bajathree Posted July 25 #126 Share Posted July 25 7 hours ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: Chops was great but very busy. Our waiter told us they have been averaging approximately 200 guests a night. Other than hibachi I would be shocked if other venues were doing half that amount. I guess Chops plus 1 is selling well. Don't forget the D+ BOGO dinners....on these short sailings that can help fill Chops and Giovani's. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catella02 Posted July 25 #127 Share Posted July 25 17 hours ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: The thoughts from Day 6: Seeing that I got all of about 3 hours of sleep due to some late night casino fun it turned out to be a relaxing day of lounging around the ship. We did our normal routine of splashaway bay/ pool in the AM. Splashaway bay and the pools haven’t felt over crowded but remember they are not sailing at full capacity so YMMV. In the late morning/early afternoon the activities staff put on a nice family carnival on the boardwalk. It was similar to what I have seen on other Oasis class ships. There was popcorn and cotton candy and activities for the kiddos. Every seemed to enjoy it and it didn’t feel overwhelming. We headed to Giovanni’s for our sea day lunch. The new space is really spectacular. Since when you go into Giovanni’s you have to go down stairs to what is floor 11 (and there is no entry point on 11) to be seated we asked the waiter where the elevator is for scooter and strollers etc. He happily showed us the crew elevator anyone who needs assistance uses to get down or up within Giovanni’s. A member of the wait staff calls the elevator, you board (there were 4 chefs heading to the WJ on our 1 floor journey) and they are waiting for you on either 11/12 depending if you are going up/down. My little guy love the mini behind the scenes tour with our 30 second elevator ride. The food was really good and I would highly recommend Giovanni’s even if it’s to experience the new space. After Giovanni’s I volunteered to put the kids down for a nap ( more because I needed it than they did 😀). The kiddos had WJ for dinner because my wife and I had reservations for Chops. Once thing I have noticed in the WJ is the selection of food hasn’t felt on par with other Oasis class ships. The food is excellent but I guess there isn’t the variety you get on a 7 -night cruise. Not a deal breaker for us and maybe it’s just in my head. Chops was great but very busy. Our waiter told us they have been averaging approximately 200 guests a night. Other than hibachi I would be shocked if other venues were doing half that amount. I guess Chops plus 1 is selling well. After dinner the wife and I walked around the ship. There is just something about watching the wake of the ship that is so peaceful and relaxing. There were multiple Aqua shows today but we had already seen it so we just took a pass and called it an early night. I didn’t mind as I could use a good nights sleep. Tomorrow is our last day and we are back at PDCC. We will be in port with Harmony so the island should be busy. We plan to hang around the island and just enjoy the day. More tomorrow my pillow is calling me 😀. Thanks for letting me know about the elevator in Giovanni's. I will need to take it so it was very useful information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 26 Author #128 Share Posted July 26 15 hours ago, bajathree said: Don't forget the D+ BOGO dinners....on these short sailings that can help fill Chops and Giovani's. I just don’t know if there will be many D+ on a lot of these sailing. I think the market for these cruises are first timers. On our two sailing Chops and Giovanni’s were pretty booked up. However, tonight you could pretty much walk into Hooked, Izumi or 150 🤷♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 26 Author #129 Share Posted July 26 Thoughts from day 7: Today was PDCC. It is always bitter sweet to end your cruise with such fun port. At least this was our second time in a week so we can’t complain. We were in port with Harmony and the island seemed crowded but manageable. We spent most of the morning hopping between Oasis Lagoon and Splashaway Bay. Neither was too crowded and the boys had a blast. At about 10:45 we headed to the snack shack because we didn’t want to wait till the buffet opened up. Each window had a fairly long line but it moved and in about 10 minutes I had a cheeseburger, French fries, and a CocoLoco for my troubles. After some final playing on the pirate ship we got back on board a little after 12pm and plenty of people were still making their way to the island. On our tram ride back someone walking off Harmony actually grabbed the tramcar as we passed them probably going about 10 MPH. I think everyone including the driver called him an idiot and some other NSFW words. Back on the ship the boys still wanted a little more pool and splash pad time so we headed there to give the kids what they want. The ship was pretty empty at this point and they had the run of the splash pad area and maybe there were a handful of people in the pool. After some ice cream, a shower, and some naps it was time to repack the suitcases and get ready for dinner. Tonight the whole family had reservations at Hooked. The food and service were excellent. The wife and I both had the lobster tail dinner which had generous portions. My three year old loves shrimp cocktail and probably had a dozen large shrimps. I really appreciate how royal takes care of kids in the dining venues. Traveling with a 3 and 1 year old we have never been told no when we asked for something and the wait staff has always been gracious in trying to assist. The other night the Playmakers staff actually walked my 3 year old over to sugar beach and got him a dum dum lollipop. After dinner and the dreaded luggage in the hallway routine the wife and I headed down to try the Pesky Parrot. It has been a pretty popular venue for the last few sailing and we learned why tonight. The drinks are phenomenal and the staff is even better. We were kind of bummed that we waited so long to try it out. I highly recommend the pesky’s peanut butter pina. My wife said coffee lovers would love monkey business but I’m not a coffee guy so I can’t co-sign. After a few rounds of drinks and a stroll through Central Park we headed back to the room. The party was still going as they had another farewell balloon drop scheduled and toga party for later in the evening. Tomorrow is debarkation day and I will share some more thoughts on our experience along with some other random things when we get home. We have luggage tag #6 so it will be an early morning. 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillyFan33579 Posted July 26 #130 Share Posted July 26 1 hour ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: I just don’t know if there will be many D+ on a lot of these sailing. I think the market for these cruises are first timers. On our two sailing Chops and Giovanni’s were pretty booked up. However, tonight you could pretty much walk into Hooked, Izumi or 150 🤷♂️ Not sure I necessarily agree with you about Diamond Pluses not cruising on Utopia, although it is too early to know for certain. I have numerous friends who are D+ who were/are on the first or current Utopia cruising. I am a D+ and have 4 cruises booked on Utopia in the next 6 months. All of them are with friends, most who are also D+. The one drawback for me is I am not a fan of doing 3/4 day B2Bs, so my cruises on Utopia will be limited to 4 days at a time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBeardedCruiser Posted July 26 #131 Share Posted July 26 (edited) 2 hours ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: At about 10:45 we headed to the snack shack because we didn’t want to wait till the buffet opened up. Each window had a fairly long line but it moved and in about 10 minutes I had a cheeseburger, French fries, and a CocoLoco for my troubles. I've really enjoyed your live blog!! Thank you!!! Unless you forgot to mention it, how could you leave PDCC without eating a funnel cake??? 😭😢🤔 In my opinion, that's the best part of PDCC! Unlimited free funnel cakes! And the greek salad. I love them both! Edited July 26 by TheBeardedCruiser 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted July 27 #132 Share Posted July 27 20 hours ago, TheBeardedCruiser said: Unless you forgot to mention it, how could you leave PDCC without eating a funnel cake??? 😭😢🤔 In my opinion, that's the best part of PDCC! Unlimited free funnel cakes! They did funnel cakes one night in the Windjammer, too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 27 Author #133 Share Posted July 27 21 hours ago, TheBeardedCruiser said: I've really enjoyed your live blog!! Thank you!!! Unless you forgot to mention it, how could you leave PDCC without eating a funnel cake??? 😭😢🤔 In my opinion, that's the best part of PDCC! Unlimited free funnel cakes! And the greek salad. I love them both! 1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said: They did funnel cakes one night in the Windjammer, too! oh we had funnel cakes 😀. The WJ ones had all the fixings too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 27 Author #134 Share Posted July 27 Thoughts from Debarkation Day: It was an early start as we were in the WJ for breakfast at 6:30. I don’t know why but it always amazes me how busy it can be that early but I know everyone is trying to get one last meal before a day of travel. Self assist was called around 650ish and we had luggage tag 6 and were off the ship at 7:25am. Customs and the porters were great and we were on the road and back to Tampa at 10:00. Had to pay for the 4 nights of parking on our way out of the garage. Boy do I miss the good old days of just driving out of the lot 🤣🤣. I wasn’t there to know for sure but it seemed like the disembarkation process was going to operate smoothly as most people were utilizing self assist. Staff were organized and the new elevator system limited most of the bottle necks that used to stress my wife out when trying to get down to deck 5 with a stroller. Since you really can’t ride an elevator up to go back down it moved people off efficiently and we actually got an empty elevator from deck 12 within a minute of calling it. Maybe I won the royal disembarkation lottery 🤷♂️. After a day of unpacking, sorting clothes, and recalibrating to shore life here are my final thoughts on Utopia. The good: Utopia is really a beautiful ship. The changes while slight adjustments from Wonder will be hugely successful. Izumi in Central Park, The railway, and Giovanni’s all give Utopia a unique edge compared to other oasis class ships which I think new and returning passengers will enjoy. If you are traveling with kids I would steer toward the 4 night cruises. There were more kids on our 4 nighter but I felt overall the crowd was more subdued than the 3 night crowd. YMMV but the extra day does make a difference especially if you are moving a small army platoon (at least that we feel like we are doing every time we cruise we the kiddos). Dining reservations were easy to come by. I know some cruises want to plan out their reservations immediately (my wife is one of those people) but it was nice to have the flexibility that is normally not there on 7nighters. As the ship fills up that may change but at least our experience was positive in that regard. Staff and service were great especially with the kiddos. We have come to expect that with Royal but I think some of the staff were genuinely excited to see kids of all ages. I fully expect the 3 nighters to be more of a party crowd (bachelor parties, girls trips etc.) which may lend itself to some extra special treatment with those with little ones. The things to keep in mind: I want to be clear that there wasn’t really anything bad on the ship and the way my family cruises might be different from yours so take this all with a grain of salt. Here are my thoughts on things that could be better. If you aren’t doing a b2b it will be tough to do everything on the ship. Sometimes it felt like the shows were scheduled at times where it made it impossible to enjoy other activities on the ship. So be prepared to make choices. The ice show and the aqua show are both fantastic but you just might not be able to do everything on a 3 nighter day if you want to have a late dinner or enjoy the hot tub. Maybe all this needs is some fine tuning but the tight schedule can make trying to fit everything in impossible. To that end, many people treated Nassau like a sea day. Maybe it will change but plan to have a little more company in port at Nassau than say when you’d port at Cozumel on Wonder on a 7 nighter. The ship was pretty dead at PDCC both port stops there were with other Oasis class ships which made the island feel crowded but at least Utopia got to meet some of her sister ships 😀. The 3 nighter will probably have more of a we are here for a good time and not a long time vibe. But if you have kiddos and that is your only choice I wouldn’t cancel my vacation for it. The ships is a big place with lots to do that isn’t partying for the “biggest weekend”. Just go in with your eyes wide open and the kiddos will have a great time. Lastly, and it has nothing to do with Utopia specifically but I just guess we will have to see if Oasis class ships will make for good 3/4 night cruises. I know once Star joins the fleet and Wonder moves to 3/4 nighters out of Miami. I think marketing it as the biggest weekend will attract new cruisers but will it convert people to repeat or will it go the way of Las Vegas were you really just going to party twice a year and the hotel you crash at means less to you. I think from Royals perspective if they can get 2 oasis class ships to PDCC twice in one week they are happy to do it. Time will tell if the market wants that. What do I know though I’m sure they know what they are doing 😀. I think that about covers it. Next cruise will be Thanksgiving week on Utopia for another B2B (see they already converted me) unless I get the itch and book another one sooner. If you have any questions or want my opinion please do not hesitate to reach out. Also thank you for listening to me ramble each night for a week. I didn’t know if anyone would read it and I am thankful for all of you that followed along and read the thread, posted in it or reacted to something. It was all appreciated. Only 118 days till we cruise again and if you all don’t mind I’ll likely do another thread as I have enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Thanks for listening. Signing off for now 🫡 16 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabethbp Posted July 27 #135 Share Posted July 27 Yours review was really helpful. Many thanks. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammylovescruises Posted July 27 #136 Share Posted July 27 I really enjoyed your review. We are doing a B2B on Utopia in September, and have the UDP on the 4 night, but not on the 3 night. Is there a luncheon in the MDR on turnaround day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted July 27 #137 Share Posted July 27 54 minutes ago, Tammylovescruises said: Is there a luncheon in the MDR on turnaround day? There was on ours, but we also had 500 consecutive cruisers. Usually they do a lunch when there is a large number. I would expect most sailings to qualify. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillyFan33579 Posted July 27 #138 Share Posted July 27 2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said: There was on ours, but we also had 500 consecutive cruisers. Usually they do a lunch when there is a large number. I would expect most sailings to qualify. I think the numbers will go down over time. I have friends currently on Utopia who have been on since day one. While there were 500 after the first cruise, there were only 200 consecutive cruisers after the second cruise. I expect that number to continue to decrease in the future. Obviously there are exceptions like the OP and friends I have who wanted to be on Utopia right away, but most experienced cruisers are not going to book 3/4 day B2B cruises. I would never book a 3/4 day B2B cruise instead of a 7 day cruise. But I have never been one who wants to be on a new ship right away. I cruised with RCI for almost 3.5 years before I went on an Oasis class ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topanga49er Posted July 27 #139 Share Posted July 27 On 7/23/2024 at 2:14 PM, Bead Pirate said: Question from my kids: Did you try the shave ice? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fla33023 Posted July 27 #140 Share Posted July 27 I loved keeping up with your trip! Thanks so much for taking the time. Not on Utopia until July (with the girls) so you may be right about that whole "girl's trip" thing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillyFan33579 Posted July 27 #141 Share Posted July 27 1 hour ago, fla33023 said: I loved keeping up with your trip! Thanks so much for taking the time. Not on Utopia until July (with the girls) so you may be right about that whole "girl's trip" thing! I think the crowds on Utopia and Wonder (when it starts doing 3/4 sailings) will be similar to the crowds on Freedom and Independence and before that on Navigator and Mariner when they were doing 3/4 day cruises out of PC and PM. The 3 day cruises will be more of a party like atmosphere while the 4 day cruises will be more mellow. No doubt RCI knows how popular these short cruises are, which is why they keep allocating bigger and bigger ships to them. And no doubt RCI loves the idea of Oasis class ships going to Coco Cay twice every week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 27 Author #142 Share Posted July 27 (edited) 4 hours ago, topanga49er said: Question from my kids: Did you try the shave ice? My 3 year old did and loved it. He isn’t a tough critic though. It was an added cost $6 for a small $9 for a large and they didn’t let us use a diamond drink on it. Edited July 27 by Hooked.on.Royal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another_Critic Posted July 28 #143 Share Posted July 28 9 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said: I cruised with RCI for almost 3.5 years before I went on an Oasis class ship. I cruised with RCI for 34 years before I went on an Oasis class ship. 😄 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelblu Posted July 28 #144 Share Posted July 28 This will be my first 3/4 BB for late August and my first under 7 nights and wondering if there's any "dress your best nights" so that I can pack accordingly. Also, do they have any steaks on Hooked. My son is a meat eater and I'm a seafood lover and had a great meal when I sailed Symphony some years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 29 Author #145 Share Posted July 29 On 7/28/2024 at 4:08 PM, nelblu said: This will be my first 3/4 BB for late August and my first under 7 nights and wondering if there's any "dress your best nights" so that I can pack accordingly. Also, do they have any steaks on Hooked. My son is a meat eater and I'm a seafood lover and had a great meal when I sailed Symphony some years ago. There was a dress your best night on the 4 nighter. It was day 3 where we were at sea. Can’t remember if there was a designated formal night on the 3 nighter. Hooked has a steak and lobster combo. It’s a 6oz fillet and a lobster tail even if he doesn’t like the lobster he could definitely pair it with a side and wouldn’t go hungry. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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