Deciding which cabin to choose for your cruise can be difficult. Especially since Icon of the Seas has a total of 28 room types. For our recent cruise on Royal Caribbean's newest and largest ship to date, we booked the Icon of the Seas Ocean View Balcony Room, Cabin 14258.
Reviewing the deck plan, this port balcony stateroom is a D2 category balcony stateroom. And with just a few improvements, it's a pretty typical balcony cabin compared to many other ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet.
So was this stateroom a disappointment? Find out in our Icon of the Seas balcony room review.
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Were you disappointed by the icon of the Ocean Balcony Room? Here's our honest review
We sailed on all five Oasis class ships, previously the largest class of Royal Caribbean cruise ships. So we wanted to see how the new Icon Class staterooms compared.
With this class of ships, Royal Caribbean introduces several new stateroom categories. Perhaps the most talked about one is the new Infinite Balconies. While not new to the industry, these types of staterooms are new to Royal Caribbean, and the consensus is you either love them or hate them.
We've stayed in similar cabins from sister brand Celebrity Cruises and can say we prefer the traditional balcony setup. But it really all depends on your preferences. Do you prefer a traditional open balcony or more interior cabin space? And our answer is that we prefer separate rooms and balconies, especially in warm destinations like the Caribbean.
Therefore, we chose the Icon of the Seas ocean view balcony room for our sailing. Even if you choose a traditional balcony layout, it's important to note that not all balcony rooms have ocean views. Icon of the Seas features balcony cabins with Central Park views and the new Surfside family view cabin. These cabins still have balconies, but they face inward toward the neighborhood rather than outward toward the ocean.
The Icon of the Seas balcony room, 14258, is considered amidships but is very conveniently located near the back bank of elevators. Located on deck 14, it's a quick walk to the outdoor decks starting at deck 15. You can also walk or take a quick elevator ride down to the Central Park area on Deck 8, Surfside on Deck 7 and the Royal Promenade on Deck 5. 6. Icon of the Seas' new smart elevator design makes catching the elevator more convenient than ever.
According to Royal Caribbean's website, this Icon of the Seas Ocean View Balcony cabin measures 204 square feet with a 50-square-foot balcony.
Icon layout of sea balcony room
At first glance we were quite surprised by this Icon of the Seas Balcony Room. Considering all the other improvements around the ship, I guess we were expecting a bit more. Although most of the public spaces at Icon of the Seas were elevated with high-end finishes and décor, the rooms seemed fairly plain.
As soon as you enter the room, there is a bathroom immediately to your right. There was a closet in the corner of the bathroom. Continuing into the room, there was a sofa and desk across the street. The bed is closer to the balcony which is our preferred setting. It was located on the front wall facing backwards.
Royal Caribbean made some changes to the bathrooms and closets, but the rest of the Icon of the Seas balcony rooms are pretty much what we've come to expect from the brand. The color palette is mostly muted, featuring light wood tones with touches of blue and subtle Caribbean patterns.
There are additional charging outlets around the cabin, which is always an added convenience on a cruise ship. Similar to Celebrity's Edge Class, this cabin also features a digital touch screen to control lighting and temperature.
Sea Icon Balcony Room Interior
restroom
The biggest difference cruisers will notice in Icon of the Seas' cabins are the upgraded bathrooms. While still small in overall size, the layout has been reconfigured to feature a rectangular shower cubicle with a glass door. finally! This is a similar setup to Norway's Prima Class and Carnival's Excel Class ships.
The shower has a small seat at one end and a shelf above to store towels, similar to the design found in many hotels. There are also two hooks for hanging items and two small shelves for storing other bath items. There is only one hair and body wash dispenser though.
The sink and toilet area features a standard Cruise vanity with limited counter space. There are three small shelves on one side of the sink and a few more small shelves behind the toilet. In terms of storage, it is always helpful to bring a shoe organizer that can store a lot of toiletries and other small items.
Main cabin area
The closet in this Icon of the Seas balcony room also has a small remodel and personally we think it's worse.
The closet now has two sides in roughly a 2/3, 1/3 layout. On the smaller side, there is a full-length closet with small hangers ideal for hanging dresses. The larger side has a hanger on top for the rest of your clothes and four storage cubes below.
This cube is exposed and has a metal basket. Unfortunately, it is not suitable for storing clothes, so I only used it for shoes. Packing cubes do not fit well and there is a chance of delicate items getting caught in the metal wiring. Additionally, the basket is not on a sliding track, making accessing the items inconvenient.
As for shelves, there are none in the closet. It utilizes all of the interior space and has a shelf behind the full-length mirror. This is also where you can find the safe. However, these shelves are not very deep, so they are not helpful for storing many items.
The desk to the left had a small shelf and several power outlets. There is one 120V outlet, one European outlet, two USB outlets, and two USB-C outlets. There is also a series of five desk drawers, three shorter and two slightly taller, one of which holds a hairdryer. There is also a mini refrigerator here.
The seating area to the right has a rather large sofa but no coffee table. It gave two adults plenty of room to stretch out for a moment with their laptops when they needed to sit down and work. On one side of the desk is a small portable table that can also be used here.
The royal king size bed was on the right (front) wall. There were small shelves on either side of the bed. There were USB outlets on both sides of the bed for easy charging, but there was a power outlet on only one side.
Overall, the bed in this Icon of the Seas balcony room provided adequate comfort during our trip. She had no trouble falling asleep even after long days and nights on the ship.
There was a television across from the bed. Also in the corner of the desk, on the same wall as the TV, was a series of small, full-length shelves with two USB outlets. It was the perfect space to store small electronic devices such as cameras and cell phones for charging. This will help free your desk from all cords and clutter.
balcony
I finally have a balcony. The balcony size of 50 square feet is what we would expect from a large ship. There was enough space for two adjustable chairs, two small ottomans, and a small round table.
There was enough space for the two of us to enjoy the ocean views and go in and out of the port. It was also a great place for us to do some afternoon work.
Given the location of this cabin, there is some obstruction to the beam supporting the upper deck. Additionally, this cabin is located near Crown's Edge, a few decks up, so you can occasionally hear other cruisers when sitting outside. However, this background noise was not a problem and could not be heard even inside the room.
Icon Summary of Sea View Balcony Room Reviews
Although we were a little disappointed that the Icon of the Seas balcony cabins were no longer upgraded, our cabin still served its purpose during our first sailing.
Compared to the endless balcony cabins, we still prefer this traditional setup. In a Caribbean environment, it's helpful to be able to step out onto the balcony and return to a cool, air-conditioned room when you need to cool off.
Thank you for the upgrade to the bathroom, especially the shower. This puts the cabins more on par with newer ships from other modern cruise lines. Even though it is small, it feels like a hotel.
This cabin also has the most shops we've ever seen on a cruise ship. There's plenty of charging space for everyone's devices.
Although we weren't happy with the new closet layout, we were able to store all of our clothes for the seven-day voyage. However, it may be difficult for a family of four to do so in this room. But fortunately, Icon of the Seas offers a variety of cabins designed specifically for families that offer more space.
Overall, we would say that this cabin offers a comfortable mix of size and value while still providing direct access to the ocean.
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Have you ever sailed in an ocean view balcony room on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship? What is your preferred room category when traveling on a cruise? Please anchor your review of this stateroom category below.