Top 10 Tips for Icon of the Seas (based on my recent cruise)

[TheMaxRebo]

We just finished up an amazing week on Icon of the Seas, sailing from February 17th to the 24th of 2024. We were a family of 5, staying in an Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony room, and there were definitely some things we learned along the way and since lists are always fun thought I would share some of them in a Top 10 format

Obviously this is all just based on our experience and everyone cruises differently, but thought this could create some discussion and would be interested to hear tips from others who have cruise on Icon as well. Also should mention the ship was not at full capacity yet - there were about 6,000 total guests, with 1,200 of them being children. Also, we were seeing them making some tweaks to schedules and what is included in various packages, pricing for things .... basically, your experience may differ from what ours

With that out of the way, here we go ....

 

10. You Will Need to Prioritize What You Want to Do

This goes without saying but this is a massive ship with a ton to do and a ton of new stuff not seen on other Royal Caribbean ships. Because of that at the end of the week my wife and I were commenting about the things we didn't get to. For example we never ate at El Loco Fresh and never visited the Sports Court - whereas on our last cruise those were two locations we spent a lot of time at. A week goes really fast and if there is something you are really looking forward to checking out, make it a priority / add it to you "calendar" in the app. 

 

9. Consider Skipping a Port To Stay On the Ship

On a related note, you may want to take advantage of a less crowded ship when in port to accomplish more of your priority list. We found on sea days the pool decks to be very crowded and longish lines for water slides and crowded venues. We decided to not get off the ship when it docked at Perfect Day at Coco Cay and it turned out to be a great call as we got to check out multiple pools and hot tubs, ride the water slides a bunch, attended a trivia session with only 3 total groups, not lines at bars, minimal folks in the Hideaway Area pool, ... you get the idea. Just to give you an idea, here is a photo of the Royal Bay Pool, the main pool in Chill Island, at about 11am:

It was just really nice to explore this ship with low crowds and made for a really relaxing day. 

 

8. You Don't Need to Pack as Many Mutli-Port Adapters

One thing the rooms on Icon have is outlets, especially USB ports. Between the desk, the shelf near the TV, in the bathroom, by the beds - there are outlets all over the room. Our room also had multiple USB-A outlets near the bunkbed area. If I counted correctly, we had 4 US Outlets, 1 European Outlet 10 USB-A Outlets, and 2 USB-C outlets.  We did utilize one multi USB-A plug on the desk just to keep things more organized with phones and battery packs, etc. but we absolutely could have made it through without anything. This is very different than other ships where we felt like we had multiple multi-port adapters in use at all times.

There are also outlets out around the ship with the Overlook area having an exceptional amount and a great place to go if you need to get on a laptop or similar.

 

7. You Will Want to Pack Magnetic Hooks to Hang Things From in the Room

One negative things we found about the rooms (and heard from others as well) is the lack of storage compared to other ships like the Oasis class. For our family of 5 we struggled to fit everything on the hanging racks and just ran out of shelf space. We fit everything, but was tight. Additionally, there is no close line in the bathroom for hanging up bathing suits or other wet items - only a couple of knobs to hang a few things from. We are glad we brough a number of magnetic Hooks to use on the walls (which are metal) as it allowed us to hang things like hats up but also put nearly-but-not-quite dry bathing suits to air out and finish drying - and just not get other stuff damp.

Bonus tip: Bring at least 1 more swimsuit than you think you might need, but also try to not overpack other items as storage is at a premium.

 

 

6. Bring Ear Plugs if You are a Light Sleeper

While we overall really liked the room we had and the rooms in general on Icon, thought I would mention another slide negative thing we found which is that the walls appear to be quite thin as we could definitely hear our neighbors on both sides - with one group being rather loud with quite a bit of screaming (from both kids and adults). If you are someone who needs things really quiet to sleep or just wants quiet when relaxing in the room, consider bringing ear plugs or headphones or something that can block sound out

 

5. If You Are Debating It, Get the Drink Package

I know the drink package, especially for this ship, is expensive - but if you are someone who is contemplating getting it, go for it. There are sooooo many unique bars and drinks on this ship that we got so much use out of our package and really enjoyed trying different things that we might not be as open to ordering (for fear of not liking it) if we were paying per drink.

Also, consider doing a bar crawl as motivates you to check out the different bars and different drinks - and you can spread it out over the course of the cruise, you don't need to do it all in one day

 

4. Similarly, If Contemplating The Empire Supper Club - Book It!

Speaking of things that are not cheap, we got to experience the Empire Supper Club and it did not disappoint - one of the best meal experiences i have had in my life. The food was wonderful and creative, really interesting cocktails - with some pairings I would never have thought of but worked - and excellent music that absolutely complemented the meal without taking away from being able to have conversations. And probably the best service I have ever had on any cruise ship.

It's probably not something you are going to do every cruise but for a special occasion or if just something you think will appeal to you, go for it! A meal like this on land, when factoring the cocktails and entertainment, would likely cost 2-3x what they are charging. 

 

3. Pearl Cafe is a Game Changer

One of the best changes they made for this ship was the opening up of the promenade and the addition of the pearl Cafe. I cannot overstate how much of an upgrade this is over Cafe Promenade. The setting is lovely with the large windows, view of the Pearl, and the artwork above your head. The food is really, really good - the steak and egg breakfast sandwich become an everyday item for me - and it is open 24 hours a day.

I will say the line for the coffee where you can get lattes and the like made with Starbucks coffee can get rather long - the crew there is working hard, just lots of people want their coffee!

 

2. Seating for the Shows - Including Non Reserved Seating for the Aqua Show.

Royal Caribbean entertainment is generally amazing and what is found on this ship is no exception - probably don't need me to advise you to go see the Wizard of Oz, the Ice Shows, or the Aquashows ... but for each, here are a few tips for where to sit.

Wizard of Oz - do you best to sit in the lower section, as close to the middle as you can, but if only thing available is on the side that is fine too. Just being closer to the stage is great and a number of effects will, literally, go over your heads and really adds to the experience

Ice Shows in Absolute Zero - Outside of a few seats that may have a pole impacting your view, there really aren't "bad" seats, but I would advice to get as close as you can and even going for the front row. Especially for the secondary show which is aimed at families as we had the kids in our group sit in the front row and at times the performers would come by and give them high fives and they loved that.

AquaAction - this is probably my best tip overall all. The reservations for the shows in the aqua theater (there was only one ready on our sailing) are just for the wooden benches and chairs within that area, NOT for the chairs behind the benches. We wanted to see the show twice and just showed up early and found we could just sit in the chairs at the back and they are way more comfortable than the wooden benches (plus have tables for your beverage or a crepe from the Aquadome Market). While slightly further away, the view is just as good and I would take these over the area the reservations are for

 

Before my #1 tip a quick bonus: Ranking the Water Slide

We did get a chance to ride all of the water slides in Thrill Island and I would rank them in this order

1a/b - Storm Chasers Mat Slides: These were definitely my favorite as they were fast, fun, long, and had great lighting effects in the tubes. The lighter blue colored slide was my favorite, but both were excellent

2 - Hurricane Hunter: This is the pink colored family raft slide and was an absolute blast - also very long and with a lot of different lighting effect. Just not as fast/adrenaline filled as the mat slides, but really, really fun

3 - Storm Surge: This is the green colored family raft slide with the "leaf" that goes out over the edge of the ship. This was also quite fun but just noticeably shorter than Hurricane Hunter. Also, they were only allowing 3 people in this one vs 4 for Hurricane Hunter.

4 - Pressure Drop: The yellow drop slide that is located with the raft slides. This is a straight forward drop slide and rather short, but gives a kick of adrenaline and is overall a positive experience. 

5 - Frightening Bolt - I feel a bit bad listing this one last as it does what it says it will do, which is dop you, and then is a nice long ride after the drop, but the drop was pretty severe/hard and I wound up banging my head some. Just was one of those "well I did that and don't need to again". By far the most "extreme" of the slides

 

1. Dueling Pianos is an Absolute Must Do - But Get There Early!

One of the most fun experiences I have had anywhere let alone on a cruise ship was at Dueling Pianos on Icon of the Seas. The level of talent and engagement with the crowd is off the charts and just singing along with hundreds of strangers/new friends and laughing with the antics of the performance, you just can't not smile. The "bit" they do for Piano Man was one of the funniest things we have experienced in quite a while.

That said, it is really popular - you will want to get there at least 30 minutes prior to showtime if you want a seat and you will, unfortunately, see people "Saving" seats with drinks for an hour or prior like they are deck chairs. You can see the large crowd reflected in the mirror of this photo

 

Also, the earlier shows seem to attract more kids and they try to go with the crowd (I mean, they did take a request for Baby Shark) so I would suggest going to a later show for the full experience where it gets a bit more "PG-13"

 

And there you have it - my top 10 list of tips and thoughts from our week long cruise on Icon of the Seas. I could probably add 10 more but this post is already more than long enough.

 

If you have sailed on Icon of the Seas, what tips to you have for new cruisers? If you have a sailing upcoming what other advice would you want to know?

[Lovetocruise2002]

Great summary!

Totally agree about trying all the drinks at the unique bars (a month later and I still desperately miss Rye & Bean), and bringing hooks (no storage), and just about every point that you made!

[CanHardlyWait]

2 hours ago, TheMaxRebo said:

We just finished up an amazing week on Icon of the Seas, sailing from February 17th to the 24th of 2024. We were a family of 5, staying in an Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony room, and there were definitely some things we learned along the way and since lists are always fun thought I would share some of them in a Top 10 format

Obviously this is all just based on our experience and everyone cruises differently, but thought this could create some discussion and would be interested to hear tips from others who have cruise on Icon as well. Also should mention the ship was not at full capacity yet - there were about 6,000 total guests, with 1,200 of them being children. Also, we were seeing them making some tweaks to schedules and what is included in various packages, pricing for things .... basically, your experience may differ from what ours

With that out of the way, here we go ....

 

10. You Will Need to Prioritize What You Want to Do

This goes without saying but this is a massive ship with a ton to do and a ton of new stuff not seen on other Royal Caribbean ships. Because of that at the end of the week my wife and I were commenting about the things we didn't get to. For example we never ate at El Loco Fresh and never visited the Sports Court - whereas on our last cruise those were two locations we spent a lot of time at. A week goes really fast and if there is something you are really looking forward to checking out, make it a priority / add it to you "calendar" in the app. 

 

9. Consider Skipping a Port To Stay On the Ship

On a related note, you may want to take advantage of a less crowded ship when in port to accomplish more of your priority list. We found on sea days the pool decks to be very crowded and longish lines for water slides and crowded venues. We decided to not get off the ship when it docked at Perfect Day at Coco Cay and it turned out to be a great call as we got to check out multiple pools and hot tubs, ride the water slides a bunch, attended a trivia session with only 3 total groups, not lines at bars, minimal folks in the Hideaway Area pool, ... you get the idea. Just to give you an idea, here is a photo of the Royal Bay Pool, the main pool in Chill Island, at about 11am:

It was just really nice to explore this ship with low crowds and made for a really relaxing day. 

 

8. You Don't Need to Pack as Many Mutli-Port Adapters

One thing the rooms on Icon have is outlets, especially USB ports. Between the desk, the shelf near the TV, in the bathroom, by the beds - there are outlets all over the room. Our room also had multiple USB-A outlets near the bunkbed area. If I counted correctly, we had 4 US Outlets, 1 European Outlet 10 USB-A Outlets, and 2 USB-C outlets.  We did utilize one multi USB-A plug on the desk just to keep things more organized with phones and battery packs, etc. but we absolutely could have made it through without anything. This is very different than other ships where we felt like we had multiple multi-port adapters in use at all times.

There are also outlets out around the ship with the Overlook area having an exceptional amount and a great place to go if you need to get on a laptop or similar.

 

7. You Will Want to Pack Magnetic Hooks to Hang Things From in the Room

One negative things we found about the rooms (and heard from others as well) is the lack of storage compared to other ships like the Oasis class. For our family of 5 we struggled to fit everything on the hanging racks and just ran out of shelf space. We fit everything, but was tight. Additionally, there is no close line in the bathroom for hanging up bathing suits or other wet items - only a couple of knobs to hang a few things from. We are glad we brough a number of magnetic Hooks to use on the walls (which are metal) as it allowed us to hang things like hats up but also put nearly-but-not-quite dry bathing suits to air out and finish drying - and just not get other stuff damp.

Bonus tip: Bring at least 1 more swimsuit than you think you might need, but also try to not overpack other items as storage is at a premium.

 

 

6. Bring Ear Plugs if You are a Light Sleeper

While we overall really liked the room we had and the rooms in general on Icon, thought I would mention another slide negative thing we found which is that the walls appear to be quite thin as we could definitely hear our neighbors on both sides - with one group being rather loud with quite a bit of screaming (from both kids and adults). If you are someone who needs things really quiet to sleep or just wants quiet when relaxing in the room, consider bringing ear plugs or headphones or something that can block sound out

 

5. If You Are Debating It, Get the Drink Package

I know the drink package, especially for this ship, is expensive - but if you are someone who is contemplating getting it, go for it. There are sooooo many unique bars and drinks on this ship that we got so much use out of our package and really enjoyed trying different things that we might not be as open to ordering (for fear of not liking it) if we were paying per drink.

Also, consider doing a bar crawl as motivates you to check out the different bars and different drinks - and you can spread it out over the course of the cruise, you don't need to do it all in one day

 

4. Similarly, If Contemplating The Empire Supper Club - Book It!

Speaking of things that are not cheap, we got to experience the Empire Supper Club and it did not disappoint - one of the best meal experiences i have had in my life. The food was wonderful and creative, really interesting cocktails - with some pairings I would never have thought of but worked - and excellent music that absolutely complemented the meal without taking away from being able to have conversations. And probably the best service I have ever had on any cruise ship.

It's probably not something you are going to do every cruise but for a special occasion or if just something you think will appeal to you, go for it! A meal like this on land, when factoring the cocktails and entertainment, would likely cost 2-3x what they are charging. 

 

3. Pearl Cafe is a Game Changer

One of the best changes they made for this ship was the opening up of the promenade and the addition of the pearl Cafe. I cannot overstate how much of an upgrade this is over Cafe Promenade. The setting is lovely with the large windows, view of the Pearl, and the artwork above your head. The food is really, really good - the steak and egg breakfast sandwich become an everyday item for me - and it is open 24 hours a day.

I will say the line for the coffee where you can get lattes and the like made with Starbucks coffee can get rather long - the crew there is working hard, just lots of people want their coffee!

 

2. Seating for the Shows - Including Non Reserved Seating for the Aqua Show.

Royal Caribbean entertainment is generally amazing and what is found on this ship is no exception - probably don't need me to advise you to go see the Wizard of Oz, the Ice Shows, or the Aquashows ... but for each, here are a few tips for where to sit.

Wizard of Oz - do you best to sit in the lower section, as close to the middle as you can, but if only thing available is on the side that is fine too. Just being closer to the stage is great and a number of effects will, literally, go over your heads and really adds to the experience

Ice Shows in Absolute Zero - Outside of a few seats that may have a pole impacting your view, there really aren't "bad" seats, but I would advice to get as close as you can and even going for the front row. Especially for the secondary show which is aimed at families as we had the kids in our group sit in the front row and at times the performers would come by and give them high fives and they loved that.

AquaAction - this is probably my best tip overall all. The reservations for the shows in the aqua theater (there was only one ready on our sailing) are just for the wooden benches and chairs within that area, NOT for the chairs behind the benches. We wanted to see the show twice and just showed up early and found we could just sit in the chairs at the back and they are way more comfortable than the wooden benches (plus have tables for your beverage or a crepe from the Aquadome Market). While slightly further away, the view is just as good and I would take these over the area the reservations are for

 

Before my #1 tip a quick bonus: Ranking the Water Slide

We did get a chance to ride all of the water slides in Thrill Island and I would rank them in this order

1a/b - Storm Chasers Mat Slides: These were definitely my favorite as they were fast, fun, long, and had great lighting effects in the tubes. The lighter blue colored slide was my favorite, but both were excellent

2 - Hurricane Hunter: This is the pink colored family raft slide and was an absolute blast - also very long and with a lot of different lighting effect. Just not as fast/adrenaline filled as the mat slides, but really, really fun

3 - Storm Surge: This is the green colored family raft slide with the "leaf" that goes out over the edge of the ship. This was also quite fun but just noticeably shorter than Hurricane Hunter. Also, they were only allowing 3 people in this one vs 4 for Hurricane Hunter.

4 - Pressure Drop: The yellow drop slide that is located with the raft slides. This is a straight forward drop slide and rather short, but gives a kick of adrenaline and is overall a positive experience. 

5 - Frightening Bolt - I feel a bit bad listing this one last as it does what it says it will do, which is dop you, and then is a nice long ride after the drop, but the drop was pretty severe/hard and I wound up banging my head some. Just was one of those "well I did that and don't need to again". By far the most "extreme" of the slides

 

1. Dueling Pianos is an Absolute Must Do - But Get There Early!

One of the most fun experiences I have had anywhere let alone on a cruise ship was at Dueling Pianos on Icon of the Seas. The level of talent and engagement with the crowd is off the charts and just singing along with hundreds of strangers/new friends and laughing with the antics of the performance, you just can't not smile. The "bit" they do for Piano Man was one of the funniest things we have experienced in quite a while.

That said, it is really popular - you will want to get there at least 30 minutes prior to showtime if you want a seat and you will, unfortunately, see people "Saving" seats with drinks for an hour or prior like they are deck chairs. You can see the large crowd reflected in the mirror of this photo

 

Also, the earlier shows seem to attract more kids and they try to go with the crowd (I mean, they did take a request for Baby Shark) so I would suggest going to a later show for the full experience where it gets a bit more "PG-13"

 

And there you have it - my top 10 list of tips and thoughts from our week long cruise on Icon of the Seas. I could probably add 10 more but this post is already more than long enough.

 

If you have sailed on Icon of the Seas, what tips to you have for new cruisers? If you have a sailing upcoming what other advice would you want to know?

I would think those chairs in back are for Dimond plus or handicap etc. It's good to know they aren't reserved for any one group. The seating in the aqua theater doesn't look so great for the 55 and over crowd backs. I like a little back support. Thanks.

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

The seating in the aqua theater doesn't look so great for the 55 and over crowd backs.

I am not even in that age bracket yet and my back was hurting after a while.

[TheMaxRebo]

9 minutes ago, CanHardlyWait said:

I would think those chairs in back are for Dimond plus or handicap etc. It's good to know they aren't reserved for any one group. The seating in the aqua theater doesn't look so great for the 55 and over crowd backs. I like a little back support. Thanks.

There are some areas that are marked as for handicap (they have plackards with the handicap symbol on them) - I'd say that was like 25% of the area or so. 

[Curt From Canada]

Excellent summary … thank you. I am afraid you may know what I am going to ask:

This is a real long shot, and from pictures we have seen it appears the venue is not set up for it. Still, just to make sure:

Is dancing in the “2 Pianos Venue” encouraged, discouraged, not possible?

Our minimum is a 12 ft by 12 ft “solid surface” (no carpet) … but we have danced in our small kitchen 8 ft by 8 ft (at the cottage).  

Any thoughts, would be greatly appreciated …

Curt from Canada (and my “happy feet” Soulmate)

[LandstromCruise]

Great summary thank you. I am going on Icon at end of August and this will be very useful. 

[TheMaxRebo]

5 hours ago, Curt From Canada said:

Excellent summary … thank you. I am afraid you may know what I am going to ask:

 

This is a real long shot, and from pictures we have seen it appears the venue is not set up for it. Still, just to make sure:

Is dancing in the “2 Pianos Venue” encouraged, discouraged, not possible?

Our minimum is a 12 ft by 12 ft “solid surface” (no carpet) … but we have danced in our small kitchen 8 ft by 8 ft (at the cottage).  

Any thoughts, would be greatly appreciated …

Curt from Canada (and my “happy feet” Soulmate)

So there definitely isn't a dance floor area so don't expect to be able to do the dancing that I think you are looking for

 

They will do bits that involve dancing - for example I got asked to lead a conga line and at one point they had a couple that was celebrating a baby moon come up to dance in front of everyone, stuff like that ... but it is mostly about the performers and singing along

[Matt]

@TheMaxRebo Mind if we turn this into a blog post? You bring up good tips and a different perspective! email me please matt @ royalcaribbeanblog .com

[CanHardlyWait]

5 hours ago, Matt said:

@TheMaxRebo Mind if we turn this into a blog post? You bring up good tips and a different perspective! email me please matt @ royalcaribbeanblog .com

Make him cough up the big bucks! LOL.

[GatorCruiser]

Absolutely fantastic write up. Thanks. I do pub crawls daily. Hahahaha. Going in August with the progeny. Can’t wait !

[Jamesszy94]

If I ever get to sail on Icon or Star... I'll definitely come back to this post and refer to it, great write up.

[CanHardlyWait]

Congratulations on the article!!!!