To say that Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas has been a success so far would be a major understatement.
Icon commands by far the highest cruise fares in the fleet, and most reviews indicate that the ship’s amenities and layout are both clear steps up from the popular and successful Oasis Class of megaships.
Royal Caribbean is hoping to capitalize on Icon’s momentum when it launches its next Icon Class ship, Star of the Seas, this summer. Like its sister ship, Star has been a popular, and expensive, ship to book.
Related: Royal Caribbean makes small casino change gamblers will like
In many cases cruisers who play in Royal Caribbean’s on-board casinos can qualify for free and discounted cruise fares. But that had generally not been the case with Icon.
Royal Caribbean’s Casino Royale on the Freedom of the Seas cruise ship. Royal has taken a major step to benefit its gamblers.
Image source: Daniel Kline/ComeCruiseWith.com
Casino offers have been elusive for Icon Class
Cruisers who spend time in Royal Caribbean’s Casino Royale on-board casinos can earn free or discounted cruises in three ways:
Annual cruise – Players who reach Prime status or higher in its loyalty program get a free cruise each year, which can be any sailing with limited exclusions.Instant certificates – Players who reach a certain points level on a single sailing get to choose a free or discounted cruise from a list that changes each month. For example, those who reach 4,000 points get mainly balcony-room offers with $500 in free play if they choose a cruise from the list. Targeted offers – Players also receive offers from Casino Royale through mail, email and at clubroyaleoffers.com. How Royal Caribbean determines who gets which offers is unclear, and the selection of sailings is usually quite limited.
In the roughly two years since Icon of the Seas first opened for reservations, I have seen few casino offers for the ship.
Icon sailings were specifically excluded from the annual cruise certificate benefits given in 2024, and in recent months they haven’t been on any of the instant certificate lists – not even those with extremely high point levels.
I usually have seven or eight targeted offers in the Club Royale portal at any given time and have seen one specific interior-room offer on Icon, which completely sold out within the first few hours.
It’s worth noting that most offers have a trade-in value that can be applied toward any cruises in a specified time frame. But for many cruisers, this benefit hasn’t even made a dent in the cost of a Icon sailing.
As a personal example, I regularly get offers for free balcony rooms on a variety of sailings, and I used one to book a free (except for taxes and port fees) 7-night cruise on Wonder of the Seas in December 2024. That would have cost about $5,000 if I had simply chosen to book a room. The certificate had a $750 trade-in value.
Icon Class casino offers have finally arrived (for some)
Given the difficult nature of Icon of the Seas casino complimentaries, many Casino Royale players were surprised to see a new Icon Class offer, which included not only a selection of sailings on Icon of the Seas in September through December 2025 but also offered some sailings on Star of the Seas.
More Royal Caribbean casino news:
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises make popular casino change3 Ways you can earn a free Royal Caribbean cruiseRoyal Caribbean passengers angry over big casino change
Based on my own offers, and others that I’ve seen posted in several Royal Caribbean casino Facebook groups, most players are getting offers that are one or two levels lower than their typical offers. For example, I typically get offered balcony rooms, even on Oasis Class ships, but my Icon and Star offers are all in interior rooms.
To be sure, this is still a big step forward when it comes to casino comps on Icon Class ships.
And it’s also worth noting that you can usually pay an upgrade fee to move to a higher class of room (or try to bid on one through the RoyalUp program). But the bottom line is that today’s news is likely putting a smile on the faces of many Casino Royale gamblers.
