OCSC Mike

I’m not the optimal person to answer since I care more about ship than itinerary and have never been to any of those islands but if you wind up torn on itinerary, I’d much prefer Mariner plus an extra night over Adventure.

Love this. Generalizations about anything to do with cruising are a huge pet peeve of mine. There are an infinite number of ways to enjoy cruising. That's a huge reason it's such a great form of vacation. Everyone has different preferences but there is never a right or wrong way.

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/cruise-passenger-rescued-after-reportedly-going-overboard-royal-caribbean-ship.amp

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-are-the-benefits-of-the-suites-program

The ship matters b/c there are different perks for different classes of ship.

No one could have prevented what happened there. It was a freak occurrence. It wasn't like it was sitting there in the ocean and the captain just drove the ship into it.

They won’t need B2B’s to fill the ship but of course some people will do them. I agree that RC doesn’t have B2B’s in mind though. Just b/c an occasional B2B to hit CocoCay twice is appealing to me doesn’t mean it will be to the majority & that’s obviously fine. There are an infinite number of ways to enjoy cruising… that’s why I find it such an appealing form of vacation.

Yes, we stay on the ship, and we'd rather be docked b/c people get off and empty out the ship (although plenty stay on b/c, well, it's Nassau). Just another personal preference thing, no right or wrong answers here. It's probably worth noting that many people seem excited about the beach club RC is building not far from Nassau. I suspect many will go there once it's built. I'd need to see the price first. Also, PC is an hour drive for us. If I were flying, that would make a difference I'm sure. Not sure if they ever did a 7-nighter with 2 CocoCay stops but we'd obviously like that even more than manufacturing one with the 3/4 B2B. Highly unlikely to happen going forward with even more big ships going to CocoCay now of course.

Then it's not for you. We did one of those last year on Indy and had a great time enjoying the ship and CocoCay twice b/c we enjoy sailing for the ship and love CocoCay. It will be even more enjoyable for us on Utopia. As with many things cruise-related, different strokes...

This will of course vary by date, when you booked, what deal you got from your TA, etc. I saw better per day prices on Utopia for off-season, we just aren't able to take advantage of them unfortunately.

Or do a B2B just to enjoy the ship and CocoCay.

Not too surprising. We can only sail during certain times of year mostly due to my wife being a teacher so we were doing comparisons like that. I wanted to go on the Utopia inaugural and the 2nd sailing for a B2B but the cost was almost double what my TA could get for 7 nights on Wonder in July. I was willing to pay a little extra but not double. I had him price other dates that worked for us and the prices for our spring break 2024 were pretty close after group rates and OBC so we'll likely do a B2B on Utopia in March, 2025 and just sail Wonder until then.

Having just been on Wonder (very similar to Utopia) for 7-nights and barely getting off the ship, I think you'll have a great time doing CocoCay and the ship. Highly recommend the Mason Jar brunch while I'm typing. We're likely doing a 3/4 B2B on Utopia ourselves next March. We'll have been on Wonder several times by then so the ship won't have a ton of new offerings to us but we love Cococay and have no problem sailing "for the ship."

30-60 days is normal. It was exactly 30 days for my Wonder June 4th sailing. For many cruises they open on the 1st of the previous month of your cruise (i.e. July 1st for August cruises) but there is no hard fast rule like check-in at 45 days. Just keep checking each morning. Mine opened quite early (like 6:30am et).

$200/stateroom turns into thousands if you cruise a lot. That said, as an example, I have a Wonder cruise on hold for July 2024. My TA's price is over $1000 less (plus some OBC) than if I were to book it right now through the RC website. And it's only a 4V interior, the cheapest category on the ship.

You know why I felt bad about it. At least now that I'll be booking stuff and sent other family business his way I feel better about it too.

My switch from booking myself to a TA has only gone from good to better. Group rates, OBC, very timely e-mail responses... now he just improved the price/location of a cruise I had on hold that I was already likely going to book with a slightly higher price and less desirable location.... completely on his own knowing my preferences after not a great deal of time working with him (although we've e-mailed what feels like 1000 times).

We enjoyed using the DL up there last July & October. Been sailing mostly Oasis class for several years and it’s so much nicer than going down to “the basement” for the coffee machine or evening snacks.

It’s once/day unless staying in a JS or higher, then it’s still twice.

Agreed. Hoping the Pesky Parrot has some unique drinks like the Bamboo Room on Mariner. No big deal if it's just another bar that happens to be tiki themed but I like signature drinks to try with my vouchers.

One difference is Wonder and Allure have been on sale for quite a while. Utopia has been on sale for less than 24 hours.

Very similar to Wonder (which was expected). That's partially why I'm only considering it when the prices between the two got somewhat close (unlike the inaugural).

Would have loved to experience an inaugural since it's unlikely another one will take place from my home port during my wife's free time anytime soon but I can't bring myself to pay the premium. Considering going on a B2B during Spring Break 2025. Price isn't great but isn't horrible either. Decisions, decisions...

That date worked a lot better for my wife but given the prices I’m not sure it matters, lol. Are you booking? Feel free to answer in private if you like.

This. Although if you do miss anything, don’t stress, they hold a certain % of reservations for the main shows for booking once onboard & you can also get into them via the standby line. And don’t forget to book the puzzle/escape room if that interests you (free on Wonder). It was very challenging & pretty fun. Took our entire group of 12 people working on different puzzles to barely escape a few weeks ago.