Icon of the Seas Blocks Are In The House!

[Biker19]

17 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

I'll stick with Grandeur.  🙂

 

 

You mean Vision?

[Fairsky84]

Obviously, for this debut the marketing departing is heavily emphasizing families. I suspect in the coming months they'll have more photos and press releases to highlight features for adults—including more about the Pearl, undisclosed dining venues, bars, spa features, etc. 

I counted at least 10 unidentified restaurants, bars, and venues. So there's definitely more to come.

Edited October 20, 2022 by Fairsky84

[BecciBoo]

I'm prepared for megabucks fares but we'll make this our swan song cruise, even if we have to sleep in a closet!  I'd like to do the official inaug but we'll see....I'm salivating for that Panoramic cabin.

[Biker19]

 

It seems the 5600 double occupancy capacity RCI had in their SEC filing was very close all along

[sdrocks]

We haven't decided if this ship is appealing enough for us.  Agree with others that it's very kid targeted.

Love my grandkids, but a ship with this potentially many kids is not where we want to be.  May try it just to check it out, but will be $$$ driven .

[Biker19]

Other info at the press center site: Icon of the Seas (royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com)

[Biker19]

10 ft longer than Wonder, 15K GT bigger, about 60 fewer cabins but max capacity of about 500 more (and about 150 more max crew).

Edited October 20, 2022 by Biker19

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, sdrocks said:

Love my grandkids, but a ship with this potentially many kids is not where we want to be.  May try it just to check it out, but will be $$$ driven .

Sail during off season - Wonder already on the GGG flier with some discounting after less than a year in service.

[talkorpi]

Kind of agree with the consensus here.  Icon just seems like Oasis class with a few minor tweaks.  I was hoping that all of this talk of a "revolutionary design" and it being the "most innovative game-changing ship the industry had ever seen" meant we would be getting something a little more... different.

 

This isn't necessarily a bad thing in my opinion, as a lot of the new features look interesting.  Still, I can't help but be a little bit disappointed considering how much hype there was.  Oh well - time will tell and we will find out for sure how this works out in 2024!

[sdrocks]

5 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Sail during off season - Wonder already on the GGG flier with some discounting after less than a year in service.

Oh definitely.

[StephPS79]

3 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

Kind of agree with the consensus here.  Icon just seems like Oasis class with a few minor tweaks.  I was hoping that all of this talk of a "revolutionary design" and it being the "most innovative game-changing ship the industry had ever seen" meant we would be getting something a little more... different.

 

This isn't necessarily a bad thing in my opinion, as a lot of the new features look interesting.  Still, I can't help but be a little bit disappointed considering how much hype there was.  Oh well - time will tell and we will find out for sure how this works out in 2024!

 

Definitely disagree with the consensus then.  I think this ship looks pretty innovative.  It shares some similarities with Oasis class, but again, it's a cruise ship!  

 

I'd be interested to hear what people were expecting.  Or even, what their ideal reveal would look like, and what would actually please some of the nay-sayers.

 

I have a feeling there's already a ship out there that would fill those preferences.

 

[BecciBoo]

We just cruised with a couple (mid 50s) who love Disney cruises, not so much kids and they said, the service is impeccable and they never saw kids if they didn't  want to...so much to do in different areas of the ship for adults.  I expect ICON will do the same.  It looks like there are sufficient adult only or friendly areas to insure you don't get annoyed by the kiddies.

 

I wish we had a color key on the deck plan though, I'm trying to locate the different cabin categories.

[TheHawk1]

26 minutes ago, sdrocks said:

We haven't decided if this ship is appealing enough for us.  Agree with others that it's very kid targeted.

Love my grandkids, but a ship with this potentially many kids is not where we want to be.  May try it just to check it out, but will be $$$ driven .

Absolutely.   If I were ever to sail on it, I would avoid the Surfside "family" neighborhood at all costs and stick to the few adult only areas.  Much of the design screams kids running amok at an amusement park, rather than upscale cruising.  But I guess that's their target demographic these days.

[GetToLivin]

The piece of email marketing I received today left me feeling like I needed a xanax after viewing it, busy, busy, busy! With that said, perfect ship to bring my teen on so I'll end up booking it lol ☠️

[Another_Critic]

49 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

You mean Vision?

I prefer Grandeur over Vision, but yes, I'll do Vision when it homeports in Baltimore.

[afcgirl]

From what I can see so far (and am withholding final judgment until I can see real photos), I do like the greater emphasis on ocean views.  I am disappointed though in the color scheme and less upscale vibe.  I think Carnival did a good job decorating the Carnival Mardi Gras so that is has a fun vibe but still looks somewhat upscale (judging from photos only).  To me this looks worse than Mardi Gras, which is disappointing.  I hate those pastel colors, it looks childish.  Maybe in real life it will be better.  RC's customer service is also horrible now since the outsourcing.  But after all that, I will likely book to see what it is like.

[RCLcruizing]

17 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

We just cruised with a couple (mid 50s) who love Disney cruises, not so much kids and they said, the service is impeccable and they never saw kids if they didn't  want to...so much to do in different areas of the ship for adults.  I expect ICON will do the same.  It looks like there are sufficient adult only or friendly areas to insure you don't get annoyed by the kiddies.

 

I wish we had a color key on the deck plan though, I'm trying to locate the different cabin categories.

On this website they have uploaded the deck plans, and it shows what category each cabin is when you hover over them 🙂 

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/DP/deckplans/deckbydeck.php?ship=Icon-of-the-Seas&deck=3

[Cruiscs]

4 minutes ago, afcgirl said:

From what I can see so far (and am withholding final judgment until I can see real photos), I do like the greater emphasis on ocean views.  I am disappointed though in the color scheme and less upscale vibe.  I think Carnival did a good job decorating the Carnival Mardi Gras so that is has a fun vibe but still looks somewhat upscale (judging from photos only).  To me this looks worse than Mardi Gras, which is disappointing.  I hate those pastel colors, it looks childish.  Maybe in real life it will be better.  RC's customer service is also horrible now since the outsourcing.  But after all that, I will likely book to see what it is like.

Is it important to have an upscaled pooldeck when on vacation? The inside of the ship (minus boardwalk) look very nice and stylish. 

[DarthGrady]

Interesting ship, I agree with others that she could be called an "Oasis Ultra" class. I think most of the changes from Oasis are good ones. Moving a lot of the kid stuff down to the former Boardwalk is good, I'll know where not to go if I'm onboard. The new pool layout is pretty slick, as well as the asymmetric decks up there.

 

The enclosed Aqua Theater is a good idea, basically a combination/evolution of both AT and Two70 concepts. A small but brilliant addition are the escalators running between the busy promenade decks. This is long overdue, as elevator wait times and overcrowding have gotten bad on the newer classes. 

 

While I'm not a fan of the big ships, I'd take a cruise on her someday just to check it out. 

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

2 hours ago, Love2cruise77 said:

Ok, so do we have official confirmation of when the inaugural cruise is? I read January 28th, but that doesn't line up with this. But this is also showing December 2023 sailings even though Royal is saying a January 2024 debut.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Love it. Tbh looks good so far. Veey family orientated which is good for families like myself. 

 

Will split the RC faithfull down the lines of family cruisers and non family cruisers. 

 

So for me its a tick in the box, but will wait till the  novelty wears off before i sail on her. 

[StephPS79]

27 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

Absolutely.   If I were ever to sail on it, I would avoid the Surfside "family" neighborhood at all costs and stick to the few adult only areas.  Much of the design screams kids running amok at an amusement park, rather than upscale cruising.  But I guess that's their target demographic these days.

 

When I think of "upscale cruising," RCI doesn't come to mind.  If that is the experience one is seeking, I think it's probably best to consider different lines.

[robmtx]

So you can do a ropes course hanging off the side of the ship by the logo? Hmmm. How will that be affected by Wind?

 

Also, there's an adult pool at the kid zone... but what's to stop kids from coming into that pool? I'm assuming crew enforcement but we know there will be entitled passengers who think those rules don't apply to them and want to complain. I don't see it as being a problem per se, but it will happen.

 

I'm looking fwd to the aquadome and sub zero experiences! Hope the Pearl turns out to be more than a big nothing. I think it was teased a bit too much and now it's being ignored in favor of actual cool stuff.

 

 

 

[BecciBoo]

That is a matter of personal tastse and opinion.  I think it looks extremely upscale.  It's subjective to say the least.

[StephPS79]

1 minute ago, robmtx said:

Also, there's an adult pool at the kid zone... but what's to stop kids from coming into that pool? I'm assuming crew enforcement but we know there will be entitled passengers who think those rules don't apply to them and want to complain. I don't see it as being a problem per se, but it will happen.

 

According to royalcaribbeanblog.com, the pool is not "adult only," but geared towards adults while their kids are doing more fun things in the kiddie area.  Kids aren't prohibited.