Questions on the Icon from a newbie

[Candycane83]

Hey all! First time cruising RCCL. We did DCL this March and doing Icon of the Seas next March. It will be myself DH and DS10 doing the 7 night western Caribbean cruise. I’ve been researching on theme nights and don’t see a lot of information on it. I’m wondering which day would be good to add a specialty dining, instead doing the main dining room. Right now I have Chops Grille booked for day 4 evening and I have hibachi booked day 2 (sea day) lunch and the Sip Savor Brunch on day 6 (sea day) lunch. Any reviews on these? On excursions, what is good in Roatan Costa Maya and Cozumel? We’re not big beach people so it looks a little limited. Do you book with the cruise or external? I found the prices about the same with the discounts available right now on excursions. Also, just wondering for those on the icon, is it worth it to go to Thrill Waterpark if you’re going on the icon? It’s 50% off- 78.99 pp so I booked it…

 

[laeeyore]

Hi:
My daughter(16) and I just did this itinerary in July on Icon. Its an amazing ship! I have cruised a lot on many lines and Icon was literally the coolest ship i've ever seen. We never felt crowded despite this was a full sailing in the middle of the summer. As far as the theme nights, the only one i remember was white night which i think was on the day we went to Cozumel. There are so many restaurants and places to eat we couldnt even try them all. I did have the hibachi lunch scheduled but cancelled it so we could try the sports bar which was excellent. Didnt try Chops because im not a steak person but it looked beautiful. The Central park area was gorgeous! We went to the Sushi restaurant which houses both the hibachi and sushi venues and that food was very good. Everyone on the hibachi side looked like they were really enjoying it. As far as excursions, in Roatan we went with an independent company and saw the sloths which were very cute and we supposed to go parasailing but unfortunately the wind didnt cooperate so we missed out. They do have zip lining and i think some hiking and shopping oportunities. also The port area in Roatan was really nice. They have a great pool and this river type pool with hammocks that hang over the water.
Cozumel, we went with the ships excursion to Playa Del Carmen which is on the mainland to Xcaret which is sort of like an outdoor adventure park. Its a lot of fun with rivers and caves you can swim though, a boat tour, swimming with the dolphins etc. The only thing is your time is somewhat limited because of the ferry ride over from Cozumel. We have been twice but im not sure i would go back if we went to Cozumel again. The prices were pretty good because of black friday sales which are currentl going on right now.
As to your final question on the thrill waterpark, we also went and i think i paid 90 dollars each. I honestly didnt think it was worth it to be truthful. The waterpark on Icon is great and the slides are pretty thrilling. The waterpark on Cocoa Cay was crowded(there was another ship docked with us on the day) and it was the same as any waterpark on land. We live in SoCal and have, i think ,something like 5 waterparks within a 30 minute drive of us so i did not feel this was anything special. We were only in there for about 2 hours and then my daughter wanted to see the rest of Cocoa Cay so i felt it was a little wasted. However if you live somewhere that doesnt have a lot of waterparks it might be a treat.
Enjoy your vacation, we had such a great time. Make sure to go to the milkshake bar near the back. That was my daughters favorite!

 

[Candycane83]

Hi:
My daughter(16) and I just did this itinerary in July on Icon. Its an amazing ship! I have cruised a lot on many lines and Icon was literally the coolest ship i've ever seen. We never felt crowded despite this was a full sailing in the middle of the summer. As far as the theme nights, the only one i remember was white night which i think was on the day we went to Cozumel. There are so many restaurants and places to eat we couldnt even try them all. I did have the hibachi lunch scheduled but cancelled it so we could try the sports bar which was excellent. Didnt try Chops because im not a steak person but it looked beautiful. The Central park area was gorgeous! We went to the Sushi restaurant which houses both the hibachi and sushi venues and that food was very good. Everyone on the hibachi side looked like they were really enjoying it. As far as excursions, in Roatan we went with an independent company and saw the sloths which were very cute and we supposed to go parasailing but unfortunately the wind didnt cooperate so we missed out. They do have zip lining and i think some hiking and shopping oportunities. also The port area in Roatan was really nice. They have a great pool and this river type pool with hammocks that hang over the water.
Cozumel, we went with the ships excursion to Playa Del Carmen which is on the mainland to Xcaret which is sort of like an outdoor adventure park. Its a lot of fun with rivers and caves you can swim though, a boat tour, swimming with the dolphins etc. The only thing is your time is somewhat limited because of the ferry ride over from Cozumel. We have been twice but im not sure i would go back if we went to Cozumel again. The prices were pretty good because of black friday sales which are currentl going on right now.
As to your final question on the thrill waterpark, we also went and i think i paid 90 dollars each. I honestly didnt think it was worth it to be truthful. The waterpark on Icon is great and the slides are pretty thrilling. The waterpark on Cocoa Cay was crowded(there was another ship docked with us on the day) and it was the same as any waterpark on land. We live in SoCal and have, i think ,something like 5 waterparks within a 30 minute drive of us so i did not feel this was anything special. We were only in there for about 2 hours and then my daughter wanted to see the rest of Cocoa Cay so i felt it was a little wasted. However if you live somewhere that doesnt have a lot of waterparks it might be a treat.
Enjoy your vacation, we had such a great time. Make sure to go to the milkshake bar near the back. That was my daughters favorite!

Thanks so much for the detailed report! The ship sounds wonderful and seems like there’s a lot of things to do and lots of places to eat! I’m excited! Milkshake bar sounds good. How was the sushi restaurant? I was considering that but thought the hibachi would be better.

For the waterpark I’m on the fence and will definitely think about it. We live in Toronto where it’s like winter half the year haha!. The only good thing is is 50% off right now so I booked and it looks like if I decide to cancel later, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

 

[Jodo98]

Hi:
My daughter(16) and I just did this itinerary in July on Icon. Its an amazing ship! I have cruised a lot on many lines and Icon was literally the coolest ship i've ever seen. We never felt crowded despite this was a full sailing in the middle of the summer. As far as the theme nights, the only one i remember was white night which i think was on the day we went to Cozumel. There are so many restaurants and places to eat we couldnt even try them all. I did have the hibachi lunch scheduled but cancelled it so we could try the sports bar which was excellent. Didnt try Chops because im not a steak person but it looked beautiful. The Central park area was gorgeous! We went to the Sushi restaurant which houses both the hibachi and sushi venues and that food was very good. Everyone on the hibachi side looked like they were really enjoying it. As far as excursions, in Roatan we went with an independent company and saw the sloths which were very cute and we supposed to go parasailing but unfortunately the wind didnt cooperate so we missed out. They do have zip lining and i think some hiking and shopping oportunities. also The port area in Roatan was really nice. They have a great pool and this river type pool with hammocks that hang over the water.
Cozumel, we went with the ships excursion to Playa Del Carmen which is on the mainland to Xcaret which is sort of like an outdoor adventure park. Its a lot of fun with rivers and caves you can swim though, a boat tour, swimming with the dolphins etc. The only thing is your time is somewhat limited because of the ferry ride over from Cozumel. We have been twice but im not sure i would go back if we went to Cozumel again. The prices were pretty good because of black friday sales which are currentl going on right now.
As to your final question on the thrill waterpark, we also went and i think i paid 90 dollars each. I honestly didnt think it was worth it to be truthful. The waterpark on Icon is great and the slides are pretty thrilling. The waterpark on Cocoa Cay was crowded(there was another ship docked with us on the day) and it was the same as any waterpark on land. We live in SoCal and have, i think ,something like 5 waterparks within a 30 minute drive of us so i did not feel this was anything special. We were only in there for about 2 hours and then my daughter wanted to see the rest of Cocoa Cay so i felt it was a little wasted. However if you live somewhere that doesnt have a lot of waterparks it might be a treat.
Enjoy your vacation, we had such a great time. Make sure to go to the milkshake bar near the back. That was my daughters favorite!

The ship feels like its so big that it would be so overwhelming. Do you feel you were able to do everything on the ship (enough to be satisfied) or were left wanting to do more?

 

[jenushkask8s]

We've been on Icon twice now (1 Western & 1 Eastern); we (2 middle aged adults) LOVE it!

If you're into the formal nights, those will be on nights 2 & 6. We don't really participate in any of the other themed nights.

We sail in suites so we haven't eaten in the MDR but we have eaten at all of the specialty dining restaurants (except Empire Supper Club & Hooked) and they are all amazing! If you like ice cream, the bubble waffles at Izumi in the Park are sooooooo good (the waffles are fresh & hot)!

In Roatan, we did a private tour through Victor Bodden Tours (for $100) and got a small island tour and a private sloth & monkey encounter. It was well worth the money!

We've been to Cozumel multiple times and we have done both a Sea Trek helmet dive and the dolphin swim at Dolphinaris. Both were really fun!

In Costa Maya, we either stay onboard the ship or just walk/shop around the port area.

In Coco Cay, we did Hideaway Beach once, which was nice (but adults only). This last time, we just hung out at the Oasis Lagoon pool, which was nice and chill. We were the only ship there that day so it was a bit less busy than previous visits.

 

[laeeyore]

The ship feels like its so big that it would be so overwhelming. Do you feel you were able to do everything on the ship (enough to be satisfied) or were left wanting to do more?

I felt like we did most of what we wanted. The itinerary we chose had more port than sea days and i think in the future i would change that. I definetly felt we did not have enough time to try all the food options. On the last day i remembered we hadnt tried to taco bar or the park cafe, it totally slipped my mind.

 

[laeeyore]

Thanks so much for the detailed report! The ship sounds wonderful and seems like there’s a lot of things to do and lots of places to eat! I’m excited! Milkshake bar sounds good. How was the sushi restaurant? I was considering that but thought the hibachi would be better.

For the waterpark I’m on the fence and will definitely think about it. We live in Toronto where it’s like winter half the year haha!. The only good thing is is 50% off right now so I booked and it looks like if I decide to cancel later, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

The sushi retaurant was actually really good. I dont usually eat sushi so wasnt quite sure what to order but the staff was helpful. The hibachi did look tasty and the table behind us all seemed to be laughing and having a great time during the show so you should be good.
I can see maybe keeping the waterpark then if you dont get alot of chances to visit them at home. I think because we had never been to cocoa cay before we really wanted to explore the place and didnt want to waste time in the lines. I might try it again if we go back though if the prices was right. We weren't too impressed with the cocoa cay beaches.