Great week on Icon

[ShayGonz]

We just returned from the the June 1st-8th sailing on Icon of the Seas as part of a 50th birthday celebration for my brother-in-law. We have cruised on several cruise lines and on Royal Caribbean before. We were a little hesitant about trying Icon due to the number of passengers and the number of children since we are empty nesters. Those fears were unfounded. We had a fabulous week on the ship. It never felt crowded and the children while present seemed to stay mostly in the kid designed areas. The service was excellent, and we felt like we got personal service even though we were amongst 7500 other passengers.

 

Pre Cruise- We flew into Miami on Friday morning. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel.  It is very close to the port and the service is phenomenal.

 

Embarkation- We received the express boarding pass (following all the instructions from this blog) and were on the ship at 10:30 having a drink within 15 minutes of the Lyft driver dropping us off.

 

Room- We had an ocean view balcony, room 8212, on the 8th floor.  The location was great right by Central Park. My only complaint would be our balcony was next door to the permanent window washing apparatus and it has lighting on it that stays lit up all night. Very minor but it just means you can never have a completely dark balcony.

 

Dining- We had the unlimited dining plan, so we never ate in the main dining room. We enjoyed Chops, Hooked and Giovanni’s. The Trellis Bar in Central Park also has some small plates that we ate for dinner one night.

 

Empire Supper Club- I cannot recommend this enough. The service, food, performers, and cocktails were amazing.  I would say it was comparable to some of the other higher end food/wine/bourbon pairings we have done in the past.  It was one of our favorite experiences of the week. 

 

Excursions- 

St. Martin- We joined the rest of our family at the Sky Explorer and Flying Dutchman excursion through Royal Caribbean.  It was a fun experience however the Sky Explorer broke down when we were halfway up the mountain. This turned a 3-hour excursion into a 5 hour event.

 

St. Thomas- We booked a private catamaran through Someday Charters. This included snorkeling at a beautiful coral reef and another snorkeling stop at secluded cove with lots of sea turtles. The captain and mate were wonderful. 

 

Coco Cay- We booked tickets for Hideaway Beach. It was a fun day with the swim bar, DJ and games. This is more of a party vibe and would not be for those hoping to relax. 

 

Entertainment- We enjoyed all of the shows. The Legends of Rock was a great throw back to our 80’s rock days. We participated in several of the trivia activities and spent a lot of time at Dueling Pianos and the Karaoke Bar.

 

Crowns Edge- We booked Crowns Edge for the last sea day. This was a lot of fun and you get to do the course two times. They gave us the videos as part of the ticket price, and you have the opportunity to purchase the pictures. 

 

All Access Tour- We booked the All Access Tour for our second sea day. We had a small group of 12 other cruisers with two guides. This included a tour of the galley, the engineering room, the laundry areas, the crew housing, and restaurant areas as well as a visit to the bridge. We had an opportunity to meet the head chef and the Captain.  It was an interesting tour; however, I would caution for those with mobility issues there is a lot of walking and stairs to climb. 

 

Disembarkation- We did self-assist, and we were off the ship and in a cab to the hotel by 6:20 AM. Our flight home was not until the evening, so we were able to book a day pass at the Intercontinental Hotel where we stayed pre cruise.

 

It was a wonderful week, and we look forward to trying Star and Utopia in the future. 

[SplashOfWater]

We were on the same sailing and had the same concerns about the amount of passengers and children. We found the vast majority of the children to be very well-behaved. Yes, there were some running around and there were babies crying during the Wizard of Oz, but that's to be expected and it didn't ruin our vacation. Overall, the ship never felt really crowded (except maybe for the pool deck). I think the wider promenade handles the flow of people really well. During sea days we were able to find some quiet spots to spend the morning. The Overlook at the front of the ship is a beautiful spot to watch the ocean. The AquaDome theater has some comfy seats in back and you may even catch some of the performers practicing for the show.

We found the new elevator system to work really well. My husband has a mobility scooter and there were a couple of occasions where we couldn't fit in our assigned elevator. But these occurrences were far fewer than we've experienced on the Oasis-class ships.

We didn't use the pools but passed by the Royal Bay pool a few times on a busy sea day. That pool was packed with people. There wasn't much space to move around. The other pools on the ship were much smaller than I expected. I think there are more pools, but the smaller sizes mean they will be packed. You are better off staying on the ship during a port day to enjoy the pools.

The shows were fantastic. They've done such a great job with The Wizard of Oz. The sets and costumes were beautiful. The Aqua Action show in the AquaDome is the best water show we've seen on a ship. It reminded me of a Cirque du Soleil show. They can do so much more in the enclosed space than they can on the Oasis-class ships.

[tonyfsu21]

6 hours ago, ShayGonz said:

We just returned from the the June 1st-8th sailing on Icon of the Seas as part of a 50th birthday celebration for my brother-in-law. We have cruised on several cruise lines and on Royal Caribbean before. We were a little hesitant about trying Icon due to the number of passengers and the number of children since we are empty nesters. Those fears were unfounded. We had a fabulous week on the ship. It never felt crowded and the children while present seemed to stay mostly in the kid designed areas. The service was excellent, and we felt like we got personal service even though we were amongst 7500 other passengers.

 

Pre Cruise- We flew into Miami on Friday morning. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel.  It is very close to the port and the service is phenomenal.

 

Embarkation- We received the express boarding pass (following all the instructions from this blog) and were on the ship at 10:30 having a drink within 15 minutes of the Lyft driver dropping us off.

 

Room- We had an ocean view balcony, room 8212, on the 8th floor.  The location was great right by Central Park. My only complaint would be our balcony was next door to the permanent window washing apparatus and it has lighting on it that stays lit up all night. Very minor but it just means you can never have a completely dark balcony.

 

Dining- We had the unlimited dining plan, so we never ate in the main dining room. We enjoyed Chops, Hooked and Giovanni’s. The Trellis Bar in Central Park also has some small plates that we ate for dinner one night.

 

Empire Supper Club- I cannot recommend this enough. The service, food, performers, and cocktails were amazing.  I would say it was comparable to some of the other higher end food/wine/bourbon pairings we have done in the past.  It was one of our favorite experiences of the week. 

 

Excursions- 

St. Martin- We joined the rest of our family at the Sky Explorer and Flying Dutchman excursion through Royal Caribbean.  It was a fun experience however the Sky Explorer broke down when we were halfway up the mountain. This turned a 3-hour excursion into a 5 hour event.

 

St. Thomas- We booked a private catamaran through Someday Charters. This included snorkeling at a beautiful coral reef and another snorkeling stop at secluded cove with lots of sea turtles. The captain and mate were wonderful. 

 

Coco Cay- We booked tickets for Hideaway Beach. It was a fun day with the swim bar, DJ and games. This is more of a party vibe and would not be for those hoping to relax. 

 

Entertainment- We enjoyed all of the shows. The Legends of Rock was a great throw back to our 80’s rock days. We participated in several of the trivia activities and spent a lot of time at Dueling Pianos and the Karaoke Bar.

 

Crowns Edge- We booked Crowns Edge for the last sea day. This was a lot of fun and you get to do the course two times. They gave us the videos as part of the ticket price, and you have the opportunity to purchase the pictures. 

 

All Access Tour- We booked the All Access Tour for our second sea day. We had a small group of 12 other cruisers with two guides. This included a tour of the galley, the engineering room, the laundry areas, the crew housing, and restaurant areas as well as a visit to the bridge. We had an opportunity to meet the head chef and the Captain.  It was an interesting tour; however, I would caution for those with mobility issues there is a lot of walking and stairs to climb. 

 

Disembarkation- We did self-assist, and we were off the ship and in a cab to the hotel by 6:20 AM. Our flight home was not until the evening, so we were able to book a day pass at the Intercontinental Hotel where we stayed pre cruise.

 

It was a wonderful week, and we look forward to trying Star and Utopia in the future. 

Glad you had a great time! Icon is really amazing. I am excited for Empire Supper club in November during our Thanksgiving holiday sailing.