many, many years ago.