Icon: Surfside Family vs Junior Suite?

[vision14k]

Hi, still looking at possibly booking an Icon trip.  We have a three year old son.  I am torn between a Junior Suite and a Surfside Family Suite.  The price difference isn't that big, so cost isn't a factor in the decision for us.  Does anyone have any recommendations?  Would we miss having a balcony that overlooks the ocean?  The separate room for our three year old in the family suite seems like it would be really nice.  The storage seems better in the junior suite though.  The Family Suite does come with Sky perks.  Any recommendations?

[Southern Dan]

Do you do much in your stateroom other than shower/sleep?  The Grove area on Icon looks pretty cool, I'd probably give the Surfside Family Suite a try to see if it is worth it.

[Tree_skier]

16 minutes ago, vision14k said:

The Family Suite does come with Sky perks.

This would be the deciding factor for me...

[SilkySal]

We booked the surfside family suite on Icon next year and I am thoroughly excited about it! The suites only area on Icon is amazing! Not having an ocean view does not concern us since we will only be in the room to sleep or change clothes. There is way too much to do on the Icon to stay in your room. And, when your child is napping, you can sit on your balcony and see him sleeping peacefully through the window. It would be a no brainer for me! Below are 2 videos, one of the room and one of the suite area. Enjoy!

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=icon+of+the+seas+surfside+family+suite&oq=icon+of+the+seas+surfsid&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDAgAECMYJxiABBiKBTIMCAAQIxgnGIAEGIoFMgYIARBFGDkyBwgCEAAYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBwgFEAAYgAQyBwgGEAAYgAQyBwgHEAAYgAQyBwgIEAAYgAQyBwgJEAAYgATSAQoxMDc1M2owajE1qAIJsAIB&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:1735d0ec,vid:ggTWAcPLTfg,st:0

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=icon+of+the+seas+suite+neighborhood&oq=icon+of+the+seas+suite+nei&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBggBEEUYOTINCAIQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAMQABiGAxiABBiKBTINCAQQABiGAxiABBiKBTIKCAUQABiABBiiBDIKCAYQABiABBiiBDIKCAcQABiABBiiBNIBCjEyMzU2ajFqMTWoAgywAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:768b871e,vid:WuyReayx-WE,st:0

[smokeybandit]

Reviews have been quite mixed on the surfside family suites, but getting Sky class out of it makes that decision easy.

[elizabethbp]

I booked Icon next summer for adult daughter and myself and  chose the Surfside suite knowing its downsides ( for us).  But the Sky class  perks were  the deciding factor between that  and a Jr. Suite for us. 

[scubaslayer]

How much time do you spend on your balcony? If this was fall to spring that balcony would matter to me but I don't have a 3 year old. If my kids were under 6, that separate space and the sky class benefits would win in a heartbeat.

[vision14k]

We ended up booking the Surfside family suite, I hope we won’t regret not having an ocean balcony and the bigger space, but we couldn’t pass up trying the extra room for our 3 year old the family suite offered, not to mention the Sky perks. Just hoping we have enough space for all our stuff! Fingers crossed.

Edited August 25 by vision14k

[SilkySal]

22 minutes ago, vision14k said:

We ended up booking the Surfside family suite, I hope we won’t regret not having an ocean balcony and the bigger space, but we couldn’t pass up trying the extra room for our 3 year old the family suite offered, not to mention the Sky perks. Just hoping we have enough space for all our stuff! Fingers crossed.

Extra tip: Since you said that you'll have a lot of "stuff", when you get off of the ship and go into the terminal, wave down a porter with a cart, who will take all of your stuff and you through the lines a lot quicker than you can do yourself. We usually tip $3-$5 per bag for this service, which is well worth it!

 

Not sure when your cruise is but please try to come back to this posting and let us all know how well you did or didn't like your suite!! I really think your 3-yr old will love it! Happy cruising to you and your family!!!

[Ashland]

We did two SurfSide Suites with extended family this past May. The perks were great with this category including the reserved area seating for the shows. Luckily we had two adults and one child in each cabin. That extra little sleeping area was great however the lack of storage was a bit difficult. However I must say that we're used to larger suites but on the Icon it worked out good enough.

[vision14k]

5 hours ago, Ashland said:

We did two SurfSide Suites with extended family this past May. The perks were great with this category including the reserved area seating for the shows. Luckily we had two adults and one child in each cabin. That extra little sleeping area was great however the lack of storage was a bit difficult. However I must say that we're used to larger suites but on the Icon it worked out good enough.

Yea, at least we know ahead of time now that we'll need to get creative with storage! Any tips??

[smokeybandit]

We're pretty efficient packers, but I'm not looking forward to storage issues for our Surfside Suite on Star. I'll be keeping an ear to the ground for straight up or Royal Up upgrades that don't break the bank.

 

(first world problems, I know)

Edited August 26 by smokeybandit

[Ashland]

13 minutes ago, vision14k said:

Yea, at least we know ahead of time now that we'll need to get creative with storage! Any tips??

Have your cabin steward remove anything you won't need. For us it was the RCI robes and we also put out on the balcony the round ottoman and small table.

 

We also opted to NOT have the bed in the small area returned to a sofa each day but just left as a bed.

Edited August 26 by Ashland