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This is more than a holiday upgrade. It’s the best family holiday in the world. Introducing the new Icon of the Seas℠, a first-of-its-kind Royal Caribbean® adventure where you’ll have the time of your life, multiple times a day. It’s thrills you never dared to imagine and next-level chill you never dreamed possible. Let your adrenaline surge at the largest waterpark at sea or conquer an all-out test of courage dangling high above the ocean. Pick from seven unique pools to satisfy any mood, this is an all-you-can-swim buffet. Fuel bolder bonding with tons to do for everyone in your crew at Surfside℠, the ultimate stay-all-day family neighbourhood right onboard. And discover dishes to delight every appetite with 40 ways to dine and drink. This is the Icon of the Seas.
Our family (44 yo mom, 41 yo dad, 10 yo son) sailed on Icon on the Nov. 1, 2025 sailing. We have cruised more than 10 times since 2022 on NCL (Haven), Celebrity (nearly every room category), MSC (Yacht Club) and Holland America. This was our first Royal cruise. The Celebrity Edge class is generally our vibe. TLDR: We were blown away by how much we loved Icon. The service and experience were exceptional and the food was far better than I expected. 10/10 recommend booking a suite on Icon if it's in your budget. Room We stayed in Panoramic Suite on 17. The room was very spacious and had the best cruise bathroom we’ve ever had. I was a bit concerned we’d be able to hear the AquaDome, but we never did. Our room attendants Jesus and David were fantastic, probably the best we’ve ever had. Our son had approximately 10 towel animals by the end of the trip. We were left little items like lip balm and pillow sleep mist every day, which was a nice touch. Do be aware that this type of suite is located in the suite neighborhood which is all the way forward at the top of the ship. While we do not get motion sick, there was more movement than I expected considering how huge the Icon is. I do think we encountered some rougher seas. All in all, hope to sail in this room category again in Icon or Star. Proximity to the Suite Neighborhood perks made giving up a balcony a solid trade IMO. Ship Generally The ship is beautiful and enormous, but very rarely felt busy at all. Any lines moved fast. We were told there were only 700 kids on board, compared to 2,000 the week before (Halloween/fall break). 6800 people were onboard. Our son loved the raft water slides, which we had no trouble doing repeatedly in the mornings. Aft elevators felt busier to me and two places did seem crowded/busy to me – surfside and hideaway (the adults-only pool area) during the peak sun, so we avoided those. Having the pearl and park cafes included was nice. We found the food a bit hit and miss, but that’s to be expected. Lines moved quickly. We found the drink card thing Royal does to be a good deal since we skipped a drink package. We also enjoyed the convenience and food at El Loco Fresh and Basecamp. The salsa bar was tasty and fun. I enjoyed all of the music venues at night, particularly in Central Park. I loved sitting there and soaking the area in. There were SO many venues and activities. Impossible to be bored. I also enjoyed a walk or jog on the running track. Found it much less busy than the ones on top of other ships. Suite Neighborhood We love, love, loved the suite perks on Icon, including the Suite Neighborhood. Beer and wine were included from 11 to 11 in the lounge and Grove bar, which was a nice touch that meant we didn’t feel the need to get a drink package. (I've read online that may be going away, but got no hint of it on board. That said, it wasn't widely advertised either.) The Grove was never busy and Alvin at the bar might have been our favorite staff person, which is really saying something. Pro tip – there were magnum ice cream bars at the Grove. I did appreciate the little buffet at the Grove. Nice to be able to grab a snack with a glass of wine. Coastal kitchen had by far the best food we tried, with the exception of the Empire Supper Club (which obviously shouldn’t compare for around 200 pp; more on that later). The service in CK was great. We often had Linda as our server, who was so thoughtful. We really enjoyed the basics in CK – steak, lobster, eggs benedict. I even thought my son’s burgers were pretty darn good. Another fantastic perk of the Suite Neighborhood was access to the concierges, Mohammad and Edna. They were super helpful and very pleasant. No request was ever met with a no. The one night Mohammad managed to get us into a fully reserved aqua show. Specialty Dining We enjoyed the specialty dining onboard, but found some dishes to be hit and miss. Service was always very good. As it was our first Royal cruise, we tried more than I would probably do again. We met a couple who had the unlimited dining package and would do apps in one place and entrees in another, which sounded very fun. The highlights – Izumi sushi truffle roll and kids teriyaki chicken; gio’s apps and pizza; lobster roll at Hooked; caviar, steak and champagne at Empire Supper Club. Speaking of the supper club, wowza. I consider myself a foodie and it was worth every penny. Seven courses with seven paired drinks AND paired jazz selections. I nearly drowned in Moet (lol; jk). Exceptional service by Stefan. The vocalist Joy Paris was amazing. 15 out of 10. Shows As I mentioned, we are not really an activities crew generally, but we did a bunch on this ship. The aqua show was so good I saw it twice. The Wizard of Oz was darn near Broadway caliber. Absolutely amazing that they got the entire story into an hour and a half. My sister who works in theater thought the production quality was shocking when I showed her pictures of the set. The ice show was also very cute. One other thing I thought Royal did well was offering matinee shows so you didn’t have to worry about dinner conflicting with a show or picking between shows and other entertainment. Service I truly expected the service on Icon, especially outside of the suite area, to be not quite as good as we’re used to. I was VERY wrong. Literally everywhere, the service was good to outstanding. I cannot remember running into any staff who seemed to be having a bad morale day (which seems impossible to me considering how hard they all work). One other thing that was wild to me was that they seemed to be sharing notes on us. Not sure what that was, but we had a mixed experience at one of the specialty dining venues one evening. (The server and manager both apologized and made it completely right. We had NO complaints when we left.) The next day, Mohammad asked us about it and our server at CK apologized for the experience, though we had not mentioned it to either of them. Not sure if that’s a suite thing or what, but we definitely felt like Royal cared how we liked our experience. YMMV. Kids Club The AO kids club often had a line and sometimes felt a bit chaotic to me, but my son though it was the best. He loved being able to sign himself in and out when we were at sea. Itinerary We did a Western Caribbean itinerary stopping at Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel, and Coco Cay. It rained a ton, so it probably didn’t matter much where we stopped, especially since I worked a good bit and the Icon really is its own destination. We did an excursion in Costa Maya. If we went back before Royal redoes the port, I probably would not get off the ship. We did not get off in Roatan and Cozumel because of the pouring rain, unfortunately. Had been looking forward to some beach and snorkel time at both. My husband and son jet skied at Coco Cay and we did a day bed, which I enjoyed, though was not necessary to find some space to lay out.
The good stuff. The Icon of the Seas is a massive ship. When you are on board it does seem like it's a moving hotel. On a calm Caribbean sea one doesn't even know its moving Docking and undocking doesn't have any of the normal noise from sideways pumps etc It is quite an amazing ship. With 6500 pax it does disperse people quite well. They did re-organize decks from the Oasis class, The Aqua deck is now on 15 and domed. So for those that had an inside balcony on the promenade deck before now have limited noise. Entertainment The new aqua dome provides a more stable environment for the aqua show ( which was often cancelled on Oasis due to wind) The olympic divers and synchronised swimmers put on a phenomenal show. The staging of Wizard of Oz was also an amazing theatrical feat. Boarding and disembarking were well organised, the only problem was outside terminal A there is just not enough space to accommodate all the people looking for transportation. The bus to the FLL airport was a nice change for those who had later travel plans. The Chill thrill area at the back is quite amazing with multiple sized water slides. From singles to ones with inflatable tubes for four. The infinity pool at the back has a great view worth seeing Ports We were on the Costa Maya, Honduras, and Cozumel cruise for 7 days. These ports are not the greatest when we had two or even three large ships in port, The number of people just swamp the small stores and the facilities, there will have to be changes in the future to accommodate more people ! The Cozumel port was 2 miles away from the Playa del Carmen ferry that we were thinking of taking but in the end we decided not too. There are great stores in Playa , Zara's, Brihko etc. Some of the not so good stuff. Food When they reorganised decks they messed up on the WInd Jammer making it way too small for 6500 people. The Marketplace on Celebrity Beyond sizing and layout with many more tables,chairs etc would have been a better design model. The MDR (main Dining Rooms) on three decks need a make over, they are still on the lines from the 1990s. The staging booths on the floor are noisy and they have put tables too close, it's impossible to talk when they are delivering/clearing plates etc so people move. The food quality is ok but many people vote for eating in the WJ which exacerbates the space problems in WJ. The best specialty was Hooked , Oysters , NE clam chowder, steak and The lobster was excellent. Plus the service was great, book early by day 2 to get BOGO. Pearl Cafe is great for breakfast/lunch etc sandwiches and crunch yogurts on deck 6 behind the Pearl. (see below) Aquadome Market Great for snacks rice/noodle bowls,mac & cheese, sandwiches and best of all Crepes made your way. Coco Cay food is not the greatest, usual burgers, hot dogs, salads etc. General For Central Park they added the jazz bar which just added noise to the whole Park. They did have a guitarist sitting in the middle playing pleasant music drowned out by the Lou's Jazz 'n Blues club (From the real Central Park). Not very good planning. The Central park should be specialty restaurants only, would be a much better solution. Giovanni's is in the promenade which is not great when there is a live band playing. Schooner's is also misplaced when there is a competing karaoke and a band playing. Maybe on the next upgrade to Icon2 some of these problems will be fixed. The main promenade on deck 5 is twice as wide on Oasis, the Pearl globe in the middle is three stories high with ever changing tiles that have no rhyme or reason. It is basically a stairway to the Pearl Cafe that is hidden behind on deck 6. Total waste of precious space. It is exhausting even trying to write about this ship and impossible to cover everything You will just have to experience yourselves.
My daughter and I cruised late August in a Surfside Suite so had Sky benefits. I generally do Jr. Suites but decided on the Icon to splurge. The least expensive suite was the Surfside, which was awful, but it got us Sky benefits. I cannot rave enough about the Suite deck and Coastal Kitchen. We spent most of the time there so I cannot really comment on other pool areas, though daughter checked them out and said they were always very crowded. We did get burgers from Basecamp one day, and they were fantastic. As to food, we generally ate in Coastal Kitchen and loved the food. We had a great waiter, Ramil and the host, Adler, was also wonderful. We also ate in Hooked which was also excellent as well as Chops. I have avoided Chops generally on cruises as usually have found it underwhelming but on Icon it was amazing. I upgraded to one of the specialty steaks. All the dishes were great. Only bad experience was Empire Supper Club- we hated it and walked out. The head of specialty dining though wanted to talk to us about it and in the end comped the dinner which I thought was very professional. I cannot stress enough how wonderful the service was in the Suite area. We rarely do shows ( not our thing) and the Aqua show was an abridged version as the lifts for the pool broke mid cruise. My daughter thought the ice show was boring, but again we do not cruise for the shows. I only recommend the Surfside Suite if it has Sky benefits. It is small, cramped and little storage. Our steward Patrick though was excellent. We had been to the ports before. I sadly chose what turned out to be an awful place. I picked a day pass in St Marten, the SeaView Hotel, and we left after 2 hrs. In St Thomas we booked Tropic Sun, a private jeep tour. Scott was super and took my daughter to Brewers Bay to snorkel and then we went souvenir shopping and downtown. We always do the Beach Club at CoCo Cay and it does not disappoint. Kudos to Erika the manager and Jovan our server. Erika even managed to get my daughter on the balloon ride. The ship at times was very crowded and challenging for me as I used a scooter. Some people were rude, but the majority were not. Even kids and teenagers helped me on the elevator. Only sad thing was kids stole magnets from doors as a prank though ours were recovered. There were many who deserve recognition, like Lawrence on the Suite Deck ;Nikecia the CK manager; and Stanley on the pool deck. And of course the suite concierges, Mohamed and Francisco. I loved the cruise. Any issue we had was addressed promptly. However, we concluded we prefer the Oasis class. But if I could do Sky class again on Icon I would. One negative to watch out for- the Salon. Not impressed and one staff tried to tell me tips were not included in the price they charge, when they were. ( I generally tipped extra always anyhow) I complained and think this was corrected but watch your bill.
On the new Icon of the Seas℠, where you stay is just as thrilling as how you play. From expansive balconies that invite the sea breeze to our most over-the-top family accommodations — our range of spacious rooms is designed with family comfort in mind.
With over 20 ways to dine onboard, Icon of the Seas℠ is proudly serving up more options for bonding over bites. Whether you’re craving the cheesy slice of the day, freshly made sushi rolls with a side of fresh air, or a shareable smorgasbord for your whole crew — you’ll always find cuisine to satisfy any mood you’re in without having to wander too far.
AN APPETITE FOR ADVENTURE
Every dish is designed to be a treat for the senses, delivered in captivating venues, photo-worthy plating and meals served up with a side of live entertainment. That means more to taste and discover on your culinary adventure together. Memorable moments are always on the menu onboard The Icon of Vacations℠.
PALATE PLEASING PLATES
Life’s special moments deserve special plates. Elevate your epicurean adventure to mmm-possible heights with bold twists on returning favorites plus new restaurants and VIP experiences. Indulge in premium cuts of steak hand-selected for you, debuting delicacies like caviar, and seafood delights from freshly shucked oysters to Maine lobster tails. Spend an evening savoring specially curated courses, upscale dishes and unmatched ambience that make every bite feel like a celebration.
Don’t just see the world, experience it! Royal Caribbean shore excursions can help you discover even more at each incredible destination.
Iconic Wows
Technology and artistry merge on the new Icon of the Seas℠, inspiring awe on a grand scale. Get swept away by innovation to a whole new dimension of awesome. Because icons don’t just steal the show — they change the way you see it forever.
Iconic Nightlife
When the sun goes down, your night onboard lights up with possibilities. With over 15 buzzing spots and live music venues, every night onboard overflows with ways to raise the bar on spirit-sipping and show stopping.
Iconic Chills
Have the time of your life — several times a day. Whether you want to plunge in, float or cannonball, you can recharge with an all-you-can-swim buffet of seven unique pools to satisfy any mood you’re in.
Iconic Thrills
Take your best-ever vacation and crank it up — way up. That’s what you’ll find on Icon of the Seas℠, a first-of-its-kind Royal Caribbean® adventure for the whole family.
There's no better way to excite every member of your family than with a Royal Caribbean cruise vacation. We offer a huge variety of activities onboard and excursions on shore, so you can explore and have fun as a group or break out and do the things you each love most.
Onboard, our Adventure Ocean Youth Program offers adventure (and education) for kids ages 3-17 with different activities and programs for different age groups.
Many of the shore excursions offer the excitement and wonder that appeal to all ages. Be sure to check the descriptions to pick the ones your family will enjoy.
