Disney Wish Tower Suite vs Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate Family Townhouse on Icon of the Seas
I have been extremely fortunate to be able to stay in both of these flagship cabins in the past year. You can see all kinds of tours and some high level information online, but I wanted to get in to that little minutiae about what the experience of staying in them is like. And I know everyone wants a “Which One’s Better?”, so I’m just going to tell you to start with, they do genuinely each have their own strengths and weaknesses. One is not a clear winner over the other. This isn’t a DISNEY-BAD or “look at these fools paying so much money, it’s such a waste and they’re getting ripped off and deserve it” kind of video. If you are thinking about splurging with your friends or family for a big event and are considering either these options, I want you to have a good idea of what you’ll get so you can get the best vacation for YOU.
Okay, that out of the way
They both sleep up to 8 people. And they’re both about the same size. Townhouse is 1,772 square feet. The Tower Suite is 1,966. For both of these, that’s interior space only.
Ease of Sleeping 8
Tower Suite has 4 bedrooms. 2 Master suites with in-suite bathrooms with separate shower, bathtub, and water closet. 1 kids room with in-suite bathroom, no tub (which was surprising) or water closet. And 1 library with murphy bed with en-suite bathroom. This one is accessible, so it’s a roll-in shower, no bathtub, no water closet. There is also a powder room off the living room and a whole kitchen. That’s 4 and a half bathrooms!
Every bedroom has doors, which means you can freely move about the cabin while anyone else is sleeping and not disturb them. The two masters have windows and they have curtains. Other two rooms don’t have windows. It is built to accommodate 8 adults comfortably. Either four couples, or like 3 couples and 2 single people in the kids room in bunk beds
Also just an asterisk about those water closets, they have lightly frosted glass doors. And they are kind of see-through actually. So maybe don’t tell your friends “oh yeah you can go grab that thing I left in the bathroom” if you know someone’s using the toilet cuz it’s not as private as you think it will be.
Townhouse has 2 bedrooms. 1 master with in-suite bathroom, no bathtub and no water closet. 1 kids room that can sleep 4, all bunk beds, with in-suite bathroom with combo shower/tub and no water closet. The theater room has a day bed that Royal Caribbean claims sleeps 2, but that’s maybe two little kids or one short adult. It has an in-suite bathroom, no tub or water closet. Or regular closet. There is no door to this bedroom (just a curtain) and this is where the “kitchen” is. The dining table is on the other side of the curtain. Which, by the way, is constantly making noise and can’t be turned off.
In the living room is a pull-out couch, which sleeps 2, which does not have access to a bathroom at all. And is in the living room, so no privacy. And don’t forget about the light-up tables that you can’t turn off. Or move.
If you need to use the bathroom when everyone else is asleep and don’t want to go through a bedroom, you can leave the townhouse, go out to Surfside, and there’s a set of public bathrooms tucked just around the corner. Luxurious. It does have a wardrobe-type closet that was installed later. But it has drawers under it, so you can’t hang things like dresses unless you leave BOTH doors open and hang them from the door hooks. You have to leave both open or else the one you try to leave closed will swing out and bang back into it. Constantly.
That is a total of “10” sleeping places, but the room’s capacity is 8, which means extra sleeping options, so it SEEMS like it should be more flexible when you just list the numbers. But with the design, the Townhouse is really only built to sleep up to 2 adults in 1 bed and up to 4 kids less than 9, in the kids room. Maybe an older kid in the theater room if no one plans to be in the living room, kitchen, or dining room when he tends to sleep. So…a FAMILY Townhouse. And the two on the bottom floor don’t have doors, which means if those people is sleeping, then everyone else has to sneak around like burglars. And leave the giant curtains closed so no one can enjoy the views.
The winner here, for ease of sleeping and housing, 8 people, is easily the Tower Suite.
Balcony Space
The next biggest thing on a cruise – the balcony space! People will pay extra for the exact same room for just 10 more square feet of space on the balcony. The Townhouse has two balconies on the aft of the ship with a private hot tub on one of them. That’s 500 square feet of balcony space. The Townhouse is described as being 3 stories, but the bottom floor of the Townhouse is a “backyard” with a pingpong table, seating, and a great buffet table, which is an additional 251 square feet of shaded outdoor space.
The Tower Suite has no balcony. I totally get why there isn’t one ON the Tower, but I assumed that there must be a special hidden reserved deck space for you elsewhere on the ship, but no. You have no private outdoor space, which is pretty shocking. The Townhouse gives you a lovely wake view, and the Tower Suite gives you…
Winner by default is the Townhouse.
Decor
The Tower Suite will have slightly different themes between all of the ships, but it looks like those are just the details. Color schemes and layout is similar between them. On the Wish, it is designed beautifully with a subtle Moana / Polynesian theme. It is elegant and doesn’t scream giant Goofy or kids, nor is it stuffy. If you don’t like Moana, you will still absolutely love the design. There’s a small statue of Moana & Maui, and a piece of wall art of Te Fiti, but other than that, really no Disney characters. It’s said that the Wish is designed to look like a castle at sea, and I’d say that carries over into the Tower Suite. For any little girl that wants to stay in a princess castle (and I include myself in that!), The Tower Suite is exactly that.
The Townhouse is oh-my-god-all-the-primary-colors-for-babies. To be honest, I think it’s quite ugly. If someone just showed me a picture of the interior, I would think it was the play area for little little kids. When you stay in the Townhouse, your Genie will tell you to be vigilant about keeping the doors closed and latched because anyone nearby genuinely thinks it’s a kids play room. I realize this is probably going to be a personal thing, I don’t have kids, I’m not into kids. If you have little kids that like to bounce around on things, then the decor of the Townhouse would probably work better.
The winner here for me personally, is easily the Tower Suite.
Room Amenities
The Tower Suite has a full refrigerator, two freezers, dish washer, sink, real forks & knives, espresso machine, lots of teas, a big lovely dining room table, a bar (with its own sink and glasses), a wine cooler, each bedroom has a TV, plus a living room TV. The fridge is kept stocked with drinks, the freezer has Mickey ice cream bars.
The Townhouse has a tiny fridge, espresso machine, popcorn machine, dining table, PS4, Switch, karaoke kit and big TV. But all of those are in a bedroom or just on the other side of a curtain from a bedroom. So if someone’s asleep in that bedroom, you really don’t have those things. The one coffee-maker being in a bedroom is a really bizarre choice. It also has a pingpong table in that space underneath the room outside.
Winner is the Tower Suite.
Concierge / Star
I have a lot to say about this one. It’s well-known that Disney’s been charging more for less and I think it’s starkly apparent in this category most of all.
For Disney, they only have two classes. You’re either Concierge or you’re not. In the Tower Suite, you get 5 bottles of wine, some drinks stocked in your fridge (including special requests like Dr. Pepper), all the Mickey ice cream bars you could eat, and everything else is standard concierge.
Access to the concierge lounge, which has a limited menu for all meals, free alcohol there from 5 – 10 PM (but only there). And the lounge is in the front of the ship and you’re located a little bit forward of the middle. So it’s a walk, but not a bad one.
The Concierge sundeck does provide free sunscreen, which is a nice little perk.
If YOU email them ahead of time, but only after you’re allowed, the shoreside concierge will book the excursions and dining reservations you want. And if I can just add as an aside here, I was pretty shocked about how little the Shoreside Concierge seemed to care or even read what I wrote. I asked what the latest menus looked like, since I had a dietary restriction at the time and Disney closes the buffet for dinner, and they just said “no”! Was it possible to request Dr. Pepper or lactose-free ice cream in the room? Nope. Had to request those onboard. Basically they’re just a booking engine.
Anyway, specialty dining, alcohol outside of that 5-hour window in one location, laundry, gratuities, all that still costs extra. You can get meals delivered to your room, but you only get to pick 1 restaurant and only once per night. And specialty costs extra. And you can only order from the menu.
No line skipping except a little bit to get you on and off the ship. You don’t skip to the front of the customs line, so it still takes forever to get off. When you get on the ship, they meet you at the terminal and take you on, you have a lunch with all the other concierge guests while they get your room ready, then you can go to your room. But for us, we didn’t know how to get to our room, there’s no elevator button for 14. So we had to grab a cast member to radio for a Concierge team member to come show us.
There’s no reserved seating at shows or movies, either. They claim that they do, but you have to show up 45 minutes before showtime. If I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t need reserved seats!
Things weren’t really customized for us. They did provide a few fresh snacks in the room, which seems typical of those top top tier Concierge rooms. But they never reached out to us to ask what we’d like. And what they gave was not what we liked and something two of the four of us literally couldn’t eat, so what’s the point except to take up space in the room and make you feel bad for wasting food.
There is a concierge team, but you don’t have a concierge person specifically for you. To speak with them, you have to pick up your phone and call or walk down to the Concierge Lounge.
Royal Caribbean, depending on the ship, but in Icon’s case, has four classes. Star, Sky, Sea, and everybody else. In the Townhouse, you’re in Star class. And the Townhouse specifically gets you some extra perks. The peak of peak. I’ll have another video with a lot more to say about the intricacies of what’s included, but enough to compare the two here, you get the unlimited alcoholic drinks package, which works everywhere at all hours. You also get unlimited specialty dining. Star does have some restrictions on what’s included, but in the Townhouse, most of those restrictions don’t apply to you. The fanciest cuts of meat at Chop’s Grille for example, normally costs extra, even for Star, but not for Townhouse.
You also get free laundry, one bag per person per day. If your sailing goes to Perfect Day at CocoCay, you get into Thrill Waterpark. All gratuities are included in your cabin fare (except for your Genie). You’ll receive a survey about 2 months before your cruise asking you what you like to eat, drink, your hobbies, are you celebrating anything special, morning routine, what’s your perfect day, etc. A Shoreside Genie will then email you to start getting your excursions, dining, activities, shows, all kinds of things booked.
Then, about 7 days out, you’ll hear from YOUR PERSONAL Genie, who will answer any and all questions whenever, and you can get just about whatever you ask for. Your Genie will usually be assigned to three cabins, so you have maybe 35% of one person’s attention. Vs. like 3% of 7 people’s attention in the Tower Suite. You communicate through What’s App on your phone. Decide you want to eat at a sold-out restaurant that night? Not sold out for you. You can get food from ANY specialty restaurant served right at your room, no extra cost. The chefs will even make a custom meal just for you. Particularly handy if you’re on a no-chew diet. Want to try a brookie? They’ll google it and if they have the ingredients on board, they’ll make it.
Think you’d like some coffee? Ask once and it’s there every morning exactly the way you want it when you want it. How about an ice cream party? Best piece of steak on the ship delivered to your room for lunch every day?
And they DO personalize things. Remember that survey? You’ll have so much food that YOU LIKE, in your room, you won’t know what to do with it all. They have an amazing ability to predict what you want and bring it to you, before you even know you want it.
They can also skip most lines for you. On the ship, they take you right to the front of the line to get off the ship at ports. When your cruise is over, they take you a significant portion of the way through disembarkation, basically straight to customs.
Similar to the Wish, Star class (and Sky Class) have a special lounge and sundeck area, also way in the front of the ship. The Townhouse is all the way aft. So it is a LONG way up there. It has food out all the time, a bar, and a sundeck with pool and tons of loungers.
Another thing Disney doesn’t even try to touch: Coastal Kitchen! Suite rooms have a whole restaurant that, by the way, overlooks the AquaDome, so you can watch the show while eating. You can try to argue that the Concierge Lounge serves food, but it’s a LOUNGE – not a restaurant. There’s a huge difference in the menus.
And they reserve seats for you at shows so you DON’T have to show up 45 minutes early. You can even go there before the show to figure out where you’d best like to sit. Maybe it’s row 1, maybe it’s row 4. Show up 5 minutes before the show, and your Genie walks you straight there and bring your favorite cocktail. In the AquaDome, seating is like bleacher style. Not Star Class! You get proper chairs and a table for your drink.
If you couldn’t tell by now, the Townhouse dominates this category. By a lot.
Bottom Line
If you’re planning a big anniversary or any other huge celebration, it really can be worth it to spring for these rooms. The layout of the Tower Suite is truly excellent and felt VERY princess-y and glamorous, but the level pf perks that you get in Star Class on Royal Caribbean was just not there. In Star Class, especially in the Townhouse, it really is almost like you own the ship and you have a best friend who is on YOUR side to make everything happen for you. But the rooms, particularly the Townhouse, are just not designed so well.
If given the chance to go again on either of the two, I would pick Royal Caribbean Star Class. BUT – and a big BUT here – they are in the midst of making changes to their Star Class program and are ramping up the nickel-and-diming. When speaking with your travel agent, make sure to ask her what the Star Class benefits are at that time.