Trip log, day three. Roatán, Honduras.
7-Night Western Caribbean Royal Caribbean Cruise from Miami, Florida 
March 17, 2025
Cruise Compass – Day 3
Icon of the Seas Deck Plan

Up early to work, I walked around looking for office space and spotted the Royal Promenade decorated with green shamrock balloons and an inflatable beer guy (leprechaun) to celebrate St. Patricks Day.

The upper decks were nice and quiet.

I initially planned to sit somewhere in the AquaDome, but when I arrived it was closed off.

I eventually settled into a booth in Playmakers which turned out great, except for the music (which turns on 6am and is loud enough to hear through noise canceling headphones).

Aside from the music, Playmakers turned out to be a great spot to work and all the TVs were still on with various sports, including the Monday morning 3-hole playoff of The Players between Rory McIroy and JJ Spaun.

While I was in my cave working, Emily & Isabelle headed up to the pool. Emily found an accessible spot poolside where she was able to transfer from her knee scooter to a lounger and move around without also needing crutches or assistance.

They spent the better part of the morning up there reading pool side. Isabelle explored multiple water slides with no lines & enjoyed a nearby hot tub. Sure, it was morning on our first port day, but the deck was empty and they did not notice anyone saving chairs with $25 towels. I am not at all saying DCL should start a towel check-in/-out process, but it does curb the chair hogging behavior when there is a $25 fee for each towel not checked back in onto your SeaPass card. It was amazing not to see poolside chair hogs. Also, there is plenty of shaded areas, which is something the Disney Wish & Treasure are severely lacking on the pool decks.

It is also feeling like this massive ship can hold people well. The cruise is full with somewhere around 7300 passengers and we have not felt like sardines packed into venues or had any issues moving around the ship, which is especially shocking since we are forced to use elevators due to Emily’s mobility issue. Maybe we are just fortunate that we are in the right place at the right time. However, things are trending in the right direction so far!

I eventually joined them at the pool with my book for about an hour before lunchtime. Emily planned on a la carte lunch at Pier 7, as she was eying chicken lettuce wraps in their menu, but they are only open for lunch/brunch on sea days.

We walked through Park Cafe, but ended up stopping at the Pearl Café for their grab and go lunch, which we ate Pearl side. Their options are fabulous. We have noticed quinoa salad, many different choices of sandwiches, and some change each day. Today, Emily found a beet salad as well as a Greek orzo salad with feta cheese.

We stopped back at the stateroom to clean-up before heading ashore for a bit.

Heading ashore is unique. The “smart” elevators have a Gangway button on port days which take you to deck 5. Then, you walk over to the escalators leading to the gangway. However, in our case, a crew member calls an elevator to take us to deck 2 since Emily cannot take the escalators. This is great as this helps control the flow of people down near the gangway. Granted, we did not try to go ashore first thing or at prime excursion times, but the was a slight line on deck 5 this afternoon resulting in maybe a 3 minute wait for a second elevator at most. Staging guests on deck 5 is great as it is open and can hold people well. A crew member was also there to assist in the safe debarkation of Emily on the knee scooter, as the ramp was somewhat steep. All in all, they are going above and beyond to make the transition from ship to shore as smooth as possible. I am sure part of this is done as risk mitigation, but it is awesome customer service. While there are quite a few other guests with lower leg issues/injuries riding knee scooters, we do not see a lot of electric scooters or guests in wheel chairs. There are a few, but not nearly as many as we encounter on other cruises.

As luck would have it, we did not have big plans for Roatan. We did the big tour last March which you can read about HERE. Today, our only plan was to walk around the port and head to the shops just outside the gates of the port.

Last year, we spent our full day on a private tour and by the time we returned to the port we did not have much time (or energy) left to explore the port complex. The main goal of today was to return to a shop outside the terminal that was selling knock off Vineyard Vines Roatan shirts. This shop turned out to be a one stop shop for all of our Roatan souvenir needs, which included a Christmas ornament, and a tote bag for Isabelle.

We then headed back into the port area, which has a swimming pool complete with swim-up bar as well as a number of shop and places to get some food. There are also pool-side cabanas where they were offering massages. If we return to Roatan, we could easily enjoy several hours just at the port swimming & relaxing. We walked around doing some window shopping, but we already found the treasures we were after and decided to head back to the ship.

We walked around a little more to the onboard shops as we were sending Isabelle out as our personal shopper for the Vineyard Vines sale at the shop between the art gallery and Playmakers later while were are at dinner.

The art gallery did not have a representative at the desk, making it a good time look at the artwork which was primarily Thomas Kincade Studios Disney artwork.

Walking down the Royal Promenade, we spotted Shamrock Origami at the Point & Feather bar, with only a few minutes remaining, Isabelle acquired some green paper, and quickly learned the pattern to complete a shamrock in record time. 

The St. Patricks Day cocktail choices were not appealing and they did not have any green beer. Emily ordered the Amalfi Coast, which was a vodka, limoncello, elderflower tonic and sparkling grapefruit cocktail from their regular menu.

Emily and I purposely ordered drinks to take along with us over to Famous Movie Quote trivia.

Another reason we limited our time ashore was the afternoon and evening was heavily scheduled starting with a 4:30pm seating for The Wizard of Oz in the Royal Theatre.

The production is based on the original film and book, not Wicked (although, they did screen Wicked in the theatre a few times during the voyage). The show was great. I kinda like 1 big show per cruise rather than multiple nights of shorter productions. However, I did feel that The Wizard of Oz had it’s own “Sid Scene” (a la Toy Story The Musical) that could have been cut to shorten the production by about 20 minutes without taking anything away from the story. It is not that it was a bad scene or poor performance, it just stalled the forward momentum of the story & in my perspective added little to the overall story, similar to the Sid scene. Overall, if you love The Wizard of Oz, you will absolutely enjoy this production.

By the way, the seats in the Royal Theater have great wine glass holders.

The Wizard of Oz ran from 4:30 to 6:10. Emily left just before 6 to get ready for dinner and Isabelle and I stayed up to 6:10 missing the curtain call, but Emily and I were on a tight schedule with dinner reservations at 6:30, as we have reservations and are skipping out on the MDR which is serving the ‘A Taste of Italy’ menu.

Empire Supper Club Review – Icon of the Seas

Normally, this dinner review would be a separate review. Since this isn’t a Disney Cruise, I’m embedding it in today’s trip log to avoid confusion about why even more Royal Caribbean content appears on the Disney Cruise Line Blog.

Emily and I booked dinner at The Empire Club, a small venue experience that holds a maximum of 36 people. Royal Caribbean refers to this offer as ‘supper with swing.’ When I left the stateroom early this morning, there was an eye-catching envelope with a real wax seal, not one of those fake wax sticker seals, outside our door containing an invitation and some information on dinner.

The invite was short and sweet. Formal Attire Required and the doors open at 6:20 and close promptly at 6:30. They actually locked the doors and utilized a side door when guests needed to excuse themselves to powder their nose.

In record time, I managed get from theater to our room, tux up, and we arrived outside at 6:23. The doors didn’t close exactly at 6:30, but it is best if everyone arrives on time to ensure the evening flows properly.

The supper club venue was simple and elegant.

Welcome to an evening of glitz and glamour — where cuisine is an occasion, cocktails are celebrations and sultry live jazz is your host. This is Empire Supper Club. Step into the sophisticated style of this intimate space and embark on a multi-course journey. Traditional American fare like oysters Rockefeller and modern renditions like Wagyu ribeye topped with shaved fresh truffle transcend eras and expectations. Each musical number and every libation is carefully curated and perfectly paired to complement each course, from upbeat “Beyond the Sea” to a bittersweet Campari spritz. Because you’re here for the night — and for way more than dinner. – RCL’s Promotional Description

Once seated, we were given menus with a unique section. While the dinner is prix fixe, there was a choice of 1 of 3 entrees with a cocktail specific to each choice – more on that later. As I mentioned in a previous trip log, we did speak with Empire Supper Club earlier this week to relay our dietary and allergy information. In addition to the cuisine and the paired cocktails, there was a page for Ambiance which included a listing of the musical selections accompanying our dinner.

The American Standards Trio kicked off the evening wish some instrumental music and led into a welcome from the singer as we raised a glass of Champagne.

Upon arrival, each guest received a glass of Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut which to our surprise was occasionally topped off without anyone asking.

San Pellegrino, while not pictured, was served as well. There was a hiccup at the start when a group of over a dozen guests arrived and seated at separate tables. Almost immediately, they started to move tables so they could sit together as a large group. I could only imagine if I were to walk into Enchanté and move some tables around and tell the maître d’ how things were going to go that night. This would have been all well and good, but their volume started out talking over the band. We were hoping that they would simmer down, as it was throwing off the ambiance of the overall experience. Speaking of which, I was anticipating a dinner that was in between the experience of Palo/PALO Steakhouse and Remy/Enchanté.

Soon, we were presented an amuse bouche, a small onion bagel with cream cheese, topped with caviar and sprinkled with gold dust.

The dish was tasty, but it wasn’t as elegant as I expected. The cream cheese was a bit too thick, not smooth and creamy like I’d hoped. I’m not a big caviar fan, but I can appreciate how it was used, but it was a bit too much for one bite.

Shortly after our plates were cleared, a generous portion of spicy pecan bread with New York honey was presented with a bowl of rose petal shaped butter that was hand piped in the kitchen – a nice touch. The combination was lovely but the butter could have used some sea salt to make it pop. Also, word to the wise, there is a lot of food and drink during this experience – don’t fill up on the bread (which was absolutely delicious).

The first course, oysters is a crispy oyster Rockefeller served on bed of spinach with a beurre blanc sauce (due to dietary request of no red meat/pork). Delicious and if you don’t like oysters you may still like this one. The typical offering is served with a chorizo Béarnaise, sun-dried Romas, micro basil.

I was served a Quinoa and Beat salad as an alternative due to my shellfish allergy. There were layers of flavor present, but it was overall basic and forgettable.

Time for the second libation of the evening, The Staten Island Spritz consisting of Tito’s Vodka, Campari, limoncello, orange juice and topped with Moët champagne.  We both enjoyed this one, it was refreshing and would be a great lounging at the pool beverage.

The Raviolo, our next course and paired with the spritz, was served two ways due to dietary preferences. The standard version is soft yolk, spinach, crisp guanciale (cured pork), shaved bottarga, with shaved Parmigiano. The standard version was flavorful but heavy with a thick sauce. 

Emily’s version was made with a mushroom sauce due to the crisp guanciale (cured pork) in the standard offering. She really enjoyed this dish. 

The next libation, called the Blood & Sand was Dewar’s scotch, cherry Heering, sweet vermouth, fresh orange juice. A lovely cocktail, and one we will replicate for friends at home. 

A butter-poached langoustine, with Champagne beurre blanc, Osetra caviar, and basil emulsion looked fantastic and served on a unique plate. The langoustine was cooked appropriate and the sauce was delicious. Emily absolutely adored this course.

For my non-shellfish alternative dish, I was served an excellently prepared and delicious saffron risotto. Best risotto I’ve had on a cruise ship & beats the saffron risotto at Palo by a mile. Although, I did find it a bit on the salty side, but that was balanced out nicely by the Blood & Sand cocktail. 

The fourth cocktail was called the East of Houston – a combination of The Botanist Gin, fresh lemon juice, honey syrup, orange bitters, topped with you guessed it… Moët Champagne. Fantastic cocktail and another that would be awesome to sip poolside.

Paired with the East of Houston was the Empire Caesar Salad featuring Parmesan tuile & butterfly, purple orchid, pink peppercorns. We both loved this salad, and remarked that actually the portion was too large, as by this point, we were pretty much full and have not received our entrees yet (and are not finishing each cocktail, either).

It was time to cleanse the palate before our entrees, a raspberry grapefruit sorbet with honey pearls topped with champagne. There is a trend, I would also like this in a large glass served poolside. 

There are 6 cocktails on the libation menu but the fourth and fifth are really 1 course as you will be served the New York Sour or the Nolita depending on your entree choice. Think pairing red wine with beef and white with fish as that was basically how this played out.

Emily ordered the seabass and was served the Nolita – Danzante Pinot Grigio, Italicus Rosolio Bergamotto Liqueur, Diablo Pisco Resevado, fresh lemon and orange juice, simple syrup, Sprite, fresh fruit. She took a sip and never went back. It was not like we were parched, we still had unfinished drinks on the table from the previous courses, but this was her least favorite.

Sea bass was served with a parsnip puree, red beets, peas, candy citrus and garnishes with “coral”. The fish was cooked perfectly. She was sad because it was a great dish, but there had been a lot of food served to this point that she was pretty much done eating for the night. 

The New York Sour is paired with the Steak and Rabbit entrees. Made with Bullet Bourbon, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, egg whites, and claret wine the cocktail was finished with an Empire E emobossed ice cube. The drink was enjoyable and one I’d order at a bar if available, but similar to Emily, I’m reaching capacity for both food and beverage as you can see I now have Emily’s Nolita next to my glass if I so desire to consume both.

I rarely order red meat, but when I do it is typically on a cruise ship during an elevated dining experience and tonight was one of those nights. I choose the steak with is a Wagyu ribeye, with fondant potatoes, and sautéed morel mushrooms. The beef was flavorful, but a little overcooked. If I had a mulligan, I’d have gone back and chosen the seabass.

Our final libation was called the Toasted Almond made with Tito’s Vodka, Kahlua, amaretto, heavy cream, and grated nutmeg. It hit the flavors and was well balanced. If you are into creamy cocktails, this is a solid choice. I bet this would be fantastic with 2 shots of espresso. In any case, they put this drink in a rocks glass so that I could take it to-go.

For dessert, we were given a choice of either a cheesecake or a chocolate beehive. The cheesecake was formed into the shape of a small triangle of Swiss cheese with a slice of graham crust with two holes cutout and an adorable and tasty mouse made of marzipan along with a side of dulce de leche gelato.

The chocolate beehive was molded layered ganache with a mango reduction and topped with a honey tuile and tasty honeybee. We each managed to take about 2 bites of each to take them, and they were delicious.

After dessert, service the kitchen staff made an appearance in the room which was a lovely touch allowing everyone to thank them for the preparation and hard work that went into this experience. The head chef also went table to table to speak to each group.

Each table then received a bonus dessert which we didn’t even touch. They were nice enough to let us take it back to the room for Isabelle to enjoy later. Of note, she enjoyed the cotton candy, and went back to the chocolates the next day, and said they were very good. I remember when you could take your bonus desserts from Remy & Enchanté back to your room……gone are those days…….

So, for $200 plus gratuity, is the Empire Supper Club worth it? I really don’t like “is it worth it” questions because it’s not the right question to ask for such a subjective topic. What I can say is that for the price, we did receive an abundance of food and beverages in an atmosphere with fantastic live music in a quaint environment. Food and drink were left behind at our table not because we didn’t enjoy it, but because it was too much for us. That being said if you are basing worth on what is provided, then yes, one could say it is worth it. Especially if you are a fan of the alcoholic libations which were all full cocktails, plus the seemingly all-you-care-to-enjoy champagne. These were not a tasting size scaled down cocktails for the multiple-course service (in addition to the Champagne refills). For a comparison factor, the food was more along the lines of Palo / PALO Steakhouse, so personally, I was a bit disappointed as I was expecting the dishes to be more along the lines of Remy / Enchanté. I’m more of a less is more, quality over quantity kind of guy. I guess I failed to factor in the abundance of libations into the cost where Remy / Enchanté do not include the paired cocktails in the prix fixe menu offerings. For the sake of comparison, Disney Cruise Line does not offer a comparable experience. Oh! This is NOT an adult-exclusive offering; we could have brought our daughter, and there was a young man enjoying the evening with his mother and a non-alcoholic option available for those underage or those that do not wish to consume alcohol. Isabelle would love to join us to something like this, but there is no way she would be able to consume even half of what we did. I would actually love to see a similar offering on the Disney Treasure as an enhanced Sarabi Supper Club concept.

Of note, this is about a 2hr experience & everyone begins at 6:30 PM and finishes around the same time as well. Food and drinks are brought out to everyone by the serving team at about the same time for everyone (with some slight variation). We pre-paid for this experience via the cruise planner, and it does include 18% auto gratuity. At the end of the experience, you are presented with a receipt showing $0 and may choose to add additional gratuity if you would like (and we most certainly did).

Would we return? Yes, we had a great time despite the obnoxious group that disrupted the ambiance and enjoyment of The American Standards Trio’s performance. I used the term “obnoxious” because as we were leaving, another couple told one person from the group that they were “obnoxious,” to which he responded with a dismissive “enjoy your to-go champagne” (yes, they were giving people champagne to-go if you wanted it!). The F&B manager, who also served as the club manager, informed us that this was the first time guests had disrupted the evening experience for others. They were unsure of how to handle the situation and I was surprised not to see an officer appear to assist the team with the issue. To their credit, they did offer to refund the experience, but we refused – we still ate the food and consumed the cocktails & really did have a lovely evening. It was a nice gesture and I suspect at least one table, if not more accepted the offer. In contrast, Palo is hesitant to serve a Mickey Cake ordered onboard because singing “Happy Birthday” might disturb other guests.

We walked around the ship for a bit and eventually called it a night. Tomorrow, we are heading ashore for a day at the beach.

Complete Trip Log Index

• Day 1 – Miami
• Day 2 – At Sea
• Day 3 – Roatán, Honduras
• Day 4 – Costa Maya
• Day 5 – Cozumel
• Day 6 – At Sea
• Day 7 – Perfect Day at Coco Cay