ICON of the Seas: 5 Reasons To STAY AWAY

While our inaugural cruise on board of Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas was absolutely amazing, there we found 5 big Icon Of The Seas cons that may make some people rethink booking this ship.

To save money on this cruise, we originally booked a neighborhood balcony guarantee. As I was looking at cabin availability before getting our room assigned, I kept seeing two types of cabins that have the most cabins left open: Infinite balconies and Surfside Neighborhood location.

Since both of these were new concepts launching on Icon of The Seas, I spent a lot of times researching both trying to decide if we made a good choice. I'll explain what we ended up doing and why it was the right choice in this video.

We also tested several specialty dining venues on Icon and were disappointed in several of them (while thoroughly enjoying a couple others).

Additionally, we were very surprised at one of the new neighborhoods on Icon Of The Seas (which I'll go over in detail in this video).

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⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️

0:00 Five Big Icon of The Seas Cons
0:12 Controversial Cabins
2:02 Surfside Neighborhood Cabins
4:23 Specialty Dining
7:48 Activities
9:24 Pricing

[williamrussell]

1. Children 2. Children 3. Children 4. Children 5. Children - all the fails of Icon! Children pooped in the pool twice in the swim up bar, children threw up in the pools twice in the largest pee pool at sea.

[PatrickWagz]

Those infinite balconies seem like a terrible design idea.
It seems like whoever was in charge of implementing them, had no clue how a ship actually functions... and they were like, "Here, open this giant window and allow all your air-conditioned air to escape to the atmosphere, while bringing in all 95 degrees/ 99% humidity air into your cabin, while we sail in the middle of the Caribbean Sea!!"
😁😁 *BRILLIANT!*

[StaceyChamberlain-kfqx]

I hate those new balcony. Those aren’t balconies, those are rooms with a window. Those people are cheated

[barryhaley]

Infinity balconies make more sense in cooler climates like the Baltic or Alaska. Regular balconies for warm climates.

[davidrle]

Don't let any YouTuber put you off, we had the best cruise ever last month on Icon! Well worth the money.

[planedudea]

Having been on several RCL ships, I am kind of glad they are updating some of the entertainment. I get some love 70s parties but they have to dable with some more modern musical decades. Offer a mix indeed.

[TeamReeseTravels]

Very solid points! We didn’t try Chop’s Grille, but from your video the tables look way too jam packed for specialty dining. Definitely think that would take away from our experience.

[Fishergaming]

We got ocean view. It doesn’t seem to bad because a regular balcony has bugs and dust on the chairs and tables while when the chairs are indoors it’s not dusty and there are no bugs

[seannielsen]

I very much enjoyed your video and you gained a new subscriber. We love the 70s and 80s shows the most by far on every Royal cruise we go on. We would be very sad to see it go away. We have not sailed on the Icon yet but we will be spending two weeks on the Symphony this summer. Good luckwith your channel. Wishing you all the best.

[finned]

I stayed in the Promenade rooms on a Royal Caribbean ship. It’s noisy in the evening when They did the party show up to 12 midnight. Better to not stay there. No wonder it’s as cheap as the inside rooms.

[ladymax]

I have never booked a guaranteed balcony. I always book an ocean view balcony. When I was working for a travel agency I was the artist coordinator and we were short on cabins so I took a Promenade balcony but probably wouldn't do again because it was a little noisy late evening at night time. I'm on Symphony of the Sea, and my girlfriend has booked a Boardwalk balcony for her and her twins, but I have an ocean view balcony as usual. I don't see the icon of the sea in the future for me until it come to Bayonne, NJ. I do not like to fly to board the ship because I overpack. I love your lamp. I have one similar to yours in my bedroom and living room, and I think they add elegance to you're a backdrop. Happy sailing🎉

[nikkinecolem]

I just got off the Icon a week ago and they had the 70s disco party and the one hit wonder party.. sorry you didn’t get to experience both like we did.. and the had an all white laser light dance party for families. They even introduced a new game show for the first time on any of there ships called truth and consequences.

[melvinjacobs]

There are real balconies on this ship also. You could have picked on of them easily.

[ronmoya]

With respect to Giovani’s table, it dated and I found the food offered was boring. They need to upgrade their menu, a spaghetti and meatballs with marinara or meat sauce would be nice. Also a wood fired pizza would be a plus. The pizza in the buffeteria is adequate but it’s certainly not high end.

[gempotente]

I did the Infinite balcony for Central Park on the 4/13-4/20 itinerary. I was quite pleased with the comfort level of my stay. My only call out is more security at the basketball court and every room should be providing gratuity if it's auto or cash in hand.

[ronmoya]

Also Chops has been serving the same thing for two decades. While the steaks are prepared well, they need to upgrade their offerings. The sides could be upgraded as well.

[PostcardAndAPint]

That's not a balcony! That's a window! We've never cruised with RCCL - we definitely want to give them a try. You made some great points here. Cheers 🍻

[rustynail]

The infinite balcony is one of the biggest mistake in the cruise industry. I have yet to read one review where someone said "Oh we loved this!!". A ship like the Icon that is pretty much dedicated to the Caribbean agenda where it gets ridiculously hot, the infinite balcony is a horrible idea!! Open it and bye bye AC!! Plus, the AC shuts down when you open it so getting the room cool again takes hours. RCI and the rest of the lines that opted for these are going to regret it in the long run.

[obbieosias]

Keep all the negatives coming! I love it because it will bring their rates down if cruisers start getting spooked!👍👍👍

[jayholiday]

Royal pricing is why we now shop Princess and Viking for our cruise 🚢. Currently on Odyssey and got a good deal 12 days Mediterranean