Earlier this week, I traveled to Miami to board the brand-new Icon of the Seas for a sneak peak of the world’s latest and largest cruise ship. Though I had simply 7 hours onboard, I used to be in a position to discover most of this thrilling cruise ship!
Whereas the ship has been closely hyped by Royal Caribbean over the past 12 months, we’ve heard and seen little or no about Icon’s commonplace staterooms. In fact, Royal Caribbean has shared loads of content material about Icon of the Sea’s greatest suites, together with the luxurious Final Household Townhouse with three ranges, two bedrooms and over 1,770 sq. ft.
Icon of the Seas options 28 stateroom classes, so there are numerous completely different lodging for visitors to select from. In truth, Icon of the Seas has 14 new stateroom classes, together with eight new suites, 4 new balconies and two new inside cabins.
Learn extra: Icon of the Seas cabin information
The latest cruise ship from Royal Caribbean additionally has extra staterooms that may accommodate three to 4 visitors. You will discover double the variety of cabins that may sleep 4 visitors compared to Oasis Class ships.
As well as, greater than 70% of the rooms onboard Icon of the Seas have a balcony. As compared, solely 12% of cabins on Grandeur of the Seas, the oldest ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet, have a balcony. Evidently, Royal Caribbean has come a good distance with balcony availability!
Throughout my brief time onboard Icon of the Seas, we had been invited to see what a balcony cabin appeared like. I used to be desirous to get inside one of many ship’s commonplace cabins, as that is extra consultant of a typical cabin expertise onboard. Whereas Icon of the Seas’ suites are definitely spectacular, a balcony cabin is the place you will discover the vast majority of visitors.
Learn extra: First look Contained in the World’s Largest Cruise Marvel, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas
If you happen to’re questioning what to anticipate out of your stateroom onboard Icon of the Seas, look no additional. Right here is an summary of an ordinary balcony cabin on Icon of the Seas, together with my preliminary impressions of the stateroom.
Cabin Overview
Whereas exploring Icon of the Seas throughout a media preview occasion, I had the chance to look inside cabin 14672. Positioned on Deck 14, this particular cabin is taken into account an Ocean View Balcony Stateroom. Icon of the Seas has new Infinite Balcony staterooms to e-book; nonetheless, this cabin featured a standard balcony.
The stateroom measures round 200 sq. ft whereas the balcony measures a further 50 sq. ft. Whereas many staterooms on Icon of the Seas can sleep as much as 4 visitors, this balcony cabin was designed for 2 visitors solely. Due to this, there was no bunk mattress or couch sofa.
Upon coming into the balcony stateroom, I seen the small contact display screen subsequent to the toilet door. This small management panel is the place visitors can change the temperature of the cabin and alter the lighting setting. That is much like the digital management panel that we had onboard the brand new Celeb Ascent and is quite common in new cruise ships.
The balcony was configured with a king mattress, though visitors can all the time separate the mattress into two separate twin beds. Total, I discovered the stateroom to be fairly spacious with loads of room for 2 visitors.
As well as, this balcony cabin had a full-size sofa adjoining to the mattress. Since this cabin solely sleeps two visitors, the sofa was not a settee sleeper. However, the sofa was massive sufficient that somebody definitely might sleep on it! Some may even discover the sofa to be a tad too massive for the house; nonetheless, I desire to have extra seating in a cruise cabin than not sufficient.
Design
Customary balcony staterooms on Icon of the Seas are each fashionable and useful. I might describe the cabin’s design, in my private opinion, as minimalistic. The cabin’s shade scheme may be very gentle with colours of gray, tan and some pops of yellow and blue. Surrounding the tv, there are a couple of tropical designs which can be fairly refined.
Above the vainness, there’s a small pop of yellow below the mirror. The vainness’s chair is a light-weight blue with a tropical design that matches the throw pillows on the sofa. Though very cute, we theorized the form of the vainness chair might result in fast put on and tear.
I beloved the nice and cozy lighting that illuminated the balcony stateroom. From the ring gentle across the mirror to the temper lighting across the TV, the balcony cabin felt very heat and alluring.
Aligning with fashionable design tendencies, the cabin’s carpet can also be evenly coloured with hues of gray and blue. Whereas this retains the room feeling vivid and ethereal, we mentioned how the carpet might stain simply over time.
As compared, I simply sailed on Norwegian Cruise Line’s latest cruise ship, Norwegian Viva. We cruised in an reasonably priced inside cabin, however discovered the stateroom’s design to be particularly aesthetically pleasing. Nevertheless, the cabin on Norwegian Viva additionally featured very gentle coloured carpet and stains had been already seen across the four-month-old cabin.
(Images above present commonplace inside cabin on new Norwegian Viva, together with carpet stains on evenly coloured carpet)
Connectivity
Connectivity is among the greatest themes on this balcony stateroom. I used to be very impressed by what number of shops had been obtainable all through the stateroom. Cruisers can typically discover that older cruise ships solely have a couple of shops obtainable for charging units, which could be irritating. For that reason, I all the time deliver a European adapter with USB plugs so I’ve extra charging shops.
Nevertheless, Royal Caribbean visitors probably received’t discover any points with having sufficient shops on Icon of the Seas. To start out, there are USB shops on the lamps on each side of the mattress! That is tremendous helpful and signifies that visitors received’t have to combat over a single outlet by the bedside. One aspect of the mattress additionally has a US outlet for charging.
Moreover, the vainness options a big charging strip with a number of shops and plugins. There’s a US and EU plug for visitors to make use of. In between, there’s a USB-A and USB-C charging port obtainable. On the other finish of the vainness, there are two further USB-C plugs. The addition of USB-C plugs is a current development on newer cruise ships and offers extra choices for connectivity.
Lastly, visitors can discover further USB ports subsequent to the tv. There are small cabinets for storage, which makes nice use of the house. Above one of many cabinets, there are two USB-A ports for charging much more units.
Lavatory
Cruise cabin loos have come a good distance by way of design and house! If you happen to’ve sailed on an older cruise ship, you understand how small the loos was once. I used to be happy to seek out the loos on Icon of the Seas to be very spacious and environment friendly.
The cabin’s bathe was additionally spectacular and particularly massive with loads of house. The glass door maneuvered inward and sideways to maintain the toilet much less cramped. I appreciated the scale of the bathe, as cruise cabin showers have been notoriously small in older ship designs.
One thing very notable within the cabin toilet was the seat within the bathe. I’ve by no means seen a cruise ship bathe with a seat earlier than, so that is very distinctive to Icon of the Seas. Those that are searching for slightly extra consolation can now take pleasure in a bathe seat as a seemingly commonplace function for Icon of the Seas’ cabins.
I additionally seen that the bathe included physique wash, conditioner and shampoo. Usually, Royal Caribbean solely offers its 2-in-1 shampoo and physique wash hybrid for normal cabins. I will likely be to see if all cabins on Icon of the Seas are supplied with these three facilities. I might love not having to deliver my very own cosmetics for showering, so this could be an amazing enchancment for the cabin expertise.
Storage
Trying across the balcony cabin on Icon of the Seas, it seems there isn’t a scarcity of storage. Royal Caribbean did an amazing job using the house for its latest cabins.
For this balcony stateroom, the primary storage comes from the closet. Nevertheless, this was a uniquely designed closet not like something I’ve seen earlier than on a cruise ship. One panel of the closet was full size whereas the opposite half had uncovered shelving on the underside.
This design jogged my memory extra of a European-style wardrobe than a standard cruise cabin closet. The cabin’s vainness featured three drawers for extra storage. In my private opinion, extra shelving would have amplified the vainness storage much more. Though the vainness is an effective dimension, having further shelving is all the time useful to maintain the vainness much less cluttered.
When it comes to shelving, there are tall strips of small cabinets all through the balcony cabin. As talked about, there are a couple of cabinets alongside the TV. These are fairly small, so that you received’t be capable to retailer a lot; nonetheless, I don’t assume you possibly can have sufficient storage in a cruise cabin! You will discover comparable sized shelving alongside the closet and likewise within the toilet behind the bathroom.
Balcony
When cruising on Icon of the Seas, you possibly can select from many various balcony cabins. There are balconies obtainable each inward and outward going through, with some balconies overlooking neighborhoods like Central Park and Surfside whereas others face the ocean.
As well as, Icon of the Seas is the primary ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet to function Infinite Balconies. These balconies are thought-about extra versatile because the balcony house could be utilized as an outside house by reducing the top-half of the window. I might examine this to a sunroom with an open window, whereas a standard balcony is extra like an outside deck.
This balcony stateroom was a standard balcony slightly than an Infinite Balcony. The cabin offers two deck chairs with foot rests, together with a small desk. At 50 sq. ft, the scale is simply sufficient for visitors to benefit from the ocean breeze and views from their non-public verandah.
Last ideas
Icon of the Seas has quite a lot of staterooms to accommodate a variety of budgets, from reasonably priced inside cabins to costly, multi bed room suites. One of the vital frequent sorts of cabins to e-book on Icon of the Seas is an ordinary balcony cabin. With each inward and outward going through cabins, together with conventional and infinite verandas, visitors have many various balcony staterooms to select from.
In comparison with different new cruise ships that I’ve sailed on – together with Carnival Celebration, Celeb Ascent, Odyssey of the Seas and Norwegian Viva – I discovered the design and decor on Icon of the Seas to be very minimalistic. I personally want the cabin had a bit extra character and shade, though some may desire the very fashionable, gentle design.
Relating to storage, I do want there was slightly extra shelving across the stateroom’s vainness. Friends will discover loads of areas for storage across the cabin, though many of the shelving is sort of small.
I used to be impressed by the quantity of connectivity obtainable within the balcony cabin. There have been extra USB ports obtainable than any cabin I’ve stayed in. Friends may also admire the USB-C charging ports obtainable for the newest know-how and units.
Inside the toilet, I appreciated how spacious and nicely designed the toilet was. It was very fashionable with a big bathe for visitors to take pleasure in. The bathe seat is particularly progressive, as I’ve by no means seen this earlier than in an ordinary cruise cabin.
Total, I feel most visitors will likely be happy with their balcony cabins onboard Icon of the Seas. The cabin is comfy, useful and fashionable. With a lot to do on the ship itself, I’m positive most individuals will likely be spending their time exploring every part that Icon of the Seas has to supply for actions, facilities, eating places, manufacturing reveals and onboard thrills.