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We cruise Royal without kids and have found it to be very enjoyable; we do generally avoid the school holidays. As mentioned, the outdoor adults only pool is unique to Icon at this stage (and in fact, was a last minute switch if I understand correctly). We are looking forward to experiencing it in May. As also mentioned, that leaves you with Icon or the soon to launch Star on the assumption this holds true on all Icon class ships. For the Oasis class ships, as also mentioned, that leaves you with only the Solarium for adults only pool areas. I will say we generally do not like "indoor" pools either, but while the Solarium is "mostly" closed but it's not entirely closed such that it provides sufficient airflow and openings not to feel claustrophobic like other closed pool areas. You could also take a look at the Voyager or Freedom class ships which have an open air solarium.

Vitali is amazing. We had him on his last cruise on the World Europa (the Dubai to Europe leg). He got off in Genoa and had a short break before heading to the Euribia. Definitely top notch service!

One of the best suggestions I ever read on this Board was to print a small note with all your preferences before you leave (including all the items known/mentioned here as well as anything else critical for your cruise enjoyment - such as being clear if you want ice refreshed twice a day or need an extra blanket...etc). We then give this to our butler on day one when we meet....we have never been disappointed. I think the butlers are all very eager to please, but they all have different styles (some don't think to ask some of these questions), they support a variety of cabins (not always easy to remember if you've already asked these questions with all the boarding madness going on) and they rely to varying degrees on the assistant butler (hint, we print TWO of these notes and give one to each of our butler and assistance butler). Making your (reasonable) expectations clear up front is a recipe for success.

Some questions from me: Would love a general review of the concierge services. Were they able to get you any reservations (show or restaurants) that you wanted on the days/times you wanted? How are the reserved areas for the shows? How far in advance did you feel you needed to arrive to still get a good seat? Review of dining in the signature restaurant and post any menus.

For us, the loss of Central Park 150 is a big negative as this has been our favorite UDP location and we almost always spent two nights there. Our Chops experiences have never been as good as Central Park 150. Effectively you've lost Central Park 150 and Wonderland (plus the Mason Jar on Wonder) with the only (dinner) additions on Icon being either FREE or not covered by the UDP.

A few observations from me: 1) as to the original question, when we buy the UDP we do not visit the MDR at all. Has nothing to do with food quality or comparing the two; simply, we cruise RCCL enough that when we have the UDP we want to make the most of the UDP options. The RCCL MDR menus are fairly static across the fleet, so we know we'll get to enjoy the MDR food on a cruise when we don't buy the UDP. We used to look at the MDR menu's for the week and were occasionally tempted to skip a UDPrestaurant when there was a menu we particularly liked (but in the end, always concluded we'd get whatever it was on our next cruise). Now there is virtually no rotation in menu for the MDR, so even less incentive to skip a UDP option (in our minds); 2) agee with the assessment that UDP on the Icon doesn't make as much sense as the Oasis class ships where there are BOTH more UDP options and fewer interesting alternatives. For a first time Icon cruise, I'd feel like I was missing out if we dedicated ourselves to the UDP given all the new and interesting non-UDP options. It's a strange dynamic and we're watching UDP adjustments for the Icon closely as I suspect RCCL will have to tweak things here or they're going to see much lower UDP yields on this ship. 3) as to your idea to make individual reservations ahead of time and cancel on-board, this is a long standing strategy many Cruise Critic folks have employed. As mentioned above, effectively when you cancel on-board, it get's credited to your on-board account and can be refunded at the end of the cruise if you still have a balance. HOWEVER, I will note that there have been several reports lately of a) people being hassled about cancelling their reservations on-board and b) a refusal to let them keep their reservation times for use with the UDP. This is a mess of RCCL's creation and they had committed to permitting pre-cruise reservations with the UDP, but it's yet to be seen. We have never had trouble getting some sort of reservations, but have faced some complexity trying to weave it in with entertainment bookings.

In May, my sailing is showing it at 212.99 regular price, offered at 169.99 with 20% discount (but showing sold out - no idea why they list it with a discount when it's sold out).

We were considering getting it for the following: 1) It gives us internet, so we're only looking at the incremental cost over a 2 device internet package; 2) We thought early boarding would be nice on such a big ship - is that not the case? 3) We also thought that it would be nice to have a reserved seating area for the shows - not necessary? 4) We'd likely book a couple of specialty restaurants to use the 10% off to further defray the costs. However, if 2 and 3 not particularly valuable on the Icon, we may drop it (we weren't particularly focused on the special lunch).....thoughts?

Any updates on where the UDP credit is valid?

Thanks so much for the video. We have this exact room in May...can't wait. Any noise from the deck above? This was the only potential concern we had....but we absolutely love an "aft" balcony view...and these balconies looks like a great size!

How is a la carte working now with the UDP. Is it $20/day total or just per venue?

I have been watching the reports from the first cruises and am I missing something or is there little value in the UDP for this ship? It looks like unless you want to repeat the few specialties included multiple nights (only Chops, Izumi Sushi, Giovanni's and Hooked appear to be included) that you will struggle to get value. There is a discount for the Supper Club and Izumi Hibachi, but by the time you add the up charges, I'm struggling to see the value vs the Quantum class ships. No Central Park, no Wonderland and no Mason Jar (I know that's only on Wonder). Combine that with all the extra free options added to this ship (which you'd have to skip in favor of repeating the above) and it seems like a big miss to me. Am I missing something? Have they perhaps added more a la carte credits (beyond Playmakers) for Icon?

Interesting topic. We sailed the World Europa Repositioning cruise from Dubai to Genoa this year in the YC. About a month before sailing we realized a colleague would also be on board but not in YC. We met them several times for drinks in the main portion of the ship. Come to find out they are very regular MSC cruisers but had never sailed in the YC, not knowing if it was really worth the extra cost. We asked our Butler if they could join us for dinner in the YC restaurant one night. The butler informed us this was possible, subject to the YC Hotel Director confirming it would not be too busy on the night we selected and that there would be a EUR 70 fee (if I remember correctly). She then suggested that it would also be possible to invite them for a drink in the YC lounge if we paid for their drinks. Finally, she said in any case she could arrange a "tour" of the YC spaces for them. We opted to have them into the lounge for a couple of drinks, after which we went down to the speakeasy. I add to this conversation as our Butler seemed to treat this as a quite appropriate request which had been thought about and a contemplated response.

As mentioned, your butler can get you tokens. Alternatively (and if not in YC) rumor was being friendly to the officers was another way to get tokens.

Yes, the Yacht Club was full. There was only a single cabin available in the whole YC. We had no issues with the kitchen nor seating. It did occasionally get busy (about 7:30/8pm) and they did run low on some items toward the end of the cruise (before we hit Naples). But otherwise, no issues.