Icon - Newly Obstructed View Balcony

[ihopfar]

Received the following for my very far off Icon cruise:

 

Dear Valued Guest, We're looking forward to welcoming you onboard Icon of the Seas. We've recently taken delivery of Icon of the Seas after 5 years of ideation to creation. Along the way, the ship that gets delivered can look slightly different from the blueprints drafted years ago - even more so when it's the first ship in a class. After conducting our final thorough review of our newest ship, we've noted that your room has a slightly obstructed view of up to20% due to the structure which supports our window washers. For a majority of your time onboard, the view will have minimal obstruction, then for a brief period the window washer may be stationed outside their balcony. The time and effort you took to plan your cruise is important to us, and we apologize for the inconvenience. Nonetheless, we're confident that all there is to do and see onboard Icon of the Seas will more than make it up to you! If this accommodation no longer meets your travel needs, please feel free to reach out to us. We appreciate your support during this unexpected circumstance. We hope to see you onboard soon!

 

Did anyone else receive this?   Any idea how many cabins are affected?  The deck plan does not seem to be showing new obstructed view cabins yet, so not sure how I ensure I am not moving to another cabin with the same problem.

 

Thanks!

Brad

[Engineroom Snipe]

17 minutes ago, ihopfar said:

Received the following for my very far off Icon cruise:

 

Dear Valued Guest, We're looking forward to welcoming you onboard Icon of the Seas. We've recently taken delivery of Icon of the Seas after 5 years of ideation to creation. Along the way, the ship that gets delivered can look slightly different from the blueprints drafted years ago - even more so when it's the first ship in a class. After conducting our final thorough review of our newest ship, we've noted that your room has a slightly obstructed view of up to20% due to the structure which supports our window washers. For a majority of your time onboard, the view will have minimal obstruction, then for a brief period the window washer may be stationed outside their balcony. The time and effort you took to plan your cruise is important to us, and we apologize for the inconvenience. Nonetheless, we're confident that all there is to do and see onboard Icon of the Seas will more than make it up to you! If this accommodation no longer meets your travel needs, please feel free to reach out to us. We appreciate your support during this unexpected circumstance. We hope to see you onboard soon!

 

Did anyone else receive this?   Any idea how many cabins are affected?  The deck plan does not seem to be showing new obstructed view cabins yet, so not sure how I ensure I am not moving to another cabin with the same problem.

 

Thanks!

Brad

There are many images and videos of the outside of the ICON as it entered Miami port on web and You Tube.

 

Since you know where your current room is, possibly scour them to see what RCI is talking about.

 

The "cleaning" equipment is probably in its 'resting' place during the port entry.

 

Just a thought after reading your post.

[CruisingWalter]

45 minutes ago, ihopfar said:

Did anyone else receive this?   Any idea how many cabins are affected?  The deck plan does not seem to be showing new obstructed view cabins yet, so not sure how I ensure I am not moving to another cabin with the same problem.

 

That is pretty typical, especially for equipment like that which can moved around and repositioned right up until the time it's actually installed. The cleaning equipment is mostly likely going to be one of those long ladders with a big hose reel at the bottom or top. We actually saw them in operation during our sailing Jan 20th. Since the note says 20% that means it'll be on one side or the other of your cabin while it's in the parked position.

 

There are so many photos and aerial video of the ship now, you can probably find your cabin and see exactly what it is. Especially from her original entry into Miami. I was there and it took well over 45 minutes for that slow journey to the turning basin and back to her pier so you should easily be able to find a shot of your cabin location during all of that. Royal Caribbean had drones flying, I have almost a hour from our position on Scarlet Lady on YouTube.

 

From the way they describe the scenario, it doesn't sound bad at all. 

[crewsweeper]

Big discussion on the other site that shant be named. Someone posted a picture. Really not that big of a deal, but would have been nice if cabins were labeled as such.  Early deck plans didn't mention and there were no real cabin pictures available for those booking pre-inagural cruise.

[davidrlewis2302]

While it doesn’t sound a big deal, it might be worth making a big deal out of it to see if Royal Caribbean will give you any sort of discount. Even a little off is better than nothing, right?

[erby2283]

Someone on my sailing mentioned getting this email.  Another posted thought it might have referred to the hump cabin being listed as "obstructed" but I wasn't convinced.  Thanks for posting the whole email.

[CruisingWalter]

1 hour ago, crewsweeper said:

Early deck plans didn't mention and there were no real cabin pictures available for those booking pre-inagural cruise.

Part of the fun of booking super early before the ship is finalized.  The pros and cons of 'being first.' You discover all the things that weren't known when the ship was still being built. 🙂

[CruisingWalter]

25 minutes ago, davidrlewis2302 said:

While it doesn’t sound a big deal, it might be worth making a big deal out of it to see if Royal Caribbean will give you any sort of discount. Even a little off is better than nothing, right?

 

This is why we have always booked with a TA for almost 20 years of cruising. They have direct contacts at Royal (and others) so a question like this goes directly to someone who can help not just a call center.  I hope they do give a discount or some other options for the unexpected turn of events. 

[Engineroom Snipe]

Since the view blockage is estimated at 20%, I think 20% of the current cruise booking price would be appropriate and reasonable as a future cruise credit.

[fsjosh]

7 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Since the view blockage is estimated at 20%, I think 20% of the current cruise booking price would be appropriate and reasonable as a future cruise credit.

 

More likely, if the situation isn't to your satisfaction, they will give you 100% off. And then sell your cabin at the 2-3 times rate you paid that they are getting now.

[Engineroom Snipe]

5 minutes ago, fsjosh said:

 

More likely, if the situation isn't to your satisfaction, they will give you 100% off. And then sell your cabin at the 2-3 times rate you paid that they are getting now.

Very much a possibility considering the much higher prices which the ship is commanding today.

 

I am hopeful that Royal considers that this cruiser was 'loyal' enough to commit to what was at the time a premium price excited about a cruise only based on it being "Iconic". Royal has to appreciate such loyalty which would lead to more good will and publicity about the cruiser's experience concerning this special occasion.

 

My opinion was that it was the start of a mutual negotiation.

 

If Royal thought that my offer was a bit extreme, I might counter-offer that the 20% could be credited as "On board credit" knowing that Royal was getting the money in their pocket and maybe just costing them an actual of "10% cost".

 

It is a starting point in a mutually beneficial negotiation instead of an outlandish demand of "I want my cruise and a 1--% towards a future cruise credit" which might be a non-starter and lead to your outcome.

 

You have an absolutely plausible outcome but I am trying to offer an alternative to a flat-out "NO".

 

 

 

 

[fsjosh]

2 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Very much a possibility considering the much higher prices which the ship is commanding today.

 

I am hopeful that Royal considers that this cruiser was 'loyal' enough to commit to what was at the time a premium price excited about a cruise only based on it being "Iconic". Royal has to appreciate such loyalty which would lead to more good will and publicity about the cruiser's experience concerning this special occasion.

 

My opinion was that it was the start of a mutual negotiation.

 

If Royal thought that my offer was a bit extreme, I might counter-offer that the 20% could be credited as "On board credit" knowing that Royal was getting the money in their pocket and maybe just costing them an actual of "10% cost".

 

It is a starting point in a mutually beneficial negotiation instead of an outlandish demand of "I want my cruise and a 1--% towards a future cruise credit" which might be a non-starter and lead to your outcome.

 

You have an absolutely plausible outcome but I am trying to offer an alternative to a flat-out "NO".

 

 

 

 

It doesn't hurt to ask. Worst they can say is no. I'm betting the options you are presented with are accept the room with their sincerest apologies, or get a full refund and your cruise is cancelled.

 

Now if you are a super double pinacle and have your own personal agent you deal with, there might be some wiggle room, but your run of the mill cruiser isn't getting anywhere I bet.  

[ihopfar]

Thanks all for your insight!   I think looking at YouTube videos is a great idea.  

 

So far, it looks like the obstruction is minimal and thus not something I need to worry about.

 

Since my cruise is not till 2026, I don't think any amount of negotiating will get me compensation.  There are other cabins available in my category that do not seem to be affected by the obstruction.  They would just suggest I move to one of those. -- which is probably what I will do if further YouTube inspection has me thinking the obstruction is more than my initial impressions.

[Engineroom Snipe]

8 minutes ago, ihopfar said:

Thanks all for your insight!   I think looking at YouTube videos is a great idea.  

 

So far, it looks like the obstruction is minimal and thus not something I need to worry about.

 

Since my cruise is not till 2026, I don't think any amount of negotiating will get me compensation.  There are other cabins available in my category that do not seem to be affected by the obstruction.  They would just suggest I move to one of those. -- which is probably what I will do if further YouTube inspection has me thinking the obstruction is more than my initial impressions.

Sounds like you have a reasonable plan. Your "vacation" from stress should not have you stressful about the vacation.

 

Look forward to a great cruise.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, fsjosh said:

2 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Expand  

It doesn't hurt to ask. Worst they can say is no. I'm betting the options you are presented with are accept the room with their sincerest apologies, or get a full refund and your cruise is cancelled.

 

You hit the nail on the head with your options.  

[Suzyq52]

My travel agent got this email about my cabin that I booked when Icon was first released. She got nowhere when she called RC and told me to call Crown and Anchor. All they would give me is $50 OBC. Like she said, they probably want me to cancel since they are now selling the same cabin for twice what we booked. Not happy, but oh well…

[Engineroom Snipe]

9 hours ago, Suzyq52 said:

My travel agent got this email about my cabin that I booked when Icon was first released. She got nowhere when she called RC and told me to call Crown and Anchor. All they would give me is $50 OBC. Like she said, they probably want me to cancel since they are now selling the same cabin for twice what we booked. Not happy, but oh well…

I did not want to put a "like" emoji on your post because it might appear that I liked your outcome.

 

Thank you for sharing your factual experience.

 

😊

[ihopfar]

23 hours ago, Suzyq52 said:

My travel agent got this email about my cabin that I booked when Icon was first released. She got nowhere when she called RC and told me to call Crown and Anchor. All they would give me is $50 OBC. Like she said, they probably want me to cancel since they are now selling the same cabin for twice what we booked. Not happy, but oh well…

 

Have you tried youtube videos to see the obstruction for yourself,  like the suggestions above, for your cabin?

 

My cabin does not look too bad.