Travel back in time to the roaring 20s and 30s of New York City with Empire Supper Club onboard Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, Icon of the Seas. This brand new concept takes dining to the next level but at a steep added cost. At $200 per person is this uncharge experience worth a visit when you set sail on Icon of the Seas? Let’s dive in!

Empire Supper Club is unlike anything Royal Caribbean has done before. This exclusive dining experience is offered each night of the sailing and is a very formal attire type venue. Men are asked to wear a sport coat. If you do not have one they do have some available to choose from. Given the late add, I did not have a sport coast so I did borrow one. Tie is not required but many do wear one. This is not something I had originally planned to do prior to my sailing. I was also solo traveler which their system doesn’t always seem to recognize when booking. I decided to take a chance onboard however and went to guest services to check for availability. Sure enough, on the final night of the cruise they had some space and I was able to jump in.

You will receive a card on your stateroom door prior to the visit with instructions. Guests will meet near Central Park on Deck Eight. The doors will open roughly ten minutes prior to the dining time which there is only one time per night at this time. This experience is billed as an 8-course meal but as of now they are offering some extra surprises which take it even past that 8 courses. Guests who are on the ultimate dining plan will receive a discount off the $200 price tag but it is not included in the dining plan.

This experience is also open to all ages. There were some kids dining while I was experiencing this. For the most part it was couples or groups of four. Alcohol is included in the price even if you do not have the beverage package. Each course is paired with a specific drink.They will ask ahead of time if you have any food allergies or needs as well and cater courses to you for that. If you do not drink this is also when to tell them so they can prepare for that as well. Price does not change however if you opt out of the alcohol.

This is an intimate experience with a max of 38 guests able to dine. There is also live music as part of the experience adding to the intimacy. A pianist, bassist and singer will perform curated music to the meal.

When given your menu, you do have a couple choices to make. You are given all of the starter options (plus some extras) but you are asked to select a main and a dessert. I went with the “Steak” option which was a Waygu ribeye with fondant potatoes and sautéed morels. For dessert I chose the cheesecake which was a velvety white chocolate with graham crust, marzipan and with dulce de leche gelato. You begin the experience with some champagne; a Moët & Chandon Imperial Brut.

One extra touch that I loved was the table side card that listed all of the items you would be receiving. This helped as you get a lot of different food and beverage items that are hard to keep track of.

Starters

The first starter was not something listed and is more of a palate cleanser. The Amuse-bouche is a bagel like offering with caviar on top. They also sprinkle edible gold dust on top. It was bite size and a great way to kick things off. Another item not listed was the bread. What meal doesn’t start out with bread especially on a cruise ship? This was spicy pecan bread with honey. It was served with a butter that was so soft and complemented the bread perfectly.

Up next was the Crispy Oysters Rockefeller with chorizo Béarnaise, sun-dried Romas and micro basil. Now, I was concerned given I had never had oysters with how I would enjoy this but honestly it was great. Hard to not like something fried! This was paired with the champagne which they kept refilling to help cleanse the palate throughout the night.

Our next starter was Raviolo, which included soft yolk, crisp guancíale, shaved bottarga and Parmigiano. This was quite good. A bit weird in texture with the yolk but I found them to be very creative with this entire meal. This was paired with our second drink of the night, Staten Island Spritz which was Tito’s handmade vodka, Campari liqueur, fresh orange juice and Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut. Of the drinks, this was one of my favorite for sure. I do want to add that with each course, your waiter explains each course in detail. The service was incredible throughout.

Our next starter was another I was unsure about going into this. I am not a huge seafood person. This was called the “Langoustine” which butter poached lobster with champagne, Osetra caviar and basil emulsion. The presentation was certainly incredible. The course was also fantastic. I would’ve ate more. The drink paired with this was “Blood & Sand” which was Dewar’s scotch, cherry Heering, sweet vermouth and fresh orange juice. This drink was different and not something I would necessarily order on my own. I was glad to give it a try though.

Our final starter was the Empire Caesar Salad. This was another great appetizer with parmesan tuile, purple orchid and pink peppercorn. This was paired with “East of Houston,” which had The Botanist Gin, fresh lemon juice, honey syrup, orange bitters and Moët & Chandon Impérial Brut. Another drink that was good but not my favorite.

Main Course

That brought us to a bit of an intermission which was served with a sorbet. This was supposed to be another palate cleanser type offering before we dove into the main course.

As I mentioned earlier, I ordered the waygu ribeye as my main. Now, it was not a huge course but it also didn’t need to be given all the food you received. The steak was prepared extremely well. The potato side was good but I wasn’t a big fan of the morels. The drink paired with the “steak” or “rabbit” options was the New York Sour. This was Bulleit Bourbon, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, egg whites and claret wine. I was unsure about this drink before I tried it but I really enjoyed it. Definitely had that sour taste but it was really good especially if you are into sours. You can see they have special “E” ice cubes for this as well.

Dessert

That takes us to our final course and drink (or so we thought), dessert! As mentioned above, I ordered the cheesecake which was very good. I love a good cheesecake and with the New York theming I had to get this. There is even a little chocolate mouse on the plate hidden. The presentations of everything was incredible. The dessert drink pairing was called Toasted Almond, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Kahlua, amaretto, heavy cream and grated nutmeg. This drink was definitely up there for me on this night. It was a perfect cap to the night. I would order this drink again if I could.

And that was all until we got surprised with a second special dessert. The Chocolate Tree! This tree had a chocolate trunk and base with a cotton candy top. The presentation was amazing and it tasted just as amazing. After all of the incredible food I couldn’t finish this all though. I did my best and would gladly order this by itself if I could.

Final Thoughts

The big question for this meal is of course, is it worth it? In my opinion yes, but not an every time type thing. This is a perfect experience for a special occasion, birthday, anniversary, etc. There was a couple celebrating an anniversary that the singer announced. I was very glad I added this on and would definitely do it again. Each course was well prepared, well presented and tasted great. I think many could be taken back by the amount of drinks as well. It is a lot and I noticed not everyone was finishing each one. I didn’t find all of them to very potent though and nobody seemed to be leaving the experience over served or anything. This experience is coming to Star of the Seas and the third Icon Class ship. On Star it is said to be Chicago themed. We do not know what the third ship will be yet though.

That’s my take on Empire Supper Club! Have you dined here? Are you planning to check this out when you said on Icon?