Royal Caribbean is famend for constructing a few of the world’s largest cruise ships during the last three many years. Simply final 12 months, the cruise line constructed the brand-new Icon of the Seas as the biggest cruise ship on the earth, quickly to be adopted by her sister-ship Star of the Seas this summer season.
I like to cruise, however I want reserving sailings with distinctive and fascinating itineraries. I additionally cruise on a funds, usually choosing the most affordable cabins on the smallest, oldest ships. As a result of Oasis class ships are so huge, the vessels are port restricted and supply restricted itineraries to select from. To not point out, these huge ships are usually costlier than different choices within the cruise line’s fleet.
Evidently, I prevented crusing on Royal Caribbean’s largest ships for a few years. The big dimension didn’t enchantment to me, to not point out the itineraries appeared boring in comparison with different vessels. As an alternative, I cruised on a few of the older vessels or Quantum-class ships with extra thrilling ports of name.
Final month, my husband and I had the chance to cruise with my household and grandparents aboard Utopia of the Seas. The 4-night cruise was modestly priced at $1,400 and included stops in Nassau, Bahamas, and Royal Caribbean’s non-public island, Good Day at CocoCay. It wasn’t probably the most thrilling itinerary, however the dates labored nicely for us, and we may drive to the port. Utopia of the Seas simply debuted in July 2024 – we have been excited to sail on Royal Caribbean’s latest ship.
Any cruise is a good trip, however not every little thing was good throughout our crusing. There have been some points of Utopia of the Seas that I liked, whereas different nuisances have been irritating and disappointing.
Royal Caribbean has a long-time historical past of constructing megaships
Starting in 1988 with Sovereign of the Seas, Royal Caribbean set a precedent for constructing the world’s largest passenger cruise ships. As the primary true megaship within the cruise business, Sovereign of the Seas revolutionized ship design, greater than doubling the dimensions of the cruise line’s earlier vessels and paving the best way for the way forward for cruising.
In 2009, Royal Caribbean constructed Oasis of the Seas as the primary in a brand new ship class. The 225,282 gross ton cruise ship was 40% greater than something the cruise line had constructed earlier than – it was a monumental achievement.
Oasis of the Seas was the primary passenger ship to surpass 220,000 gross tons when it comes to dimension. Royal Caribbean additionally debuted the primary neighborhood idea on Oasis of the Seas, which was meant to make navigation simpler onboard the large vessel. New areas and options included an open-aired Central Park, an aft-facing Boardwalk, the primary zip line at sea, and the first-ever aqua amphitheater.
It’s straightforward to see how Oasis class ships formed the historical past of cruise design, forcing competitor cruise strains to construct greater ships too. At this time, a lot of the mainstream cruise strains function their very own 200,000+ GT megaships.
When Oasis of the Seas first debuted, I used to be solely 14 years outdated and in highschool. I needed so badly to sail on this brand-new ship for our annual household cruise, however the price was too excessive. As our household centered extra on port-intensive and distinctive itineraries, our curiosity in Oasis class ships dried up.
Due to their sheer dimension, port choices are restricted, and tendering is unimaginable for this ship class; subsequently, itineraries have been repetitive.
It wasn’t till 2018 that I sailed on an Oasis class ship, Attract of the Seas, for the primary time. I used to be blown away by the facilities and state-of-the-art expertise. I nonetheless have fond recollections of watching the Mamma Mia musical!
Later, I sailed Concord of the Seas in February 2022, proper after the pandemic. The ship was crusing at half capability, so we didn’t want to fret about crowds or strains. This was a skewed expertise although, and we enormously loved the quieter ambiance onboard.
Though I’ve cruised over 50 occasions, I’ve hardly ever sailed on an Oasis class ship. My husband and I have been excited to cruise on Utopia of the Seas for the primary time, which might be my husband’s first time on an Oasis class ship!
To start out, the worth was fairly excessive for a 4-night cruise
I’m all the time on the lookout for a great deal once I e book my cruises. My husband and I made a decision only some months prior that we needed to affix my dad and mom and grandparents on this cruise. Whereas they’d booked balcony cabins for $1,300 the 12 months earlier than, we ended up paying $1,500 for an inside cabin.
We don’t thoughts reserving an affordable inside stateroom, but it surely was disappointing to pay greater than my dad and mom. As a result of Utopia of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s newer ship, demand drives up the costs.
This implies we spent $750 per particular person for a 4-night cruise, or $187 every evening. This contains port charges and gratuities for each of us. We additionally opted to pay barely extra to pick our stateroom location as a substitute of reserving a assured cabin.
Our cabin was thoughtfully designed, and we didn’t thoughts saving cash by reserving the most affordable stateroom
Crusing on a brand-new cruise ship means your cabin would be the largest and biggest stateroom design. After crusing on older and smaller ships for fairly a while, we appreciated the trendy facilities included on this design.
First, the stateroom was spacious and didn’t really feel too cramped. We liked having a sofa for extra seating – one thing that different competitor cruise strains have slowly phased out.
The lavatory was additionally thoughtfully designed. It was obvious that Royal Caribbean diminished the width of the sink and vainness to increase the bathe dimension. My husband and I are each tall, so this additional area made all of the distinction.
We additionally observed what number of chargers and shops have been obtainable. The vainness featured a row of shops and USB ports whereas the nightstands every had an outlet and USB-C port to make use of. With so many shops, I didn’t even want to make use of my outlet extender.
Our cabin on Deck 9 was additionally very quiet. Utopia of the Seas is so massive that we have been located in a block on inside staterooms in the direction of the again of the ship. The stateroom was surrounded by 5 different inside cabins! I’m all the time apprehensive about noisy neighbors, and having many alternative neighbors may make for a loud cabin. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case for us.
Embarkation day was hectic, and I hated having to make so many reservations
After boarding in Port Canaveral, the primary process on our agenda was to make reservations for specialty eating and reveals. We tried to make reservations within the weeks main as much as our cruise, however continued to get errors. The app would present availability, however fail once we tried to truly e book something.
We had a gaggle of eight individuals touring collectively, which made it tougher to order the headliner reveals. My mother beelined for the field workplace after we made it onboard, and was met with lots of of different individuals doing the identical.
My husband and I have been in command of reserving specialty eating. With our Diamond Plus advantages, we didn’t wish to pay beforehand for a reservation and never obtain our BOGO perk. There have been few choices obtainable for Chops Grille and Giovanni’s, however we secured two reservations that match our schedule.
Sadly, my mother didn’t have a lot luck with reserving the reveals. She waited in a protracted line with out success. As an alternative, I went on the app and located seats obtainable for the entire late-night reveals, together with the ice present and diving spectacle.
This was one in all my least favourite components of crusing on an Oasis class ship. With so many individuals onboard attempting to see the identical reveals, you both want a reservation otherwise you wait in a protracted standby line. This made me admire the smaller vessels the place you don’t want to worry about reservations. It’s irritating to pay 1000’s of {dollars} and nonetheless fear that you just received’t be capable to see the headliner manufacturing reveals.
We additionally hated coping with crowds and lengthy strains, particularly on embarkation day
The primary few hours of a cruise are extra hectic, as you could full your obligatory security drill and discover your stateroom. When these aren’t obtainable till the afternoon, nobody has a spot to go, and everybody as a substitute wanders across the ship.
I couldn’t imagine the sheer variety of individuals crowding into the promenade and the Windjammer! After all, going to the buffet on the primary day of the cruise is without doubt one of the worst issues you are able to do for crowding. Everybody heads as much as the Windjammer Buffet for lunch on the primary day.
To not point out, Utopia of the Seas gives recent lobster for lunch on embarkation day. This solely entices individuals additional to go to the buffet as a substitute of using different included venues.
Navigating the crowds and stuffy buffet was my least favourite a part of the cruise. We have been searching for a desk for my grandma, who makes use of a walker, and this was a nightmare. Subsequent time, I’d even contemplate reserving a specialty eating choice for lunch to keep away from the crowds.
Crusing on an Oasis class ship means you’ll have extra choices for eating, which was a spotlight for us
This cruise was a special day for our household, as we have been celebrating my grandpa’s ninetieth birthday. After just a few months of well being scares with him, we didn’t know if he would be capable to be part of this cruise.
As a result of we have been celebrating, we determined to splurge and e book two evenings at specialty eating. These for-charge eating places supply an elevated expertise with extra attentive service, larger high quality meals, and fewer crowds.
We booked Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen for the primary evening, and we acquired our personal non-public desk behind the restaurant. This was such a pleasant shock, particularly contemplating my grandpa is difficult of listening to. It was straightforward to have a dialog with the quieter ambiance. The 2-story venue ignored the ship’s aft – it was one of the vital lovely specialty eating venues I’ve seen on a ship!
The meals was implausible, too. We gorged on burrata salad, truffle pizza, creamy carbonara, tender filet, and fried Nutella ravioli. This was our favourite meal of the cruise!
The next evening, we dined at Chops Grille in Central Park. We hardly ever e book two specialty eating meals on a brief cruise, however Utopia of the Seas had so many engaging choices that we couldn’t resist!
We enormously loved this meal as nicely, particularly when my grandpa gave a touching toast to the desk that introduced tears to everybody’s eyes. The service was very attentive, and the ambiance was quiet and intimate.
Lastly, we additionally needed to attempt the Mason Jar – which is Royal Caribbean’s first specialty eating choice for brunch. My sister raved about her meal right here over the summer season, so we booked a brunch slot for the final day. Sadly, this was our least favourite of the specialty eating experiences.
We loved a few of the entrees, such because the gooey cinnamon roll and the southern burger, whereas others fell flat, together with the hen and waffles. The cocktails have been a spotlight although, and I’d return simply to the bar for the craft drinks on the menu!
Contemplating we paid almost $50 per particular person with gratuity, I’d skip this restaurant sooner or later.
Together with specialty eating places, Utopia of the Seas encompasses a plethora of complimentary eating places as nicely. For example, we loved the recent Mexican delicacies at El Loco Recent and breakfast at Johnny Rockets (though dinner and lunch aren’t included right here).
The leisure was additionally spectacular and a few of the greatest I’ve seen at sea
In the previous couple of years, it’s been evident that the majority cruise strains are reducing again on leisure to avoid wasting on prices. For example, Norwegian Cruise Line has lower all of their Broadway reveals, whereas Carnival Cruise Line is relying closely on recreation reveals for leisure as of late.
I admire that Royal Caribbean continues to be pushing the boundaries and prioritizing leisure on their latest ships. Two of the standout reveals on Utopia of the Seas embrace Aqua80Too, a high-diving present within the Aquatheatre, and Youtopia, an ice skating spectacle with Olympic-style stunts.
The Aqua80Too present was undoubtedly the spotlight, that includes gravity-defying dives, synchronized swimming, and breathtaking performances. The music, manufacturing, and total execution have been completely spectacular.
The primary theatre additionally encompasses a well-done present known as All In. The present included unimaginable technological results and lighting, which was memorizing. The music was various too with some fashionable hits, which I liked!
My husband and I completed the cruise with a late-night comic, which is all the time a lighthearted approach to finish the evening. Each comedians have been extraordinarily humorous – we laughed a lot it introduced tears to our eyes!
I liked the entire themed bars and lounges on Utopia of the Seas
Every night of our cruise, our household gathered earlier than dinner to get pleasure from completely satisfied hour. That is one in all my grandpa’s favourite actions of the day — he claims a glass of bourbon every day is his secret to a protracted life!
There may be definitely no scarcity of bars or lounges on the ship. In actual fact, Utopia of the Seas has 23 bars throughout its varied neighborhoods, serving up cocktails, wine, beer, and different spirits. Among the bars are extra unique to the brand-new ship, such because the Pesky Parrot, whereas others are Royal Caribbean staples, just like the Schooner Bar.
Certainly one of our favourite bars to go to was the Pesky Parrot, which is a brand new tiki bar specializing in tropical, fruity cocktails with unique decor. One other favourite spot on the pool deck was the Lime and Coconut bar, the place I may get pleasure from my favourite Lime & Coconut cocktail!
Even with 1000’s of company crusing, the bar service was surprisingly quick. We by no means waited too lengthy for a drink and the bartenders have been attentive.
I’m not speeding to e book one other Oasis class ship, however I’d sail once more
Whereas we had a good time on our fast getaway cruise with household, my husband and I aren’t in a rush to e book one other journey on an Oasis class ship. We nonetheless want smaller vessels and have lately discovered ourselves drawn extra to Superstar Cruises. Their Edge class ships strike the right steadiness – progressive, fashionable, luxurious, and ideally sized – all whereas crusing to fascinating locations.
I’m completely satisfied to see Royal Caribbean crusing shorter itineraries aboard their newer ships, as most cruise strains used to sail their oldest and smallest ships on these sailings. Royal Caribbean lately introduced that the majority Oasis class ships might be crusing shorter itineraries within the close to future!
I’d fortunately e book Utopia of the Seas once more for a fast getaway cruise, because the ship is extra of a vacation spot in itself. There was a lot to do, see, and eat that we almost ran out of time to attempt all of it.
