Icon of the Seas, Tiny Diamond Lounge, bad location?

[loman]

Its a good place to get an expresso and not have to pay for it .

Get a double and go down to the promenade and grab a seat.

[sailor05]

The past 3 cruises I haven't seen more than 1 or 2 people in the lounges. I go in there to get a free espresso and leave.

[Sobro]

I enjoy the DL in the mornings.  I'll have coffee and some fruit and cold cereal for breakfast. Keeps me out of the hash browns and sausages I shouldn't eat daily.

 

Ships older than Oasis class have nice views from the DL.

[taglovestocruise]

5 hours ago, HicksRA said:

They needed more space for another kiddie ride. 

Covid is dead... time to add more cabins

[taglovestocruise]

40 minutes ago, sailor05 said:

The past 3 cruises I haven't seen more than 1 or 2 people in the lounges. I go in there to get a free espresso and leave.

Just got off a S2S on Ovation/Quantum. DL packed every night, every night they opened the doors to the Music Hall for added overflow space. Same on both ships. 

[reallyitsmema]

2 hours ago, sandebeach said:

Currently sitting in the DL on Quantum. Nice windows and at 10:00 AM this place is packed. 

 

They still haven't removed the cage from the Golden Room?  We were on Quantum in May and they said that was being removed soon, guess not.

[HicksRA]

5 hours ago, yogimax said: 

 

It's not just about the drinks.  It's about the ability to meet people and establish lifelong friendships, somthing that's simply not going to happen sitting around a noisy bar.

I must agree. I believe every lasting friendship I’ve made on the ship was either in the DL or SL. 

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

They still haven't removed the cage from the Golden Room?  We were on Quantum in May and they said that was being removed soon, guess not.

I was wondering if that was something they added for China sailings, since it wasn't there when I sailed in Oct. 2014.

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, Another_Critic said:

I was wondering if that was something they added for China sailings, since it wasn't there when I sailed in Oct. 2014.

 

The DL is the Golden Room on those sailings with high stakes table games.  That is the cage for payouts that the concierge said was being removed.  The Noodle restaurant hadn't been changed out when we sailed either, not sure if that is still up there.

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, Spurschick said:

Now that Diamond and above get drinks put on their cards (and need to use those vouchers if getting drinks in the lounge) there is no need for it to be as large. It will be less crowded compared to when you used to not get vouchers and only got drinks in the lounge.

 

2 hours ago, sailor05 said:

The past 3 cruises I haven't seen more than 1 or 2 people in the lounges. I go in there to get a free espresso and leave.

 

1 hour ago, taglovestocruise said:

Just got off a S2S on Ovation/Quantum. DL packed every night, every night they opened the doors to the Music Hall for added overflow space. Same on both ships. 

The DL has been crowded on most of my sailings since restart.

[Spurschick]

38 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

 

The DL has been crowded on most of my sailings since restart.

Which ships?

 

[sandebeach]

Just now, reallyitsmema said:

 

The DL is the Golden Room on those sailings with high stakes table games.  That is the cage for payouts that the concierge said was being removed.  The Noodle restaurant hadn't been changed out when we sailed either, not sure if that is still up there.

There is a “Dimsung and Milk Tea” restaurant up on the  pool deck, which was closed in Alaska. It was opened on this sailing and is called Splashaway Cafe. Excellent Kung Pao chicken for $6, or fried rice for $6. 

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, Spurschick said:

Which ships?

 

Oasis - Oct 2021

Anthem - Dec 2021

Anthem - May 2022

Voyager - Sept 2022

[Jimbo]

18 hours ago, Empehi said:

With the drinks being available at any bar I see no need for a large DL.

I do love the morning pastries and coffee .... I always try to book a cabin as near the DL for the morning coffee.

 

e

Aren't they just the same pastries you can get in the Windjammer?

[Another_Critic]

4 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Aren't they just the same pastries you can get in the Windjammer?

No washy washy to get DL pastries.  🙃

 

You go for the "free" specialty coffee; pastries being available is a bonus.  

[Jimbo]

7 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

No washy washy to get DL pastries.  🙃

 

You go for the "free" specialty coffee; pastries being available is a bonus.  

I'm not a coffee snob, so don't need the free.

 

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, Empehi said:

With the drinks being available at any bar I see no need for a large DL.

I do love the morning pastries and coffee .... I always try to book a cabin as near the DL for the morning coffee.

 

e

Not just about the free drinks.  We have met many people in the Diamond Lounge and still stay in touch with some of them.  They have similar cruising interests and experiences.  Not really the case for the Suite Lounge.

[Ocean Boy]

38 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Aren't they just the same pastries you can get in the Windjammer?

Maybe the same pastries but very different atmosphere.

[Jimbo]

21 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Maybe the same pastries but very different atmosphere.

Not an atmosphere we would like on Icon, to small and no windows.

[Ocean Boy]

12 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Not an atmosphere we would like on Icon, to small and no windows.

Ok, if you are restricting your comments to the location on Icon. The V/F class ships  as well as Allure, have very nice lounges and those Windjammer pastries taste better in there than they do with the crowds of the WJ.

[Cruisingwithmoni]

I can also see royal phasing out diamond, or making it more difficult to becoming diamond status.

 

I enjoy having my apps and drinks in the lounge, and building a relationship with my server that I will see every day. 
 

My next cruise will put me at diamond + and although I don’t spend too much time in the Lounge (more often it is a bit of an older crowd) it is something I look forward to.

 

The concierge as someone mentioned before is an awesome amenity to the lounge, having someone to book your show reservations, give you a tender 1 pass so you can be the first off the ship, etc saves a lot of time from waiting at the front desk - and you are assured you will receive the best service. 
 

I haven’t been on any of the new ships recently, but I am interested in seeing the difference. We just cruised on the independence which has a beautiful diamond lounge with view and outside patio area.

 

For those of you who mentioned coffee in the lounge in the morning - this is also something I look forward to. Just a little FYI - On my recent cruise the coffee machine in the lounge was out of order. I asked the concierge about it and she gave us a punch card which allowed us to get lattes/coffees downstairs from the Starbucks free of charge. The out of order may have worked in our favor! 

I took a break from cruising for a couple years and just came back, but I noticed royal is absolutely catering to suite guests more than their c&a guests these days. Suite only lounges, pool decks, etc. The suite areas also used to be accessible to Diamond members (special areas of the pool decks, reserved seating in the ice shows, pre-boarding to get on the boat) everything I noticed this past cruise was suite guests or pinnacle. Don’t get me wrong, pinnacle deserves it! 
 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by Cruisingwithmoni

[HicksRA]

1 hour ago, Cruisingwithmoni said:

I can also see royal phasing out diamond, or making it more difficult to becoming diamond status.

 

I enjoy having my apps and drinks in the lounge, and building a relationship with my server that I will see every day. 
 

My next cruise will put me at diamond + and although I don’t spend too much time in the Lounge (more often it is a bit of an older crowd) it is something I look forward to.

 

The concierge as someone mentioned before is an awesome amenity to the lounge, having someone to book your show reservations, give you a tender 1 pass so you can be the first off the ship, etc saves a lot of time from waiting at the front desk - and you are assured you will receive the best service. 
 

I haven’t been on any of the new ships recently, but I am interested in seeing the difference. We just cruised on the independence which has a beautiful diamond lounge with view and outside patio area.

 

For those of you who mentioned coffee in the lounge in the morning - this is also something I look forward to. Just a little FYI - On my recent cruise the coffee machine in the lounge was out of order. I asked the concierge about it and she gave us a punch card which allowed us to get lattes/coffees downstairs from the Starbucks free of charge. The out of order may have worked in our favor! 

I took a break from cruising for a couple years and just came back, but I noticed royal is absolutely catering to suite guests more than their c&a guests these days. Suite only lounges, pool decks, etc. The suite areas also used to be accessible to Diamond members (special areas of the pool decks, reserved seating in the ice shows, pre-boarding to get on the boat) everything I noticed this past cruise was suite guests or pinnacle. Don’t get me wrong, pinnacle deserves it! 
 

 

Don’t you think Royal should do more catering to suite guests since they paid upwards of 4 to 5 times as much as inside guests??

[Ocean Boy]

55 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

Don’t you think Royal should do more catering to suite guests since they paid upwards of 4 to 5 times as much as inside guests??

Same argument that had been going in for years. The amount spent on a specific sailing vs. the amount spent over time as one moves up the C&A ladder. 

[taglovestocruise]

14 hours ago, Spurschick said:

Which ships?

 

Navigator  Jan 2022, DL only for Pinnacles, D and D+ were sent to Cosmopolitan Club

Navigator  March 2022  full every night

Ovation Sep 2022  so full they opened the doors to the music hall for overflow

Quantum Oct 2022  so full overflow in Music Hall

[Spurschick]

23 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Navigator  Jan 2022, DL only for Pinnacles, D and D+ were sent to Cosmopolitan Club

Navigator  March 2022  full every night

Ovation Sep 2022  so full they opened the doors to the music hall for overflow

Quantum Oct 2022  so full overflow in Music Hall

Seems like most issues with crowding are on quantum class ships and will also be influenced by itinerary and demographics on board.

 

we have sailed Oasis, Brilliance, Harmony twice, Mariner, Explorer and Indy since December. Not had any issues on any of them  - guess we were either lucky or just got our timing right.

 

YMMV

Edited October 26, 2022 by Spurschick