What I liked & didn't like about Icon of the Seas 

We had them on the Seaside class (Seashore) with MSC, it's a real bonus. Really eases things.

As long as people know that it is counting occupancy per entry on the pad

Carnival has had them ever since the vista class

I was on oasis last week and was thinking how they need destination elevators

They just need to add pictures of the different neighborhoods on the destination panel like on the Oasis. Not just a list of numbers.

From what I heard, it's only at half

💯

I think they’ve capped it for the first few months of sailing

I was told by a crew member, it’s at 75-80%. It doesn’t feel crowded at all, even in the elevators.

Yes, and all the kids are still in school! Wait until Spring Break and the summer and let’s see just how crowded it feels.

I have heard 2024 is not the year for prices going down - particularly on the big, popular ships. Check out Emma Cruises...she seems to know a great deal about the industry.

I booked this week on American Discount Cruises for Jan 2025. Around 3K for ocean view balcony, same price directly through Royal was 9K!!!

Dont book these cruises unless you have millions

60% capacity is the cap I heard. I think there will def be some grumpy passengers when it's maxed out.

@@VandelayIndustriesLLC I’ve heard so many different numbers. But Matt said when he was on the ship when he asked he was told figures of over 5,000 each time. And yes I agree, passengers will be grumpy! After all this is a ship catered towards families!Hahahaha

Thanks a ton!

Thanks a ton!

Truly, it’s a very impressive ship

Packing cubes? Can I post a pic please I can’t get a visual? Tia

@@ab2396 there is a really you tuber Life well cruised , she is good blogger and she loves packing cubes

Hope you enjoy

Good point!

Person of culture

And for $200/person you can even eat the "mutated, ill-tempered seabass"!

I thought this was a test cruise that was at half capacity. Full capacity, holiday time, and school out with many children running around would feel a lot more different.

I purposefully waited for the revenue sailing, not the test cruise, to make this video

@@RoyalCaribbeanBlogthat was still at like 80% I heard

It’ll probably come down once the next icon class ship comes out. There’s still a lot of people wanting to get on the worlds largest cruise ship hype

To be fair, there are lots of extra cost restaurants on all of Royal Caribbeans ships, not just icon.

Same!

Yea but Matt is not the only RU-vidr to say it didn't feel crowded. I watched another channel, and they said the same thing. And those folks are not Loyal to Royal. I'm just saying. Maybe you just book it and report back 😊.

We are doing icon in June. Not sure why it’s hard to believe the ship is indeed well optimized 🤷‍♂️

I look forward to seeing some footage in June. I’d like to see how crowded the Hideaway is. Other vloggers reporting it is crammed already and I’m afraid when school is out and more families are sailing, more adults will want to be there too, as I do. Another vlogger complaint is how LOUD the music is in the Hideaway. Is this true? Is it a place like the Solarium where one can go and relax on a lounger and get some sun while reading a book or more of a nonstop party?

​​@@RoyalCaribbeanBlog Because we sailed when ships were 80% covid capacity and we sailed the same ships last summer. Night and day. That not crowded talking point needs to be tabled or have an asterisk until it's at 100% plus if the reporting is accurate

Celebration table is good if you have a big group and want something private for a celebration. It might be overkill for what you want.

I didn’t like them on panorama took way to long that ship isn’t even that good! I was excited they rolled back on Mardi Gras

I meant that big not that good. sorry love you panorama💙

@@parkerjensen7698 wait time wasn’t too long, but that could be because we went a few months after cruising restarted in Nov 2021. Just curious when did you go on panorama?

They’ve always had problems for shows on all of the ships. Every cruise I’ve been on if you don’t reserve a place a month ahead you can barely make it to the biggest venues

@@Naomi-xu4hq I don't disagree but at less than full capacity and tons of people are forced to stand.. seems like they didnt plan on that. Oasis class ships the aquatheater is relatively OK in size

I thought the Pearl Cafe was 24 hours and the pizza is open til very late.??

@@kimkelly4586 I don't know what was going on but they were not open.

One thing RC seems to fail at is having food open later. Because people on vacation just simply eat later so closing stuff down at 8 is such a blunder

To be honest, I don't think it's the weight. I've noticed way less drawers in newer (non 5 star) hotels. I am wondering if it has more to do with people leaving stuff behind in drawers...with baskets it far less likely someone doesn't see something. Hampton Inn's and the like have gotten rid of bed size drawers in some of the rooms...they put a second shelf to stick your phones, or whatever. Hard to miss seeing stuff, so no drawers to clean out...less calls about less items...no mailing stuff back to people (in the case of the hotel). It may be cheaper design (because drawers have moving parts and baskets can nest when shipping) and additionally may weigh less...but I don't think it is about the weight...although who knows.

Is there do main dining room??

They forgot to mention its wild caught and gluten free🙃

This is something all cruise ships need to strive for. The showers on a lot of ships are awfully small and the bathrooms def needed a little more room at a minimum. This is def. something they got right. Hope they tweak the next two ships in this class. Sounds like they got a lot right but I think they def need to make venues larger...maybe space out the music venues a little more and fix that cut through the sports bar - not a smart design.

I like clear!! I can arrange so there’s no problem.

I have seen that at some hotels that have these elevators in NYC. Basically by hitting the Wheelchair icon, the doors stay open a bit longer to give the person more time to board their elevator.

I will let you know for sure when my family goes in April. I really really hope all these alleged improvements will result in less congested elevators. It was so frustrating for my wife to constantly wait for an elevator because they are too full to fit a power wheelchair. Crossing my fingers and toes.

I recorded the narration for this video on the revenue sailing

I'm wondering the same. The prices will probably keep it from ever being sold out. In a way that's good. Not the prices lol, but the prices could be working in favor of the crowds.

This cruise was not that expensive if you booked when they first opened the reservations. Our balcony room for our sailing in November is currently $5500 MORE than what we're paying. I imagine a lot of people aren't paying the current rate if they booked early. Going forward I can't imagine these prices will stay this high. That would be crazy.

Good question! Those are the best.

Not sure yet

Thanks!

I feel like there may have been one on a radiance class ship. I don't think I've heard of one on any of the other classes. Sometimes there is a priest and/or rabbi. You can always check a deck plan!

Liberty still does

Nothing but a paid commercial for RC.

​@a.leehilliard4716 why are you here ?

I agree, and I think it was also a mistake making icon the new biggest cruise ship in the world. As the Oasis class has now lost its whole USP of the world’s biggest, and they have to fill six of those ships. The Icon could have still had the accolade of the ultimate family experience while still being a bit smaller than the Oasis Class, which I think was the original plan. Icon was originally meant to be around the 200k ton mark, but somewhere the decision was changed to make it the ultimate biggest. I fear now the Oasis class will just be known as the inferior brother to Icon

That’s cause adults know that kids do number 1 in the pool.

If you think icon looks like a shopping mall but oasis doesn’t, I’m not sure I see your line of thinking