Icon class not independent Family friendly

[Generalchadwick]

Let me preface this by saying I have not been on Icon this is just observations. I'll be on Star September 2025.

First off generally the class looks family friendly what Im talking about is the independence side of it. What I mean by not independent family friendly is for example on sea days on let's say Oasis Class ship, DW and I can post up in chairs at the beach pool and we feel confident to let our DDs (6 and 11) go play in the kids pool area right next door and do the slides while we can relax. Where as the splash area for my 6 yo is all the way down in the boardwalk isolated from other water stuff my 11 yo would want to do and doesn't have the same relaxing atmosphere as the beach pool does.

 

This isn't at all a deal breaker for me just an observation.  And I get that there are people that want those items separated to this degree.

 

I will try to remember to come back and comment on this after we sail.

[ChrisK2793]

57 minutes ago, Generalchadwick said:

Let me preface this by saying I have not been on Icon this is just observations. I'll be on Star September 2025.

First off generally the class looks family friendly what Im talking about is the independence side of it. What I mean by not independent family friendly is for example on sea days on let's say Oasis Class ship, DW and I can post up in chairs at the beach pool and we feel confident to let our DDs (6 and 11) go play in the kids pool area right next door and do the slides while we can relax. Where as the splash area for my 6 yo is all the way down in the boardwalk isolated from other water stuff my 11 yo would want to do and doesn't have the same relaxing atmosphere as the beach pool does.

 

This isn't at all a deal breaker for me just an observation.  And I get that there are people that want those items separated to this degree.

 

I will try to remember to come back and comment on this after we sail.

We were a group of 15 on Icon in February…….. 8 adults and 7 kids. All the kids except 1 were 11 to 14. The other 1 was 4, it was a HUGE INCONVENIENCE that for the 4 year old to use the kid’s pool area, 1 or both of her parents had to be 6 floors below the rest of the group and their older kid.

I totally agree …….. putting the little kids pool area down there was the most stupid idea ever.

 

[jeffmw]

I did think about this when I first saw the design. The objective was to split up the usual high-traffic areas to prevent anywhere from being too crowded -- which it does a great job of -- but for anyone with kids of split age groups, this does present an issue. 

But... these ships are increasingly built to be like theme parks with distinctly different areas. And if you've ever been to Disney or any other type of theme park or water park with kids of different ages (where one wants to ride coasters while the other wants to meet Cinderella, or one wants to be in the kiddie pool while the other wants to go on slides), you know you either need to split up or compromise. 

To me, it's not that different from any other Royal boat where there are things to do all over the ship. I often find myself going with one kid to karaoke while my wife takes the other to play sports. Then there are times when we say to one of them, "too bad, we're going to stay together and spend time as a family now." It's just a reality of being on a massive ship with a million things to do. 

I've gone on cruises with just my family of 4, to groups as big as 5 families, all with kids of various ages. It's hard and perhaps even unrealistic to keep everyone together on a cruise when there's so much to do. 

 

[ChrisK2793]

6 minutes ago, jeffmw said:

I did think about this when I first saw the design. The objective was to split up the usual high-traffic areas to prevent anywhere from being too crowded -- which it does a great job of -- but for anyone with kids of split age groups, this does present an issue. 

But... these ships are increasingly built to be like theme parks with distinctly different areas. And if you've ever been to Disney or any other type of theme park or water park with kids of different ages (where one wants to ride coasters while the other wants to meet Cinderella, or one wants to be in the kiddie pool while the other wants to go on slides), you know you either need to split up or compromise. 

To me, it's not that different from any other Royal boat where there are things to do all over the ship. I often find myself going with one kid to karaoke while my wife takes the other to play sports. Then there are times when we say to one of them, "too bad, we're going to stay together and spend time as a family now." It's just a reality of being on a massive ship with a million things to do. 

I've gone on cruises with just my family of 4, to groups as big as 5 families, all with kids of various ages. It's hard and perhaps even unrealistic to keep everyone together on a cruise when there's so much to do. 

 

‘Six floors down would have been a great spot to have the Adults Only Area and had the little kids area right behind the waterslides where the Hideaway adults area is now. That would have made much more sense.

 

[jeffmw]

8 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said:

‘Six floors down would have been a great spot to have the Adults Only Area and had the little kids area right behind the waterslides where the Hideaway adults area is now. That would have made much more sense.

 

That's a fair point. Obviously there's less regular need to move between the adults-only area and the waterpark than the waterpark and the splash park. 

But it seems to be a lot more complicated than that. For example, what then do you do with all the Boardwalk balcony rooms? That's a couple hundred rooms that would look out over the adults area. I don't think the adults looking to get away from children would enjoy having dozens of kids in rooms above them staring down and making noise, and you definitely can't make all those rooms adults only. So, my guess is putting the adults area there was an impossibility that would've demanded a redesign of the whole ship. 

They spend years designing these things, so there's rhyme and reason to everything and logistical things we don't know about. 

[ChrisK2793]

3 hours ago, jeffmw said:

That's a fair point. Obviously there's less regular need to move between the adults-only area and the waterpark than the waterpark and the splash park. 

But it seems to be a lot more complicated than that. For example, what then do you do with all the Boardwalk balcony rooms? That's a couple hundred rooms that would look out over the adults area. I don't think the adults looking to get away from children would enjoy having dozens of kids in rooms above them staring down and making noise, and you definitely can't make all those rooms adults only. So, my guess is putting the adults area there was an impossibility that would've demanded a redesign of the whole ship. 

They spend years designing these things, so there's rhyme and reason to everything and logistical things we don't know about. 

‘some kids on balconies (which I’ve rarely seen or heard when in that area on ships) would be better than the constant noise of kids screaming on the waterslides right next to the current adult area in the hideaway

 

[jeffmw]

21 hours ago, ChrisK2793 said:

‘some kids on balconies (which I’ve rarely seen or heard when in that area on ships) would be better than the constant noise of kids screaming on the waterslides right next to the current adult area in the hideaway

 

Icon is a theme park on the ocean. If having a quiet, serene area for just adults is a major factor in selecting your cruise, you're best off going on a different boat. 

It's the old Ricky Gervais joke of going into a coffee shop and spotting a flyer for guitar lessons and getting pissed off and screaming "I don't want guitar lessons!!" Icon simply isn't for you. If you're on that ship and you're upset about kids making noise, that's not Royals fault. They've been telling you over and over that's what Icon is. Icon isn't for people who want a relaxing, adult vacation. There are entire cruise lines for that. 

[ChrisK2793]

9 hours ago, jeffmw said:

Icon is a theme park on the ocean. If having a quiet, serene area for just adults is a major factor in selecting your cruise, you're best off going on a different boat. 

It's the old Ricky Gervais joke of going into a coffee shop and spotting a flyer for guitar lessons and getting pissed off and screaming "I don't want guitar lessons!!" Icon simply isn't for you. If you're on that ship and you're upset about kids making noise, that's not Royals fault. They've been telling you over and over that's what Icon is. Icon isn't for people who want a relaxing, adult vacation. There are entire cruise lines for that. 

Did you not read all of my posts?  I said it’s dumb to have the little kids area so far away from everything else ………. I said they if they were going to have a pool,area 6 floors away from everything else, it should have been the adult area …….. it’s dumb to make families of mixed age kids have to split up because of how the pools and water slides are up top and the little kids area is 6 floors away. I didn’t say adults needed a quiet area …… somebody else said that and I said 6 floors away for adults would be quieter than being next to the water slides where it is now.  I could care a less if the adults area is quiet or not …….. but it would have made more sense for the little kids area to be next to the water slides and the adults area to be the one that’s so far away instead of making families of kids with varied ages have to split up.

[TXCoastPatriot]

12 hours ago, jeffmw said:

Icon isn't for people who want a relaxing, adult vacation.

Thank you for the confirmation…and warning.  Been a lot of discussions past few cruises with couples questioning if Icon is truly a family packed theme park.  Apparently there is truth to the rumors.

I’m out.

[tonyfsu21]

11 hours ago, TXCoastPatriot said:

Thank you for the confirmation…and warning.  Been a lot of discussions past few cruises with couples questioning if Icon is truly a family packed theme park.  Apparently there is truth to the rumors.

I’m out.

I wouldn’t outright dismiss Icon based on all the poppycock above. Despite the comments, there are PLENTY of areas for adults to relax on Icon. The Aquadome is pretty incredible and the hideaway is actually relaxing (maybe not during spring break). The noise level from the slides has been exaggerated. IMHO, the Icon is the best ship in the fleet for anyone! There are so many options for dining/drinks with live music venues all over the ship. 

[tonyfsu21]

Here’s relaxing for you:

[ScottD]

18 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

I wouldn’t outright dismiss Icon based on all the poppycock above. Despite the comments, there are PLENTY of areas for adults to relax on Icon. The Aquadome is pretty incredible and the hideaway is actually relaxing (maybe not during spring break). The noise level from the slides has been exaggerated. IMHO, the Icon is the best ship in the fleet for anyone! There are so many options for dining/drinks with live music venues all over the ship. 

But the OP still makes a good point- it's definitely not designed great if you have kids of varying ages, but I'm sure it's great if you are just adults, OR have one or two kids in the same age range.