erby2283

8 minutes ago, irishgal432 said:

@Ourusualbeach  Do you know where the pool towel station is located?

I have watched a few ship tours on youtube and there are pretty much towel stations at every pool. 

19 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

The passenger count for the most part will not be that much different that the other Oasis class ships.  There are actually a few hundred less rooms on this ship than Wonder.  What is different is the number of rooms that hold 3 and 4 guests and other than holidays and summer will not all be maxed out.  Even then I highly doubt that you will see the ship at max occupancy.  While 4 in a room may work for small kids it is less than ideal for teenagers or adults

Well as a TA you definitely know more than me. We have three adults to a room. 🙂  If people really want to sail on Icon, girls trips may become more of thing just to be able to afford it.

33 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

One more observation.

 

 

There is a lot less pace devoted to retail stores on this ship and more space for venues and bars.

 

The watch stores are gone and are now basically display cases on the sides of one of the halls manned by one person.

I would think this was a smart one.  On a ship this size, they need more venues to spread the guests out and they'll probably generate more revenue selling drinks in those areas then they would on retail. 

Welcome to CC! Yes, you picked a whopper of a ship to be your first. Is this an adults only cruise or are you bringing kids? We also picked Giovanni's and Izumi as our specialty restaurants (I know you have Hooked as well but I don't do seafood and felt it wasn't worth the extra money for a non-seafood eater such as myself even though I heard they offer chicken and/or steak). 

1 am is still early!  Too much to see and eat for sleeping on such a grand ship! 

28 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

  Adults only area on deck 15 aft is awesome.

Glad to hear this. I was/am really upset about losing Cloud 17 and getting Hideaway in its place. I like to just sit in the sun and read (and get some shade at some point). Is the music terribly loud? 

9 minutes ago, Mook0517 said:

That’s such a shame… this used to be such a good platform to chat with fellow cruisers…

Most use other social networks. I still love roll calls here though. Have made many life-long friends on them.

1 hour ago, Mook0517 said:

Thank you so much!

 

Don't bother though. Only me and maybe one or two others have ever posted since booking back in Oct 2022.  Roll calls seem dead on here lately. 

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

A few random observations.

 

The new elevators are fantastic.  No more throngs of people pushing their way into each elevator then stopping at every floor.  The most stops I have made is 2.  Waiting an extra minute or two to get an elevator that then makes few stops is definitely a plus.

 

Windjammer is laid out like Wonder.  Very efficient, made to order omlettes at the very back, many miss thelis so it doesn't appear to be busy.

 

Bed configuration is yhe same as Oasis class with the cabin on the right side of a connecting pair having the bed by the balcony.  This ship does have the closer near the bed like Oasis and Allure to it is a tight squeeze with the bed by the bath so a definite preference for bed by the balcony on this class of ships. 

 

 

 

 

If you happen to see a balcony cabin with the sofa set up for the third person, can you please snap a picture? Curious to see how the sofas open.

4 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Ooh that is an interesting fact indeed. So that is likely one way to save a bit of $$, those kids or 3/4 guests half off or whatever.  Thanks!

Or adults that act like kids! That's how we saved money. We booked close to when bookings opened and with three adults (best friends) sharing an ocean view balcony, we paid around $1,145 p/p through our TA who had group space. 

Will also be following along. We board in May and can’t wait! 

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

This slides vid is awesome.  At the 2:00 mark it shows the steps up to the top which are more steps than stairs so I may be capable to go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um3ssjj_7Ok

 

It must be 30 years since I got on a slide. Really want to go (just want to lose some weight so I don’t embarrass myself trying to get off the mat at the bottom). 😂😂😂

3 minutes ago, cr2000 said:

 You won't be the only one, Cloud 17 will be a hangout/basecamp for suite guests with families/kids on decks16/17 due to the proximity of slides. The hideway looks great from an adult perspective, but you have to be an adult that wants to party all day long (drinking and loud music). There is no longer an adult only solitude type venue on Icon, but that doesn't seem to be how the ship is marketed anyway...

Exactly.  I don't drink at all so the Hideaway from a "party" perspective does not appeal to me.  I just prefer a lounger with a nice sea view, sun, and my kindle and friends. Optimistic that we'll be able to find an ideal location for us. Luckily, since we're early risers and usually in our chairs by 8 am, I'm about done with the sun by 2 anyway. 😜 Then can move to the Aqua dome. 

1 hour ago, JemzRoo said:

 

 

I mean, it looks nice for what it is ... but it's absolutely not a replacement for the Solarium or Cloud 17, I don't care what all the apologists say. Will I enjoy it? Sure, I probably will. Am I happy about it? Nope. 

Same. Will be interested to see the types of crowds at Cloud 17. May still hang out there. 

5 hours ago, The sea calls my name said:

Saw that same one, that make no sense to me.  Us women have hair dryers, straight irons, curling irons etc that aren't USB charged items.  Oh well  I did see a 220v so Converter it is.

 

In one of the cabin videos I saw, there was an outlet in the bathroom now! Finally. Yay! About time. Now, let’s hope I don’t trip the breaker with my hairdryer. 🤣

I guess if you have 8 adults who don't mind splitting the cost and sleeping in a children's inspired room, $10,000 for a week isn't that much for some people.

Funny story....or not.  My boss recently went on a cruise from Rio de Janiero.  No issues with that cruise.  Post cruise, they were going to spend a few days in Colombia.  They showed up at the airport in Rio to board their plane and were denied entry because they didn't have their yellow fever vaccine.  Had they planned their trip in reverse and traveled to Colombia from the US it wouldn't have been a problem, but because they were flying from Rio, they were denied access as Colombia has a list of countries in which they require vaccines.  He was never advised by an any airline that a yellow fever vaccine was required - who would think to check that?! He knows now. 🙂 Requirements also said that if you were on a flight and had a layover in any of the countries that Colombia requires a vaccine from, you also had to have a vaccine.  So it does pay to do research. 

So Michael Bayley (or his admin) replied to my email. It was nice to get a response either way (and in a timely manner). See Below. 

Thank you for sharing your story and so sorry that happened to you.  I took my first trip to Europe (Spain, Italy, France) in 2019 and I was told by friends to just be "aware" of my surroundings but I still was on high alert.  I bought a travelon bag that had locks and bought my bf a little pouch the hangs from his belt on the inside of his pants.  It was a pain every time he needed to get money or something out of it but at least we felt safe.

Heading back to Rome for a cruise in Sept and we planned on taking the train from Rome to the port as it's the cheapest way to go but maybe it's not the best option when you realize the risk you could be taking.  Maybe private transport, while more expensive is the way to go? We'll all have a carry-on AND a suitcase and maybe a backpack too....we don't travel light.  lol

I think it's possible to be critical, disappointed all the while still go with a positive attitude and still have a good time because after all, a cruise is usually what you make of it (for the most part and barring unforeseen, out of your control issues). What is important to one may not be as important to others but that doesn't make their complaint or your complaint any less valid - just what's in the eyes of the beholder.

I personally agree with both @cr2000 and @BecciBoo on many of their posts. Even though I'll never see the likes of a suite I can understand the disappointment. And BecciBoo and I share in the disappointment of the loss of Cloud 17 but will still try and make the best of it.

I sent a short email to Michael Bayley (not that he actually reads them) about my disappointment - that's all I can do. Like @BecciBoo said, hopefully reviews come back and they'll make the switch back.  If not, I'm still an early riser and will find a great spot no matter where it is! CHOGS be darned. lol

2 hours ago, topanga49er said:

Hi.  I think this news article is confusing "the hideaway" pool with Hideaway Beach on Cococay.   Hideaway Beach is adults only as is Cloud 17 pool.  Unless they changed something drastically and that would take a lot more than one article: it would be a PR nightmare.  In fact Matt stated that Cloud 17 was adults only in his video...

I asked Matt in the comments on the Royal Carribean blog video he posted to YT and he replied back tonight that it was indeed confirmed that Hideaway on the ship is now the adults only area. 🥲

8 hours ago, SUgwoz said:

The Hideaway is a larger space overlooking the aft, with its own bar and a larger seating area that includes pool loungers and dry seating couches/chairs. 

 

Doesn't exactly sound like the shaft.  It also seems like it would be easier to police an area at the end of the ship as oppose to a pool area where people would use the walkaway alongside it to get to coastal kitchen, suites all day long. 

I’m actually not so sure about that. Here’s a comparison of the Hideaway to Cloud 17. I couldn’t even fit all of Cloud 17 in the screen shot. Look at the number of loungers compared to what’s in the Hideaway. Plus, (and I’m a non-smoker), the smoking section is adjacent to Cloud 17. There’s only one way into Cloud 17 (I think) from either end so it shouldn’t be that hard to limit access to children. 
 

As I said in an earlier post, as a woman sailing with 2 of her best friends, we really were looking forward to having the Cloud 17 area. We understand this ship is marketed to families but having this nice-sized adult only area was a nice selling point for us and I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t disappointing. But we’ll still make the best of it. 

1 minute ago, cr2000 said:

 

I think if you're traveling outside of Holidays (Thanksgiving/Christmas), school vacation weeks (Feb/April) or over the summer (May-August), you'll be fine. Otherwise, the way the ship is designed and marketed makes it very much a family oriented cruise (lots and lots of kids - think Disney), which is not ideal to couples or honeymoon travelers. I know it's unpopular to say, but when the majority of kids on the cruise equals or exceeds the number of adults (i.e. mostly families) couple/singles travelers are going to be hard pressed to have any "adult-only" rules enforced. Just have to roll with it...

Thank you. We're traveling first week of May - a cruise if what you make of it so I'm sure we'll still have an amazing time. 

2 minutes ago, cr2000 said:

Looks like the switch is official: https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/royal-caribbean-icon-of-the-seas-news

Yeah, not really happy about that. While knowing this ship would attract mostly families, I booked this itinerary with Cloud 17 in mind knowing we'd have a really nice adults only area away from the noise of the kids. I'll roll with the punches and I am sure I'll find a nice spot that will make me happy but of all their changes, this makes me sad.  I'm gonna need Jay Schneider's email address and in the words of Jack from Titanic "send a strongly worded letter."...lol... Not that he'll care. 😃

2 hours ago, mramella said:

 

No, my friend, unfortunately, they are not free 😞. Here's a screenshot for our upcoming Icon cruise this March. They are sold out for our cruise at $350 a pop (we did not buy one).

 

 

 

Thank you. 

I personally would pay the $7 for a float - but only once or twice at most. However, I don’t drink alcohol or eat at the pay restaurants so I usually pick and choose where I want to splurge on a ship.  But I get what you’re saying. If you a have a family with kids, it would get really pricey pretty quickly! 
 

I also booked Icon as soon as sailings were released. We have three to a room and paid $1100/pp for an ocean view balcony. Couldn’t afford it at today’s prices so booking early is definitely the way to go. Maybe keep an eye on Star of the Seas and book early for her would be my suggestion.