RCCL Fan

me too, i was on the website using it, had just logged in using my apple keychain and it kicked me off, tried to log back in and I was told my password was wrong. I instantly knew.... IT... dept.

thanks twangster, that's good to know... it's a November sailing so it will likely be dark, but either way we all want to be up there, but don't want to all run out of our chops reservation hahaha.

I read the thread... no time mentioned, just that they were eating dinner and it happened. I'm trying to avoid that, and hoping someone can help me out and has an idea of the timing. Thanks though

Sailing out of Tampa for the first time... and booking dinner for the first night. I don't want to miss us sailing under the bridge. What time does the ship usually arrive at the bridge.

So I won't say it's unsafe, didn't have those concerns at all. If I were in there as a couple it would be totally fine, as four it's just too tight walking around. As for the closets, don't worry. There's a TON of storage, and space. I don't see any concerns there. Bathroom is gorgeous There's just a lack of square footage, and too small a space to walk in with the couch folded down.

Mine is the crown plaza right across from the port, if you're flying in sleeping, and getting on the ship the next day. the Hyatt in downtown FLL for something nicer if you're staying a bit longer and the diplomat if you're with the family and making an extra day out of it.

My daughter and her cousin went to MDR for lunch alone with no issues.

You're correct in this, when the sofa bed it out, there is minimal space to walk between the two. If you're on the opposite side of the bed it's very hard to get around. Pretty yes, efficient, not at all. Can't recommend the JS

I'm assuming it does, we never once watched TV in the room, so I have zero clue!

We said we would go check out that cabin to see it for ourselves, and we never made it back there. The way it was described to me is that it wouldn't fit a teen, just very small children

I don't know anything more than what they shared with me about the multi generational connection. I can't imagine being chosen again for anything like that, was kinda a one time thing. I don't think they know anything about me and cruise critic.

I'm sure others can verify, I wasn't trying to suggest that, I just was sharing my memory of stopping by twice and there was no music. I don't know if it was tactical, a change in service, or my one off experience.

Sorry for the lack of clarity. Remember this was not a revenue sailing. This the was cruise BEFORE in the inaugeral. Basically on board you had 1) travel agents to have a chance to see the ship they would be selling 2) media and vloggers to cover the naming ceremony 3) Employees of RCI 4) RCI Board Members 5) Selected and invited guests We were in the fifth category. Guests invited onboard. As we said from the second we got the call, we would have been thrilled to sleep in a lifeboat and shower in the gym, we were just thrilled to be there. This all happened very last minute, many people found out their cabin when they arrived at the pier, some a few days before. We got our room assignment on the Saturday before our Monday flight to Miami. We were originally assigned a surfside family suite. We had never had a boardwalk facing room, we're ocean lovers. but again lifeboats, totally thrilled. The morning of the cruise as we were leaving the hotel we looked at the app and saw our room assignment had changed to a junior suite. Our contact in Mr. Bayley's office told us when they originally assigned us the surfside room they didn't realize the pullout couch in that section was designed for very small kids and wouldn't have worked for our oldest. So the morning of the sailing they tried to find us something else still open and that's how we got then junior suite. They had so many VIP's on board, who were being booked by department heads at the company, not reservations people, they were trying to make it work and cater to everyone's needs, and they did an amazing job, especially considering it's not what they do! Having the JS was great because again it's our normal choice, and it was good to see how it compared on Icon, and we got our oceanview, with a traditional balcony, not the infinite one. The "class" system didn't really mean anything, because of the special voyage. The suite area was open to everyone onboard. Drinks, Voom, Lounges, were all free. None of the specialty restaurants were taking reservations, you were chosen by Royal whether you got one or not. Everything was predetermined by the cruise line. Because we were "invited guests of Mr. Bayley" we were given what was called an "angel"; which was the same as a "genie". There weren't enough genies for the number of VIP's onboard. Our "angel" worked at Guest Services, but totally and completely took on a genie role for us in additional to his normal duties. I just didn't explain all that in the review.

Ha, I just answered something very similar on another thread. Here are our class choices as a family. 1) ICON -- she's so well done 2) Voyager -- not too big, not too small. she's the perfect balance of both worlds 3) Vision -- Small ships hit different. love them bring us to new islands and know us by name! 4) Oasis -- she offers a lot but has gotten too crowded on some of the newer ships especially. (Wonder was too crowded for me) 5) Radiance -- same as vision, they could both be in 3rd place honestly 6) Freedom -- not a fan because she's just the voyager with more people, I'll take voyager instead 7) Quantum -- feels like an after thought ship stolen from celeb, small ship trying to be big, no VCL, ugh But yes we were spoiled by Icon, I meant to add that in my summary. I've fallen in love with having a genie. They can keep the suite, just let us buy the genie service hahaha. But it was impossible not to be spoiled on this ship, partly for the ship herself, and party because of the treatment we experienced.

1) ICON -- she's so well done 2) Voyager -- not too big, not too small. she's the perfect balance of both worlds 3) Vision -- Small ships hit different. love them 4) Oasis -- she offers a lot but has gotten too crowded on some of the newer ships especially. 5) Radiance -- vision like 6) Freedom -- not a fan because she's just the voyager with more people, I'll take voyager instead 7) Quantum -- feels like an after thought ship stolen from celeb, small ship trying to be big, no VCL, ugh

We didn't stay all day. I don't know. I got off the ship around 11am. Spent morning at Chill Island. Left after lunch to walk around, (1pm ish) went to the pool, it was empty, quiet, no DJ and water was cold. Left, went to other spots on the island. Hideaway Bay was pumping. Can back to main pool 2:45ish on my way back to the ship, pool still empty other than a view folks who told us they were from Canada and the cold water didn't both them, no DJ though.

Let me tell you Star class will really pamper you, the genie, walking you to the best seats in the show, where they've been reserved for you. And even better when the genie messages you after you get home to make sure travel went smoothly, you didn't need anything else, to track down those photos you forgot to buy, and get the thing you wanted in the gift shop but didn't get. It's a whole different experience.... at a cost. lol

Here's my experience with it. Granted we were there with Icon and Vision so not two big ships. But Hideaway seemed to be a recreation of what the main pool area is, without kids. A big pool, with a bar, and yes there was music going, and adult only. It really was the exact same thing as the main pool just without kids. Now the day I visited the main cool was FREEZING, like majorly FREEZING and Hideaway wasn't. But I'm thinking there may have been a mechanical thing. And the DJ was no longer at the main pool area, it was peaceful. There was live music at the captain jacks area though.

You have to remember staff changes, staffing levels change, managers change, cooks change. I've had great experiences and not so great ones. Get onboard, do the first night or two in CK and then pivot if you need to. I've not enjoyed the MDR since all the changes and have shifted away, but I just got off Icon, and while I didn't eat in the MDR, the food in Windjammer was so good, I know it had to be. Just depends.

Thanks my North Texas neighbor! It's so weird to go back and look at past ones and see how my girls have "grown up" cruising. Truly nice to know so many others enjoy our impressions and opinions. Appreciate you sticking around.

Leaving the ship was a breeze. The usual windjammer breakfast. It was only a 3 night so didn't bring a lot of stuff and decided to carry our luggage off the ship. Royal had arranged our driver who direct drove us to MIA for our flight home. My takeaways ***ICON is impressive, really really impressive. I was NOT thinking she was for me based on number of passengers and some of the amenities, but I was wrong. Wonder for example felt so OVERCROWDED to me when I was on her, I was like I don't know what's going on with these ships, but I feel like they're packing too many people in them, where Oasis never felt crowded when I first sailed her Wonder was claustrophobic at times for me. So hearing they were adding more passengers, and seeing the photos of ALL THAT STUFF. I was like, nope. I was SO WRONG. Much like when Oasis came out, you can't let the numbers scare you. This ship handles crowds so well. I know we weren't sailing anywhere near full capacity, but she felt so empty, I wasn't concerned thinking about sailing with another thousand plus people. The ship is so well laid out to maximize the space and draw people to the areas of the ship that aren't normally busy, I really see it handling the crowds well. ***ICON is for families, but NO that doesn't mean it's a ship for small children, far from it, she's a ship for everyone. There are so many spots for adults that aren't kid friendly. If you're a person who isn't a big fan of little humans, there are plenty of places for you on ICON, i think she will surprise you. What RCI means by she's designed for families, is there are places for the little humans, and places for the big humans. Separation is considered, as together areas. Is she a celeb ship where everyone's reading books, and quietly sipping wine, NO. But does she have sections that appeal to people of different backgrounds and wishes, absolutely. ***Food Quality is amazing. If you saw my review of Vision last year, you know Royal lost major points from me with the quality of food. While I never ate a single meal in the main dining room this trip, I can tell you that my windjammer meals, and grab and go meals in other parts of the ship were so well prepared, so tasty, and so the Royal I've always known. ****My love affair with the viking crown. There's just something so "iconic" about the Viking Crown, It's how you spot a RCI ship from anywhere. It's the crowning achievement, and in my view a requirement of all their ships. Even though they stopped calling them Viking Crown on the newer Oasis class ships, they were still physically there, and I loved seeing them. The Quantum class ships well, I've never been a fan, they're celeb Solstice class ships with a Royal badge on them in my opinion. So, I missed the VCL and was so disappointed to see the cruise line felt she wasn't a part of their future. As someone who loves the promenade, loves the big ships with all the stuff, I also love the water, being at Sea, and need to feel the connection to her. Never do I feel that more than that view from VCL. The overlook may not be a VCL but she gives me those same feels, those same views of the ocean, she's quiet, calm, sea connecting, relaxing, and just peaceful. I wish they'd just call her the VCL because she is. lol ***Direction challenged Another VCL beauty to me was she helped me always know which way was front or back on the ship. I looked to her when on the pool deck to help me find my way. There's some art that purports to do the same, but it's harder on Icon. I found myself never quite knowing which was was forward and which is aft. My family never can figure it out and always ask me, I have a good sense of those things and could always answer with 95% accuracy. Not on icon, I was turned around a lot. Both atriums were too similar, it was hard ti discern one from the other and be able to tell which one was the "little one" up front, and which one was the "big one" in the back. Yes there are signs, but man, you kinda just want to know. There are also less views from the atrium out so it's harder to look outside for bearings. On the Promenade, I like to use the Rising Tide as my direction finder. If I see her, I know which way is aft, I know where the "big atrium" was but without her I was always lost as to which way was forward and back. *****Staterooms Some I loved, some I hated. As I shared JS are our go to cabin, similar to a hotel room, space for the four of us, and double C&A points. Thats where we always start. It won't be on Icon, the layout , while aesthetically pleasing, does not work for space and we were so on top of each other in that room. I couldn't do it again. No way. For our family, I think the infinite family balcony with bunkbeds looks like a good choice, plenty of space there for everyone, even though it has the infinite balcony which I don't like at all. Even better the connecting balconies are awesome. The new design, puts one door outside and lets you walk between the two cabin doors is very very appealing and may be choice for us in the future. Suites.... honestly... the sunset balcony are amazing. I'd get those in a heart beat, may still be a little small for four, but still a beautiful room I could make work. The others I didn't really think were anything amazing especially when the most expensive one having views of the pool deck more than the ocean. We loved the ship, we'd sail her again and again. Not at the current prices, but when they calm down we'll be back. I encourage all of you on the fence to roll the dice, give her a while, I think you'll really like her. As small ship lovers, even we all agree, she is our favorite ship. Send your questions, I'll do my best to answer!

Sea Day -- Lets sea it! Woke up this morning at Sea to enjoy all things ICON. We decided to get up and explore the ship and find all the stuff we haven't seen yet. We started out with wondering, where the heck is the ice skating rink. We hadn't seen it. We realized it was at the very back on the ship, essentially "under" the surfside, and the ultimate townhouse. We ventured back there, and they were preparing for the nights show and not too crazy about the prying eyes. So we left. This part of the ship was interesting. You essentially go to the entrance of surfside at the very back of the ship. On the left was an entrance and hall to a side of the ship where you find the art gallery which was essentially a tiny "booth" and a gift shop, and then playmakers. She is really tucked away back here. I would have never found it. Which, after being on about 5 ships with a playmakers I still haven't eaten or drank there. We tried on odyssey, but left due to the wait. Anyway you have the art gallery, gift shop, playmakers, and behind that, the sunken ice skating rink. Its funny because I always heard it had to be low and center but they put her a little higher and all the way aft On the other side of surfside is Adventure Ocean which my kids have zero interest in anymore. My oldest always loved it, but during the pandemic, they made my daughter sit on her little circle and not move off of it for personal space reasons and that was it, has refused to go back ever since. So we made our way down to Surfside to check it out. This is the one area I questioned on ICON. It was almost entirely "little kid" centric. They have a kids cruise director type guy down there, and it's very like pre school aged focused. My 9 year old found it comical. Candy store, merry go round, arcade, and the kiddy fill the bucket and dump it on you just didn't really appeal to my little. Perhaps it's just that she's not so little anymore. This area of the ship didn't have a lot of people in it, and I started thinking about it. Would I be content sitting back here all day long with my kids when they were super little. I really didn't think so. I needed some more adult stuff mixed in to make me be cool with sitting back here on kid duty while the rest of the family explored the ship. Perhaps if I was in a chair drinking I would have thought differently. Here's the beauty of it, my wife couldn't disagree with me more. She said if she had the littles she would LOVE hanging out here all day. She said there was plenty to keep them busy, nice drinks for her, food for the littles, and stuff she would eat too. I have to admit the kid buffet was very well done and decorated so well. She thought every mom of littles would be totally cool down here for the day. Shows you what I know. To bolster my point, my kids live for the arcade, and they didn't go down there once this trip, I they needed another one upstairs near base camp for the older kids. Because they were just tool cool for that spot. My oldest has never gone to the teen club, but I didn't see it. I'm sure it was around her somewhere. Anyway back inside to explore the ship. We broke apart, with me the oldest voyagering around this time. She remarked that we didn't spend much time in Schooner Bar, which is a small ship staple for us. I told her big ships, just have too much to do, you don't sit with the same people night after night singing tunes.... and to be honest, dueling piano may have out performed schooner in the sing along department. We headed up to the pool deck and enjoyed some of the oversized loungers and sat and talked. My oldest said the naming ceremony was really moving for her. She said thinking about me and my grandma sailing when I was a kid, me and her mom having one of our first dates on Oasis, married on Indy, and the memories with them is crazy. She said, "I can never ever see me not cruising Dad" We talked about whatever guy she meets is going to have to love it too. I talked about how special it will be when she and her sister both have their own families, and both come aboard with their spouses and kids and I'm grandpa, paying the bills and having my big family together. We both got a little misty eyed. We're both pisces... emotional, sentimental, and sensitive. haha. After that our genie texted, time for a tour of the bridge. Oh! how exciting!! He met us in our cabin, and walked us up to the bridge. He said he was as excited as us as he had just been there once briefly, and he was really excited to get up there, especially while we were out at sea. He took us in and first thing we noticed was Rover had the coolest dog house up on the bridge, apparently the bridge crew loves having her up there. One of the officers showed us around, we've done these tours before where we looked around and took photos but this officer truly took the time to show us what certain things did, how they worked, how the computers were programmed and us on our route, It was really impressive to learn so much about the process involved plotting our course and keeping her on track. We learned we were due to meet the pilot at 2am that morning and head back in. Afterwards, it was time to head for desserted, the place with the crazy milkshakes. We had stopped by before because the kids were super excited for this spot, but they were only giving out small samples. But have and genie and well all doors open. Victor brought us in, waved his magic wand and two oreo cookie mega milkshakes were delivered. My wife and I swapped kids again, and I took little to the outdoor area behind the Pearl to enjoy the sea air and her big ole dessert. After that it was time to do Crown's Edge. We had an appointment and oh my goodness. There was like never a chance in heck I would do this. If I have one phobia, it's falling. It's weird heights don't bother me. I love planes, and tall buildings. Love a glass elevator going up but hate it going down. Roller coasters anything where I fall fast is a hard no. So the part where the floor gives way made this a heck no for me. All three girls signed up, even the little, but bad news. Even though she was tall enough, they didn't have a harness small enough for her. She was just too tiny for the smallest one, and couldn't do it. She was sad. While her mom and sister did their safety briefing we found this cool table soccer game. You take a seat, and kick the ball and try to get into the other person's goal. I could have done this all day we were having so much fun, people were stopping to take pics. I was convinced we needed one for home, until I looked it up and saw it was like 5 grand. I'm not the handy type, but I was like I can totally make this with some artificial grass and pvc pipe for $100 bucks. hahaha The girls did amazing on Crowns Edge we cheered them on and they both loved every minute of it. After this we got ready for what stood to be a busy night. We were invited to the corporate cocktail party. It was again at the overlook which is I think my favorite spot on this ship.... total Viking Crown Replacement. Michael Bayley and Jason Liberty threw a party to thank all the employees who had worked so hard on the ship. We showed up, and he again recognized us and thanked us for being there. We got photos and got to meet many people from the company and talk about RCI. Everyone from the Food & Beverage VP to loyalty. They genuinely wanted to hear our thoughts of their respective departments and it just felt so welcoming. My wife who worked as a corporate HR director before becoming a stay at home mom said that she loved seeing the way in which employees looked at their leaders. You could tell they genuinely liked them and liked working for them. It made our hearts feel good and again but so thankful to be here. We left the party early for dinner. We had reservations at Pier 7 for dinner tonight, the new specialty restaurant in Surfside, but the girls really wanted Giovanni's again. Youngest craving pizza and the oldest a filet. My wife and I were game as we weren't sure Pier 7 was going to be for us. Thankfully Victor was able to make it happen and we swapped for us. Dinner was great, and we got a text from Danny Harr from Harr Travel who was wrapping up a meeting and was going to meet up at Giovanni's. He pulled up a chair and we talked and talked for the longest, So much so that we were going to miss our appointment at the ice show. They had planned to have our kids take part some how, but everyone was enjoying dinner so, we really wanted to stay. I apologized profusely and they totally understood. After dinner we did keep our spots for The Wizard of Oz in the main theater. Victor had saved us seats and walked us right in, before show time. The show was amazingly impressive. Nick Weir told us ahead of time that they had not ever had all the parts, and props in place to do the whole show as intended until tonight. So we were going to get to see the whole thing for the first time. It was impressive, very very well done. I highly recommend it. A little hit if you like the Wright Brothers plane scene on Wonder, you'll love this one even more. After the show, we went to the bar in the Promenade, 1400. We had the new cool martini's with the big bubble on the top, because why not. It was super cool to see happen. Although, I don't know that I loved the martini so much. My oldest and I went to hit up the logo store, our last night tradition on board. Of course we keep the tradition even though they're always sold out of everything by the time we get there. There was a sweatshirt we both wanted, and they were all sold out. We got one little thing, and said oh well! Hopefully we can get our hands on a sweatshirt again down the line. While we shopped my wife and youngest were out on the walking track burning off some energy before bed, and guess who came running down the track but Rover. She was out for a night walk too and saw Cailyn and ran towards her, almost as if to say, "Hey, I know you!" They played together and it made little's night and trip. After that we headed to bed for our final sleep and exiting Icon in the morning. I'll do one more short post with my final thoughts.

Coco Cay Day Woke up this morning to the voice on the left side of my head calling me home.... small ships! Vision of the Seas was parked outside our balcony. We LOVE vision, and have had some of our best cruises on her. There was our old friend seemingly waving hi, and with a little disdain as we were cheating on her. Close your eyes vision!!! When we sat home fighting single digit temperatures, the beach seemed like the solution to all our troubles, how much we craved a little time on CoCo Cay. Now we were here, but it was a struggle, do we go soak up the sun, or stay onboard and try to enjoy more of this impressive ship? We couldn't totally skip the Cay, so we headed to the promenade for some starbucks and then down the escalators. Ok Can I say I love these? two flights down escalators and boom you're at the door. No more elevator crowding and getting pushed on stairs for deck 2. This experience was simple, smart, and so perfect. Once pierside I was able to truly see Icon for the first time.... holy ship! Next to Vision she really stood out. Our Cococay day was good for us. New! Our first time here we did the water park, every time after that it was coco beach club. Its so quiet and serene and that lunch is the best. We've never really experienced much of the rest of the island. My girls are into Volleyball, so they wanted to play a game of sand volleyball which we did and enjoyed at Chill Beach. I know South Beach is the sports section and we were headed there, but we drove right by this empty volleyball net on the traam and said, chill beach it is. Not going to bore you with cococay details.... i can sum it up as usual.... perfect day, with a brief passing shower, as it always seems to be. Great water, beach, sand, and relaxation time. By 2pm we headed back to the ship, the girls immediately went to Thrill Island and I to meet our genie to get a new seapass card. In 4 visits to Coco Cay, I've lost my sea pass all four times and this was no exception hahaha. Junior Suites gon't get genies, but they arranged for us to have one anyway. He was amazing, such a kind and helpful man. My wife and I decided to hit the hideway while the kids were water sliding. I will say that pool is a little small, but we could only imagine what the view would be like on a sea day with the wake behind the ship. We weren't there long before we felt four eyes glaring on us, yep the kids found us, and their expressions were like, "oh hanging out in the part of the ship we can't go in, thanks a lot" We laughed, but took the guilt, and hopped out. I took the youngest to play minigolf, which is a cruise regular for us. There were lots of improvements to the minigolf, it was more complex with more hazards throughout. I found lots of grown men playing it which was super cool to me, we were behind a late 20's guy and his dad.. and in front of two guys in their 50's laughing drinking and having a ball. It made me smile. Afterwards we tried the snacks at basecamp, wasn't anything I overly liked food wise, but the idea, of basecamp is perfect. `Food and drinks and comfy seating while the kids slide and minigolf, and you're not hogging a pool chair. Just a smart design all the way around. Met back up with the rest of the family at Swim & Tonic, the swim up bar. The funniest thing was when I first got in I saw these pink floating things in the water and thought a kid had left their toys. I started to gather them up and the group there drinking started laughing. They had done the exact same things. It wasn't toys but a menu of drinks available at the bar. They're designed to float in the pool and you can just grab and pick something nice. This is as perfect time as any to give you my big complaint with our voyage on icon. There were no blenders in many many bars. As someone who loves frozen drinks on vacation and consume my weight in frozen mojitos and mudslides anywhere other than certain pool bars didn't have blenders to make frozen drinks. All the bars were pushing their own unique drinks on their own menu's at each bar. I was not a fan. But I later was told by a reliable RCI corporate employee that this was just for the VIP sailing and there would be blenders moving forward. While the Swim & Tonic we were intrigued by Munyons Paw Paw and citrus liqueur or some sort. We had never seen or heard of it, and the bartender made my wife something with it so she could have a taste. I opted for the strawberry sunset, and our bartender made his "famous mocktail" for the girls. We all hopped in the hot tub and enjoyed them until it was time for sail away and we waved goodbye to vision. I mentioned earlier, "The Overlook" which Danny from Harr Travel first told me I had to check out. I am a huge Viking Crown Lounge fan and have HATED Royal moving away from them on recent ships.... I avoid the Quantum class for this reason, and really missed it on Wonder. Danny kept saying go to the overlook so we went to check it out but it was closed for a private function. On one side we found a raised seating area, just outside the official overlook that still let us enjoy it, and Danny was right. The Overlook was amazing. What a view! It totally had VCL vibes, and I thought it could be a great replacement to the VCL. I said we'd have to come back when we could take in the full thing. We were headed out of the Aquadome when we heard our names. This man embraced us and introduced himself as one of the Board of Directors. He saw Mr. Bayley introduce us at the naming ceremony and he wanted to connect personally. We talked briefly and he asked why we were leaving. We told him about the private party, and he laughed. "It's a board of director's party, and I'm on the board, so I say you come crash it." He and his wife took my daughter by the hand, and away we all went. Random us crashing the RCI Board of Directors cocktail party. We met CEO's of airlines, fast food chains, Mr. Bayley called for Rover to come up to the party to meet the girls. My youngest and Bayley were both loving on the pup. We heard and saw how much Rover and Bayley love one another. She ran to him, and he just lit up. He told us Rover lived with him for a while when she was a pup and yes, they've become super attached. It was really sweet. We left the board to do board things, and went down to Central Park, which again feels weird to say, as it's an area we never frequented on Oasis, but we got there for dinner at Izumi. It was typical Izumi fun and yummy hibachi. We oddly enough dined with relatives of one of the board members and shared stories about our day. If everyone hangs out in the pool deck by day, they are all in Central Park and the Promenade by night. There was live music in both venues and people mingling and talking, laughing and drinking. I couldn't get over the energy in both to be frank. The Promenade is always a hub of activity but the new bar, 1400 adds a lot of energy as does Dueling Pianos. Its usually Bolaros and the Pub where you hear life in the evening.... well they were quiet on this ship. The new places were hopping. The cruise directors staff also put on some music shows which were well attended, like a "one hit wonder" party that night. It had a conga line going.... there was another conga line on the second deck of the promenade from dueling pianos, and people were cheering on the live musician in Central Park. Royal ships can often get quiet at night, but not this one, there was a party atmosphere all evening, and people truly enjoying the ship. This was my first time trying Sorrentos on Icon. They have new convention pizza ovens, like a whole wall of them and pizzas were being cranked in and out of them like crazy. The new ovens make a difference, as both my kids agreed the Pizza tasted "much better than normal" This was a great day on ship and shore, and we just kept pinching ourselves to really be here. Tomorrow --- Sea Day --- and time to really explore this ship.

An Iconic Night The naming ceremony got underway in the aquadome on the front of the ship, and this area was another big surprise for me on Icon. Yes, there was the indoor aquatheater as expected, but walk past it, like backstage and there's a huge lounge area with windows which I can only describe as the biggest most beautiful viking crown lounge. More on that later. The naming ceremony was invite only, and the people in the room were really cool. We saw everyone from the widow and daughter of Royal Caribbean's founder, to Danny Harr of those Harr Travel videos on youtube. Mario Lopez from Access Hollywood hosted the festivities as everyone from Chairman Richard Fain to one of the company's oldest employees. In his speech, Michael Bayley asked us to stand as he shared our deep connection to Royal. From my sailing with my grandmother on Sun Viking when Bayley was the purser onboard, and my high school graduation party with a good chunk of my graduating class I talked into going on Monarch, to my wife and I bringing both our families onboard Indy for our wedding, and my youngest taking her very first steps running down the hall to our aft cabin on Serenade... and we are still here, every year sailing with Royal and pledging to make new memories for years to come. I know we're just one of millions who have strong connections to this to the cruise line, and it was our honor to represent all of you, the loyal customers, at this ceremony. We all gathered to watch the ship's ICON Lionel Messi use a soccer ball to hit a button, purporting to drop the largest bottle of champagne you could imagine on the bow of the icon. I can't begin to tell you the energy that was in that room... there were longtime employees who were emotional, you could see those like Harri Kulovaara and Kelly Gonzalez who if you read of watched any press about the new build process you've seen. This night meant a lot to the team who built this ship, you could just feel it in the room. The room was showered with confetti and then it was a big party of mingling, picture taking, and listening to the huge fireworks show happening outside the ship. Which we missed as we were too busy talking to everyone. After the ceremony, my wife wanted to meet Mario Lopez, who was her crush in high school from Saved By The Bell. He was having dinner in Chops, but the folks at Royal arranged a meet for us. I thought it was funny that while everyone chased Messi around the ship, my wife was on Mario Lopez watch, my daughter surprisingly was too, but she's at that age where photos with celebs are always good for her cred. So we made that happen, and did get a photo with the soccer ball used to drop the champagne, signed and everything by Messi. I'm sure it will live in Jason Liberty or Michael Bayley's office for years to come. Ok enough of us, back to the ship. We had dinner that night at Giovanni's. Royal tried hard to choose family friendly places for us for dinner. Little did they know this diamond plus diva's are all about just about any restaurant in the fleet. Giovanni's is a fan favorite in our family, so we gladly pulled up a chair. I had an amazing filet, everyone loved their dinner, although I still might think Giovanni's on Odyssey is the best. After dinner we went to Dueling Pianos, the new spot in the promenade. I'm from New Orleans, where RCI got this concept from. Tim one of the performers who has a long history on Bourbon Street and he put on a lively show that had everyone outside in the promenade trying to get in. My kids and I have a tradition of having long, deep conversations together one on one late night on each cruise. So my oldest and I got in the hot tub, and discussed everything high school, college & beyond, mixed with a little family dynamics and friend drama. The pool deck was empty and it was beautiful to take her in at night all lit up and showing of fher newness. We realized at midnight that there was the big balloon drop in the promenade, but we were about 5 minutes late when we rushed down there from the pool deck. We still grabbed a drink (mocktail for her of course) and enjoyed some time together before joining the rest of the family for a good night's sleep before our single island stop, in coco cay.

We are Icon Bound! Temperatures are in the 20's, and we hop the late flight out direct to Miami Monday night, pre cruise. Surprise vacations are really special, and being the one who plans our family trips, I can't tell you the last time I've had a surprise vacation... the 90's maybe. Our flight was bumpy and I kept telling the girls that this was just us escaping all those cold temps, and while we may not win parent of the year for pulling them out of school, we did insist they keep up with missed assignments and had them work on the plane. We had a driver waiting for us, and headed over to our hotel for the night, the intercontinental, across from the portn of Miami oddly with the flight crew from our flight. We all checked in, super late and snuggled up, excited for this long anticipated trip. I woke up the next morning, to the window wide open. Our room was directly across from RCI corporate offices, so my youngest thought it was the terminal and that ICON would be docking right there, right in front of us. She kept saying, she's still not here. I got up and pointed to the ship about halfway down the island.... she went back to sleep. Same driver from the night before was waiting for us the next morning. He said, "I asked for the route, you guys were so kind and excited, I wanted to be bring you to ship" We were humbled by his words. We were dropped off at the terminal which was our first time sailing from the new Miami terminal. So much nicer than the FLL terminal. We were in a junior suite, and directed to the suite entrance where we were escorted up an elevator to the Suite lounge area. One person checked all our documents, while my daughters made a bee-line to the doughnuts and chocolate covered strawberries on offer for suite guests. In less than five minutes we were walking through the gangway and onto the ship. Immediately, the entrance to the ship was new, impressive, with the royal logo and a lights surrounding the doors.... a few more steps inside and there is the Pearl right in front of you, her flat panels moving and glimmering under color changing lights. As someone who in Icon's build kept saying, "Well what does it do?" I got my answer, impress you with her beauty as an amazing piece of artwork and engineering. Just to the right of the entrance was starbucks, which on this sailing was free for everyone onboard. Free starbucks? My kid was in heaven and made it her first stop. She set a mission to sample all thing weird trendy drinks she hadn't had yet. One of the things I loved was muster stations were all along the promenade. We immediately found ours, in the theater and checked the safety drill off as one of the very first things we did. Icon immediately impressed me in decor. She felt upscale like Celebrity, while having stunning art around the ship. We like so many of you immediately wanted lunch. We first tried Aquadome marketplace, with some awesome options, however they weren't very (picky eater) kid friendly, so Windjammer it was for us. Well, windjammer was unlike any windjammer I've ever been inside of. Sure it's a preview sailing so everything was going to be a little extra... like filet mignon and small lobster tails but besides the nice selection the food was very well prepared, and higher quality than I've had on other ships recently. Really thick burgers, well seasoned chicken,I truly enjoyed my meal. After we walked the ship and wound up in Central Park which I have to say is really one of the big game changers of Icon. She wasn't just an quiet little outdoor area, She was alive with people. There was a champagne bar added, which was quite popular. Izumi and Chops had little outdoor demos happening, there was music and a much larger bar. Central Park felt like an outdoor promenade, a true second promenade that was a hub of activity. There were still flowers and plants everywhere, just not quite as "quiet" as previously... but still beautiful. Another big difference to this ship was the pool deck. She's very re-imagined. She's not linear. There's no more go to the top, walk outside on two alleys on each side of the pool to the other atrium. Nope, Instead there are walls, and nooks, that divide up the space a ton. sections of pools with walkways going in different directions. You will find nooks of seating around the pool deck too. There are tons of different little alcoves to go in and find a great view in or out, and lots and lots of seating. But what took my breath away over and over again was the height. You know how on most ships, there's a main deck, and then the elevated deck of chairs. But seriously, take in how tall the deck is, it really changes the feel of the place. Well not here.... first of all the main deck feels two decks high, it's tall and open and airy. But in addition some bars, and hot tubs, and what not are on different levels. So I often found myself looking for something and not being certain if it was on level 17 or not. It definitely was a new ship, not Oasis 2.0 as some have called her. She has a style and feel all her own. By then our rooms were ready and we headed back to check out the junior suite. This room was my first disappointment on Icon. It felt smaller, significantly smaller than other junior suites. The layout was different with the bed facing out. Perhaps that was the issue, but junior suites are our favorite typically, for the space they provide. I just didn't feel like this one measured up for holding our family of four. Of course our last cruise on Vision we were in the two bedroom, two bath suite, so maybe it skewed my opinion, but the Junior Suite didn't do it for me. Here's a link to my quick youtube review of it. This made me curious how some of the other rooms were on board, and on this sailing there were a lot of travel agents so they had all the room types open for review and tour. So we checked them out, including the ultimate family suite which boggles my mind on how many people are able to drop 100K on one week at sea but hey, knock yourself out! hahaha I walked away from it going no way, my daughter had stars in her eyes and was like "someday" But hey there was a slide. Two of our favorite rooms the sunset balcony suites were both gorgeous, amazing layout, balcony, and views. The other is the family infinite balcony with bunkbeds, while not a suite, these are perfect for families with two kids, and I think will be high on our list. I've never been a fan of the infinite balcony, preferring a traditional one instead of what to me amounts to just a really big window to open, but I'd put up with it for those bunkbeds for my kids. Next we checked out surfside, this one was only neighborhood I wasn't so sure about. It had everything for littles, I'm talking 0 - 6 years olds. If you're a parent of kids in this range, you will literally live in this part of the ship. From food to games, to water toys, candy, food, and arcade. Everything someone in that age group could want would be here. However, I do think if I were a parent of kids that age, I don't know how long I would be able to sit back there. Or if I had kids who were older they wouldn't want to be there. My youngest is 9 and she had little interest. I would see us on the pool deck trying to find something for everyone rather than all of us being content to be with the littles. This would be the spot if you had grandparents who wanted to come and spend time with the babies all the time. Adventure Ocean is right next door and I think that's perfect. My wife on the other hand thought surfside was perfect and that she would be totally cool down there all day with the girls when they were little. So there's that too. Everyone has a different opinion. I did really like the windjammer for kids down there. Upstairs toward the rear of the ship is Thrill Island or what I like to call the mess of waterslides that in pictures makes many of us say "that ship is too much" Well In real life it doesn't look overwhelming at all. Its a great offering of slides where you can spend hours going from slide to slide, it's not a one trick pony. It doesn't in my opinion overwhelm or make the ship look unappealing, I think she serves her purpose and added to the sports complex, and minigolf (which was majorly upgraded with all kinds of cool hazards) I think this area would appeal to a ton of families. Basecamp has a nice bar, and there's good food there. it's where families of older kids would definitely hang. I understand why Royal didn't immediately name the hideaway adult only because it's right next to this high traffic kid area. but there's enough separation for it to work. Getting tired yet? This ship just goes on and on, and on.... So why don't I take a break here. I'll come back later with the Naming Ceremony and sail away, and the first of many VIP's we saw this week. Stick around!