22nd Mar 2025 | 7 nights | Royal Caribbean International | Icon of the Seas
Icon of the Seas is Royal Caribbean International's first Icon-class ship, joining the fleet. Carrying around 5,600 passengers, it features new eco-friendly propulsion systems.
Icon of the Seas is Royal Caribbean International's first Icon-class ship. At 250,800 GT, it becomes the world's largest cruise ship by gross tonnage, surpassing Royal Caribbean's Oasis-class Wonder of the Seas. Icon of the Seas has a capacity for 5,610 passengers at double occupancy, with a maximum of 7,600 guests. The ship has a total length of 1,198 feet or 365 meters and features new eco-friendly propulsion systems.
Where Is Icon of the Seas Homeported?
Icon of the Seas is homeported year-round in Miami.
What Itineraries Does Icon of the Seas Sail?
Every itinerary features a visit to Royal Caribbean's Perfect Day at CocoCay private island destination in the Bahamas. Other ports scheduled on the itineraries include Cozumel, Mexico; Phillipsburg, St. Maarten; and Roatan, Honduras.
Icon of the Seas Specs
Icon of the Seas is 250,800 gross tons and carries 5,610 passengers at full capacity (double occupancy), as well as 2,350 crew.
Icon of the Seas features 20 decks in total, with 18 of them dedicated to guests. The megaship also has 8 neighbourhoods, including 5 new ones: AquaDome, Thrill Island, Chill Island, Surfside, and The Hideaway.
Situated at the ship's bow, the glass-covered AquaDome offers wraparound ocean views during the day and transforms at night to house the signature AquaTheater, complete with a 50-foot waterfall. This AquaTheater includes a transforming pool, four robotic arms, and state-of-the-art projection capabilities. The AquaDome also hosts restaurants and bars.
The open-deck Thrill Island features Category 6, a waterpark with 6 waterslides. These include Pressure Drop, an open free-fall slide with a 66-degree incline; The Frightening Bolt, a 46-foot-tall drop slide; The Hurricane Hunter, a family raft slide accommodating four riders per raft; and Storm Chasers, a twin mat-racing slide.
Chill Island is located across three decks at the centre of the ship and features four of the seven pools onboard. The pools include Swim & Tonic, the line's first swim-up bar at sea; Royal Bay pool, promoted as the largest pool at sea; the adults-only Cloud 17; and the infinity-edge Cove Pool.
Surfside includes two splash-and-play areas—Splashaway Bay and Baby Bay—along with dining options, lounge areas, a bar, a carousel, an arcade, and a lounge pool for adults. The Hideaway features what Royal Caribbean claims is the first suspended infinity pool, a multilevel terrace, whirlpools, and a dedicated bar.
The signature neighbourhoods Central Park, Royal Promenade, and Suite Neighborhood are also present on Icon of the Seas. The open-air Central Park boasts thousands of real plants, dining venues, and live music, while Royal Promenade offers its first floor-to-ceiling ocean views, along with more than 15 restaurants, cafes, bars, and lounges. Suite Neighborhood is home to a multi-level area named The Grove, which includes a private pool and whirlpool, a new Mediterranean restaurant, and a two-story Coastal Kitchen.
Icon of the Seas is expected to feature a large variety of dining venues and bars. The majority of these venues are located in the ship's eight neighbourhoods. To date, Royal Caribbean has only confirmed a handful of the restaurants and locations on board Icon of the Seas. Izumi is back in Central Park, while Giovanni's Italian Kitchen and Wine Bar is set to be located in the Royal Promenade. The Suite Neighbourhood features a two-story Coastal Kitchen restaurant along with a new, unnamed Mediterranean restaurant.
Lime and the Coconut bar returns with four locations (three in the Chill Island neighbourhood), including Royal Caribbean’s first frozen cocktail bar. Chill Island is also home to Swim & Tonic, the cruise line's first-ever swim-up bar.
Other dining venues appearing on Icon of the Seas are visible in video and still renderings of the ship. Aside from Izumi, Central Park also features Royal Caribbean's signature steakhouse Chops Grille as well as the breakfast and lunch eatery Park Café. In the bar category, Trellis Bar—another Central Park standard—is present on Icon of the Seas. The neighbourhood also features at least two more yet-to-be-named restaurants, as well as one more bar/lounge area, also to be confirmed.
Royal Promenade, the main thoroughfare of recent Royal Caribbean ships that serves as the entry point for embarking passengers, features more than 15 restaurants, bars, cafes, and lounges on board Icon of the Seas. Other than Giovanni's, this neighbourhood houses signature eateries like Sorrento's, Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade, Boleros, Starbucks, Schooner Bar, and a new eatery identified as Pearl Café on the ship's renderings.
The new neighbourhood Surfside looks set to feature an equally novel bar named The Lemon Post, which serves drinks for both kids and adults. Dessert spot Sugar Beach—found in The Boardwalk neighbourhood on other Oasis Class ships—is featured in Surfside on Icon of the Seas. At least three more eateries are visible in Royal Caribbean's renderings of Surfside, all of which remain nameless for the time being.
AquaDome is home to Royal Caribbean's New England-style seafood restaurant Hooked Seafood, as well as an additional restaurant and bar. Top deck neighbourhoods Thrill Island and Chill Island feature the Mexican-themed El Loco Fresh and Cantina Fresca, as well as Sprinkles, the complimentary soft-serve ice cream spot. Deck 15's The Hideaway neighbourhood features the aptly-named Hideaway Bar.
Elsewhere, Royal Caribbean's fleet-wide complimentary buffet restaurant Windjammer is located on Deck 15, while the Main Dining Room is located in the aft of the ship across Decks 3-5.
Icon of the Seas has 2,805 cabins and 28 cabin categories, including new layouts for families of three, four, five, and more. The ship offers 13 suite categories, eight categories of balcony cabins, two categories of ocean view cabins, and five categories of inside cabins. Of the 28 cabin categories, 14 are new, including two types of inside cabins, four balcony cabins, and eight suites.
A total of 179 of the cabins onboard Icon of the Seas are suites. The largest suite on board is the 1,772-square-foot Ultimate Family Townhouse, which accommodates up to 8 passengers and features a 751-square-foot balcony, an in-suite slide, a cinema space, karaoke, and a private entrance to the Surfside neighbourhood. The Ultimate Family Townhouse belongs to the highest suite class on board Icon of the Seas—the Star Tier—which also includes the 2-bedroom, 1,482-square-foot Royal Loft Suite (with a 705-square-foot balcony) and the new Icon Loft Suite, which spans 656 square feet with a balcony ranging from 151 to 183 square feet. Both lofts are spread over two decks.
The Sky Tier includes 8 suite categories: The Owner's Suite, the Grand Suite, the Panoramic Suite, and the new Sunset Corner Suite, Sunset Suite, Infinite Grand Suite, Sky Junior Suite, and Surfside Family Suite. The Sea Tier features two categories: the Junior Suite and the brand-new Sunset Junior Suite. Both suites accommodate up to four passengers.
With 1,815 units, balcony cabins make up the majority of rooms on board Icon of the Seas. The four balcony cabin categories debuting on the ship are the Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony, the Infinite Ocean View Balcony, the Infinite Central Park View Balcony, and the Surfside Family View Balcony. The five returning categories are Ocean View Large Balcony, Connecting Ocean View Balcony, Ocean View Balcony, and Central Park View Balcony.
Including the balconies, sizes range from 335 square feet in the Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony to 246 square feet in the Surfside Family View Balcony and Central Park View Balcony. Icon of the Seas' Ocean View cabins include the existing Panoramic Ocean View and Ocean View. Interior rooms include two new categories—Surfside Family View Interior and Interior Plus—as well as the Central Park View Interior, Spacious Interior, and Interior categories.
Groups, couples and families who like (very) big ships with a vast amount of entertainment, day and night
Those who are after a quiet, intimate, small-ship experience; gourmands; couples avoiding kids
For the most part, Royal Caribbean ships that sail from the United States attract a wide variety of North American passengers, mostly between the ages of 30 and 55 on the seven-night and shorter cruises, and 50 and over on cruises longer than seven nights. Seven-night and shorter cruises are also popular with families, especially during American school vacation periods, when the ships will often be at filled at well past double capacity and carrying more than a thousand kids. Cruises from the U.K. -- as well as Mediterranean, Asia and Australia cruises -- attract a significant number of locals from each area, as well as Royal Caribbean's usual North Americans.
Royal Caribbean's dress code is casual during the day; at night there's either casual, smart-casual or formal dress code depending on the schedule. Casual attire includes jeans and collared shirts for men and sundresses or pants with blouses for women; smart-casual means collared shirts, dresses, skirts and blouses, or pantsuits; and on formal nights, suits and ties, tuxedos, cocktail dresses or evening gowns are expected. If you want to avoid dressing up altogether on any night, the extensive Windjammer Café is always casual dress. Caps, tank tops and bathing suits are never allowed in the main dining room or specialty restaurants; shorts are not permitted during dinner and footwear is always required.
No. Royal Caribbean ships really vary in terms of complimentary dining, with the main dining room and huge Windjammer Café as constants. Coffee, tea, milk, lemonade and a few other beverages are available without cost at all times, as well. Most specialty restaurants carry an additional charge, but there are options that are free, including pizza, the Boardwalk Dog House, the Park Café (on select ships) and more, depending on the ship. Ice cream, scooped at mealtimes and from machines in between (apart from Ben & Jerry's) is also free. Other dining choices with additional cost run the gamut from Asian to a steakhouse, deli and Mexican and Italian restaurants. Room service carries a $7.95 cost per order, with the exception of Continental breakfast.
The main pool areas are a magnet onboard any Royal Caribbean ship, as is the peaceful adults-only Solarium. Cruisers line up for the most adrenaline-pumping activities, whether to surf the FlowRider or try out new experiences from simulated skydiving and ice skating to bumper cars and escape rooms. Broadway shows (on the ships that have them) are also quite popular and fill up any night they're on offer. Equally as in demand are the high-flying and diving acrobatics of the AquaTheater and the ice-skating shows on the Freedom- and Voyager-class ships.