** Live from the Utopia of the Seas ** September 9-13, 2024: Nassau + Coco Cay

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Greetings Royal Caribbean fans and loyalists! 

 

We board the Utopia a week from today so I'm getting this thread started for any of you who may be interested in following along! 

 

My Live threads tend to be pretty indepth and detailed with lots of pictures of our journey as you follow along. 

 

We're a family who typically cruise with our elementary aged kids so I typically cover a bit more of the fun on the ships. We often typically sail in suites (including on the Utopia) so we are able to share that perspective as well.

 

We're not loyal to any of the cruise lines, instead choosing to experience all of them to give balanced perspectives to our travels. (take a look at my signature below to see the variety of upcoming cruise lines we'll be sailing on).

 

I look forward to "meeting" some of you that are Loyal to Royal during this live thread!

 

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Some of my Past Live Threads: 

 

- Norwegian Encore (Alaskan itinerary)

- Celebrity Equinox - Retreat (Western Mediterranean)

- MSC Seashore - Yacht Club (Western Caribbean)

- MSC Seascape - Yacht Club (Western Caribbean)

 

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Our Family at Sea!

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

I received our introductory email from our concierges for our sailing this morning: 

 

Jaime Ramirez & Lissandra Gonzalez

 

One of the disappointing things for those of us sailing on the Utopia so far in September has been an inability to reserve shows in advance even though they were able to in August. 

 

I'm not sure of the reason for the change as nothing has been communicated from Royal, but I asked them if they could make reservations for us... Hopefully they're able to so it's one less thing we have to worry about upon embarkation!

Edited September 2 by FamilyAtSea.travel

[nelblu]

1 hour ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

I received our introductory email from our concierges for our sailing this morning: 

 

Jaime Ramirez & Lissandra Gonzalez

 

One of the disappointing things for those of us sailing on the Utopia so far in September has been an inability to reserve shows in advance even though they were able to in August. 

 

I'm not sure of the reason for the change as nothing has been communicated from Royal, but I asked them if they could make reservations for us... Hopefully they're able to so it's one less thing we have to worry about upon embarkation!

Recently off a back to back sails on Utopia and was able to make reserves 30 days prior to sail.  I used my laptop for the reservations. 
 

FYI, if you like seafood make sure to go to the WJ or Solarium Bistro for lunch on embarkation.  Lobsters, clams, shrimps and mussels. 
 

Video is from the Solarium on the 2nd leg (4 niter) 

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

4 minutes ago, nelblu said:

Recently off a back to back sails on Utopia and was able to make reserves 30 days prior to sail.  I used my laptop for the reservations. 
 

FYI, if you like seafood make sure to go to the WJ or Solarium Bistro for lunch on embarkation.  Lobsters, clams, shrimps and mussels. 
 

Video is from the Solarium on the 2nd leg (4 niter) 

 

IMG_2425.mov

Yeah, the August sailings were able to book the shows in advance but none of the September sailings have been able to (I'm in the different roll calls to see they're all having the same issue).

 

Thanks for the heads up on the seafood... We will definitely be getting some of that, it looks great!

[perfect match]

I’ll be following you from Wonder since we board her on the 8th. Once we’re done with Wonder I’ll be getting a lot more excited 🤩 about our 4 day Utopia sailing in January. I’m looking forward to your detailed report and pictures. 

[h20skibum]

4 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

One of the disappointing things for those of us sailing on the Utopia so far in September has been an inability to reserve shows in advance even though they were able to in August. 

We were on the first sailing in August, and were only able to book shows during about a 12 hour window, three days before sailing.  Check often. 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

40 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

We were on the first sailing in August, and were only able to book shows during about a 12 hour window, three days before sailing.  Check often. 

Will do, thank you!

[perfect match]

3 hours ago, h20skibum said:

We were on the first sailing in August, and were only able to book shows during about a 12 hour window, three days before sailing.  Check often. 

It’s a good thing I check frequently! Still too early for us to be able to book for January now though. Thanks for the tip.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Turns out they just released the entertainment for reservations so we are all booked...a positive update for sure!

[promedic]

We'll be getting on when you are getting off. But we'll see you at cococay! We'll be on the adventure of the seas and will be at cococay with utopia and then the next day switch ships!! Loyal to Royal!

Edited September 3 by promedic

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

4 minutes ago, promedic said:

We'll be getting on when you are getting off. But we'll see you at cococay! We'll be on the adventure of the seas and will be at cococay with utopia and then the next day switch ships!! Loyal to Royal!

Happy sails! 

 

This will be our first time at Coco Cay so I'm excited see how it compares to Ocean Cay and other private islands we've been to. 

 

It appears to be more of a theme park than a serene Caribbean escape, but that's right up our alley so we're excited to experience it! Hoping the lines won't be too long at the water park 🤞

[PhillyFan33579]

21 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Happy sails! 

 

This will be our first time at Coco Cay so I'm excited see how it compares to Ocean Cay and other private islands we've been to. 

 

It appears to be more of a theme park than a serene Caribbean escape, but that's right up our alley so we're excited to experience it! Hoping the lines won't be too long at the water park 🤞

Just got off Utopia yesterday. The aqua show and ice skating show are excellent. RCI is marketing Utopia as a party ship and it didn’t disappoint. We had a great time on the ship, but it is a far different experience than my other cruises on Oasis class ships. Looking forward to going on Wonder this coming Sunday for a more relaxed atmosphere. 
 

I have been to the waterpark at Coco Cay 8 times. The key is to get there early. Every time we have been there the lines for every slide never got too long until later in the morning. Also, I have never seen long lines for the drop slides even when the park gets crowded. They are definitely the two best slides at the park, but they apparently scare a lot of people. 🙂

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

5 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Just got off Utopia yesterday. The aqua show and ice skating show are excellent. RCI is marketing Utopia as a party ship and it didn’t disappoint. We had a great time on the ship, but it is a far different experience than my other cruises on Oasis class ships. Looking forward to going on Wonder this coming Sunday for a more relaxed atmosphere. 
 

I have been to the waterpark at Coco Cay 8 times. The key is to get there early. Every time we have been there the lines for every slide never got too long until later in the morning. Also, I have never seen long lines for the drop slides even when the park gets crowded. They are definitely the two best slides at the park, but they apparently scare a lot of people. 🙂

We aren't the party type so I'm hoping there will be options away from the parties for us (I'm sure there will be). We are on the 4 day, Monday-Friday sailing so I'm thinking that may be a bit less of a party than the 3-day, Friday-Monday sailing. 

 

Thanks for the advice on the water park! We love drop slides but with that in mind we will probably do the other slides first before the lines get long knowing they won't be as bad for those.

[BecciBoo]

14 hours ago, nelblu said:

30 days prior

What about the Train?  That is my primary target for our 2025 cruise???  In fact the entire reason I booked.

Edited September 3 by BecciBoo

[BecciBoo]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

The key is to get there early.

Yep, if you can't get up and get going early you gonna miss out....sleep is for the weak! 😴😪LOL

[nelblu]

5 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

What about the Train?  That is my primary target for our 2025 cruise???  In fact the entire reason I booked.

Restaurant?  The 30 days is for entertainment reserves.

[BecciBoo]

Just now, nelblu said:

Restaurant?  The 30 days is for entertainment reserves.

I understand that...It's dinner theater too.  Everybody's talking about it not being on the app.  It isn't on my cruises dining either.  Some have reported they had been able to book early but some say not.  I don't want to miss out since the pickins are slim, only 72 slots or something.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

9 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

What about the Train?  That is my primary target for our 2025 cruise???  In fact the entire reason I booked.

We booked Royal Railway in advance no problems!

[BecciBoo]

How far out, it's not on my cruises for our cruise.= yet

[SilkySal]

Yes, we have the UDP and are interested in reserving the Royal Railway too! Did you get to or even want to reserve it pre-cruise or on-board? Thanks for taking us along with you and your beautiful family!! Anxiously awaiting your experiences!!

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

3 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

I understand that...It's dinner theater too.  Everybody's talking about it not being on the app.  It isn't on my cruises dining either.  Some have reported they had been able to book early but some say not.  I don't want to miss out since the pickins are slim, only 72 slots or something.

Don't use the app, lots of stuff doesn't show up there for some reason. 

 

Royal Railway is actually one that shows up to reserve on the website but not the app for me. 

[SilkySal]

1 minute ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

Don't use the app, lots of stuff doesn't show up there for some reason. 

 

Royal Railway is actually one that shows up to reserve on the website but not the app for me. 

How far out could you book the reservation on-line?

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

2 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

How far out could you book the reservation on-line?

It looks like I booked Royal Railway on August 3rd and we depart September 9th, so more than 30 days in advance.

 

Royal seems to be all over the place with when you can book things though (like us being able to reserve shows this morning but the Sept 2nd sailing had to book them onboard).

[SilkySal]

2 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

It looks like I booked Royal Railway on August 3rd and we depart September 9th, so more than 30 days in advance.

 

Royal seems to be all over the place with when you can book things though (like us being able to reserve shows this morning but the Sept 2nd sailing had to book them onboard).

Thank you! Please let us know how you liked (or didn't like) it!!

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

2 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

Thank you! Please let us know how you liked (or didn't like) it!!

I definitely will... This is likely the thing I'm most excited about!