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Icon of the Seas Blocks Are In The House!

Lloyd555

By Lloyd555,
in Royal Caribbean International

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OSUZorba

OSUZorba

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, CroNich said:

Some things I like about the Icon (and my feelings are overwhelmingly positive):

- The new neighbourhood layout. I think the design will really spread out the crowds, particularly on sea days, which hopefully means finding lounges/spots in pools will hopefully be a lot easier.

- The Waterpark - wow, this is by far the most impressive waterpark at sea, and I do love waterslides so I can see myself making a lot of use of these. 

- The Hideaway pool. It looks incredible, a very instagram worthy shot, and a decent sized pool as well. 

- Surfside is definitely an improvement compared to the boardwalk. Hopefully that keeps most of the kids away from the top pool deck. 🤪

- The amount of focus on pools/water. I feel like bigger cruise ships have been moving away from that in favour of other activities, however on a cruise in the carribean I want to be lounging by the pool, getting wet etc.

- The Swim Up bar will be a treat

 

Some things I'm not sure about: 

- I do love having an adults only outdoor deck, however I don't see why the pool couldn't be a little bit bigger and why there is only one hot hub

- I was hoping the Aquatheatre would be able to transform in the day to be an adults only indoor pool. Seems like an oversight in the design. 

- While I love the additional sea views/glass in the promenade area, I don't understand why its being blocked by the Pearl, which at the moment just seems like a glorified staircase/art installation 

- No proper promenade deck that we've seen on the new Norwegian and Carnival ships.

Some of the aft shots show a promenade, that looks like a track, like on Oasis class.

 

When I saw the swim up bar, I just thought "Great, 8 seats that will have the same 8 people in them all day, and give people even more excuses to pee in the pool." Nothing against the concept, I have my doubts it'll be all that nice in reality.

 

I am really looking forward to this, I'm not usually in the "gotta jump on the new ship" bandwagon, but in the fall of 2024 DD will be 8 and probably perfect for this ship. Also I saw the water park was going to be open 9 am to 10 pm everyday, and splash away from 8 to 7 pm everyday, so much better hours than they generally have.

 

I too think they should've made the aquadome pool a adult's pool by day. Also wonder if the Hideaway will be included.

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Fairsky84

Fairsky84

Posted
Posted
29 minutes ago, Tough as Leather said:

A nice shot of the funnels.

 

311815501_651200099776934_3053548957571501068_n.thumb.jpg.3fbb7d337cac2eabc2af24417b4886fd.jpg

It's the first time I can recall a Royal Caribbean ship NOT having a white funnel. They are certainly doing some interesting new things with Icon's livery. I wonder if some of these colorful changes will make their way to other ships in the RCI fleet.

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Nunagoras

Nunagoras

Posted
Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, Tuvok44 said:

The amount of whiners🤢 Don't go on it, and don't comment about it. Jeez, if it ain't for you than great! Let others be excited🤐

Actually; have you notice that we're at Cruise Critic, not Cruise Cheerleading?...

 

Meanwhile; let me to try to explain why I personally don't like, nor this design, nor at a larger scale the way mainstream cruise industry is heading right now. Permit me to do so from both my formerly market analyst point of view, and my reasonably regular cruise career for some nearly 20 years back to now:

 

I have nothing, against such a "no frills", pay as you go, mostly guaranteed cabins, kid friendly, family oriented cruise experience for everyone. Icon fills perfectly that niche and will to be a huge success into it, no doubts. No surprise; some posts above this one, someone describing himself as a Carnival regular, wished to jump ship from Carnival to Icon!... Carnival "grown-ups" on the 25-45 years range are the main client source that is moving those cruise lines "fat cats" these days. Even X is following suit on their Edge class to an extent. What me thinks they're forgetting is that all years there is a huge amount of those turning 46, whose kids are now on University, whose lives have come to another level, and whom will no longer to support those family like activities. More: I understand they want the more occasional cruisers, because those will pay more upfront than previous passengers... But: The school year has just few breaks. The youth parties have their limited time window. Parents are not either way retirees or people whose lives permit a more flexible time arrangements. Whom will to fill those ships out of school holiday times? Ah, yeah!... The all times regulars, 45-65 years old couples whom pay less upfront, but far more on drinks, shore ex, casinos, specialty dining, professional photos, to say the least, making even a far larger profit than those summer newcomers, because full cost considered will to be higher!... With ships that aren't that appealing to that 45-65 growing group, I wonder what will one day to be the outcome in a not so long distance time. To just speak about Royal and letting alone the rest of the market; some 10++ Oasis/Icon ships following suit on the younger crowd plus some 4+ X Edge and above classes to the "upper Royal" instead of "Viking lite" cruisers; hard discounts on lower season with hiking prices at premium ones will to be the norm... Or make the older of those ships to be "adult" retrofitted or simply let them to face the scrapper. No alternatives!

 

I can hardly to call Viking as a luxury line. Nor lite luxury if one asks me. They're classic cruise line done right and they're a success, perhaps somewhat overpriced for the real product! They'd to be the same success with a 150k GT cruise chip priced accordingly if they so wanted. They don't! And they don't need to think about that either! If I wanted to go on a Viking cruise, I couldn't do so because they don't sell for Portugal! They only sell to the English speaking world!... "Brand new" Azamara will likely to follow the same path. Explora Journeys by MSC seems to be gaining some traction as well... But, realistically, there is part of a generation, old enough to call it a night on the family activities, but young enough to retire from the tourism industry that sooner rather than later will face 2 difficult choices: Cruise less on an upmarket line if they can, or simply to shop holidays elsewhere, because those upmarket vessels are so limited on their offering numbers!

 

I'm sad, I'm part of that large group. The pandemic made me to stay some 3 years out of cruising. Fortunately; we have the older ships, more or less like we ever knew them for quite a while, but in 5-10 years they'll be gone, or simply family style retrofitted! And we will to be "out"!...

 

Permit me to go somewhat off RCI focused topic, but hey: At least NCL with Prima and from the photos that are starting to pop up from World Europa, MSC are sort of understanding the problem and providing sort of consensual compromising solutions at least for now.

 

Personally; in a nutshell: Will I ever sail the Icon? I wouldn't say never, but really not at school breaks!

 

Have a nice day!...

Edited by Nunagoras
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BecciBoo Great Review Rare

BecciBoo

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Nunagoras said:

I'm sad, I'm part of that large group.

You don't have to be.  I'm 72yrs young and I love everything about her.  I intend to dangle from the anchor and ride every slide I can haul my big azz up to!  I will love sitting at the bar in the swim up pool!  Love looking at the aft wake from the Hideaway!  Or sit in my Panoramic View cabin and just watch Big Blue without the wind and humidity!   I love the placement of the mostly kiddy corner in Boardwalk so I don't ever have to go there unless I want to.  I love the new Aquatheater concept because its covered from the weather, shows will not have to be cancelled and in the daytime whilst the kiddies are in Boardwalk, I can be in here!  I love that they still have an all adults pool topside...still have a Diamond lounge, still have Central Park with all the birds and trees whilst listening to a string ensemble,  and I still get to watch my fave ice shows!  And I'm so excited to experience the new propulsion system and happy they have utilized new technology to get pristine water out of sewage!  Woohoo!  Can't wait to hear what kind of new and innovative entertainment will be added!

 

 It's obvious to me they are trying to accommodate every demographic.  You can chill out and move slow in plenty of spots on this ship and be perfectly happy if you are no longer active.   I'm thrilled with it!  Can't wait till Monday evening to really explore all my options!  Kudos to some very inventive designers RCCL!  The truly "ship is the destination" !

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jrapps

jrapps

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, Nunagoras said:

Actually; have you notice that we're at Cruise Critic, not Cruise Cheerleading?...

 

Meanwhile; let me to try to explain why I personally don't like, nor this design, nor at a larger scale the way mainstream cruise industry is heading right now. Permit me to do so from both my formerly market analyst point of view, and my reasonably regular cruise career for some nearly 20 years back to now:

 

I have nothing, against such a "no frills", pay as you go, mostly guaranteed cabins, kid friendly, family oriented cruise experience for everyone. Icon fills perfectly that niche and will to be a huge success into it, no doubts. No surprise; some posts above this one, someone describing himself as a Carnival regular, wished to jump ship from Carnival to Icon!... Carnival "grown-ups" on the 25-45 years range are the main client source that is moving those cruise lines "fat cats" these days. Even X is following suit on their Edge class to an extent. What me thinks they're forgetting is that all years there is a huge amount of those turning 46, whose kids are now on University, whose lives have come to another level, and whom will no longer to support those family like activities. More: I understand they want the more occasional cruisers, because those will pay more upfront than previous passengers... But: The school year has just few breaks. The youth parties have their limited time window. Parents are not either way retirees or people whose lives permit a more flexible time arrangements. Whom will to fill those ships out of school holiday times? Ah, yeah!... The all times regulars, 45-65 years old couples whom pay less upfront, but far more on drinks, shore ex, casinos, specialty dining, professional photos, to say the least, making even a far larger profit than those summer newcomers, because full cost considered will to be higher!... With ships that aren't that appealing to that 45-65 growing group, I wonder what will one day to be the outcome in a not so long distance time. To just speak about Royal and letting alone the rest of the market; some 10++ Oasis/Icon ships following suit on the younger crowd plus some 4+ X Edge and above classes to the "upper Royal" instead of "Viking lite" cruisers; hard discounts on lower season with hiking prices at premium ones will to be the norm... Or make the older of those ships to be "adult" retrofitted or simply let them to face the scrapper. No alternatives!

 

I can hardly to call Viking as a luxury line. Nor lite luxury if one asks me. They're classic cruise line done right and they're a success, perhaps somewhat overpriced for the real product! They'd to be the same success with a 150k GT cruise chip priced accordingly if they so wanted. They don't! And they don't need to think about that either! If I wanted to go on a Viking cruise, I couldn't do so because they don't sell for Portugal! They only sell to the English speaking world!... "Brand new" Azamara will likely to follow the same path. Explora Journeys by MSC seems to be gaining some traction as well... But, realistically, there is part of a generation, old enough to call it a night on the family activities, but young enough to retire from the tourism industry that sooner rather than later will face 2 difficult choices: Cruise less on an upmarket line if they can, or simply to shop holidays elsewhere, because those upmarket vessels are so limited on their offering numbers!

 

I'm sad, I'm part of that large group. The pandemic made me to stay some 3 years out of cruising. Fortunately; we have the older ships, more or less like we ever knew them for quite a while, but in 5-10 years they'll be gone, or simply family style retrofitted! And we will to be "out"!...

 

Permit me to go somewhat off RCI focused topic, but hey: At least NCL with Prima and from the photos that are starting to pop up from World Europa, MSC are sort of understanding the problem and providing sort of consensual solutions at least for now.

 

Personally; in a nutshell: Will I ever sail the Icon? I wouldn't say never, but really not at school breaks!

 

Have a nice day!...

While I personally love the family-forward activities and size/amenities of the Oasis class and now Icon class, I guess I can see your point. I for one am very much looking forward to sailing on Icon, but I can admit as we get older my wife and I are getting more refined in our cruising tastes. For the past 20 years it has been heavy Disney and Royal with the kids, who are now teens/pre-teens. We are in our 40s and continue sailing Disney and Royal as family vacations, but starting to look at Celebrity, NCL, MSC, and Virgin as potential adult-getaway trips.

 

I can see once the kids are in college and we do more adult cruises than family cruises, we may prefer an experience where there are less families with young kids everywhere all the time. Of course, we really prefer larger ships so that limits us. Today we only do short 3-4 day cruises without the kids (hard to cruise even without them during school) and Royal is really the only line that has larger ships doing short cruises. We have zero desire to go on anything as small or old as Vision/Grandeur.

 

To me, sailing on these mega family-designed ships in non-peak times when most kids are in school will suffice. But yes, I  agree with a lot of what you said and hope that RCL sees that as the 25-35 crowd becomes a 45-65 crowd, they will want to maintain the "new high tech flashy" cruise experience without the in your face little kid splash park. Hopefully they have plans to add more larger ships to the Celebrity fleet in the future?

 

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kruzerci

kruzerci

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Tuvok44 said:

The amount of whiners🤢 Don't go on it, and don't comment about it. Jeez, if it ain't for you than great! Let others be excited🤐

You aren’t the only one allowed an opinions. Ever noticed the name of the site? Go refresh yourself on it. 
 

It’s perfectly fine for people to acknowledge they missed the mark on a lot of aspects and overhyped something. Nobody’s saying it’s a piece of junk, it’s just not what was expected. 

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TheHawk1

TheHawk1

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Tuvok44 said:

The amount of whiners🤢 Don't go on it, and don't comment about it. Jeez, if it ain't for you than great! Let others be excited🤐

You use only your third post ever to complain about free speech on a public forum?  Guess you missed the fact it's called Cruise Critic?

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Annefran

Annefran

Posted
Posted

It appears most of the suites will be forward or at least that's how it looks on the deck plans.  I hope they release the legend for the cabins and we get to see prices etc. prior to booking Oct 24/25.  Fingers crossed.  It's so exciting!

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joshsc "Live from...." Rare

joshsc

Posted
Posted
On 10/20/2022 at 8:04 AM, Jumping Cruiser said:

 

A glorified staircase by the looks of it 🙄. Surely there must be a surprise somewhere! 
 

EBD0D93A-0760-4E58-BD13-AADA9B8EE805.thumb.jpeg.2e01e7f4c0343a53f26f743430c0d048.jpeg
 

DEFE896D-A860-47F3-84A6-5F053340D5AE.thumb.jpeg.771d2c474ace19cbbde4fb170fff2703.jpeg

 

6694A907-38B6-442B-998C-BA879A714EE8.thumb.jpeg.f32fb7438051210425df75cd610b2bf4.jpeg


There is a cafe and lounge behind, known as ‘Pearl Cafe’, which has views out to the sea. There are also windows at the top, looking down from Central Park.


ED159D24-0A52-4D28-BD3D-87E0C5D6BAEB.thumb.jpeg.10403df875dd7f184e6edd8e324191bd.jpeg

 

A095C51D-48B7-4F28-A2A3-AAA1A45496FD.thumb.jpeg.66cfefb8c8b5b0ec10d651de33e1cbc8.jpeg

 

The only people whose glorified it are people online when it was spotted. All the people trying to guess what it was from a VR ride to .. who knows what. 

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rockmom

rockmom

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

image.png.1d2a590bc355f4175262613f8601aead.png

 

Here's an idea of pricing. Found this on a site I have used to book my RC cruises. 

That is the date they used when they did that middle of the night 'test'.  Several people reported seeing it and some prices, for that one date.  Some tried to book and it didn't work.  Then it was quickly pulled from the site.  So we'll see if this holds true, it probably will, but until they post the full, actual, bookable listings, we wont know for sure.  

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