Royal Caribbean’s ship Icon of the Seas, the biggest cruise ship in the world, celebrated her first anniversary of cruising on 27th January but new data shows her popularity has plummeted.
According to average customer review scores, Icon of the Seas has fallen from being the most popular ship in the fleet after six months of sailing, to being 14th in the list after one year.
Every year I check the review scores for the biggest cruise lines across the main review websites – Cruise Critic, Cruiseline.com, and TripAdvisor.
I use all three to make sure that we get a good spread of scores, and that the average isn’t impacted by any biases on one website.
I then take the average score out of five for each ship and update my ranking articles – and was shocked to see such a dramatic fall for Icon of the Seas in 2025!
Some of the complaints about the ship, that have become more prominent as more and more guests experience her, include:
- The noise of the ship in general and how there aren’t many quiet places to unwind
- The “nickel-and-diming” onboard, as many features require an additional charge
- Unsurprisingly, the crowds
The ship is huge and it’s packed with attractions, but many guests feel like they can’t access them – a lot of reviews mentioned difficulty making dining reservations due to how popular each venue was.
It’s worth noting that the ship still has an overall positive score, with an average of 3.9 out of 5. However it’s still a significant drop from the 4.2 that the ship was averaging just six months ago.
The most popular ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet, according to reviews, are most of the Oasis class, but it’s fascinating to see where both the newest ship Utopia of the Seas, and her slightly older sister ship Wonder of the Seas, also end up on the list.
You can read the full, updated list here:
Royal Caribbean Ships Ranked From Best To Worst (2025)
I was also shocked by some of the positions of the newest ships – take a look and let me know what you think!
The second Icon-class ship, Star of the Seas, is due to launch later in 2025 and it’ll be interesting to see where she places once she gets enough reviews to make her way onto the list.
Incidents in Icon of the Seas’ first year
Icon of the Seas made headlines several times during her first year of service, and while some incidents were minor, they may have contributed to her slipping reputation.
One of the most widely discussed events was a power outage that occurred during a Caribbean sailing in May.
Although backup systems quickly restored operations, the disruption left passengers stranded in common areas and restaurants for hours, sparking frustration that later showed up in reviews.
Despite these challenges, Royal Caribbean has continued to emphasize Icon of the Seas as a family-friendly destination, highlighting her unparalleled features such as the massive water park and record-breaking number of pools.
Time will tell if adjustments in operations and guest experiences can help her climb back up the rankings.
Related posts
- Royal Caribbean Ships Ranked From Best To Worst (2025)
- The Best and Worst Cabins on Icon of the Seas
- Royal Caribbean Cancels Icon of the Seas Cruise Due to Unplanned Maintenance
- Utopia of the Seas vs Icon of the Seas
Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.
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Unless they lower the price dramatically I won’t sail again I liked the smaller ships alot better price is my main concern and smaller ships there the best Celebrity my best had things to do and didn’t have to worry about cruising
The answer to the Icon of the seas dipping in popularity is a simple one, across the other lines as well, building these huge vessels.
Over the last 2 years in particular, the bigger the ship, the less likely it will feel warm, homely and a pleasure to be on board. The ships are now very concentrated, on volumes of people, not as something that is pleasurable in a cruise type way, but will appeal mainly to those who want a Butlins Holiday Camp type of holiday, with bucket loads of drink.
Having done many Ocean Cruises over the years this type of vessel just does not appeal to me. Cruising has changed now in so many ways, and not for the better. Having talked to lots of other people that have been seasoned cruisers they all have a similar view.