Icon of the Seas Staterooms and Surfside Suites Preview

Key Takeaways

• Royal Caribbean says the stateroom design process started more than five years before the ship’s debut, and it was the longest design period they’d ever taken on.
• They built mockups of the new staterooms and suites, first at their home office and then at a stateroom factory about 30 minutes from the shipyard.
• Icon has 28 types of accommodations across 2,805 staterooms, with layouts that separate sleeping space from relaxing space.
• The infinite balcony rooms have no steel wall between inside and out, so the window lowers and the balcony becomes part of the room. The touchscreen in the room controls the blinds and the infinite balcony.
• Sunset Suites have wraparound balconies, and some suites look out through the Aquadome for a panoramic view.
• On Oasis class ships, about 25 percent of staterooms can hold a family of three or more. On Icon, that number is 80 percent.
• The family infinite balcony room has a split bath and a kids bunk area where each kid gets their own TV and a privacy curtain.
• The Surfside Suite has a kids nook you can close off with screens, and the Ultimate Family Townhouse has its own movie theater, a slide and a white picket fence, with Surfside as its backyard.

Good to Know

Just so you know, this isn’t a tour I filmed. It’s Royal Caribbean’s behind the scenes preview from before Icon of the Seas sailed, so you’re seeing designers, mockups and renderings rather than finished rooms with guests in them.

If you’re traveling with kids or grandparents, this is a good one to watch. Royal Caribbean talks a lot about connecting cabins and building rooms for multigenerational families, and the Surfside rooms put you right next to the family neighborhood with Splashaway Bay and the Lemon Post bar.

Even the inside rooms got some attention here. Royal Caribbean says many interior staterooms now face Central Park or Surfside so you still get some kind of view.