The Icon is the BEST OF THE BEST for us. Great shows, entertainment, food. We were on the inaugural on Feb 27th. We were pretty lucky and were not seeing kids running around. I believe it was 50 % capacity for the first sailing. I'm not much of a drinker, but I love a Pina Colada on my cruises. Unfortunately, the Icon had horrible Pina Coladas. They really need to change the Pina Colada mix. All in all, we had an incredible time on this ship.
Sailing on her in October 2024 - can't wait! And girl, your embarkation outfit looked fabulous!! (Or was it debarkation? I don't know, but you looked great!)
Understanding that this ship is a family centric concept, we found the same limitations as you mentioned regarding space for adults on deck. The lack of a solarium was glaring. I was in a jacuzzi and there were kids in it using it as a pool. Masks and snorkels and all. Yes we liked the views from the front of the ship and we liked having the water show indoors but giving up the solarium space for that was not a trade I liked. It's back to Oasis class for us.
We went on the April 6th sailing and had a blast! I love this ship as it has so much diversity in the activities and entertainment. My only complaint is that they keep kids out the Swim and Tonic Bar. Didn’t get to enjoy my drink on the pool because they were splashing and screaming everywhere. Also don’t think they should charge for food at Basecamp. The ship is expensive enough. We stayed in an Infinite Balcony Oceanview Room and loved it so have no complaints in reference to our accommodations.
The kids were running wild on this ship. The only place you could find sanctuary from them was at the adult pool. They were everywhere. Parents even let them sit at the bars that served alcohol. Literally sitting at those bars. Never again. I’ll be booking with Celebrity from now on.
Great recap! I am going on Icon very soon and we are have a forward cabin, I'm not looking forward to the walking. I can't wait to see the shows! I'm like you Mrs. Traveler when it comes to water slides but I intend to ride as many as I can! Great pros and cons!
Soooo interesting what you said about the amount of space devoted to the Surfside neighborhood compared to the amount of people utilizing the space! This is a definite miss by RCL, and not the only reason that I actually think the Oasis class of ships is better than this. I wonder if it's not too late to make some significant changes to Star of the Seas?
People be hating kids in the comments. Dang people. You got lots of hours of the night where the generation who will be taking care of you when you're 85 isn't there.
