Royal Caribbean introduced plenty of new features on Icon of the Seas, including a walk-up sushi window.
Sushi has been an incredibly popular dining choice on Royal Caribbean ships ever since the first Izumi location opened on Oasis of the Seas in 2009. Demand for Japanese cuisine has never only increased since then, and Royal Caribbean wanted to make it easier than ever to enjoy it with its newest cruise ship.
Icon of the Seas began offering cruises in January 2024 and one of the revamped venues anyone that has cruised a lot with Royal Caribbean will notice is the new look to Izumi.
Royal Caribbean moved Izumi to the Central Park neighborhood, offering a high-traffic location in one of the most sought-after areas of the cruise ship for guests looking to dine out. Central Park has traditionally been a combination of dining and entertainment, and Izumi is now located across the path from Royal Caribbean's most well-known specialty restaurant, Chops Grille.
Izumi's rise in popularity isn't based on just luck. Izumi Master Chef Travis Kamiyama has over 30 years experience working in Japanese cuisine, and he provided the inside story of how adding a new and convenient way to get sushi came to be on Icon.
Being given prime real estate is validation to the fact Izumi is a popular and profitable idea, "After 14 years of blood, sweat and tears, we made it. We landed in Central Park. Yeah, so that's a big deal."
"I think the consistency and becoming iconic," he said in talking about Izumi's popularity.
"And it was all by, you know, guests raving about it and all the numbers showing it. And that's what it was all about. It was all purely proven."
Read more: An inside look at how Royal Caribbean's Izumi restaurant went from concept to success
Sushi and bubble cones to go
At the walk-up window, there's two types of food you can order.
The sushi options include a choice of two rolls, plus edamame or seaweed salad. You'll find both sashimi and nigiri rolls to consider.
Rolls are served in a container so you can take it anywhere on the ship. There are tables nearby in Central Park, or you could take it back to your cabin to enjoy.
There's also bubble cones, which has ice cream served in sweet, eggy bubble waffles that are crisp on the outside and cakey on the inside.
They're photogenic because of the toppings you'll get with it, and they're kind of like a milk shake meets ice cream cone.
There are five flavors:
- Cookies & Cream
- Rainbow mochi & mocha
- Beach Umbrella
- Chocolate Thrill
- Strawberry Bliss
Chef Kamiyama says Cookies and Cream is the top seller so far, with chocolate thrill and the strawberry bliss right behind it.
In describing the bubble cone, it's more than just another ice cream choice, "It is basically a hot waffle that's bubbly. And then we put a soft serve of ice cream, vanilla or chocolate, which is much creamier than the ones you get for free. And then we have different toppings on top."
Seven years in the making
Royal Caribbean worked on Icon of the Seas for over 7 years. It's what the cruise line calls a "white paper ship", meaning they started with a blank slate and came up with ideas for what they wanted onboard.
One of the overarching initiatives on Icon of the Seas is easy access to food with grab-and-go choices. You'll find this at restaurants like Pearl Cafe or Park Cafe. Likewise, adding an easy sushi option was identified, but it was not going to be easy, "they figured that the most demanding grab and go was sushi."
Royal Caribbean had experimented with offering pre-packaged sushi a few years ago with the Izumi Express concept. On select ships, there was sushi available on the Royal Promenade, but the Izumi in the Park sushi window goes well beyond that.
Chef Kamiyama indicated they wanted a blend of food that would appeal to the cruising market and based their decisions on what was already selling well at Izumi.
One of the biggest Izumi locations yet
Not only is Izumi located in a new area, it's also one of the biggest locations Royal Caribbean has built yet.
"To have finally almost 70 seats on an Icon class or the future Oasis six, that's a huge win for me and for the guests as well," Chef Kamiyama said of the size of Izumi on Icon of the Seas.
For Japanese cuisine lovers, you'll find sushi, hibachi, ramen, mochi and more.
The restaurant is divided up between a sushi section and the teppanyaki dining, along with the adjacent sushi window.
What to try if you're new to Japanese food
If all this Izumi talk sounds like you want to try it, I asked Chef Kamiyama what he would recommend to a newbie.
"You can't go wrong with the gyoza dumpling... and then also the chicken karaage," were the first two recommendations he had.
As for sushi, he also recommended the salmon lovers roll or the spicy tuna roll as good choices.
