Icon OTS looks like a joke…

[Tree_skier]

On 10/23/2022 at 2:43 PM, DirtyDawg said:

Then I'm booking too. I have to see you on the Flow Rider and on those slides. I hear the new advanced medical centre is state of the art. 😁 😉

Awesome! I'd love to cruise with you.  I'll need someone to hold my hand while I'm having wounds tended to in the Medical centre.  DW is ruthlessly unsympathetic when my wounds are self inflicted stupidity.  

 

I have 30 day holds on Nov 30 and Dec 7. I haven't decided which date I like best.  Let me know what works for you 😉 

[Tree_skier]

9 hours ago, tamilyn said:

Are there any "regular" balconies on IOTS?  Or, are they all infinite balconies and suites?

 

Yes there is.

[KmomChicago]

6 hours ago, WheresWalter said:

 

It's giving the market what they want. Icon is squarely a family ship and they make no apologies for it. Icon will be AMAZING for families with so much to do onboard.

 

At the same time we have ships like Scarlet Lady, Celebrity Edge series, Princess Royal and Sun class, Holland America ships that are incredible floating resorts primarily for adults

 

There are around 325 cruise ships out there today with 72 more on the way before the end of 2027. Some will appeal to you, some like Icon will not. I find no reason to disparage any ship because if the entire cruise industry built identical ships, that would be boring. 

 

 

 

I dunno, Walter. This is some very, very logical debate here.  Calling the ship a joke at the beginning is not aimed at getting that kinda conversation going! Please help support the general uproar, mmm-kay?

[Baowen]

I booked the Icon today. It looks amazing and I won't be sailing with any young kids. I personally wont book anything smaller than Voyager class. The Vison and Radiance class had their day but now I find ships without a central promenade stifling!

[time4u2go]

8 minutes ago, Baowen said:

I booked the Icon today. It looks amazing and I won't be sailing with any young kids. I personally wont book anything smaller than Voyager class. The Vison and Radiance class had their day but now I find ships without a central promenade stifling!

Lol I find the promenade stifling.  I like seeing as much of the ocean and outside as possible!

[DirtyDawg]

55 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Awesome! I'd love to cruise with you.  I'll need someone to hold my hand while I'm having wounds tended to in the Medical centre.  DW is ruthlessly unsympathetic when my wounds are self inflicted stupidity.  

 

I have 30 day holds on Nov 30 and Dec 7. I haven't decided which date I like best.  Let me know what works for you 😉 

Mrs. Dawg keeps me heavily insured hoping my stupidly self inflicted wounds will let me bypass the Medical Centre altogether. 🙏

 

🤔 Did we marry sisters? 

[mek]

As much as I enjoy the Oasis class ships - done Oasis 1X and Allure 2X, I think I'm going to go back to the smaller ships and look for itineraries I haven't done.  Jewel has a great 12 night cruise, RT Amsterdam, that goes to Iceland in May and I think that may be my next cruise, although I will probably have to do it solo because it doesn't sound like something my husband will be able to do with his mobility issues.

[CanHardlyWait4NextYear]

5 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

Oasis has a sort of balanced environment for everyone, while the Icon is kids and young families only. That's the difference. Standards not features.

I totally disagree. I think this ship has the perfect layout to separate kids and adults. The upper deck with multiple pools in different locations, shapes, sizes etc as well as a large adult only pool area and kids pool and play area almost a dozen decks below is a perfect recipe for giving something for everyone. And the rest like bringing the aqua theater inside for bad weather only improves upon Oasis class ships. All other features are just modern Oasis class options. Multiple water slides seems to have many overlook the rest of the new top deck multiple pools and hot tubs adults only features. They are only part of the ship and will occupie hours and hours of young peoples time and energy. This will keep many busy just by waiting in lines for a turn on them, freeing up space for the adults. Disney does a fantastic job of separating kids and adults during the day. I can go hours on a Disney ship without seeing a child. I see many similarities to this layout. I'm over 50 with no children and I booked this morning because of the pools, layout, adults only areas, distance in decks between kids pool/play area and adults deck area. I see the benefits of keeping them busy. Especially during the day. 

[KmomChicago]

1 hour ago, Baowen said:

I booked the Icon today. It looks amazing and I won't be sailing with any young kids. I personally wont book anything smaller than Voyager class. The Vison and Radiance class had their day but now I find ships without a central promenade stifling!

We like the promenade as well, the bigger the better. It was too small on Adventure of the Seas but just right on Oasis. I’d maybe like a room with that promenade view someday.

[crzndeb]

I think the OP got exactly what they wanted out of us. Their very first cruise was on NCL in August. They have no experience at all on Royal, but felt the need to come on the Royal thread and start a thread that was bound to stir the pot. Gotta love the new posters that have no experience and nothing positive to ask or say, and hasn’t been back.

Edited October 25, 2022 by crzndeb

[A&L_Ont]

11 hours ago, Biker19 said:

The hate started before that with Dynamic Dining and went south from there.

I forgot all about the Dynamic Dining Debacle.

[crusinthrough]

On 10/21/2022 at 8:40 PM, Vibe said:

Celebrity and Princess are better suited for what was the traditional type of cruiser. Holland America will probably not survive once most of the older cruiser set sail on their last cruise.

 

Holland America is not just an older demographic but yes mostly older.  There will always be a market.  The same as any other cruise line.  

On 10/22/2022 at 4:17 AM, sgmn said:

Therefore it's stands to reason that as the older generations take their last cruise there will be new older generations coming along whose cruising requirements may of changed.

This is what I was thinking as well.  It's not like their will not be an older generation to replace the current older generation. 

On 10/22/2022 at 9:07 AM, karl_nj said:

 

I do see your point, but I also think "that ship has sailed." Literally.  You can say the same thing about Oasis class ships.  We are "only" talking about a 13% increase in passengers.  Is another 900 people really going to make a difference between if Icon pulls into port vs Wonder?

 

All cruise lines are building bigger ships.  if every cruise line has a 13% or similar increase then you are well over 50% increase when multiple ships are in port at the same time.  I was in Mazatlan, Mexico with 3 ships in port and the port area was so crowded it was hard to walk.  

On 10/22/2022 at 11:35 AM, Bennyboats28 said:

My only worry with the new build process for RCI is what is going to happen to the amplification schedule for the older ships? 

I hope the Allure never gets amplified.  Refreshed yes but not amplified. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

On 10/21/2022 at 9:58 PM, Husky1987 said:

 

I'm old enough to remember my Mom and Dad booking the new megaship Sovereign of the Seas after years of sailing on the Song of Norway, Sun Viking, and Song of America.  

 

"It's going to be SO crowded.  How's your Dad ever going to find a place to sit in the buffet?"

Nordic Prince, 1988, Song of Norway, 1989, and Sun Viking (it was a private yacht at under 1,000 passengers), 1990, the experiences were completely different but I do like the newer cabins and bathrooms of today's ships. The walls were extremely thin. You could tell who the newlyweds were on the first night 🤣.

[A&L_Ont]

9 hours ago, crzndeb said:

I think the OP got exactly what they wanted out of us. Their very first cruise was on NCL in August. They have no experience at all on Royal, but felt the need to come on the Royal thread and start a thread that was bound to stir the pot. Gotta love the new posters that have no experience and nothing positive to ask or say, and hasn’t been back.

Yes, and NCL has some ugly ships in their fleet but I wouldn’t head to their board to troll them. 

[Airbear232]

10 hours ago, mek said:

As much as I enjoy the Oasis class ships - done Oasis 1X and Allure 2X, I think I'm going to go back to the smaller ships and look for itineraries I haven't done.  Jewel has a great 12 night cruise, RT Amsterdam, that goes to Iceland in May and I think that may be my next cruise, although I will probably have to do it solo because it doesn't sound like something my husband will be able to do with his mobility issues.

You identify the only thing I really like about the older and smaller ships, they can have better itineraries.  It’s really a balancing between the two.  I like the bigger newer ships as destinations unto themselves and can’t wait to go on IOTS.  Great and privileged to have great options. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

23 hours ago, RedIguana said:

Well there really should not be an argument. Everybody knows water is not wet 🤣.

I completely disagree with your statement  🤣!!!!!!!

 

Maybe I should put it in ALL CAPS. It has to an unarguable truth when you get an all-cap response, ESPECIALLY WHEN I BOLD IT AND UNDERLINE IT! Now, you have read it on the Internet in a Blog, it has to be true!! Got to use as many exclamation marks as possible for effect.

 

YOU ARE WRONG, WATER IS NOT WET!    😁 There, I feel better about my existence now.

[smokeybandit]

Actually water isn't wet. It's the items that come in contact with water that get wet.

[Engineroom Snipe]

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Actually water isn't wet. It's the items that come in contact with water that get wet.

I rest my case. Do you know I created the Internet? 😉

[DirtyDawg]

20 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

I rest my case. Do you know I created the Internet? 😉

NO!!!! AL GORE CREATED THE INTERNET. 🤬

😉

 

Edited October 25, 2022 by DirtyDawg

[Cruise a holic]

12 hours ago, Baowen said:

I booked the Icon today. It looks amazing and I won't be sailing with any young kids. I personally wont book anything smaller than Voyager class. The Vison and Radiance class had their day but now I find ships without a central promenade stifling!

We also are two adults without kids along and booked this ship.  Want the experience.  I wouldn't book any old ships anymore.  Have to be Oasis Class for us.  Went on an old Royal ship this past August- that ship has had it's day and should be put out to pasture.

[HappyTexan44]

There is also something to be said for having some ships that attract a younger audience with the hope that you can keep them and they'll later transition to the other smaller ships when the kids are grown.  It would be a bad idea to drive off the older crowd, but I don't see how adding whiz-bang activities does that.  

 

I am one that was attracted to RCI for all the things to do.  I've always worried that I'd be bored on a cruise, so when husband and 12-year-old child said that they'd like a cruise, I looked for one with lots of activities.  I'm too cheap to do the newest ships, but they call to me.  

 

[Engineroom Snipe]

23 minutes ago, DirtyDawg said:

NO!!!! AL GORE CREATED THE INTERNET. 🤬

😉

 

Okay Mate,

 

Looks like we are going to have to take this cutlass duel 🤺 out to the quarterdeck (after I have my lunch in the Windjammer. That might take a while. Then I have to lay in the sun after lunch and there is not much reason to do it after sunset). 

 

On second thought, I AGREE WITH YOU!!!!!!!   😠.

[robmtx]

17 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

Oasis has a sort of balanced environment for everyone, while the Icon is kids and young families only. That's the difference. Standards not features.

I would say Icon is pretty well balanced. I really like that the young family is relegated to the back of the ship and the Adults pool area looks really nice up on 17. Also, I think Icon class introduces some interesting (albeit limited) room cats, including Sky class Jr's. The infinite verandas stolen from sister line Celebrity are actually pretty cool, and we enjoyed the room on C-Edge.

 

But they both have similar venues, but will have different shows. The Aquatheater and ice rink are redesigned allowing different types of shows, with added technical features (like the projector and drones in the ice rink, similar to newer Oasis Class ships). Then they have similar theaters and bars. The music hall looks to be more like a Quantum class hall.

 

I think Icon is a good step forward for RCI to promote themselves as a brand that caters to multiple audiences. RCG as a parent, has RCI for this client while promoting Celebrity for more adult oriented cruising. 

 

 

[PhillyFan33579]

16 minutes ago, robmtx said:

I would say Icon is pretty well balanced. I really like that the young family is relegated to the back of the ship and the Adults pool area looks really nice up on 17. Also, I think Icon class introduces some interesting (albeit limited) room cats, including Sky class Jr's. The infinite verandas stolen from sister line Celebrity are actually pretty cool, and we enjoyed the room on C-Edge.

 

But they both have similar venues, but will have different shows. The Aquatheater and ice rink are redesigned allowing different types of shows, with added technical features (like the projector and drones in the ice rink, similar to newer Oasis Class ships). Then they have similar theaters and bars. The music hall looks to be more like a Quantum class hall.

 

I think Icon is a good step forward for RCI to promote themselves as a brand that caters to multiple audiences. RCG as a parent, has RCI for this client while promoting Celebrity for more adult oriented cruising. 

 

 

Good post. I don’t see how one jumps to the conclusion that the entire ship is geared for families with kids just because one neighborhood is obviously designed for them. More importantly, no one can really state with certainty what the experience will be like until they cruise on Icon, which is still over a year away. 
 

I know you didn’t mention prices, but I don’t think the prices to cruise on Icon are out of line with any other new ship, with the exception of the inaugural cruise. I planned to book the inaugural cruise, but since every cabin category was literally close to double the price of the second cruise, I ended up booking the second cruise. It’s not that important to me to be on the inaugural cruise. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

30 minutes ago, robmtx said:

I think Icon is a good step forward for RCI to promote themselves as a brand that caters to multiple audiences. RCG as a parent, has RCI for this client while promoting Celebrity for more adult oriented cruising. 

Well stated. I enjoy RCI and I like that they are trying to bring in families as well as keeping their established clientele (euphemistic phrase for older fossils and dinosaurs like myself who have escaped the tar pits by dancing all the time).

 

Spot on about the Celebrity adult-oriented cruising. My wife and I are considering a summer cruise and we are well aware that it is the high season for family vacations.  Someday we might want to bring our children and their families onboard with us. Icon will be a great option.

 

As for now, I would gravitate towards Celebrity for the summer season. Many options available before I start complaining. One person's hell ship is another person's swell ship.

 

Isn't great that we have options.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Engineroom Snipe
typo