For us, Utopia is wasted on 3/4 night sailings

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

I have 10 cruises booked on Royal and with some of the doom & gloom expressed lion this board it is not translating to lower cruise fares.  The opposite is actually for all of my sails. 
 

by the way I have a 3/4 b-b and the beauty is that we’ll be 2 x at Coco Cay. 

Keep in mind only an incredibly small number of people who cruise on RCI post on this site. There may be people on this board who are not happy with the direction RCI is going or who think RCI is headed for financial ruin, but current and future bookings combined with the latest financial statements show the true picture. 

[bouhunter]

On 8/4/2024 at 11:15 AM, NickinNY said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was busy, the elevators were an issue. Many people, us included, ended up also choosing floors one above or below where they were going, to try to get another car to stop, which just mucks up the system and defeats the purpose. Look, when it’s busy there’s always a wait for an elevator whether you’re on a cruise ship or waiting to get up to the pearly gates (so I’ve heard). This isn’t any kind of black mark for Royal in general or Utopia specifically. But other people had written about the elevators on Icon like they were some revolution in vertical conveyance, and A) that really only counts when it’s busy, and B) these were not. It’s just that going from the Promenade on 5 to WJ on 15 is a lot of stairs…. 

 

The point of this homily is that - for us non-newbie cruisers - our takeaway was that this class of ship is wasted on a 4-night cruise, and that can only mean it’s that much more wasted on a 3-night cruise. I suppose if you live in FL and are an experienced cruiser, this is still a more-fun way to spend a weekend than playing in the canasta tournament with the blue hairs at the club, again. But for us, we never got to the point where we felt settled in and could just lock into vacation mode, like we do on 7-night cruises, for example. Maybe that’s us, but that’s how we felt. We love the Oasis class ships because the massive amount of options for stuff to do becomes a “Jesus and the Entertainment Director take the wheel” moment where we decide to just float around and engage in whatever looks fun at that moment, with no FOMO agita. But, on such a short cruise, the vast amount of options became a point of anxiety - “We can’t go back to Trellis Bar yet; I still have to try a bunch of other bars!”

 

If that wasn’t your experience, that’s great. But, if it was, then you’re not alone. We weren’t disappointed with Royal or Utopia. It just made us decide we won’t do another short cruise on this caliber of ship.

Agree it's odd they've selected a huge new ship for 3-4 night cruises.  Staff must hate it changing out the rooms ever few nights.  We'd rather spend 9-10 nights on Grandeur or Explorer or others.  🙂

 

[SUgwoz]

17 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

Agree it's odd they've selected a huge new ship for 3-4 night cruises.  Staff must hate it changing out the rooms ever few nights.  We'd rather spend 9-10 nights on Grandeur or Explorer or others.  🙂

 

Probably depends on additional gratuities they are getting. Bartender that has a person sitting in a stool for 2 hours is generally going to get less in tips than if they have 5 people rotate in that seat in two hours. 

[Ocean Boy]

6 minutes ago, SUgwoz said:

Probably depends on additional gratuities they are getting. Bartender that has a person sitting in a stool for 2 hours is generally going to get less in tips than if they have 5 people rotate in that seat in two hours. 

I'm far more likely to tip extra to a bartender that I've developed a relationship with over a week. And the same goes for a cabin attendant. They are the ones really impacted having to turn the ship over twice a week 

[SUgwoz]

3 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'm far more likely to tip extra to a bartender that I've developed a relationship with over a week. And the same goes for a cabin attendant. They are the ones really impacted having to turn the ship over twice a week 

I look at, that I could end up rounding up and giving a 30%-40% tip on two drinks, however, if I have a $80 bill I am not tipping 30-40%. 

 

As for attendant. We do know some do not give additional gratuity, and some will remove gratuities for their personal reasons. Not as big deal if it's a 3 night, if it's 8 night, that hurts. 

[PhillyFan33579]

38 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'm far more likely to tip extra to a bartender that I've developed a relationship with over a week. And the same goes for a cabin attendant. They are the ones really impacted having to turn the ship over twice a week 

From talking to dozens (probably hundreds by now) of bartenders over the years, most of them prefer shorter cruises because people tend to drink more on short cruises and tip more on shorter cruises. I agree with you about the cabin stewards. I have no idea how shorter cruises impacts tipping, but having to change over a cabin twice a week can’t be too much fun.