We just spent 10 nights aboard the world’s largest cruise ship the icon of the Seas and this is the good bad and [Applause] ugly hey everybody what is up my name is Jordan and I’m Jared and this is JJ Cruz thank you so much for clicking into the
Video today today we’re talking all things icon of the Seas this is of course the mega ship by real Caribbean that just came out it cost $2 billion to create and we spent 10 glorious nights aboard this ship we are going to give you all of the good all of our Bad and
The Ugly at the end of the video so stay tuned cuz you want to know what you need to prepare for when deciding whether or not to book or sell on the world’s biggest cruise ship icon of the Seas before we get into this we do just want
To invite you to subscribe to the channel cruising is all we do here at JJ Cru so if you love cruising as as much as we do don’t forget to hit that subscribe button and while you’re down there hit that thumbs up now we know there’s a lot of questions to be had
When it comes to the world’s biggest cruise ship icon of the Seas from is this cruise ship too big is it too expensive are there too many kids or families around for me to have fun as an adult or in general is this a cruise
Ship for me well we are going to answer all of that for you today with our good our bad but also just in general who is this cruise ship for and did we find it worth it overall we know that when you go on vacation your money is very
Important so ultimately we want to answer the question is this worth your money is this trip worth taking all of the kids or your significant other away for a week-long vacation in the Caribbean and we will share at the end if we think that it was worth it for the
Two of us let’s get into into the good and let’s start by talking about the stateroom we did already complete a full stateroom review actually two stateroom reviews cuz we did stay in two different cabins during the time we were on board the icon of the Seas both of the cabins
Were very similar in the fact that they were large spacious and bright and we really liked that about these cabins one thing though that particularly stood out was the new bathroom design specifically the shower the showers are so spacious and the best part is there’s additional storage for towels to where you can
Actually dry off in this glass enclosed shower and not have to get the rest of the bathroom wet when drying off which is normal for most Cruise cabins and is something very unique with icon of the Seas when it comes to the design of the ship this is a large open concept ship
Multiple areas like the prominade Surfside family area the Central Park area were large and there was this open concept that they went with that we thought was incredible we see a lot of these new cruise ships that are the biggest in that cruise Line’s history have very more intimate spaces that are
Too small for anyone to really enjoy you really get 20 30 people on there and then you’re completely packed out and you have to find a different venue if you aren’t one of those 20 or 30 people for a majority of these venues on icon seas that did not happen which we love
To see you could really enjoy just by being in the prominade different music different sounds different events happening and you didn’t have to feel like you’re so claustrophobically in one venue with closed doors behind you across all of our 10 nights we never once felt like there was a particular
Area that we were in that was overcrowded or that there was too many people in as a matter of fact there was multiple times that I would walk around the ship throughout the day and I would wonder where are the thousands of other people that are on this ship and that’s
Because the ship provides so many different Outlets and areas for people to go so we love the concept of the ship the design of the ship and we think the large open areas really play well to having a lot of people on board along with the large open concept design are
Ocean views throughout including the prominade and even a little bit in Central Park this is something we haven’t seen on all other cruise lines and even some of the other classes of ships in Royal Caribbean herself and this is something that we all travel and
Cruise to do we love to see the ocean we love to see the sunshine or the ocean waves and this is something that was missing on other class of ships and we are so pleasantly surprised to see it here on icon of the seas in all her
Glory one question that we got a lot when we stepped on board was is the ship too big and is it difficult especially if you have a hard time walking short distances to get from point A to point B we are really happy to report back that
The flow of the ship is well thought out and well designed it is easy to get from neighborhood to Neighborhood whether that be from elevators there is an escalator that goes from the casino to the prominade and truly you don’t have to go long distances between places you
Can actually take your time getting across the ship and enjoy a variety of different food entertainment both in the forward and the AFT and the ship is just very well thought out when it comes to how you get around I think a point to add on here as one of our great things
Not only the flow of the ship being fantastic and not having to walk so many places or long distances but also how they’re segmented out for example Families versus adults this is a common question is this going to be just packed full of kids is it really just a family
Ship or is this a place where I can go as an adult and separate myself from kids if I want to and have a good time time the answer is both yes and that is because a lot of the family segments are the largest that Royal Caribbean has
Ever provided for families but they are segmented off from the rest of the ship which we love seeing usually it’s always the adults have to be segmented off into one part of the ship instead it’s the kids being segmented off to one part of the ship the back of the ship is where
The Surfside family neighborhood exists that neighborhood has places to eat specialty restaurants a bar a massive splash pad and also is situated right off of Adventure ocean so that entire area towards the back of the ship is really where families and kids could stay all day long on top of that
Playmakers is right next door as well as absolute zero which is the ice skating rink and there is actual kids shows that will talk about a little bit later that are in this venue as well if you go straight up from Surf Side you will go to Category 6 water park another family
Destination this is a part of thrill Island where you also have mini golf and you also have that of the Flow Rider so really you can stay in the a of the ship if you have a family with kids and really just go up and down and not have
To go to the adult areas of the ship not only are the neighborhoods segmented the pools are also kind of segmented out in terms of what each pool is meant for who you’ve got the Hideaway pool as well as the genin and tonic swim up pool which
Are meant for more adults the main Area Pool the largest pool on the ship that is meant for families as well as of course Category 6 and then Cloud 17 is more of a quiet pool in that area of course there was some kids in there from
Time to time throughout the week but that was the pool to just kind of get away from it all if you didn’t want the party or the adults only section or the family Splash Pad down in the Surfside neighborhood the pools are well thought out on this ship and we love that they
Each have a purpose speaking of the pools we have to talk and really give kudos to Royal Caribbean for Hideway Hideway is the adults only area of the pool deck and it is gorgeous with half facing views out the back of the ship you can really see the Wake it’s perfect
For sailway these are the prime positions that you want to have for sa away and it’s now reserved for the adults to just sit out there in a pool enjoy cocktail or whatever you like to enjoy while just watching us sail away from whatever island destination we may be at
We can’t talk about the good without talking about the food and the main dining room food is the one place people always ask about how is main dining both in food and in service what we are happy to relay to you that this was one of our best ever main dining room experiences
That we’ve had in any roller Caribbean ship the service was exceptional and the food matched that service truly was Delight every time we went into the main dining room and this included us being sat at our table a lot of times with new Ships coming into service you have a
Long wait because no one knows where the tables are we never had that they actually got us seated quickly and efficiently and we really really appreciated that another area that we loved was the aqua Dome Market this is a brand new casual food area with a lot of
Different options we did put a full review out so you can go back on the channel and check that out but we thought the diversity of food in the Aquadome Market was great we loved that the were additional free or included options in your cruise fair and several
Of these places were open until midnight providing another extra late night food option just other than sarento so aqu Market was fantastic you have to try feta before it’s too late try it right away another one was the crepe place that is something people wish they tried
Earlier on in their cruise and we’re sad when they tried it on the last day if you’ve watched the channel for a long time you know that I am a huge fanatic for Disney chicken tenders and on Disney Cruise Line these chicken tenders are offered all day long on the pool deck
For free for the first time in history Royal Caribbean is now offering chicken tenders in the buffet that rival that of Disney Cruise Line so I had to call out the chicken tenders here on the but overall the buffet was pretty standard I know a lot of people always
Off often ask about the buffet it was pretty standard went in line with a lot of other Cruise Line buffets the food was just fine there but the chicken lend tenders were one of the best things on the ship that was some of the Casual complimentary eats if you will now let’s
Talk about the specialy dining these are the paid for options we did have the pleasure of doing a few of these but one we had a call out in particular was celebration table we love love this concept this is truly for those that are coming on board a cruise to celebrate an
Event a milestone a lifetime achievement if you will and have a private venue to do so you have multiple menus we had Italian for our event we had about uh I think 10 to 12 people there at this private table and the food was good it was elevated from that of what’s
Complimentary in the main dining room or in the buffet but it isn’t about the food in this space it’s it’s really about having a private celebratory place to celebrate your lifetime achievements whether it is a birthday or whether it is getting a divorce whatever it may be you can celebrate it together with
Friends or loved ones in this space and we really appreciate this as it’s not something that’s found on all other ships let’s chat about drinks and bar service on icon of the Seas there are over 15 new bar menus with a variety of brand new bars to the Royal Caribbean
Fleet we really really enjoyed hopping around from bar to bar trying different drinks using our Diamond Plus drinks to Taste New Creations and concoctions that real Caribbean has made we have to call out two specific bars and drinks that we loved one was at L’s in Central Park
This was one of our favorite bars on board there’s live jazz music the music was great the environment was really nice and casual and the Jazzy SZ is a delicious bourbon B drink that if you are going on icon of the Seas is a must
Have the second bar we have to call out is actually in Surf Side which is the family area which I know is shocking to some but this is supposed to be a mommy and me or Daddy and me bar and what that means is you have alcoholic drinks but
You also have non-alcoholic drinks for the kids that come in these fun little pouches like those that you had growing up the actual drink that we loved was The Slice of Life highly recommend going and grabbing this alcoholic cocktail but there are tons of non-alcoholic options as well what we
Did for everyone that’s going on icon of the Seas is prepared an actual challenge a drinking challenge if you will and this is a bar crawl across all of the new bars that is on board icon of C you can drink around icon go to our Facebook
Page you can find it JJ crw searching on Facebook and you can find our icon of the seege challenge let’s chat a little bit about entertainment the entertainment on icon of the Seas is next level and it had to be a part of our good list if we had a great or
Exceptional list entertainment would be on that list we got to see The Wizard of Oz the ice skating show as well as most of the aqua Show and all three shows were mind blowingly good I think when asking the question is the price worth it for icon of the Seas one of the
Answers is yes because of the entertainment Wizard of Oz alone would be a Broadway style show that you would probably pay between1 and $150 per seat to see so when you think about a family of four or six going to Broadway to see a show like that that is
A huge moneys saer right there that that’s a part of this vacation and that’s only for Wizard of Oz I say the seats would say about the same amount of value for the ice skating show as well as the aqua Show as well so when you
Come on board icon the SE be ready for the entertainment don’t miss the entertainment because you will be so sad you did along with these incredible shows that are me for everyone comes activities and an additional show for the little ones there’s a host in an MC for the smaller younger audiences and
That is Admiral awesome Admiral awesome will take your kids for bedtime stories before bed also through daytime activities and events and Surf Side and then leads an entire ice show full of storytime characters like Humpty Dumpty and even that of Rapunzel on Ice it is such a wonderful thing for families to
Enjoy and kids of all ages really do love the activities and the events on board icon of the Seas we also have to talk about the live music on board because there was live music everywhere it seemed like sometimes at all times you had skooner bar a brand new dueling
Pian bar the AOS bar with Latin music the music hall where they had a rock concert Central Park had L which which was Jazz if you love live music you will love icon of the Seas I think for us it was the most diverse live music we have
Ever seen on a cruise ship since stepping off of Holland America’s music walk along with everything we just mentioned above comes the crew and the crew were incredible the service around the ship was impeccable so you do not have to worry a bit about having that poor service that can come sometimes
With a brand new ship that was the good now let’s move on to the bad and as a reminder after the bad we are going to talk about the one ugly that we experienced while we were on board this ship and also just to let you know while
We are calling these bad these are more things that you need to know or things that you have to know before stepping on board icon of the Seas just like with the good we have to start with the state rooms and there was one really bad that
Was in our first impressions was in our stateroom review but we have to call it out here as well and that’s the baskets there are baskets instead of regular Cubbies or drawers in the staterooms under the closet space and they clunk they clanked they were not functional we absolutely hated these basket situations
We got a number of comments about these baskets on our video we do understand some people like them for us we did not find them functional and we would much rather have drawers or just had the baskets removed just to have a couple of extra shelves another thing that we
Didn’t really like was the lack of wall art one thing we loved with Oasis class ships was the fact that there was such cool and unique art everywhere now we know that there is a lot of sculptures there are a lot of these brass or metal sculptures that pop out everywhere there
Are divers outside that are high diving from different decks but when it comes to the walls a lot of times they were really bad there really wasn’t much especially in the corridors with the stairs we didn’t never see anything that really jumped out at us or was really cool we saw some
Cool things like that on Symphony Of The Seas anthem of the Seas and other rural Caribbean ships now I know I know that might be being really really picky but it’s just something that we look for and we enjoy when we go on board a cruise
Ship when it comes to Across the ship we know that this is a new design for a ship and they’re going to learn about problems one of those problems is the day music in the pool bleeding into Central Park Central Park is a getaway destination where you’re supposed to
Relax be able to go enjoy a coffee enjoy the beautiful scenery that has a bunch of live vegetation around you without really hearing much more than maybe some soft music unfortunately during the day it’s not that the pool band whenever they’re active and live is loud and in
Charge when it is in the Central Park area that wasn’t the only area where you know one neighborhood of music bleeded into another the prominade also had this issue the prominade is full of different music venues like boleros and Schooner bar and sometimes when those two venues
Were playing music at the same time you could hear the different styles of music Clash together and it wasn’t good and it wasn’t cool there was one night in particular that I was in the pub and I could hear piano music coming from across the way and the guitarist was
Having a hard time kind of singing with that piano music so this may just be a scheduling issue they might just be able to need to move some things around so that doesn’t happen but we did notice a lot of clashing music because there was so much music throughout the ship late
At night Whenever there is a band going on live in the Music Hall which is on the same deck as the casino one deck below the prominade well you feel when the band is live and that is because in sento’s upstairs the base is real and you can feel every
Single pump of Base through that stereo system in sarantos and it was something that luckily you don’t have to live in sarantos but when you did go there you noticed that you really didn’t get much of a comfortable feel late at night while there was live music playing a
Practical takeaway here is that there are some staterooms around the Music Hall and those might be staterooms that you would want to avoid because the music hall music is very very loud that’s not the only area where there was loud music if you are someone that is
Sensitive to loud music some of the shows specifically the Aquadome show did also have Extremely Loud Music it’s not something that we are that sensitive to but it was actually something that was loud enough to where we noticed that a lot of times it comes with live music
Like the pool band we talked about earlier or the DJ and Hideway before for one specific show it was definitely the aqua Show we only saw one of two Aqua shows I know another one’s coming later we aren’t sure on if the second one I think it’s mermaids versus pirates that
Show may not be as loud but just be careful if you are someone that’s sensitive to loud music let’s talk about Aquadome herself and some of the issues that Aquadome has overall beautiful venue but there are a few issues one of them is the seats now this maybe just be
A preference thing for some but the seats are all B bench style without backs unless you sit in the very back row this is something that is not very comfortable to sit on for about 45 minutes which is the length of the Aquadome shows if you have a problem
With that we’d recommend getting there super super early to either get in the very back row or sit in some of the additional seating that is up and around the Aquadome we don’t understand why they put super uncomfortable seats in a space like this and the Aquadome itself
Does seem to seat a few less people than the Oasis class ship we could be wrong on this but it did seem to pack up way quicker and one thing to note is you do need to get there early to make sure you get a seat not just a seat with the back
But a seat in general we saw multiple shows where people came like 10 20 minutes beforehand and did not get a seat with their family or a seat at all so make sure you go early enough to ensure you have your preferred seat or a seat in general for the aqua Show
Another venue that this is very true is absolute zero the ice skating venue this is an area that packs up so quick it is a ticketed event however we noticed that if when we came really late or close to Showtime we would not be able to get seats together this also goes for
Unticketed events like quest Quest and some other events happen in absolute zero and if you get there even 10 15 minutes beforehand you will not get a seat we went 20 minutes before the quest happened and we had to say in the back up against a wall cuz all the seats were
Taken so note this make sure you go early if you want to go to some of these events the next point is for those that may be a little bit photosensitive or sensitive to light both the Aquadome and the ice skating show had a lot of lights
Not just a lot of lights but no seats where the lights don’t hit your face a lot of times people like to go into a balcony for this reason cuz they know that the lights aren’t meant to come up to to the balcony they’ll stay more in
The orchestra well that’s not an option when it comes to the Aquadome or absolute zero so if you are sensitive to light make sure that you sit either far enough back or just don’t go to these shows maybe ask a friend that knows of your sensitivity before if they can go
And check it out for you just to make sure that it’s right for you I would hate for anyone to be triggered in any way because of the lights in these shows overall we really loved all of our food and dining experience is on board icon
Of the Seas but there were two venues that after everything was said and done we just don’t think need to be on this ship the one is base camp and if it were to stay we think that it should be free the food and the cost really just were
Not worth it and right around the corner from base camp is deserted which is the new milkshake bar and that we believe is way overpriced we came across so many people that had two milkshakes from deserted and the in a total of over $40 I have never paid $20 for a
Milkshake in my life but if I were ever to pay that price I would hope there’d be gold nuggets involved on top of this base camp did have some good Entre so it’s not the food that’s the problem it’s more the price we want to make sure
That’s clear that’s why we want it to be complimentary or have more complimentary options and just a few add-ons for example if you do go there we really love the cheese curds but $6 for cheese curs should be included or maybe just a dollar or two that was our bad
Thankfully the good definitely outweighs the bad here but there was one thing that we found on board icon of the Seas that was a huge waste of our money we felt like we just took our money and threw it away yes our ugly is the daybed
In Hideaway one day we just decided to splurge a Hideway daybed in the water overlooking the app views opened up and we said let’s do it this was a day at Port and so we were working and we thought might as well just work from
This day bed all day well once we got there we paid our $300 to get there we saw that we had a bottle of champagne two complimentary glasses that you could buy which were I think $10 if you just wanted to buy them all a cart and that
Was pretty much it we had some extra towels in there but those are obviously free and when we got to the day bed we noticed quickly all of the issues the biggest issue was that these are obviously in the water and everyone around was not necessarily very respectful of the space people kept
Putting their glasses up on our bed people kept hanging out on our bed putting their arms on the bed and no one was really there to kind of police or tell them not to do this also that’s just kind of awkward in general for I think someone to do but then someone to
Also try to correct somebody else so we really didn’t like that the other thing that we didn’t love this was the only time the entire 10 nights that we had an issue with service for $300 you should have a dedicated server and that was a port day it’s actually more expensive if
You do it at C unfortunately there was no dedicated server for the day beds you have the same server as everyone else on top of this there were issues with the daybed itself for example there was only a small hump to lay your head on but
There was no back so when you were actually laying down you had to lay down fully you could not lay up and look at the views without hurting your back or your neck or both on top of this there were no umbrellas there was no shade it
Was direct sunlight the entire time and we noticed a few other people on the other two day beds definitely got roasted in general we would say Do not book the day beds in the water we heard the day beds across the way not in the water did actually have backs that
Lifted up so you could sit and enjoy and watch the views we think that that would probably be a better way to spend your money but the good news here is this is something you don’t have to do at all and as a matter of fact it is something
That we would not recommend no save your money make sure you make the right Financial choices for your vacation and make sure you budget appropriately for other opportunities like maybe especially dining instead of that of a daybed that is not going to be comfortable or worth your money and can
Already see it here in the comments and I already know what people are going to think and say really JJ Cruz that was your ugly yes it was cuz it was something that we decided to spend extra money on that we didn’t like the great news is everything else that was free
Complimentary included in your cruise fair was nowhere near ugly and worth every single penny of the cruise that we spent well I think you just answered it but would we sail on icon of the Seas again absolutely yes it is also well worth the money of course we know
There’s a lot of people out there that they can only vacation once or twice a year if you are saving your money for that one vacation a year and it’s only seven nights that’s how much time you have off this is perfect for you you should use your money towards icon of
The seats now if you’re someone who likes to Vacation all the time and you have to spread out your wealth we understand why you might think other options might be suitable but one day this ship will probably go down in price and then you should definitely Sail on
Her as well this is probably another video for another time but if you at home do a direct comparison of a very famous family vacation that you could take in Florida to a number of different places but let’s just say to a famous amusement park for four people for a
Week and you compare it to the price of four people on a cruise ship like icon of the Seas you’re going to find that icon of the Seas is actually a fantastic value so if you are someone that’s looking to buy into this incredible family experience please contact us we
Are both travel agents yes go to JJ cruz.com fill out the booking form and we’ll be happy to book you on your upcoming rooll Caribbean cruise and hopefully on icon of the seas because we know you’re going to love it well that was a lot that was the good bad and ugly
Of icon of the Seas as always thank you so much for watching let us know in the comments below what do you think is this a cruise ship for you is this a cruise ship that you would ever find yourself sailing on WE answered all the questions
You probably had and so now it’s time and up for you let us know in the comments below is this of interest to you and until next time see you JJ Cruz
source
