Icon of the Seas

Icon of the Seas

It was finally cruise time, our last leg of this trip where we get some respite from the tens of thousands of daily steps. We left Walt Disney at the crack of dawn to avoid marathon traffic and to be able to reach the port of Miami by our boarding time of 1130. The drive was relatively quick fortunately which turned to be much needed as the car rental drop off and the port Terminal itself was absolute chaos.

Icon of the Seas was Royal Caribbean's newest and biggest cruise ship, the first in its class. It had its maiden voyage in Dec 2024 and we were super excited to be onboard. We had booked a surfside family suite, a sky class concierge cabin. The middle level of concierge and the cheapest in the category for the services that we desired - wifi for 1 device for each person, priority embarkation and disembarkation, a concierge lounge with included drinks (even if only at set times), and a suite sundeck with pool and buffet style restaurant and bar. 

Check-in and boarding was super quick with our own dedicated line and area. However, the process was disappointing and underwhelming. Unlike NCL, we were not taken to the concierge lounge. We boarded and tried to find out where we could have lunch at suite guests but none of the staff at the general knew. We finally found the lounge (Coastal Kitchen) which was also the restaurant and had to knock at the door looking like beggars to be allowed in. Access was with our keycards which we did not have yet as our cabins were not ready at that stage. I could feel the rage building up....luckily things improved from there!

Lunch itself was delicious. The wait staff were super friendly without being over the top. The Grove Suite Sundeck was amazing! The food offering looked delicious with healthy options. As a bonus, we discovered that soft drinks, specialty coffee, wine and beer were always included in Coastal Kitchen and Grove Suite Sundeck! Between 5-8pm was happy hour, when ALL alcoholic drinks $14 and under were also included. Here come cocktails! Wahoo!

We literally walked on the ship right on 1130 after a very short security check and check in

Greeted by the sight of this big impressive colourful thing!

First thing to tick off...lunch!

Key lime pie for dessert. Nice but too sweet

Post lunch, we did a short wander around. The ship was MASSIVE and we tried not to succumb to FOMO as we explored. What was well done on the ship were the pools and outdoor areas. It was broken down into many smaller sections each with its own pool with so many seating areas. It was a fantastic way to disperse the thousands of guests onboard.

Dinner was delicious. The filet mignon was superb and I loved the pineapple and guava sangria! Our waiter Shaan was fun, funny and so nice without being a suck up. It was hard to find that balance so kudos to him! He made dinner that much more enjoyable. 

The show tonight was Adam Kario, and we all loved a juggling comedian! His show was fun and it was a great way to end our first day onboard Icon. Looking forward to the rest of the week sailing in the Caribbean! Other than the sub-par welcome experience, the verdict from Day 1 is that we really like the ship!

As with Walt Disney World, I'm sure no one wants to ready a play by play account of our days at sea...so I'll post highlights only from here on!

PS The lifts deserved a special mention. We LOVE how it was automated. You press your desired level on a console and AI worked out which lift you should take. No more buttons inside the lifts that annoying children could press. No more "all stations" stops at busy periods despite the lifts being full. Well done Royal Caribbean!

Our cabin

The children's "nook". The bed was meant for smaller children and the kids only just fit...but oh well sacrifices had to be made because the next category up was a lot more $$$!!!

We accidentally chose an accessible room so the bathroom was very generously sized 

Our balcony with a view of "Surfside". We'll see how we go NOT having an ocean view. We do love being able to watch the ship coming into and leaving a port.

The view to the aft

Love the lifts systems!

Mini-golf

Towelgami

So many waterslides

Just a few of them here

Central Park

It took a long time to walk from one end of the ship to the other!

We were on the lookout for Rover the ship dog! But found his pooping spot instead

and his pee pee spot

I love the many many seating areas

Gym with a good selection of equipment although could do with more free space areas

Mal was happy to see this

8 ships in da house! Full port

So many dining areas! It was overwhelming

Under table football?!

The climbing wall

The Grove Suite Sundeck

Hot food options

Fancy!

Watermelon salad

Ample sun lounges

Cuddle beds if required

Yay the Nobles made it!

Pineapple and guava sangria

Crispy pork belly. So good

Filet mignon. This took everyone by surprise with how tasty it was. Well cooked and that truffle mash to die for

Our waiter took out each one of the sample for us to sample as well as ice-creams to pair them with. The stand outs were the cheesecake and Boston cream pie. Again...better than expected!!