Rare silentbob007 Posted July 20 #26 Share Posted July 20 Looking forward to hearing your experiences. I imagine there is extra enthusiasm for the inaugural. We are doing a 3-night in November. I'm trying to help my wife understand what 3-night cruises are like as she's only done 7-night ones ... but the price was kind-of-right as it was much cheaper than Wonder on a per-day basis for a sky-class cabin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted July 20 #27 Share Posted July 20 20 hours ago, mrsmagoo1 said: I'm thinking of booking a 4 night for my family, we have a 4 year old. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the options for young kids and if you feel the cruise is too much of a party atmosphere and we'd be better with a different cruise. I'm also on a B2B. They are trying super hard to push the party thing. It's as if the intent was to take their new Hideaway concept (both the spot on Icon and CocoCay) and make it into a ship. I actually think it's perfect for those younger parents who still appreciate that party vibe because the ship still has all the family friendly features you expect in an Oasis class ship. I don't feel this inaugural crowd is representative of the target market they are after. I will be back on in September. It will be interesting to see the difference between this sailing and those. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajathree Posted July 20 #28 Share Posted July 20 15 hours ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: 9:30am What time did you leave Tampa to make it there by 9:30am? Have done the run from Tampa when departing on weekends....what was traffic like on I4 from Tampa on a Fri morning? I usually do I4 to 417 to 528. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajathree Posted July 20 #29 Share Posted July 20 21 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said: I'm also on a B2B. They are trying super hard to push the party thing. It's as if the intent was to take their new Hideaway concept (both the spot on Icon and CocoCay) and make it into a ship. I actually think it's perfect for those younger parents who still appreciate that party vibe because the ship still has all the family friendly features you expect in an Oasis class ship. I don't feel this inaugural crowd is representative of the target market they are after. I will be back on in September. It will be interesting to see the difference between this sailing and those. Don't forget they are building the new Hideaway scheduled to open in Nassau next year also. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vibe Posted July 20 #30 Share Posted July 20 I think that they are marketing this ship to the same demographic that Virgin Cruises attracts. Will this succeed, time will tell. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajathree Posted July 20 #31 Share Posted July 20 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Vibe said: I think that they are marketing this ship to the same demographic that Virgin Cruises attracts. Will this succeed, time will tell. I will say this....in talking to people here locally in Tampa most seem to know about and say they want to try Royal's new ship the Utopia. And most of these people are either new cruisers or people that have never been on a cruise. It actually surprised me cause there really hasn't been much advertising about this ship yet and most seem to know about it and are showing interest. So maybe it's working at least for now to attract first time and newer cruisers. Edited July 20 by bajathree 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 20 Author #32 Share Posted July 20 12 hours ago, FL-momma said: We are going on a B2B as well in a couple of weeks. No entertainment options available to book online in advance. If you get a chance, can you post a show schedule, names, etc. for the various shows (ice, aqua, etc.)? Also, is the Railroad Restaurant open yet? I have never it seen available for booking online (and I've been checking daily). Thanks & have a great trip! 12 hours ago, FL-momma said: Oops - one last question. Is parking in the same garage as Wonder? Same as Wonder. Here is the show schedule for the 3 nighter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 20 Author #33 Share Posted July 20 2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said: I'm also on a B2B. They are trying super hard to push the party thing. It's as if the intent was to take their new Hideaway concept (both the spot on Icon and CocoCay) and make it into a ship. I actually think it's perfect for those younger parents who still appreciate that party vibe because the ship still has all the family friendly features you expect in an Oasis class ship. I don't feel this inaugural crowd is representative of the target market they are after. I will be back on in September. It will be interesting to see the difference between this sailing and those. Agreed. I’ll be back on for a thanksgiving B2B and wonder how different the crowd will be and how fine tuned the party vibe will be by then 🤣🤣🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 20 Author #34 Share Posted July 20 2 hours ago, bajathree said: What time did you leave Tampa to make it there by 9:30am? Have done the run from Tampa when departing on weekends....what was traffic like on I4 from Tampa on a Fri morning? I usually do I4 to 417 to 528. We left about 7:30. Didn’t hit any bumper to bumper traffic at ChampionsGate which was surprising because every Disney run we have done recently has taken at least 30 plus minutes to get through that area. Maybe we just were lucky. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajathree Posted July 20 #35 Share Posted July 20 1 minute ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: We left about 7:30. Didn’t hit any bumper to bumper traffic at ChampionsGate which was surprising because every Disney run we have done recently has taken at least 30 plus minutes to get through that area. Maybe we just were lucky. Yes....that Champion Gate area is aways the problem....sometimes takes longer to get through that than the time it takes from Tampa to CG. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 20 Author #36 Share Posted July 20 48 minutes ago, bajathree said: I will say this....in talking to people here locally in Tampa most seem to know about and say they want to try Royal's new ship the Utopia. And most of these people are either new cruisers or people that have never been on a cruise. It actually surprised me cause there really hasn't been much advertising about this ship yet and most seem to know about it and are showing interest. So maybe it's working at least for now to attract first time and newer cruisers. My initial thought is the ship’s too nice/big to get a good feel for it in 3 days. But I guess they want a “big ship” for the biggest weekend. But I always thought Freedom class was a good 3/4 nighter class. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 20 Author #37 Share Posted July 20 Last night dinner at Giovanni’s was wonderful. It’s the same menu but the space adds a new twist. We were able to look out at the aqua show while eating dinner. There are also a few tables outside on the deck that had a great view of the aqua theater. After dinner we called it a night since we have Coco Beach Club today. More pictures later… 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajathree Posted July 20 #38 Share Posted July 20 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: My initial thought is the ship’s too nice/big to get a good feel for it in 3 days. But I guess they want a “big ship” for the biggest weekend. But I always thought Freedom class was a good 3/4 nighter class. Utopia is going to be a big hit with people wanting to combine Disney/Universal with a big new cruise ship. It's funny years ago Royal calibrated with Universal and were promoting it. I went on one of their promotional tours and my feedback was .....all you have are these older ship short sailings offered to combine. You are taking someone from a beautiful new Universal resort and then putting them on a danky old ship. Well 12 years later and here we are. Edited July 20 by bajathree 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FL-momma Posted July 20 #39 Share Posted July 20 13 minutes ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: Same as Wonder. Here is the show schedule for the 3 nighter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FL-momma Posted July 20 #40 Share Posted July 20 Thanks for the info, Hooked 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BecciBoo Posted July 20 #41 Share Posted July 20 (edited) 18 hours ago, Merion_Mom said: I have done several 3/4 B2B cruises. Even a 3/4/5. 😄 Ditto that's how we made diamond quicker 2 3 nighters on Majesty. We only needed 3 pts and they were dirt cheap Edited July 20 by BecciBoo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted July 20 #42 Share Posted July 20 1 hour ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: Agreed. I’ll be back on for a thanksgiving B2B and wonder how different the crowd will be and how fine tuned the party vibe will be by then 🤣🤣🤣 I think Thanksgiving may be a little more subdued also since a lot of families do sail then, but definitely come back and give some thoughts! Maybe Florida college spring break (early March) would be a prime example. I was on Wonder's inaugural in March 2022 and our CocoCay stop was something else since we were sharing the island with one of the college spring break cruises out of Miami. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maketime4cruisin Posted July 20 #43 Share Posted July 20 this boat will be sharing nassau and coco cay with the allure 3 day sailing out of miami. should make for a fun weekend vibe! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted July 20 #44 Share Posted July 20 1 hour ago, maketime4cruisin said: this boat will be sharing nassau and coco cay with the allure 3 day sailing out of miami. should make for a fun weekend vibe! Yup..Allure is next to us at CocoCay today. No clue what it's like on land, though 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 20 Author #45 Share Posted July 20 1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said: Yup..Allure is next to us at CocoCay today. No clue what it's like on land, though 😂 The island was busy. Spent the morning at Coco Beach Club and it started getting crowded about 12pm. I guess when everyone on Utopia woke up. 🤣🤣🤣 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 20 Author #46 Share Posted July 20 Also my wife is doing a better job on Instagram with pictures and video. Look up my username on there if you are interested. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolloman Posted July 20 #47 Share Posted July 20 6 hours ago, bajathree said: Utopia is going to be a big hit with people wanting to combine Disney/Universal with a big new cruise ship. It's funny years ago Royal calibrated with Universal and were promoting it. I went on one of their promotional tours and my feedback was .....all you have are these older ship short sailings offered to combine. You are taking someone from a beautiful new Universal resort and then putting them on a danky old ship. Well 12 years later and here we are. Hello old friend...when you going on Utopia? I am booked Sept 9 and Nov 8...be nice to see you on a voyage again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajathree Posted July 20 #48 Share Posted July 20 2 hours ago, rolloman said: Hello old friend...when you going on Utopia? I am booked Sept 9 and Nov 8...be nice to see you on a voyage again! Hey old buddy....yes...it's been a long time. I am on Utopia this coming Friday!!! Then on Symphony in Dec. One of these days we will cross paths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soremekun Posted July 21 #49 Share Posted July 21 (edited) 5 hours ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: Thanks for this. I love seeing pictures of two Oasis class ships docked simultaneously at CocoCay. Gen 1 (Oasis / Allure) with the latest gen (Utopia). Wonder / Utopia, Gen 3? Edited July 21 by soremekun 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare h20skibum Posted July 21 #50 Share Posted July 21 10 hours ago, bajathree said: Utopia is going to be a big hit with people wanting to combine Disney/Universal with a big new cruise ship. It's funny years ago Royal calibrated with Universal and were promoting it. I went on one of their promotional tours and my feedback was .....all you have are these older ship short sailings offered to combine. You are taking someone from a beautiful new Universal resort and then putting them on a danky old ship. Well 12 years later and here we are. That is what we are doing in a couple weeks. No way we would fly to Florida for just a three day cruise, so we are combining cruise and Disney for a week. We had a number of reasons for doing this, but it is rare that we would look at a sailing this short. The party atmosphere, they have promoted lately, may end up being a turnoff for our family. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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