Icon of the Seas Dining Showdown: What I Actually Spent vs. What I Actually Got

When I booked Icon of the Seas, I told myself I'd be smart about it. I'd do the main dining room most nights and splurge on maybe one specialty restaurant. Famous last words, right? By day two of my seven-day sailing, I'd already dropped $247 on restaurants beyond my included meals. By the end of the week? Let's just say I didn't want to do the math. But I also didn't regret a single bite, which is probably the most honest thing I can tell you about specialty dining on this ship. Let me back up. I'm not some fancy cruise veteran who thinks the main dining room is beneath me. I grew up eating TV dinners and boxed mac and cheese. My parents took exactly one cruise when I was twelve, and I remember being absolutely blown away by the buffet. Shrimp! Multiple kinds of shrimp! I thought that was the height of luxury. So I came into this Icon sailing with reasonable expectations. The included dining should be fine. It should be good, even. And it was. Don't get me wrong. On my first night, I showed up to the main dining room—Dining Room on Deck 8—around 7:15 PM, right in the middle of the dinner rush. The maître d' scanned my room key, and suddenly I was being led to a table for two by t…