Karaoke is one of the most popular activities on a cruise ship, and there's a way you can enjoy it without having to wait for a turn.
On Royal Caribbean's newer cruise ships that have a Spotlight Karaoke venue, you'll find karaoke sessions throughout the day to attend where you can try singing along to musical hits.
On Icon of the Seas, Spotlight Karaoke has a private karaoke room you can rent, which is great for a small group to enjoy without a big crowd. I wanted to see if this was a great alternative to the typically crowded karaoke sessions.
Spotlight Karaoke is Royal Caribbean's best karaoke venue yet
Karaoke isn't new to Royal Caribbean, but it's traditionally been an event held in a multipurpose venue, which meant there were limited times to do it.
Royal Caribbean has started adding Spotlight Karaoke to its newer ships, including the brand new Icon of the Seas and Utopia of the Seas.
The private karaoke room costs $70
There are private karaoke rooms within Spotlight Karaoke you can rent on a first come, first rented basis.
I did not see an option to pre-book it on Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner site, so we had to wait to get onboard the ship to book it. Guest Services can book it for you, as can a Royal Genie if you're in Star Class.
This is meant to be a family or group activity, where you rent the space for one hour and have access to the full library of karaoke tunes to sing along to within a private setting.
On a recent Icon of the Seas sailing, my daughter and her friends loved going to karaoke sessions but always got frustrated when the line was long, or if there was adults-only karaoke sessions happening.
I knew about the private rooms from when they first debuted on Oasis of the Seas in 2019, and asked about renting a spot. It cost $70 and was for one hour.
You get the private room and then it's DIY in terms of hosting the karaoke session.
The karaoke rooms are located to the side of Spotlight Karaoke
The private karaoke rooms are easily overlooked if you don't know they exist.
On Icon of the Seas, the rooms are behind a door to the left of the venue. It looks like a door to a crew member area, rather than where you'd find the rooms.
When we arrived for our karaoke session, the karaoke manager met us near the door and we were escorted into the room.
There's a large couch that extends across the back of the room, with the large karaoke screen the focus. The idea is that everyone in the room can see the lyrics, just like if you were in the main venue.
The manager gave us a tablet, where we could search for songs by artist or title. It was not the most intuitive software I've ever seen, but once she went through the process one time, it was clear how to use it.
The library of songs is vast enough to probably find the songs you're looking for, especially if they're hit songs. Deep cuts may be an issue, but I assume that would be the case in the main room too.
The room is private, but not soundproof
Besides not having to wait for a turn in karaoke, the other appeal of a private room is you could sing in privacy.
While being in the room does potentially shield you from others on the ship hearing your attempt to sing, the room is not quite totally soundproof.
The kids went out of the room to test if they could hear the person singing in the private room, and it was definitely audible.
The good news is if there's karaoke happening in the main room of Spotlight Karaoke, it's unlikely many people would be able to hear what's happening in the private rooms.
We had fun and the kids wanted to do it again
The private karaoke room rental delivered exactly what we wanted: a way to enjoy karaoke with my kid's friends without waiting for a turn in the main room.
The one hour rental is just long enough for everyone to have a turn and get the "karaoke bug" out of their system. Moreover, as someone who would never get up on the karaoke stage, being able to sing in private was a welcome option.
At $70 for the hour, it's a quite reasonable cost considering you can easily get about 6-8 people in the room (especially if they're kids). Plus, it was a reasonably priced splurge for the kids to do something fun.
Obviously you don't need to pay money to enjoy karaoke and there are many open sessions that cost nothing extra. The reason to go with the private room is for those that want a "fastpass" to be able to sing what they want, when they want.
Our family and friends had a great time trying it, and we rented it again while on Utopia of the Seas a few weeks later.
