In line with its ambition to be the best family holiday in the world, the world’s largest cruise ship Icon of the Seas has overhauled its stateroom profile adding 14 new types of rooms. Here is our overview of the rooms and the ones that really are new and noteworthy.

With more than 28 stateroom types, 14 of which are new, there are endless amounts of words that could be written about the rooms and suites on Icon of the Seas. However, we are going to cut to the chase and explore the ones that matter and of course, indulge in a little bit of voyeurism into the ultimate luxury family suite that has everyone excited, even if it is about $US80,000 a week.

Before you go any further, you may wish to read our review first to gauge if Icon of the Seas is really for you.

Overview of the staterooms on Icon of the Seas

As stated in our review of Icon of the Seas, the mission of the ship is to deliver the world’s best family holiday – on sea or land. And in pursuit of that, the team at Royal Caribbean overhauled their stateroom mix to make 80 per cent of the rooms designed first and foremost for families (so the occupancy is more than two). For comparison, the Oasis class of ships, the previous world’s biggest cruise ships, have approximately 30 per cent of the staterooms designed with families in mind.

A tremendous amount of work went into overhauling the design of the staterooms. Royal Caribbean built dummy versions of all staterooms in a warehouse in Miami. They could then walk through the spaces and test drive the layout, configuration and placement of any object. To make sure they were getting all the right opinions, staff members invited their kids to pack as if they were about to embark on a cruise and then unpack in these mock rooms. The result is some of the most kids-centric designed rooms in hospitality.

Also, all rooms have great individual temperature controls, and if you are in a suite there are the all-important zoned controls. And to avoid the irritation of trying to figure out where the light switches are there are several light settings: All on, all off, 50 per cent on, evening and movie.

I love the ‘Infinite Ocean View’ treatment of a balcony which creates a far more utilitarian indoor and outdoor living space and increases the size of staterooms by up to 25 per cent. A detailed explanation is below.

Of the 14 new stateroom types, eight are suites. These new rooms represent 42 per cent of all the staterooms (1172 of 2805) on Icon of the Seas. From our perspective, the most noteworthy are:

Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony
Surfside Family Suite
Infinite Grand Suite
Icon Loft
Ultimate Family Townhouse

Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony

Sleeping six, these are the room types I would be exploring first for my family.

The 26.5 square metre room is really 1.5 rooms with a specific curtained-off nook behind the door for two bunk beds. The bunks each come with an individual TV and a USB charging outlet. The sofa converts into a single bed and then a cot plus the king-sized adult bed makes room for six.

The “Infinite Ocean View Balcony" is rather unconventional and a massive improvement, as I alluded to above in the overview.

Instead of opening a door and stepping ‘outside’, a floor-to-ceiling window on the exterior of the ship, the width of the stateroom, slides down to balustrade height to bring the balcony into the room.

This means that the balcony space is the best of both worlds – an internal space you can relax in when wanted or an alfresco nook if the window is open and you want some fresh air.

This also makes the furniture in the space far more usable as it doesn’t have to endure the elements. So instead of a ‘plastic chair and table’ you find a far more comfortable. plush and relaxed outdoor setting.

The bathroom and toilet are split to accommodate the enlarged occupancy – we may be family but showering in peace is a small request while on holiday. And just a note on the bathroom amenities in all staterooms, there is one single body and hair wash mounted in the shower recess.

These rooms would suit the kids up until approximately their mid teenage years and the only shame is there are only 78 of them.

Surfside Family Suite

Very similar to the Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony with some material differences. First, we are now in suite land so this will come with an upgrade in bathroom amenities and exclusive access to the Suite Neighbourhood including dinner at the Coastal Kitchen eatery and the private suite guest pool. The room though is not in the Suite Neighbourhood itself but in the young family precinct, Surfside (hence the name).

Like the Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony, it has 1.5 rooms and a separate shower and toilet. But instead of separate bunks, the kids share a pull-out sofa in the half room. The kids’ room has its own TV.

The balcony is outdoor but internal – so while it looks over Surfside it also looks across to other Surfside suites and staterooms – think New York or Hong Kong apartment living. The king bed looks out across the balcony so to watch some TV in bed you need to angle it from the wall mount. The suite bathroom amenities are upgraded to separate mineral body wash and shampoo.

Infinite Grand Suite

The grandness of this suite is just in the sheer size. It is the combination of two staterooms into one, so 40 square metres plus 9.5 in the Infinite Balcony making a rather huge living space. It is not crammed with space-grabbing stuff, but a rather restrained amount of furniture.

The master king bed has acres of space around it and viewing the TV from the bed feels like it is in a different postcode. The living space with the sofa bed (to up the occupancy to four) is separated by a curtain so it could accommodate four adults, but they would have to be very good friends.

Again the Infinite Balcony expands the internal space and the comfortable, plush outdoor table and chairs are accompanied by an additional outdoor lounge chair with footrest.

Icon Loft

The unofficial People’s Choice winner with the media and industry on board, the Icon Loft is luxury cruising.

Only cruise nerds understand that there are in fact three classes of suite guests on Royal Caribbean cruises and the Icon Loft is the top of the pile – Star Tier (sounds a bit Church of Scientology but it is waaaay better). Basically, when you hit Star Tier, your wish is the ship’s command.

Star tier gives you complimentary speciality dining, the top tier of drinks package, the Royal Genie personal butler service, priority boarding, priority seating at entertainment and other onboard activities, premium wi-fi, laundry, mini bar (you can request what you want in the mini bar), gratuities and upgraded bathroom amenities – Malin + Goetz all included. For the full rundown check this page on the Royal Caribbean website.

(If I sound a little obsessed with the bathroom amenities I am. I was underwhelmed by the bar of soap and body wash shampoo combo in our stateroom’s bathroom. But to be fair, my wife didn’t even mention it as she unloaded a shopping trolley of toiletries into the shower and vanity without having to pause to remove the in-house products.)

The suite is split across two levels. Entering on the bottom level there is a full bathroom with a walk-in shower. The living space fits a dining table for four and a coffee machine and mini bar. The lounge has an additional chaise module for stretching out and watching TV and also converts to a bed, so the suite occupancy is up to four. But you will not notice any of that upon entering as the two-storey floor-to-ceiling windows are impressive.

Upstairs in the eponymous loft, there is the walk-in robe plus another larger bathroom with a double walk-in shower and vanity (and those Malin + Goetz amenities). The king bed faces the windows for lovely evening and morning views out to the ocean on sea days. Curtains wrap around the loft for privacy.

Ultimate Family Townhouse

In the history of cruising this must be the most hyped stateroom; it has been profiled in most major media across the world. Unusual for such a top-tier accommodation offering, the townhouse couldn’t be further from the suite neighbourhood; across deck 7, 8 and 9 at the aft of the ship.

The reason for such a prestigious suite being so low and close to the hoi polloi is it gives occupants direct access to Surfside, the neighbourhood designed exclusively for young families.  Also, I personally love the aft of the ship; watching the wake is always ideal for a sundowner drink with family and friends.

But what do you get for your $US80,000 a week? For starters it is 164 square metres (bigger than many two-bed apartments in Sydney), across three decks and sleeps eight in two bedrooms; a king-bed master, a kids’ bedroom with four bunks and a rollout sofa.

There are three bathrooms; two on the top floor connected to the bedrooms and one in the media room. The ensuite bathroom connected to the master bedroom has double showers and a rain shower head in the centre with double vanities. The kids’ bathroom has a double sink vanity and a bathtub and shower in one.

And with three decks, there are three different balconies, one with a hot tub. But it is the kid-centric fit out inside those three decks that create all the fun.

There is a media room complete with movie seats plus a PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. The dining table is also an interactive table for gaming, and there’s a karaoke machine, table tennis, a snow cone maker plus a slide between the bedroom and living space.

The living room has two full sofas and two lounge chairs with an enormous TV. I counted eight TVs in total excluding the interactive table. Each of the bunks in the kids’ bedroom has a TV.

A cool whimsical inclusion that many missed was the musical staircase between the bedroom level and the living room. Every step plays a different note, but it can also be turned off to avoid waking the kids.

Accessible staterooms on Icon of the Seas

There are 10 accessible categories of rooms totalling just 50 individual staterooms. They span the Interior staterooms to the Loft Suite, Surfside Family Suite and Family Infinite Ocean View Balcony discussed above.

Understanding the staterooms and suites on Icon of the Seas

The design of Icon means there are some nuances, particularly with internal facing rooms that do look into the centre of the ship.

If a stateroom has Central Park View or Surfside in its name this means it is facing the open space between the two towers that flank the side of the ship from the forward lift well about two-thirds up the ship from the aft.

The true ‘internal’ rooms without windows to the outside world are therefore in the forward third of the ship from deck 7 (with a few exceptions on deck 3).

The Suite Neighbourhood is from deck 16 to deck 19 but suites are found across all decks from seven and above.

For a full detailed run down on all 28 staterooms start here or talk to a cruise expert.

For more on Icon of the Seas, read our extensive reviews of the food and drink onboard Icon of the Seas, entertainment and neighbourhood guide onboard Icon of the Seas and our overview of Icon of the Seas to really know if this is your iconic family holiday.