karebare22

We booked an ocean view balcony guarantee and were assigned a D4 cabin on deck 14 (14322) which we were happy with. Make sure you book the XB category, this is specifically for ocean view balcony (not surf side or Central Park). Looking at the deck plans, most of the ocean view balconies are located on decks 12 and 14 (categories are CB, C3, C5, D1-5). Note that on deck 14 we had an overhang and a small support beam to the one side but I wouldn’t really classify that as obstructed, however you should consider if it might make a difference for you. We also had some occasional noise from the Windjammer above us (which didn’t disturb us). We’ve done quite a few GTY bookings and have always received a cabin in the category we booked (except one case where my daughters received an upgrade from interior GTY to an oceanview). Look at the deck plans and make sure there are no oceanview balcony cabins that you’d be unhappy with before booking a GTY. Also consider that your deposit will be non-refundable for booking a guarantee cabin.

I’ve been to Curacao many times now, and last time we didn’t even leave the ship. Usually we’ve just walked through the Rif Fort, gone across the bridge and walked around Punda. Got a rental car once to see some of the beaches. Thanks for the info on this walking tour, so many interesting things to see!

Awesome! That’s a moment he’ll always remember! My daughter is hoping to be in the Best of the Best on our Feb 17 sailing, but there are a lot of great competitors out there. She’s been in a couple of them, just hasn’t won (yet!). A big thanks to everyone who took the time out of their cruise vacation this past week to post photos and videos and answer questions. It’s been very helpful, and allowed the readers to get a better feel for this new ship. 👏👍

We book GTY quite often because for our family of 4 (2 cabins), it is normally the less expensive option. Your example is actually typical of what I’ve seen in the past, I recall it used to be around $200 per person cheaper (ie $800 savings for our family). I agree that the price difference between the pick/you pick has significantly increased though. For our June 2025 cruise, it is $600 more per person for us to pick the balcony cabin. Obviously I would prefer to choose my own cabin (location, deck etc), but we have never been assigned a bad guaranty cabin, and even if we were we would accept that. I don’t consider picking my own cabin as “insurance” that I won’t be bumped from a room. I see it as a good savings that I can put towards other things (excursions, dining etc). This is probably your best option vs booking GTY

Nice - all those tribute bands would be great to see. To add to the list, I’ve seen Pandora’s Box (Aerosmith) - we watched that one twice it was so good.

Wow, he’s great! Will Icon have a Best of competition on Friday? He could be the first one to sign the Icon board if he wins! How are the lines, considering there’s only 1 flowrider?

Someone enquired about the entertainment line up for the Feb 17 Icon cruise and the tribute band will be Legends of Classic Rock. According to their social media page, they’ll be on Icon throughout the year.

This had me thinking back. I miss the Captain’s champagne reception that was always held on the first formal night. I feel this ended with the Covid shutdown. From my cruise compass (I save them all!) I see that Oasis did have the reception in summer 2019, and I’m pretty sure it took place on Anthem in Feb 2020. Then after the restart with the social distancing, then cutbacks and trying to increase revenue, it just never came back.

Not sure if Odyssey had this available, but for our Oasis cruise you could view (and order) all your photos right in the App. We found this really convenient! It was one of the tabs at the bottom. It also showed many, but not all, of the photos from linked cabins (plus a few extras of strangers 😂). Note that the photos are watermarked, and it’s not possible to take a screenshot.

I’m really enjoying all the photos and videos, keep them coming! I assume with the high #s of D+/Pinn/suite guests that there isn’t any priority seating set aside for the shows?

We are also late diners. I sure hope they adjust the time to later for one of the shows to accommodate. I’ve run into this scheduling issue on other ships too. I remember having to eat a rushed meal/skip dessert & sprint to the other end of the ship to get a seat, or go to Windjammer.

Great photos and review, thanks! Icon looks amazing!

This is exactly what I do. The QR code with the link is usually also posted on a wall at guest services (often where the old paper copies used to be). My only problem was that for a couple of days I forgot to refresh and save the PDF copy. You can’t go back and get previous days, you only have access to the compass for the current day.

We had this kind of seating arrangement for our party of 12 on our holiday cruise. With all the tables together, it was a real hassle if you were one of the ones sitting in the middle of the bench seat. Especially when dressed in a long formal dress, and having to visit the restroom during dinner after having a few pre-dinner cocktails 😬 It would have been nice to have a small separation of the tables in the middle. It was also awkward for our waiter & assistant to reach over with the plates and drinks. However, we did have a nice amount if space around us and didn’t feel crowded at all.

Hi Tim, we are sailing on Icon the 2 weeks after you. What a ship for your first cruise! I’ll be reading your Live from posts for sure, thanks in advance!

We are also on this sailing (and the week before). We were paid in full by the due date, but decided we wanted to prepay gratuities so called in last Friday to do this. Pretty simple you’d think? Our reservations are now all “messed” up. We got a notice for one cabin that we owed a large amount, and the prices were all changed. When we called our TA, we found that RCL had submitted a refund to us (I have no idea why) for around $1200, but we were told it should have been $138, so my husband had to pay the difference. Thankfully that refund was posted to our credit card today. Our Next Cruise OBC has gone missing on one of the reservations, and port fees & taxes (which went up because of Bahamas, and that we paid with final payment) reverted to the lesser original amount on one of the reservations. The latest invoice emailed to us (copy #36!) at least shows a balance of zero. I never want to prepay gratuities after final payment again! Glad you are having good follow up on this issue. I think we’ll both be ready for that 1st sailaway drink on Icon!

Our first cruise after the restart we booked a guarantee balcony cabin. Ship was only maybe 1/2 capacity, yet we ended up being assigned to a balcony that was connected with another family. It seemed like almost all the rooms around us were empty. I remember our cabin steward opened up the balcony divider with the empty cabin on the other side of us for the day that we were cruising through Endicott Arm & Dawes glacier, so we had more space for our family for the scenic cruising (kids were in an interior cabin across the hall). Ever since the room service was cut to once a day, I’ve noticed the service isn’t what it used to be, so I do wonder if they are understaffed. Our last attendant did a good job, but just wasn’t very friendly. He did mention he was 2 weeks from the end of his contract, so I imagine he was just tired of all us demanding cruisers and ready for a break!

We were assigned this cabin (booked as an interior GTY) for the Feb 24 sailing. I’ll try to remember to post photos for you!

Wow, very impressive! I work as a public servant, and holiday parties are at our own cost. This year we had a simple gathering with “bring your own lunch” to the boardroom , and music off someone’s phone 😂

I have these same holders and have used them many times, so a worthwhile investment. I remember the old days of borrowing staplers at the hotel when we were anxious to leave to get to the ship. Although my daughters really don’t want to stop for the embarkation photo, I always insist since this is always one of my favourites and we get it as one of our “free” photos. My girls are now at an age where we barely see them all week other than at dinner or the flowrider, so I find we keep missing out on group photos, so this is my one guaranteed family photo for the trip. It’s nice to have a pic with a more fun or relaxed pose too.

So exciting! I’ll be following along and will appreciate every report and photos, it makes me even more excited about our upcoming trip, and helps the time go by faster.

Happy to read another one of your trip reports! Even though I’ve been on Odyssey and to all of the ports, I always learn something new from your reports - they are helpful to seasoned cruisers as well, not just newbies. Your fabulous pictures help to bring back memories of my sailings, so thank you for taking the time and effort. My portable luggage scale (non-digital, old style) is one of our must pack (in carryon) items since we nearly always need to fly to the home port. Many times we have checked in our 4 bags, each weighing 50.0 lbs on the dot! 👍

I’m not able to find the price on the website, I wish it was more clearly shown. Now we’re rethinking about parking at the terminal at the end of the month. I have the same question….

Just an FYI, our daughters shared an inside cabin Rhapsody. It was smaller than the inside cabins on the larger ships (only a chair instead of a small sofa for sitting, and no fridge/cooler). Cabins are clean but really overdue for an upgrade/modernization of furnishings.

We had a similar dilemma. My hubby and 20ish daughters are flowrider addicts, so going on a smaller ship without one needs justification 😂! Last NYE we sailed on Rhapsody vs other bigger/newer because: price and new variety of ports (it sailed from Barbados). We made it a 13 day cruise with a back to back (to make the most of the flight). The family knew what to expect, and we had a great time. A smaller ship was a nice change. The kids made some friends and enjoyed the pool, gym and bars. It helped that the cruise was port intensive.