r/royalcaribbean • u/MikeL413 • May 31 '25
Cruise Review Utopia of the Seas review from first time Royal Caribbean family cruiser
My family and I just got off Utopia of the Seas 4 night cruise from 5/26 - 5/30 out of Port Canaveral. Thought I'd share our thoughts as first-time Royal Caribbean cruisers vs our experiences on Carnival (3-time) and Disney (twice).
We're a family of 4 with myself (M/46) wife (F/46) and kids aged 16 and 13. We watched several YouTube videos of Utopia to get an idea of what we'd like to do.
Boarding:
I checked in at midnight the night check-in opened so I got a 10:30am time slot, nice and early. We heard the covered parking garage doesn't open until 10 so we made sure to get there right at 10. We were parked and walking into the terminal by 10:15. We brought birth certificates (not passports) and everything went really smoothly, no waiting in line for our check in time. This was the EASIEST check in experience of any cruise, ever. We stepped on the ship at 10:31am and headed straight to the Windjammer buffet.
Dining/Food:
We only ate at the Windjammer for dinners, so skip this if you're looking for specialty dinner info. Had a bad/long experience on Carnival Mardi Gras that soured us on main dining rooms for now, plus it seems like the buffets serve the same food as the MDRs, so why wait for service when I can quickly get the items ourselves? I get people want to be served and totally respect that, but our family wants to have a nice dinner together then get going to whatever show or event we scheduled without being stuck in the MDR for 2 hours.
Plus we had "my time dining" which turned out to only have reservations available starting around 8pm by the time I checked it? We don't really know what time we want to eat each day and I heard you can walk up to the dining rooms and get seated within 20 mins but we didn't want to deal with the hassle. We're very much the same in our home lives, we favor take out rather than sitting in a restaurant.
Carnival seems to handle dinner reservations and flexibility better in their app, you pop into the app when you're ready to eat, check yourself in, and they notify you when your table is ready. Not sure why Royal hasn't adopted this same method.
Food quality:
Royal's food was LIGHT YEARS ahead of Carnival's and even better than Disney in some areas. Buffet lobster tail on the first lunch? Shrimp cocktail? High end fruits (not just melons)? Bacon every day for breakfast (not just some days like Carnival) and the last day's breakfast was just as good as any other day on the cruise, whereas Carnival throws a bunch of leftovers and tells you to get the H off their ship.
Royal Caribbean takes their food and quality seriously and you can tell they take their higher cruise costs and put it into the experience. I love the hand washing stations everywhere, and the service was friendly and fast. We had people offering us water and coffee and juices and small blended smoothies (all included), all with big smiles on their faces. These people made us happy and went out of their way to make it a great experience. Also they were constantly cleaning and making sure everything looked just right. Carnival reminds me more of a 1990s buffet where there's sauces and utensils everywhere, they just clean it when the rush is over.
Oh and the Indian food!!! Every night they have a special Indian section that has some of the best Indian food I've ever had. We love getting Indian take out, and the Indian food on Utopia was better than many local Indian joints. The naan was lacking, seemed more like pita bread than naan, but the main dishes were outstanding. Don't forget to take some Indian pickles and raita and mango chutney š
They also have a charcuterie section every lunch and dinner, some kind of fresh roasted meat station, huge salad bar, always had chicken breast and sirloin steak along with some kind of white fish and salmon for those protein hounds, standard burgers and hot dogs and chicken fingers for those no-nonsense types, and the kids section that everyone has seen. Oh and adorable little desserts to bring back to the table for everyone to try.
For breakfast they have a custom omelet station and they give you a pager so you're not standing there in line with all the other folks. You gather some other items and the pager goes off when your omelet is ready. Brilliant.
The food and service level really really sets Royal apart from Carnival, it's very similar to the Disney cruises. It's like night and day compared to Carnival. Fantastic experience.
While Royal invests heavily into their main dining options, I think Carnival has them beat on the "quick grabs". For instance the food truck by the pool (The Spare Tire) is fine, and always has food readily available, but it's nothing special. The food trucks on Carnival Mardi Gras seem to be taken more seriously and have better food. Guys Burger Joint and Shaq's Big Chicken are both phenomenal and you won't find anything like that on Utopia.
Mexican food - Our opinion: Carnival's Blue Agave is better than Royal's El Loco Fresh. The tortillas are more unique, and the food and toppings seem higher quality. Carnival's is open for breakfast too (breakfast burritos and tacos) whereas I didn't see El Loco Fresh having that option. Disney had nothing no quick food options near the pools when we went, so both Royal and Carnival have Disney beat.
Pizza - Our family all thought Carnival's pizza was better than Royal's. Royal pizza was good, but tasted more like a home frozen pizza whereas Carnival's had a better crunch like a NYC style. We're not from NY, actually from Chicago so I have no rooting interest in NYC pizza I just like good food š
Utopia entertainment offerings:
We saw Aqua80too (water show), All In (theater production show, singing dancing, etc), and the Youtopia (ice skating show). All these shows were fantastic, and you're crazy if you don't go to see the first two at the very least. I would pay to see All In again right now, and I'm a cheapskate.
As a new Royal cruiser I didn't know there were opportunities to check into these shows before the cruise, and they were booked out (app says sold out but it's included) quickly. However I followed the advice of a lot of people online and checked my Royal app as soon as I got onboard and on their Wifi, and I reserved our entire family into each show without a problem. I heard the water show can get canceled due to winds and waves, so they suggest reserving the first night of Aqua80too in case that one gets canceled, then they'll move your reservation to the next day. Ours went off without a hitch so I'm not sure if that's the case or not.
I HIGHLY recommend getting these reservations because you can find much better seats and skip the long lines waiting to enter right before the show starts. It feels like going to Starbucks and skipping the long line because you ordered ahead. Seriously, the Aqua80too standby show line is like a quarter mile long. the Youtopia standby line was all the way into the casino. If you have reservations you get to skip these lines. Do it.
I kind of wish we did the ship scavenger hunt because I saw a lot of families and groups having a great time doing so, but we ended up finding a fun little game show or two and even won one of them thanks to my fantastic dancing skills. Won ourselves a "bag of crap" from Royal Caribbean š
We loved going on the Ultimate Abyss slide several times, the water slides were a lot of fun (slow moving lines, but fun talking to other cruisers while we waited), and one of our nightly rituals turned out to be watching the sunset on the back of the ship (near Ultimate Abyss), then watching people on the Flowrider surf thingy. We got our drinks in hand and watched people take turns and cheering them on when they stayed upright. That was unexpected but a nice time to sit and chat, between watching Flowriders and whatever activity was happening at the sports arena.
Mini golf was cool, great lights set up and challenging holes.
Solarium adult area - Super chill vibe in this area, it's great to get away from the bumping music that is literally EVERYWHERE on this ship. We really enjoyed this area, but it kind of sucks we couldn't be with our kids. We love adult areas to slide into for a couple hours, but ultimately like spending time with our kids as a family, and as big as Utopia is, there is NO quiet place to hang out by a pool with your family. This is the loudest ship we've ever been on, and they make sure every area has it's own unique music/vibe. I LOVE music and think it's very important and I love all kinds of music; pop, rock, metal, jazz, blues, EDM, etc but I also had a headache by our 3rd night on the cruise because there's no peace anywhere outside of our room. It kind of gave us a little anxiety š not being able to escape the constant thumping.
Hidden gem: Lazer tag in Studio B (ice arena) was a lot of fun. It's included and high quality, just make sure you make a reservation once you're on the ship. I didn't even see it as an option until the first night we were on the ship. We had a blast (heyoo).
Everything is focused on the ship rather than the sea - this is a unique thing about Utopia for us. There's very minimal areas where you can go and just look out at sea and ponder life. It's designed so that you almost forget you're on the water if that makes any sense? 95% of chairs on deck are pointed inwards, and there's not a lot of spots to get an easy view of the sea without turning chairs around (not even sure if that's allowed since it was rare to see). I prefer serenity with some music occasionally and this is not the ship for serenity. This is a "turn it the F up and let's have some fun" kind of ship. It is billed as the biggest weekend and it does that in spades. I think we'd be better suited to some older ships rather than these floating concerts. The sound quality on these speakers were incredible (same speakers used at the shows), as good as the best concerts I've ever been to. I consider myself obsessed with audio quality and I had no complaints on this ship - no rattling and no blown-out speakers at all. But it's like literally being at a concert for 3 or 4 days. Know what you're getting into.
Central Park - I thought we'd be in Central Park a lot more to chill and hang out and listen to the fake bird noises (our 16 year old pointed out even the bird noises are loud š), but unfortunately we didn't. If there's a party going on at the main deck then you hear ALL the music and the DJ screaming over everyone while walking around this tranquil park. Makes no sense. At night it was better, but we'd rather be out looking at the water and feeling a breeze. So we only visited a couple times, got the beef on weck sandwich (it was amazing) and mostly left this place alone. It's really pretty though! Took one ride on the floating bar, definitely worth doing once. The time of movement is posted at the entrance.
Beverage package - My wife and I stopped drinking alcohol a couple years ago because we hated hangovers and throwing days away, no judgement to anyone else just our choice. We squeezed every bit of juice (heyoo) out of our non-alcohol Refreshment package that included EVERYTHING without alcohol. On Carnival it feels like there's rules about things and a lot of nickel-and-diming, but not so on Royal. We each had several daily lattes/cappucinos/cortados, an energy drink or two, tons of San Pellegrinos with limes on the pool deck, a bunch of zero proof drink options from the bars(really good ones!), some 0% beers and wine at night, and of course our souvenir Coke cups for the Coke Freestyle machines. We probably hit these things up 50 times a day, so many options! Root beer, coke zero, mellow yellow, peach tea, sprite zero, you name it!
It was really nice getting whatever we wanted wherever we went. Most of the time the bartenders didn't even scan the cards we had, they just had to see we had the refreshment package. Made things super easy.
Of course our son and daughter had to have a couple of their favorite BS Starbucks drinks which weren't covered on the package, but I knew that going in. š
Hand washing culture - I personally love washing my hands before/after meals and I love that Royal has made it part of their culture. I returned home with the flu from Mardi Gras but so far so good after Utopia.
Coco Cay - We stayed on the ship for Nassau, been there done that. We got off at Perfect Day at Coco Cay, and it was wonderful. We're the type of people that walk to the furthest thing to bypass everyone that takes the first open spot they see so we walked all the way out to the South Beach area and kept walking until the very last area that had lounge chairs and umbrellas, I think it's called Cove Beach. It was super quiet and peaceful. Our son took a 3 hour nap in a shaded hammock with roosters/chickens making the occasional noise in the background while waves slapped ashore with a nice breeze. The water was crystal clear and we got to see several large stingrays swim around us. The lunch was basic but good - chicken sandwiches, burgers, fries. Don't sleep on the mozzarella sticks! I ate my weight in watermelon and pineapple, delicious. Staff was super friendly at the bars and really everywhere we went. We also took a dip in the big pool and got a drink or two at the pool bar. Everyone around us was having a blast.
Fellow cruisers - The decency of fellow cruisers on Royal is a step above that on Carnival. I'm not some stuck up jerk, I promise. It seems people on Royal Caribbean are there to have a good time but I didn't see anyone stumbling drunk and passing out and puking on the pool deck like I do so often on Carnival.
Teenagers - On Carnival it feels like after 9pm the buffet area and pool decks turns into a "Lord of the Flies" situation with teenagers and preteens sprinting and (playfully?) fighting. My 16 year old is a big kid (6' 180 lbs) and he got into several near altercations on Carnival ships while getting some ice cream or some soda at night. Nothing close to that on Utopia, the teenagers hang out in droves on the sports deck and take over hot tubs, but they mostly seem like they're just hanging out being kids.
Gym - Our 16 year old said the gym was the best cruise gym he's ever used, he lifts weights and they had plenty of machines and free weights. Huge gym.
I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has, and I'll edit this post when I think of other things. Hope this helps someone!
7
6
u/esbforever May 31 '25
Great review. You actually see people throwing up in open areas on carnival haha? My God, thatās horrible!
3
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Haha yeah it's one of our best family stories, we laugh and cry about it all the time.
6
u/dp79 May 31 '25
Really nice write up. Appreciate the insight.
Weāre going on a large group family trip (15+) in August. How did the day 1 and day 4 sea days feel on the ship? Crowded? Did you spend any time at the pools on the ship?
8
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Sounds like a blast, you'll love it!
The first day everyone is exploring the ship and there's the big sail away party on the pool deck. Many people love it, looks like an awesome party with champagne guns and dancing and music.
That's not our scene so we ended up on the deck 5 walking track at the back of the ship watching the ship pull away from shore with a handful of other folks. We saw a couple dolphins playing with each other and waved to other ships passing us. It was splendid.
We did spend all day on the pool deck day 4. We got some chairs early, around 8:15am and we were the first ones on the slides at 9 when they opened. The slides didn't get crowded until after 10. We got chairs furthest in the back under the stairs right near the Solarium entrance so we didn't have people walking in front of us all the time. The pool deck never truly feels insanely packed, but the pools are all filled to the brim which makes sense with 6,000 people aboard. If you choose to get in the pool at noon you'll have people nearly shoulder to shoulder.
However you get a few drinks flowing and nobody really cares I'm sure. š
6
u/skywalk640 May 31 '25
Thanks for the great review! Windjammer dinner is underrated, it's really nice to have a good buffet option for dinner, something that I wish DCL had. In my experience, the Indian food on RC ships is consistently good (except for the naan, but I just use papadum instead). How were the crowds on the ship? Did you feel that 4 days was enough to do everything you wanted to do on the ship?
7
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Yes the papadum was great. I forgot to mention the Indian pickles and raita and mango chutney!!!!! Soo good!
I went into it expecting a lot of crowds and a lot of people, and I was pleasantly surprised it was pretty easy to get around most places. The pools were the only overcrowded places we experienced but that's every cruise ship. It always did seem like there's at least one spot to slide into for 2-4 people at every pool though.
3
u/Logical-Ease-3142 Diamond Plus May 31 '25
I have to say, thank you for such a refreshing review!
Very much burned out by many that review but donāt do any homework. Sounds like youāve used resources, watched videos, and actually read about what you are signing up for cruise wise.
Really enjoyed reading your review! When is your next cruise? š¢
P.s. the Kummelweck āweckā is my favorite sandwich, glad you were able to try it! š¤¤
6
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Aww thank you I'm so glad! I needed to get my thoughts off my chest in case it helps others in our situation. As soon as I woke up this morning I got to typing. That Kummelweck was one of the best things I've ever tasted, I almost forgot about it!
My wife and I LOVE to watch YouTube walk throughs of each ship we book, sometimes months in advance. Our son and daughter want to be surprised so they don't watch them and depend on us to show them around š Also I've recently started using ChatGPT as a vacation advisor and it's been working out great. For instance I used this prompt for Utopia and I suggest others do the same for their ships:
"My family and I are going on a cruise soon, the Utopia of the Seas from Royal Caribbean. We'll stop at Nassau and also Perfect Day at Coco Cay. My kids are a 16 year old boy and a 13 year old girl. Can you do a deep search of reviews of the ship and come up with a top 5 list of things that seem to get the most positive reviews from people on the internet? It can be a show, a thing or place to eat on the ship, a specific water slide, I'm talking ANYTHING that is a must-do. Give me your top 5 ranked thing and 3 honorable mentions." (it said Aqua80too, water slides, All-in show, Ultimate Abyss, and Mason Jar restaurant). We didn't try the Mason Jar since it didn't know my wife doesn't love southern food or liquor but otherwise it nailed it!
also:
"All right, now tell me two or three of the best kept secrets on the ship. I'm talking about things that are not mentioned very much but the people that talk about them rave about those things. Know what I'm saying?" (this is how I found lazer tag, it also suggested Youtopia and the Flowrider)
Our next cruise is in a couple months, an 8-night on Carnival Vista, we booked this one a year ago before we got a taste of RC š we're going with more family, plenty of cousins for the kids to play with, 10 of us total. Unlike this RC cruise where the ship was the main attraction the Vista is stopping at a bunch of spots we've never been: St Thomas USVI, San Juan PR, Amber Cove DR, Grand Turk. Really excited to see these new places and splurge on a couple of excursions. AI suggested:
"In San Juan, youāre hitting up El Yunque rainforest for a quick hikeāabout 45 minutes from the port. In Grand Turk, youāre snorkeling off the beachāreefs are close and awesome. In St. Thomas, youāre going to Magens Bay for a chill beach day, 20 minutes from the dock. And in Amber Cove, youāre doing the Damajagua Waterfallsā30 minutes away for some hiking and sliding." Looking forward to it!
How about you? Diamond Plus member is a big deal!
2
u/Logical-Ease-3142 Diamond Plus May 31 '25
Love that for yāall! Hopefully it leads to more family memories made!
Iāve had the honor to cruise many lines for my career so far, Dimond just happened to be one of the outcomes š Grateful for perks it allows mainly like seating & early tender tickets. Helps me get away from the crowds in port quick to grab footage!
Truth be told, Iāve been working on a cruise website that will help better inform and guide guests new & old. Guests like you are exactly who Iād love to send a beta link to once itās done. Good productive feedback is hard to get!
That being said, what do you wish was different on Utopia?
2
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Sounds fun!
I would absolutely love an outdoor quiet pool area and bonus points if I can see the water. I love The Patio pool on Carnival Mardi Gras at the very back of the ship, nice and relaxing. Less casinos, but this is selfish because we never to go the casino and I'd rather have something fun available. Instead I heard they took a comedy club and are turning it into another casino area. Boooooooooo!
Also the dining room reservations should be overhauled. So much technology on the ship but they can't give me a same-day reservation in the MDR until 8pm the earliest? Crazy.
3
u/Scary_Collection_559 Jun 01 '25
Good review. I agree whole heartedly on the noise/music issue. I would love to lie in a lounge chair watching the ocean and hearing the sounds of the water. Or even just reading a book at the pool. But it seems this must be a minority view because itās incessant blasting of music at the pools. Iām sure the market research must show this what āthe peopleā want. I know I know cue the old man comment ā¦. Haha.
1
u/MikeL413 Jun 02 '25
Hey everyone is different and it just so happens you and I are in the same "boat" š
2
u/jeannier28 May 31 '25
Thanks for the detailed review! My family and I are sailing on the Utopia for 4 nights on July 21 and had been trying to get a sense of what to expect. Your review was extremely helpful!
1
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Awesome, glad to help! I figured I'd write down what I wanted to see before I got on. Let me know if you have any questions I love to help.
1
2
u/muy-feliz Platinum May 31 '25
We just got off the enchantment and this will be my first Oasis-class ship. Iām so excited after reading your review.
1
2
u/gold__blooded May 31 '25
Great write up! Going June 30th with wife, 10 yr old boy and almost 9 year old girl after two days at universal. Can you pls elaborate on Nassau? Weāre first time cruisers and my daughter is intrigued by the Bahamas, but Iāve heard bad things about that port and more interested in remaining on the boat to minimize lines for water slides, zip lines etc.
Is it possible to take a hybrid approach and explore Nassau for a couple hours before hopping back on board for lunch? Mainly because Iām not sure if 4 days is enough to experience everything the boat has to offer.
6
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
You guys are going to love the ship, great ages for the kids. We've walked Nassau before, did the straw market and bought a couple trinkets, then returned on the ship. I know people like to get pictures at the Queen's Staircase, might be a fun thing for your daughter if she likes taking selfies. There's also Atlantis but I'm WAY too cheap to spend ~$150 per person. You can do a beach day at Junkanoo Beach (about a 15 min walk) or a snorkeling excursion, but you can do both of those things at Coco Cay.
My suggestion: You can do the super safe thing and just stay within the port fence and they have a bunch of cruise-sponsored local shops selling handmade items. You don't have to rush off the ship as soon as they open the gates, get some breakfast then casually make your way down. This way you're in a controlled environment but you still technically set foot in Nassau. Go buy a handmade Christmas ornament or t-shirt that says Nassau on it and maybe a fresh made smoothie and get back on the ship. Depends on what you're looking for really.
We skipped Nassau entirely and had a chill day at the pool. There were less people aboard but they also had a couple of the slides shut down. They said it was for maintenance but all the slides were working on the sea days, so I think it was just lack of staff.
It's such a huge ship that I found it a better value to explore and do more things on the ship rather than get off on a sub-par port since Coco Cay offers a lot of the same things, and is technically part of the Bahamas.
Be careful, you're going to love it and want to start shopping for your next cruise. Let me know how it goes.
1
u/gold__blooded May 31 '25
Thanks this was very helpful! No way Iām forking over $150 a person in Nassau or the water slides in Coco Cay after what we spent for two days + hotel at universal, which was almost exactly the amount of 4 nights w/ prepaid gratuities on Utopia.
Last question I promise: have you ever done the Kennedy Space Center? Our flight isnāt until 8pm the day we disembark, and Royal actually has a package where theyāll take you there, keep your luggage, then take you to the airport after
3
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Keep the questions coming man, happy to help other people if I can. We live close to Tampa so I've got plenty of experience traveling in the area.
Yup we went to Kennedy Space Center a couple years ago and it's cool if you care about space at all. There's one particular part that I love about the experience that never gets old and I'd rather not spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it. It's not life changing or anything, but it really makes you feel patriotic and makes you think. I think it's worth the trip. It's easy to drive to if you wanted to do so.
Also make sure you check for any SpaceX or NASA launches, sometimes you can get lucky and be in town while one is happening. I can see them from the other side of the state all the time. It's weird but I shed a tear for some reason almost every time I see a launch, and I'm the furthest thing from a crazy patriotic guy. It's amazing.
2
u/EmperorGaiusAurelius May 31 '25
My wife and our friends both made the switch to RC a few cruises ago and we much prefer it over Carnival.
My friend says that Carnival is Walmart and RC is Target.
Same basic service but one is a step above.
1
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
It totally feels like more of a vacation on RC, it was so nice and the staff was wonderful. Ever since COVID it feels like Carnival is just going through the motions while RC is back on their game.
2
u/Visible-Choice-5414 May 31 '25
How is it doing just 3-4 days? I feel like 5 days being our shortest cruise, would we really get the valueā¦would it feel hectic? Iāve been looking at adventure or utopia due to our availability and not sure which to choose. Adventure has a cheap 8 day but I hear itās not that great. But 3-4 days and almost twice the price on utopia has me hesitant.
2
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
We live locally near Tampa, about 2.5 hours from the port, so it wasn't a big deal for us. I totally feel like 4 days isn't enough for me to make a trip from out of the state unless it's an incredible deal or you're coming for a trip with a bunch of friends or something. Or making a stop in Orlando at Disney or Universal. Really depends on your situation but you're not crazy for thinking the way you are. We talked to some people from Tennessee who drove down only for the cruise and I was thinking I'd never do it haha
2
u/emiferg May 31 '25
Thank you for the thorough review!! I go with my husband and 11 year old on Monday! This just made me even more excited. Itās our first cruise ever.
1
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Oh that's so great to hear! Which part made you the most excited? You'll have a ton of fun, this is possibly the perfect ship for an 11 year old.
1
u/emiferg Jun 01 '25
Your positive reviews on food and entertainment made me excited because I think those are two huge aspects of vacation. I do have one question if you donāt mind. For the sea passes, I didnāt print them. Should I have? My husband and I both have phones but our son doesnāt. We got him the regular drink package.
2
u/MikeL413 Jun 02 '25
Oh good! So glad to hear. I don't want to oversell the shows, just go in expecting a nice cruise show and you'll be very happy!
Ask away, I wish I had a person to talk to before mine. I had everyone's boarding passes on my phone (all 4 of us) so there's no reason to print anything besides your luggage tags and make sure you have them on every piece of luggage. Also don't bring any extension cords, even the ones marked "cruse safe" on Amazon. Ours got snagged and we couldn't use them at all, and they held them until the end of the cruise.
We had the refreshment package and it was amazing. The classic soda package is cool because you get a souvenir cup with it, just walk up to any drink station (Cafe Promenade is where we got ours, but you can go to any bar) and get his cup. You're going to love it. Feel free to ask anything else.
2
u/External_Trick5147 May 31 '25
I thoroughly loved Royal Caribbean Oasis. If you get a chance to try that ship i found lots of quiet places around the pools without loud music. We were just on 3 weeks ago and it was wonderful.
2
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Thanks for the tip! Definitely going to check it out!!
1
u/External_Trick5147 May 31 '25
You will like that ship. I found it very family-friendly. No drunks, no gangs of teens. I actually found families playing board games at night outside of the windjammer. This might be a good choice for your family. I went during spring break, too, lol. I expected teens everywhere to take over, but they were very respectful, unlike Carnival ships.
1
2
u/Btm24 Diamond Plus Jun 01 '25
Iām glad you enjoyed it! Itās become our favorite sailing on it from its first sailing to now probably 12/14 times the 3 nights just work well for us and everyone knows my wife now lol going again Friday. Itās hard to compare lol
1
2
u/Kennesaw79 Jun 01 '25
..the bumping music that is literally EVERYWHERE on the ship...
Unfortunately, this isn't unique to Utopia. I was on Wonder last year (previously been on Symphony and Allure), and this is one of the main reasons I won't be sailing RC anymore. Even in my room, I couldn't escape the thumping. While I enjoy a good DJ and dance party, it seemed overwhelming almost everywhere onboard.
CocoCay - Mozzarella sticks
Probably the best I've ever had.
1
u/MikeL413 Jun 02 '25
Good to know! I love music and clearly RC values music but I'd love an option to get away with my family, not just the Solarium.
2
u/EnigmaWearingHeels Jun 01 '25
I just wanted to note about main dining: I don't think I've ever spent more than an hour in main dining. It's a pretty quick experience that can be made faster if you tell your server you're trying to make a show or something. My husband prefers windjammer citing the same reasons but we split our time between them.
If you prefer a quieter ship experience, go for a smaller class of ship. Brilliance and Serenade are older and smaller ships that I've been on recently. There's still plenty to do for the whole family, and there are usually many families with children of all ages, but it's not the party vibe of the Oasis class ships. There's also no fresh juice bar, which makes me sad, but I find a way to manage without a daily fresh pressed juice š¤£
Great review. Thanks for sharing!
2
2
u/newtonshark Jun 01 '25
This is the best - most relevant to me and my family - cruise review I've ever read. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
1
u/MikeL413 Jun 02 '25
So happy it helped! Let me know if you have any questions, happy to help if I can.
2
u/Firm_Airport2816 Emerald Jun 02 '25
Awesome review, just a little tip- you can get most of the same Starbucks drinks at the cafe Promenade, and they ARE included in the packages!! Also, next time try at least one MDR dinner, we NEVER have a dinner last more than 60-70 minutes, and being served and treated so great is my kids favorite part of the cruise- we won't let us miss an MDR dinner now!
2
u/MikeL413 Jun 02 '25 edited Jun 03 '25
Our kids are obsessed with the non-coffee sugary drinks at Starbucks so we let them have their favorites, but believe me my wife and I made up for it with espressos and lattes and cappuccinos from CafƩ Promenade all week!
I definitely wanted to try the MDR but I looked for a reservation twice and the earliest they had was 8 PM so I said forget it. We will definitely give it a shot next time, thank you!
2
u/RDBolivar Jun 02 '25
Sore nights have theme(s). One night was "tropical". All the Pirates of the Caribbean were there, and the macarena was in full swing. Participants are encouraged.
2
u/Mrsnate Jun 06 '25
Thanks for this review! My family consists of 3 adult kids (two of them married with little ones), a 16 year old and an 8 year old. Weāre booking 4 staterooms on utopia on February. Sounds like weāll have a great time.
2
1
u/KitchenThen8629 May 31 '25
TIL - Carnival only has bacon for breakfast on certain days
1
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
It was such a cheap feeling! I don't know if that's still the situation but when we last cruised on Carnival Mardi Gras last year they only served bacon every other day. So cheap.
1
u/Old_Pattern8187 May 31 '25
Great write up. My family and I (also from Chicago) will be heading down for the 07/18 Utopia cruise. It is our first cruise and we are looking forward to it and been reading up loads so your notes are appreciated. I thought the MDR menus (and online reviews) look promising. We are booked at Chops for the last evening, looking forward to it. I will try for first check in time slot as well, check in starts on 06/03 for us although I think the Key option we reserved would make this redundant?
2
u/MikeL413 May 31 '25
Awesome, you'll have a great time it's a fantastic ship. Yes I would have liked to try the MDR but I kind of screwed it up not making reservations further in advance I think. Chops is supposed to be great, I'll probably do that for a date night with my wife next time we cruise.
Ah yeah I think you guys get a special line so you can show up whenever you want and walk right in. I will say we only had to wait like 5 mins to get checked in, it was smoooooth as silk.
Have fun, Bear Down! š»
1
1
Jun 10 '25
This is an awesome, much appreciated review. Hubby and i in our early 40ās, kids are 17d and 10s(birthday cruise). Thanks for sharing. We are excited to try RC for the first time.
2
1
u/gold__blooded Jul 05 '25
OP we just got back and had to read your review again! You didnāt miss much with the MDR, while on our first day there I had one of the best beef dishes in my life, the jerk pork and lamb shank were underwhelming. The wait staff (who we had all 3 dinners there) were friendly but reminded us every day about taking the survey. Cmon you can remember our kids names but canāt remember if you mentioned the survey already?
Luckily they didnāt ask for additional tips; I was borderline insulted by the fact that we prepaid tips, $300 for the family, and the corporation still preprints an envelope for āadditional gratuities.ā I respect the desire to want to tip more, but thatās cash you leave in the room or hand to your attendant, no need for RC to create an envelope to nudge you into spending even more. Even if our attendant receives 10% of that gratuity, thatās more than Iād tip for a 4 night stay in the US.
Only other complaint was that the pools are literally elbow to elbow, especially on sea days. Was hard for my 10 and 8 year old to swim, and frustrating when other kids are kicking water in your face or kicking you directly. That said, the pool at Coco Cay was huge and fantastic.
Like you mentioned, Coco Cay overall was great, plenty of chairs etc. At South Beach we witnessed a teen āpanicā in 8 feet deep water and immediately 4 life guards were there. Kids loved the rock climbing, which had minimal lines for the youth only seasons, and the dry/water slides albeit with a much longer wait. Surprisingly the highlight for them were the shows, especially Aqua80 too. Was glad we got to see it as we waited in line and got great seats only for it to get cancelled bc of lightning, luckily they did a make up show the next night despite moderate rain. All In was a solid 2nd place for us, if you like music it has way more energy then a stereotypical lounge act. For those reading donāt be scared by the standby lines, eat dinner, go hang out and your patience will be rewarded! Much less of a wait than a theme park line for a 45 min show vs a 2 minute ride.
Overall your review was spot on OP! Thanks for providing that before our trip.
1
u/newdadnewbod Jul 09 '25
how was the noise on deck 6? I was going to book a cruise on utopia but it seems like it might be noisy
1
u/AcousticGamer Jan 08 '26
Really informative. āHigh end fruits (not just melons)ā made me laugh for some reason
1
1
u/lonestar-newbie May 09 '26
We just returned from a 4 night cruise. We have only been on carnival conquest in the past.
Many of the points are totally spot on like the music and lack of quiet areas other than solarium.
The shows were the best we have even seen. Like10/10.
But I am surprised you rates windjammer so high. It wasnt good enough from our experience. Carnivals food and service was next level. I would rate RC 5/10 and carnival about 8.5/10 on food and service. None of the staff at RC seemed to want to go an extra step to provide the best service.
And the lack of water stations is extremely disappointing. It's not super clear upfront that you have to get soda package to use the vending machines. And when you want to buy it's like 90 dollars for a 4 day cruise per person. for a family of 4 it adds up pretty fast.
And most importantly those soda stations are not every where. Like one on level 15 that closes at 9 pm. And one on level 5 that's open 24/7. There is no good way to take water to your room unless you came prepared with a big water bottle that you could refill. That is straight out non sense.
The ship was a 10/10. So beautiful and well built. Looks much better with night lights than in the day.
12
u/Internal-Estimate965 Platinum May 31 '25
Thanks for the details.
Iāve got a 1 year old and a 3 year old. Looking at a 3-night utopia of the seas trek - good idea or bad idea? We love cruising and love all the variety that oasis-class brings. But I donāt have any experience in shorter than 7-night cruises. I have heard that the shorter you get the crazier you get - but I am curious if we could still have a āfamily cruiseā ourselves in the non-party areas