Just off Icon…any questions?

[goldfish65]

I have never been on Oasis class, hearing comments that it is too "inward focused." On Icon did you feel much more connected to the water? 

 

I booked Icon because my travel agent raved, but I am having second thoughts. I want to know that I am on a ship and not in a mall. 

 

 

 

Edited September 18 by goldfish65

[SUgwoz]

28 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

I have never been on Oasis class, hearing comments that it is too "inward focused." On Icon did you feel much more connected to the water? 

 

I booked Icon because my travel agent raved, but I am having second thoughts. I want to know that I am on a ship and not in a mall. 

 

 

 

I would consider it different. Pearl Cafe offers a great experience looking out a glass wall, opposite side has a nice seating area on an open deck outside the 1400 bar.  So the Promenade is less enclosed than Oasis class. Pool deck has pools that are alongside the edge looking over the water in three different locations. Overlook offers water views like solarium, but it's glass enclosed and no pools/tubs. Also lot more space in rear of pool deck to overlook water where as oasis class has flow riders. 

 

Most are disappointed that coastal kitchen and suite lounge does not have water views, instead they focus on public spaces having water views. 

 

 

[Cruise a holic]

1 hour ago, SUgwoz said:

Which makes sense and sounds more an issue with surfside family suite choice.  That cabin type does appear poorly designed, and likely why they gave it sky class amenities.  As oppose to Family Infinite balcony that seems to have much more ample space, but no suite amenity and often still cost as much or more than surfside suite.  Along with that surfside cabins are one of the furthest locations from suite area.

 

My experience in May for elevator was often being on an empty or near empty elevator and going straight to my floor or maybe stopping once, as oppose to other classes like Oasis where you hop on a packed elevator with 6+ floors pressed or wait for another elevator hoping for less people. Typically I avoid elevators on cruises as I find them inconvenient and slow compared to stairs right next to it, Icon I rarely took stairs as the process seemed more efficient and less crowds hovering over a bank of 6 elevators guessing which one will come.

Since we are both senior citizens, we find it difficult to go up more than a couple of flights.  However we aren’t willing to give up the suite perks.  If I ever go on an icon ship again, will consider a sky class junior suite.  But for now we love the oasis class ships

[SUgwoz]

1 hour ago, Cruise a holic said:

Since we are both senior citizens, we find it difficult to go up more than a couple of flights.  However we aren’t willing to give up the suite perks.  If I ever go on an icon ship again, will consider a sky class junior suite.  But for now we love the oasis class ships

Completely understand, my older relatives were recently on Oasis class for the first time a few weeks ago (Utopia), after going on Icon in May.  I fully expected them to come back saying Oasis class is their preference and was surprised they both like Icon better.  Mind you neither ship they were in a suite.  Everyone has their unique wants on a cruise ship and while I think there is many that feel disappointed with some of the changes from Oasis class there is others that are pleased with the differences, and overall its better to have ships that are not near carbon copies.  

 

They also loved the infinite balcony rooms as they are adverse to excessive AC, so it shutting off was not a hinderance for them. Along with the better designed showers and room controls they found Utopia Oceanview balconies a step backwards for them.  Which goes to show for those that think a design choice was a terrible mistake, there is someone else out there that may prefer it.

Edited September 18 by SUgwoz

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, SUgwoz said:

Completely understand, my older relatives were recently on Oasis class for the first time a few weeks ago (Utopia), after going on Icon in May.  I fully expected them to come back saying Oasis class is their preference and was surprised they both like Icon better.  Mind you neither ship they were in a suite.  Everyone has their unique wants on a cruise ship and while I think there is many that feel disappointed with some of the changes from Oasis class there is others that are pleased with the differences, and overall its better to have ships that are not near carbon copies.  

 

They also loved the infinite balcony rooms as they are adverse to excessive AC, so it shutting off was not a hinderance for them. Along with the better designed showers and room controls they found Utopia Oceanview balconies a step backwards for them.  Which goes to show for those that think a design choice was a terrible mistake, there is someone else out there that may prefer it.

The infinite balcony rooms tend to be very polarizing. We had a CP one when we were on Icon. While we didn’t dislike it, it wasn’t our favorite. Over the last few weeks we have done a CP balcony on Utopia, a CP balcony on Wonder, and currently in a BW balcony on Allure. We definitely prefer the regular balcony over the infinite balcony. 
 

We spend a lot of time in the Solarium and on the Boardwalk on Oasis class ships. To us this is a big negative with Icon. But if you don’t care about these, it obviously isn’t a negative for Icon. 

[SUgwoz]

13 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

The infinite balcony rooms tend to be very polarizing. We had a CP one when we were on Icon. While we didn’t dislike it, it wasn’t our favorite. Over the last few weeks we have done a CP balcony on Utopia, a CP balcony on Wonder, and currently in a BW balcony on Allure. We definitely prefer the regular balcony over the infinite balcony. 
 

We spend a lot of time in the Solarium and on the Boardwalk on Oasis class ships. To us this is a big negative with Icon. But if you don’t care about these, it obviously isn’t a negative for Icon. 

I think the infinite balcony will be a much better option in winter months, next time I'm on Icon class I will likely get one as they tend to be a little cheaper and the extra space is a benefit for me even though I like a traditional balcony.

 

I am not a cruise pool person and don't spend much time in hot tubs and I feel like that is the main difference between Solarium and Overlook.  I have a pool at home and cruise pools are nothing special.  I was surprised how much I liked the overlook, it felt like two completely different venues between day and night and was generally quiet with a lot of comfortable seating for various sizes of parties.  Also like the addition of sitting in aqua dome, eating lunch from the marketplace and watching performers practice in the comfortable ac.  I never found myself sitting at aqua theatre during the day on Oasis class, as you would just bake in the sun with only hotdogs being available nearby.

 

Everyone has their preferences though and Icon certainly can be approved upon, but I have a feeling when I go on Oasis this winter I will be missing some of the features on Icon.  Of course getting a balcony on Oasis for 6 nights for under $2k for my group of 4 is too cheap to pass up. 

[luv2ndhalf]

How was the wait for the elevators? Are they usually crowded? Are there multiple gangways to disembark in the ports? I just am curious if there is chaos when people are trying to get off-

[Womack21499]

10 hours ago, luv2ndhalf said:

How was the wait for the elevators? Are they usually crowded? Are there multiple gangways to disembark in the ports? I just am curious if there is chaos when people are trying to get off-

We didn’t experience any chaos getting off and we disembarked at about 8:30. Wasn’t crowded at all. One gateway for strollers, wheelchairs etc and one for those without. The wait for elevators wasn’t too bad. I feel like it is a lot of wasted space on the ship in the middle of the elevators section. 

[PhillyFan33579]

On 9/18/2024 at 4:40 PM, SUgwoz said:

I think the infinite balcony will be a much better option in winter months, next time I'm on Icon class I will likely get one as they tend to be a little cheaper and the extra space is a benefit for me even though I like a traditional balcony.

 

I am not a cruise pool person and don't spend much time in hot tubs and I feel like that is the main difference between Solarium and Overlook.  I have a pool at home and cruise pools are nothing special.  I was surprised how much I liked the overlook, it felt like two completely different venues between day and night and was generally quiet with a lot of comfortable seating for various sizes of parties.  Also like the addition of sitting in aqua dome, eating lunch from the marketplace and watching performers practice in the comfortable ac.  I never found myself sitting at aqua theatre during the day on Oasis class, as you would just bake in the sun with only hotdogs being available nearby.

 

Everyone has their preferences though and Icon certainly can be approved upon, but I have a feeling when I go on Oasis this winter I will be missing some of the features on Icon.  Of course getting a balcony on Oasis for 6 nights for under $2k for my group of 4 is too cheap to pass up. 

I agree everyone has different preferences. We have a NYE cruise this year on Icon, but we will be the other way around missing some  of the features on Oasis class ships. We just got off Allure this morning and spent a lot of time during the cruise on the Boardwalk. That was my biggest disappointment the first time I sailed on Icon, but I understand why RCI got rid of it on Icon. In the last three weeks we have also cruised on Wonder and Utopia. At least for us, these ships are much nicer and more enjoyable than Icon. 

[darlou]

How is it getting a couple of chairs around the pool during the day. Is one pool less crowded than any others or is it hit and miss with any pool area. Thanks in advance.

Edited Sunday at 03:53 PM by darlou

[bucky0926]

Did anyone complain about the running track over their heads if they were in cabins on deck 4?

[Womack21499]

1 hour ago, darlou said:

How is it getting a couple of chairs around the pool during the day. Is one pool less crowded than any others or is it hit and miss with any pool area. Thanks in advance.

Never could get a chair near a pool. I am not a fan of the pool setup on this ship. The pools don’t seem big enough and not enough chairs around them. I like Oasis class pools better. 

[Womack21499]

10 minutes ago, bucky0926 said:

Did anyone complain about the running track over their heads if they were in cabins on deck 4?

We were on deck 10 so I am not sure about deck 4. Sorry. 

[darlou]

Besides the online check in 45 days before boarding do we have to do anything else. I saw on some videos people were doing a check in 3 hrs before boarding the ship. Is this an additional check in?Thanks in advance. 

[darlou]

3 hours ago, Womack21499 said:

Never could get a chair near a pool. I am not a fan of the pool setup on this ship. The pools don’t seem big enough and not enough chairs around them. I like Oasis class pools better. 

Is there a lot of chairs to sit if you are not by the pool to just chill and relax Thanks

[PhillyFan33579]

5 hours ago, Womack21499 said:

Never could get a chair near a pool. I am not a fan of the pool setup on this ship. The pools don’t seem big enough and not enough chairs around them. I like Oasis class pools better. 

That was our experience when we were on Icon in February, when supposedly the ship was sailing under 100%. Granted we weren’t out at 7 AM, but it was impossible to find any chairs near a pool any time after 9 AM. We didn’t spend any time in Surfside, so it could be different in that area. 

[Womack21499]

2 hours ago, darlou said:

Is there a lot of chairs to sit if you are not by the pool to just chill and relax Thanks

Yes tons of chairs on the decks all over. 

[Womack21499]

2 hours ago, darlou said:

Besides the online check in 45 days before boarding do we have to do anything else. I saw on some videos people were doing a check in 3 hrs before boarding the ship. Is this an additional check in?Thanks in advance. 

You have to do your muster drill videos on your app. You have to do your health questionnaire the day before you sail. I think that is all. 

[Newcruiser215]

What is your biggest con & biggest pro? Also, would you sail on the Icon again? 

[KimA75]

22 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

What is your biggest con & biggest pro? Also, would you sail on the Icon again? 

We just got off on the 21st.  Biggest pro was the number and variety of both restaurants and activities such as the expanded waterslides and children's areas.  If you don't have kids though, this may not matter.  I loved the Aquadome market area.  The crepes were fantastic.  We also ended up eating most breakfasts at Surfside Eatery since they had the items we wanted and it wasn't nearly as crowded as Windjammer.  I expected Pearl Cafe to give more options.  Their bakery items changed daily and they had some good items.  But, it seemed like the sandwich choices were the same three option every day.  The new elevator set up was great.  There was only once or twice that the elevators were so crowded that we had to wait for another one.

 

Biggest con was the lack of pool space and how noisy it was.  My son and I love to swim, but there was only one pool with any real depth to it.  It was so crowded on the one sea day that when we went, we could barely move.  On the second sea day it was closed part of the day.  No matter where you went, it was loud.  My parents had a Central Park infinite balcony.  They hardly opened the window because they got so much noise from the pool deck, even through they were down on deck 10 and the Park was deck 8.  My kids and I were in a sunset junior suite.  I barely spent time on the balcony because there was so much noise from Surfside.  Unless I went out really late night or super early in the morning, there was no enjoying the ocean sounds.

 

I also felt  that the shops were lacking compared to other ships. Oh, and it seemed a little harder to find the drink machines on this ship compared to Oasis.  There didn't seem to be as many.

 

I was so excited about this ship that I literally jumped online and booked the moment bookings were available.  My children were so overwhelmed that they did not use the activities like they did on other cruises.  We did not enjoy the noisiness everywhere and we couldn't enjoy the pools.  These are completely personal experiences and preferences and will be different for other people.  We will not be booking this class again, but will be sticking with Oasis class (our favorite) and smaller.

 

 

[SUgwoz]

3 hours ago, KimA75 said:

I also felt  that the shops were lacking compared to other ships. Oh, and it seemed a little harder to find the drink machines on this ship compared to Oasis.  There didn't seem to be as many.

 

 

If you are referring to Coke Freestyle machines, there are 7 of them vs. 4 on Oasis class with each of them being near dining venues. For juices, i would think it's same as Oasis with addition of having it also in Surfside eatery. 

[Womack21499]

On 9/23/2024 at 9:52 AM, Newcruiser215 said:

What is your biggest con & biggest pro? Also, would you sail on the Icon again? 

Biggest cons for us was the rule with the little one and the pools. Also the availability of chairs around the pools, the pool sizes were small it felt like, and the shops were not good. The slide lines were slow at times because they didn’t get the rafts up to the start fast enough, not because the lines were super long. We didn’t feel like Pearl Cafe had many options. Also, they did have plenty of the Coke machines however they didn’t have coffee or milk in very many places. Also, wasn’t a fan of lunch in the windjammer. Breakfast was good in windjammer. Was disappointed in the room attendant. Only got 3 towel animals and never on our bed.  We won’t be booking on Icon class again unless it is for the ports. We booked Oasis class for 2025. Oh and the benches in Aqua theatre are aweful. Very uncomfortable to sit on. 

Edited Tuesday at 05:11 PM by Womack21499

[SilkySal]

2 hours ago, Womack21499 said:

Biggest cons for us was the rule with the little one and the pools.

What is the rule?

[Womack21499]

12 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

What is the rule?

There is only one very small splash area they can play in if still in diapers. Yet those not in diapers have free rein and can pee and poop and in pools and close them down. Which is what happened to the kid pool next to the baby play area. At least those in swim diapers have it contained. They should also have that play area covered from the sun and it isn’t. The floor gets very hot as well and the little ones need swim shoes or it will burn their feet. 

[SUgwoz]

Pros - Food, first time I left a ship feeling like I didn't try everything I wanted or at least didn't get to go back for a second time.  Pearl pre-packaged foods was a welcome change along with marketplace.  More opportunities to get healthy options as oppose to just pizza or really mediocre cold offerings in Cafe Promenade.  With more places for food and available late, it feels like that should be the standard going forward.  Kid friendly food options being near kid activities seems like a no brainer, no reason to take kids to windjammer.

 

Bathroom design/room controls in non-suite rooms should also be a standard going forward

 

Shows were all well done and would attend each again.  Aqua, Wizard of Oz, and Ice Show. Aqua should be tweaked though, definitely room for improvement.  Wizard of Oz is a must see and entertaining for all ages, but I do know they experience technical difficulties with all the technology they have mixed it.  Ice show had features that go beyond just seeing people ice skate, great visuals.

 

Overlook in my opinion is a great venue for both day and night time, where as I feel like Solarium is only worthwhile during the day time.  Along with Aquadome being an interesting spot for lunch when the aqua show is practicing. 

 

Pier 7 was a highlight in terms of food, certainly not anything special in terms of environment. However, the food was my favorite over Hooked and Chops.

 

Promenade design is big upgrade in how wide it is, recall several times on Oasis class where it felt like a battle to get to other side.  Not only is it wider you can also go on the second level and go straight across as well.  I did however find that you could hear live music from multiple venues that were directly located across from one another and could find that problematic.

 

Cons - Lack of features for toddlers specifically, no indoor play space in AO is a miss unlike Freedom and Oasis class.  Splashaway bay play area seems more lackluster (though its shaded most of the time which is very good), the kids pool area is actually a pretty interesting design and not a bad spot for parents and kids to hang out in as you get a great view of the back of the ship.  Enjoyed sitting in that pool at St. Thomas watching a Sea plane land.

 

Slide times, only raft slides open after 7pm. App doesn't give that distinction.  Rafts slides are longer waits, mostly because of the process to have people exit and clear the raft/slide before sending the next group.  Slide variety is very good with the more daring slides having little to no wait most of the time.

 

Windjammer unsurprisingly still gets overcrowded for breakfast and issue finding seats even for 2 people.  Surfside Eatery is a great option that never seemed to be busy.

 

Ultimately though, if someone is looking for this to be a relaxing cruise for adults you will be disappointed.  It's a busy cruise with lots of activities and people of all ages.  I personally would go on it again even with out kids, because of the food, shows, and activities all of which is more robust than any of the other current ships.