To a Family Infinite Oceanview Balcony and Beyond! - Icon of the Seas (Feb 17, 2024 - 24, 2024)

[Sweety]

Beautiful Pictures!

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 7: a Low Key Sea Day Morning 

 

The next morning everyone was being rather lazy, which was fine as it was a sea day, no big plans.

I was up and out a little early to get breakfast (Park Cafe) and attend the tour of the Central Park gardens with the head of the agriculture for the ship and the fleet really as he has put together all of the Central Parks.

 

The tour was really interesting and you can feel his passion but also some of the frustrations he has trying to make all this work but then other areas (structural, etc) get in the way and having to balance everything. Also mentioned how people hiding or sleek ng for ducks can mess up the watering systems lol

After this I went down to get in line for the ship model signing with the captain. This was one thing my son really wanted to do and something to do together ... And a lot of people had similar ideas as the line was quite long even when I got there like 30mins early. It moves pretty fast though as he was quick with the signing and short conversation and photo, pretty efficient.

 

(BTW, we had Captain Theo as the regular Icon captain was on vacation )

 

Then we had lunch at one of our favorites - Hooked! Another place we got at the 40% off discount so $11.99 for people to get all the oysters and lobster rolls they want is a pretty good deal.

 

As you can see, Emma was quite happy to get her Oysters!

 

We each are a dozen (plus Judi and I did some of the shooters) along with a bunch of other food and it was all very good. We always seem to get really good service at Hooked too. Our server did comment it was I testing set up there as they are surviving while all the aquatheater shows were going on or practice happening, etc.

 

Coming up ... A low key afternoon! Plus Formal night and some more Dueling Pianos Action

 

[Sweety]

31 minutes ago, TheMaxRebo said:

Part 7: a Low Key Sea Day Morning 

 

The next morning everyone was being rather lazy, which was fine as it was a sea day, no big plans.

I was up and out a little early to get breakfast (Park Cafe) and attend the tour of the Central Park gardens with the head of the agriculture for the ship and the fleet really as he has put together all of the Central Parks.

 

The tour was really interesting and you can feel his passion but also some of the frustrations he has trying to make all this work but then other areas (structural, etc) get in the way and having to balance everything. Also mentioned how people hiding or sleek ng for ducks can mess up the watering systems lol

After this I went down to get in line for the ship model signing with the captain. This was one thing my son really wanted to do and something to do together ... And a lot of people had similar ideas as the line was quite long even when I got there like 30mins early. It moves pretty fast though as he was quick with the signing and short conversation and photo, pretty efficient.

 

(BTW, we had Captain Theo as the regular Icon captain was on vacation )

 

Then we had lunch at one of our favorites - Hooked! Another place we got at the 40% off discount so $11.99 for people to get all the oysters and lobster rolls they want is a pretty good deal.

 

As you can see, Emma was quite happy to get her Oysters!

 

We each are a dozen (plus Judi and I did some of the shooters) along with a bunch of other food and it was all very good. We always seem to get really good service at Hooked too. Our server did comment it was I testing set up there as they are surviving while all the aquatheater shows were going on or practice happening, etc.

 

Coming up ... A low key afternoon! Plus Formal night and some more Dueling Pianos Action

 

Now I have to book Hooked!

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

26 minutes ago, Sweety said:

Now I have to book Hooked!

Funny I was thinking the same thing!  I’ve had it in my cart for my May cruise (includes my 2 grandsons and my youngest daughter…their Mom) and now is the time to finalize.  Not that I eat oysters but there is enough on the menu to really enjoy a nice dinner outside of the MDR!

[WAAAYTOOO]

Laszlo !  He's one of my favorite Royal people.  That man loves his job !

[JohnK6404]

7 hours ago, TheMaxRebo said:

After this I went down to get in line for the ship model signing with the captain. This was one thing my son really wanted to do and something to do together ... And a lot of people had similar ideas as the line was quite long even when I got there like 30mins early. It moves pretty fast though as he was quick with the signing and short conversation and photo, pretty efficient.

 

(BTW, we had Captain Theo as the regular Icon captain was on vacation)

Wow! That was really nice that they offered this with Capt. Theo! I just started collecting the models last year (Wonder).

My wife was horrified when she heard that Capt. Henrik (Loy) was on vacation! She, as well as our friend, refer to him as "Capt. Hottie"!   

Capt. Henrik was our captain on Explorer (2013) and again on Wonder (JAN last year)... According to my wife, we have to track down Capt. Henrik, Rover, and Chris Wong during our May sailing! 

[TheMaxRebo]

On 2/29/2024 at 2:19 PM, JohnK6404 said:

Wow! That was really nice that they offered this with Capt. Theo! I just started collecting the models last year (Wonder).

My wife was horrified when she heard that Capt. Henrik (Loy) was on vacation! She, as well as our friend, refer to him as "Capt. Hottie"!   

Capt. Henrik was our captain on Explorer (2013) and again on Wonder (JAN last year)... According to my wife, we have to track down Capt. Henrik, Rover, and Chris Wong during our May sailing! 

Fortunately neither my son nor I were concerned with the hotness of the captain

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 7 - Fun and Games and Surf and Turf

 

After lunch we went to see the 2nd Ice Show which was the family show and themed to fairy tales. There were no reservations and was first come, first served and we were worried it would be super crowded but it really wasn't

 

We saw it with friends and we had all the kids sit in the front row and they got high fives from the performers which was fun

 

We then went and did the science trivia, since we are fun at parties ;), and did pretty well but another group got more of the bonus questions.

A bonus for me was.getting a toasted marshmallow old fashioned which was delightful

 

There Ethan was a singing contest thing and my youngest made it to the finals and won a pretty cool Royal Caribbean hat ... Only issue was keeping telling her to calm down as she was very hyped to be on stage 

 

This was "Dress you Best" nigh a.k.a. lobster night and Peter opted to hang with his friends but the rest of us had a delightful meal. I know some people feel the food quality in the main dining has gone down a bit but we found it to be quite good this trip and this meal was no exception

 

After, we went down to Surfside as rumor has it some ducks were hidden recently. We also picked up some drinks at the Lemon Post - this was sort of an underrated place with some more unique drink options. Don't sleep on it

 

Then we went to Dueling Pianos and hung, standing, near the bar as all seating was taken, but ran into some fireman so was all good. Another great time - but I do hope they increase the size to f the venue on Star of the Seas

 

Coming up next: Perfect Day on Coco Cay 

... Or is it?!?!?!?

 

[JohnK6404]

1 hour ago, TheMaxRebo said:

Fortunately neither my son nor I were concerned with the hotness of the captain

For the record... me neither  ... but maybe a little jealous of the attention he gets from my wife. LOL!  

See... I'm not kidding... 

[JohnK6404]

46 minutes ago, TheMaxRebo said:

A bonus for me was getting a toasted marshmallow old fashioned which was delightful

Looks good! I tried that at the Schooner Bar on Wonder... 

I loved the PB&J Old Fashioned from the Mason Jar on Wonder... did you notice if any of the bars offered the PB&J? My gut is that it's a MJ exclusive. 

[TheMaxRebo]

17 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

Looks good! I tried that at the Schooner Bar on Wonder... 

I loved the PB&J Old Fashioned from the Mason Jar on Wonder... did you notice if any of the bars offered the PB&J? My gut is that it's a MJ exclusive. 

I didn't see it anywhere and agree, likely exclusive to Mason Jar

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 8: Perfect Day NOT at Coco Cay, part 1

 

Our last full day on the ship arrived with the ship docked at Perfect Day at Coco Cay - however no one was really feeling getting off and we wanted to explore this ship more with low crowds so we opted to not get off - turned out to be a great idea 

 

First though, my usual breakfast of a mocha with an extra shot and a steak and egg sandwich, with a view. 

 

I was the first one ready and went to explore the pool deck and was happy to see how empty they were this was at 10:15 and basically no one there (this area is always packed on sea days)

 

Got myself a Lime and Coconut and just hung out for a while 

 

Eventually my son joined me but he wanted to explore various hot tubs and pools. This was such an enjoyable time as just no one around (never more than a couple of people at any spot) so was so easy to check out the various options

 

I think my favorite was the Cloud 17 pool on deck 17. Nice a deep but with sitting areas in the water and right up against the glass for great views

 

 

 

My son then wanted to try the Flowrider and he talked me into doing it as well. I am rather uncoordinated an have never done anything like this - but managed to actually do it a little. The guy there just kept telling me to relax, but I always have an issue with that (even while vacationing lol)

 

We did lunch at the Aquadome market which was great again - Feta is like the best food on the ship. And then I got one of the fancy milkshakes which was the last think I needed to complete the bar crawl we were doing. 

It's fun but soooo overpriced - definitely not something I would get again 

 

Coming up next, some more pool fun, our last dinner, and evening if shows (plus lots of packing!)

 

[LandstromCruise]

7 hours ago, TheMaxRebo said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

you look like a pro here!!  And yeah, relax, that's what they kept telling me when I was "doing'' the standup.  I'm guessing with me at some point they were thinking this idiot doesn't know what it means to relax. 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 9: Perfect Day NOT at Coco Cay, part 2

 

I brought the fancy shake back to the room so the kids could try it too as we didn't get the boozy version and then my wife and I went to the Hideaway to check that area out as we hadn't spent much there there beyond checking out the bar once.

 

 

The area is really nice and just has a different vibe to it and this was a great time there as very low crowds and the DJ was pretty chill - definitely noticed other times it could get very crowded and the DJ could be thumping (not really my vibe) but for now we enjoyed it 

 

Then my wife had to do the Flowrider as she couldn't let me be the only parent to do it lol

 

This evening we decided to just eat dinner in th Windjammer - just felt like a more relaxed experience for our final night and people didn't seem too into the options on the MDR menu

 

We did get word via our Facebook group that someone had planted ducks in yh overlook area and my youngest hadn't found one yet so off we went on the hunt, and she found one! 

 

My son went off with his friends for the evening but the rest of us wanted to see some of the shows again so while in that area I went to check on the standby process for the Aquashow - I got mixed answers from different crew members but ultimately found that the chairs at the top, above the wooden benches are not subject to reservations so we took a few that were at the high tables (also gave a spot to out our drinks and crepes )... Overall I thought these were way more comfortable than the benches and recommended just coming early and taking some of these vs worrying about reservations.

 

The show was great again and after they showed us a new segment they were working on which featured a gymnast balancing on handholds. How she can do all this while the water is coming down and the ship is swaying I have no idea.

They said this might be worked into the show later or might be part of show on Star of the Seas

 

After that My wife and oldest went back to the room to finish up packing (we did a fair amount before dinner) and my you great and I went to go see Wizard of Oz (2nd time for me, first for her). Again, just a wonderful show (they did have some tech issues with the sound and paused the show for about 10mins until fixed, but not a big deal)

 

Then back to the room and got ready for bed (my wife got all the suitcases outside the room already)

 

The next morning we met up with the families we had become friends with for a final send off breakfast and for kids to exchange contact info. We had the 8:30 departure time but at about 8:15 they announced all luggage was ready and that everyone could leave then. We got out bags and took a shuttle back to the airport (we hadn't prearranged anything and it was a little hectic as to which way to go to find what, but worked out in the end).

 

We picked up a rental car to drive back up to West Palm Beach airport, stopping at my wife's aunt's place to see her. We were in the rental car by 9:20am, so pretty quick process overall

 

Coming up next (and last): final thoughts and do we think Icon is worth the $$$?