Wow ! Best cruise ever!

Icon of the Seas Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 16
Helpful Votes: 374

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5
Icon of the Seas

7 Night Western Caribbean & Perfect Day (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 03, 2024

Ship: Icon of the Seas

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 months ago

Review summary

I know. This is an expensive cruise but for us it was worth it. I highly recommend saving up as we are to do it again.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
A breeze. Less than 10 minutes. Fast. Just make sure you have the Royal app (logged in) and/or print out of boarding pass.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Being a Carnivores, it was amazing with lots of options at every sitting. Chops house. -great. Got two steaks no extra charge. Wind jammer. Had lobster tail two two nights with lots of options. Wife felt the fruit could of been more ripe Hooked Seafood. Great. Placing in the aqua dome Main dining room was pretty good. Highly recommend the carnivore diet especially if you have body issues. Cured me of many and off all my pharmacy meds. What a mistake taking them. Hibachi. Was great staff. Even with our table demands the chef got thru it lol. No onion. Me - use butter only. Etc etc Food was ok not our favorite.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Lots to do. Great access to fitness gym. A little crowded on see days but dead on port days which was nice. Access from track around 5th floor to gym entrance was nice. Pool / hot tubs. Plenty and nice Water slides / drop slide. All great. Go on port days. No line. Never the first 48 hrs onboard. Cliff hanger. Not worth it to me. But good for the photo they take for $25. Day bed (forgot what they call em). Sometimes too loud. Not worth $800 on sea days. My bad. Plenty of around CD. seating Aron d.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Loved wizard of oz. A tad long but nicely done. Great talent. Dorothy was amazing!! Recommend sitting around 7-12 rows back. Comedy: Wish they would switch the comedians during the week. Used to that on carnival. Always the same jokes in the attic. Had 3 of them which was nice. Ice show was nice but chilly. Dress warm. Dialing piano duo was amazing. Musicians. Great. Liked them all Mo5ic singing show. Did great. A must see Juggle show. Had nice comedy. Liked him. Magician. Even though I know all his tricks. Lol. He did a great job and was entertaining. Aqua show had amazing technology but felt like some things where strange like lights in hands of swimmers and hitting the water. Mike the cruise director. Felt a bit week. Not much to say when he spoke. Was on the carnival horizon and the director was so funny. Interactive and out there to mix and mingle

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Great. Best crew ever. I hope the guests all treated them nicely. Felt the waiter on the main dining room was a little much in pleasing us and talking about us rating them on any surveys at our last meal Room Stewart. Even though he met us and wrote down our demands We had to remind him. Lol. He was awesome.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Brand new. So what you expect. Perfection.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
We upgraded for that lottery bidding thing. But if you are noise sensitive I would not recommend the infinity baloney family style ocean view room we had. Sleeps 6. with the bunk beds for kids. Why. Because you are surrounded By others with same rooms and you will probably hear kids jumping around in their room in your room. Though we Loved the two bathroom rooms. Sink and toilet in one and shower and sink in other one. Really liked the infinity balcony. at first no. But after a day I started to love it. No usually balcony but room Keep open some while sleeping was nice as well Room was perfect. Don’t forget to place you luggage under your bed

Ship tip

Explore, journey around. Try the surf side buffet restaurant. (Free). Nice place. Get a room on level 8 is nice to be on same level as Central Park. Get a feel what is in the fwd and back of the ship so you can navigate better. windjammer and dining hall in back. Royal theater and fitness room is in forward part for example. Recommend a room not at the back of ship but closer to back not far from elevators. Use app to sign up for shows when they offer reservations for them. Keep track of your bookings and spread them out. In app you can see your clandestine which is nice. Don’t jump overboard. You will love the elevators. Size, amount of them and how they operate.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5
So much better than most. Highly dislike Orlando area port - Too far from airport to port Canaveral to catch a plane. Silly. Miami airport is close to port. Lots of hotel options. Miami close ,if not in yet , In the warm weather so not in the cold hoping to pass Miami to feel warmer from a northern port. Nice seaport mall at the ferris wheel area if you arrive too early to go visit.

Perfect Day At Coco Cay, Bahamas

4 out of 5
Went to the adult only hidden cove place. Not worth it for us. Since the cruise was during school season not that many kids onboard so going to chill area was a better option plus you are near the Buffet in chill island area. The adult only area was around $42 per person. Not worth the admission. Less food options as well. Made up beach area that has no waves. Attached photo is the food option in the hidden cove adult area. Royal did an amazing job with this island. Trams were great. With two ships did not seem overwhelming.

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

3 out of 5
Just feel all the same businesses at each port. Went to the water park. Place was dead. So no lines. Great staff with good instructions/into safety. Was nice to see. Opposite of Honduras (Do not do atv’ing in Honduras ). Nice place and their cool zip lines are included (6 in rows. 4 minute drive from port. Booked thru cruise.

Cozumel, Mexico

3 out of 5
Same pushy stores and same stores as other ports. Ugh. They are bringing in Israelis youngsters to help bring in passerbyers and to pass out make up samples etc. Very pushy. Like Las Vegas. Just starting to dislike ports. Rather enjoy the ship while everyone is out and about.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
10 mins max. It was nice. No passport needed. Not sure what to say about face detect happening everywhere.
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7 Comments

mikeyb2     9 months ago

And the casino is great. 1/2 none smoking. Was great. Sadly 8 deck black jack but they do pay 3/2 on blackjacks which is nice

javawoody     9 months ago

Appreciate the feedback

Gwbigdog     9 months ago

Thanks for sharing

cruising2004     9 months ago

Glad you had an awesome cruise! Great detailed review!

TiffyTaffy     9 months ago

Thanks for the review and ship tip. It definitely seems worth the cost.

karlgrgurich     9 months ago

Glad you had a great time. Some things are just worth the cost

AuntPinkie     9 months ago

Appreciate your detailed feedback. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

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