Luxury Cruise Holidays | Caribbean Sea Cruises | Royal Caribbean International

Ship Reviews

Utopia of the Seas review. Parking: We arrived at 130, and we were the last vehicle to enter the parking ramp. It took us 20+ minutes to find a spot. The attendant removed cones on the first floor to provide parking access. Where folks parked after that is unknown to us, nor how much of a walking distance with luggage was. Signage to drop off luggage first was not provided in advance, so stay in the right-hand lane (2 lanes of traffic going in), as it was impossible to merge over into that right lane with anxious drivers. There were elevators in the parking ramp for the handicapped and those with bulky luggage. Speaking of handicapped, if you are renting a scooter or wheelchair, upon walking to the port entrance there is a large sign with a person manning a table for those that booked in advance. It is here that you will pick up your rental, before accessing the cruise ship terminal. Easy to find and clearly marked. Embarkation was seamless at 2 pm, with no lines. Just a warning, that one needs to read the document requirements as one party in our group thought that the rules of having a passport NOT expire for six months after the cruise didn’t apply to them. They were not allowed to board, and no, you are not refunded because of your mistake aside from any extra bookings like ship excursions or the drink package. The rooms; I traveled with an adult daughter and two grandsons for this three-night spring break cruise. My grandsons are 4 and 8 years old. We had balcony rooms, chosen to be in the middle of the two main elevators with easy access to the boardwalk without the inside balcony noise. One flight of stairs down to the main promenade and two down to the casino, ice rink, shows and such. A great location, the lifeboats are on deck 5, so the water views were nonobstructive, aside from missing the pilot boat connecting with the ship to do the transfer. These two rooms are standard balconies for three people with ample storage, a fridge, safe, and we received a coffee machine and extra pillows upon asking. The wooden hangers do clink at night and we removed the spares from the closet to prevent the noise from them. The balcony door has a lock at the top to keep the kids safe, although the glass and wooden rail was tall enough to keep the kids in. Our room steward, Jayson gave us the choice of early or late cleaning and knew all our names immediately. We were so pleased how he popped out of nowhere to high 5 the boys, knowing their names, made two towel animals in each room (one for each), and was just the best in meeting all our needs, let alone keeping two disorganized rooms with pizza crumbs superbly cleaned! Kids Club. Well what more can I say that the 8-year-old demanded to go whenever they were open? The club was closed during the main dinner times and re-opened from 7-10 pm, this was for up to 12 years old. What the teen club hours were, I am unsure. Because Emmett was only 8, I was required to check him in and out. Know that there were lines both checking in and out, so if you have a 7 pm show, you WILL be late for it and they will give up your seats. Jamie, our 4-year-old, is still tied to mamma and only went once, but that does not reflect the activities or staff. Dining room: In the past, even WOS I was not impressed over the last three years, and WOW what a difference. We had early dining at table 202 with Jovan and John and they went beyond all expectations in serving all of us. Kids fighting over one round roll, an extra basket of all-round rolls appeared magically. Emmett ordered random things, like a strawberry bowl, no issues, steak… they cut it for him and the chocolate milk flowed for both boys. One night my daughter and Jamie were sleeping, I was sent with to-go meals for them “No room service mam, only the best for your family” I can’t say enough about the food and service. Sure the shrimp are smaller, so I ordered two apps of them, no issues. They added extra scoops of ice cream for dessert, extra cookies to take back and brought me two desserts each evening to try when I couldn’t decide. Deck 6 the Boardwalk 1. Playmakers: the menu is https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/playmakers-menu-sample.pdf I loved the sports bar atmosphere, beers on tap, nice bar menu with reasonable prices. Originating from Buffalo, I ordered the buffalo wings and can’t complain about them. Food can also be ordered to go and you can walk out with your adult beverage. Ordering to go worked as the kids wanted Johnny Rockets food and my bringing in alternative food wasn’t an issue. 2. Johnny Rockets: the menu is https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/johnny-rockets-menu-sample.pdf There is a small fee per person and they alert you to your total before placing an order. The atmosphere inside is fun as they dance and sing. Outside, you are people-watching on the boardwalk or watching the kids run around having fun. Aside from the last day of sailing where they are closed, Johnny Rockets has free breakfast and a decent menu. 3. Dog House: the menu is https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/dog-house-menu-sample.pdf Just like Coney Island, there are standing-room tables to eat these delicious dogs, the menu does change but it’s a nice included venue on the boardwalk, get extra napkins! 4. The full-sized carousel is an amazing engineering feat for any ship at sea. Kids under 4 are asked for an adult to accompany them and there is a hand sanitizing station before entry. There are restrictions on hours, so please consult the cruise compass for times. If there isn’t a long line waiting, the staff member supervising the ride will allow the kids to stay on for another go-around! Speaking of carousels, there are three staging horses in their progression to becoming an official horse. While the kids are not allowed to climb on them, they make some great photo ops! 5. There is an amazing mirror right next to the Dog House that can take family photos. 6. Of course, there are a few arcade games next to playmakers, but for a fee, so know this in advance if your kids approach them and the fee is generally $2.50 per short game. It does add up quickly. Also my favorite, is the Zoltar, the Fortune Teller, an iconic Coney Island must-do. 7. Climbing place. Next to Johnny Rockets, sharing the same wall is a small, netted climbing place that the kids just love. It’s small, simple and safe and was a definite crowd-pleaser for multiple ages. 8. The bathrooms are on the same side of playmakers, walking alongside the seating for the water show. Speaking of the water show, they practice daily around 430 or 5 pm and you can catch a great glimpse of what is to come, it’s an amazing can’t miss experience. There is no bad seating as there is a large screen TV to catch every breathtaking move. 9. Candy store: nothing here is included but it is an amazing colorful store with a plethora of goodies to purchase. We ignored it and the kids never noticed, so I can’t comment on the prices. Elevators: Brilliant! You choose your floor from either of two kiosks provided on both sides (4 in total for each elevator bank) and it’s all coordinated so the wait time is minimized. It works! This was the only ship I have been on with almost no waiting times. This is especially important for those with walkers and scooters as they seem to have the hardest of times navigating which used to be a free-for-all. Bathrooms: hand wave entrance and exit which is genius and needed to protect from norovirus. All were cleaned, and even those at the pool deck were not waterlogged on the floor from water dripping. Very pleased all throughout the ship with the bathroom cleanliness. Activities and Events: the cruise compass on the app and the TV showed endless possibilities at all times, with many varieties all over the ship. Something for all ages and preferences. You would have to work hard to be bored on board, lol. The RCL app was spot-on and seamless. Texting worked perfectly and was a great way to stay in contact without having to purchase the internet. Wow bands: we didn’t purchase this time after multiple issues on WOS after the initial rollout. I did ask multiple people how it was working and there were zero complaints until it came to the casino. The bands worked, however, several attempts for the slot machines to read the bands were required and I have no idea how they would work at the tables, as I used cash. Casino: to be honest, I’ve never preferred RCL for table games compared to NCL due to the difference in friendliness and rules of the dealer, and lack of attention from the pit boss. This also includes the inability of RCL to head off issues with fellow gamblers who have had too much to drink and caused table issues. This three-night experience was no different, so I headed to the slots. Here is one of my few complaints, the drink wait staff are super slow and hard to find once one leaves the tables and hits a slot machine. I know first-world problems. However, I had a great machine that was paying out, and didn’t want to forgo it to head to the bar for a drink. Tipping $5 and asking the waiter to keep an eye out for me did nothing either. Total lost about $800 for 3 nights, and had a good time anyway. For those that don’t smoke, there is a nonsmoking casino side, but I walked through there (smoker here), and I felt it smelled of smoke… it could have been me, but if you are sensitive consider a mask. For the high rollers, forget it. Three tables and about 10 slot machines and there was no action. Very boring. Smoking: There is a cigar lounge, where no cigarettes are allowed, however cigars/vaping and cigarettes are allowed on the starboard side of deck 15. This is mid-ship by the lime and the cocoanut. All the tables and high tops are covered and out of the sun with ashtrays on them. Because this was a very full cruise, space was limited and folks simply shared tables with each other. This is on the same side as the food truck after you leave the Windjammer and enter deck 15 exterior. Deck 15 1. The windjammer- breakfast, lunch and dinner included. Washy washie! 2. Kids water park (splash away bay) , this is after passing the two main pools from the windjammer, almost mid-ship. Towels are here, no need to bring your room towels. There are also four sizes of life vests for the little ones who are potty trained who wish to enter the pools. The towels ARE counted by your room key, so don’t leave them or you may be charged for them. When you return them, they are counted and credited back to your room and yes, some folks had towels removed and used them to save chairs or maybe they were simply “borrowed”, beware of this. 3. Pool area, unlike the WOS, there were no signs not to chair hog/save seats. While you may not get poolside loungers, deck 16 and 17 have loungers that are in quieter spaces. Cabanas are on deck 16, NOT poolside and you have a set of stairs between you and poolside. If you are sensitive to smoke, and smokers are on deck 15, smoke rises… book one on the port side. Two pools are available after leaving the windjammer, one on port, the other on starboard. After the two main pool areas, from leaving the windjammer, on the starboard side, there is the beach pool. Where there are loungers in the partially lowered deck so your bum is in the water. It's first come first serve and they do go quick 4. Soda and water refills are on the starboard side, next to the food truck to the left of it when you are facing it. 5. Drink service: is phenomenal. I dog NCL for having to get my drink and RCL has superior service. Heck, they refilled my beverage while I was in the pool! So yes you are allowed to have drinks in the pool, ice cream not in any pool where your feet touch the water. Take two steps out to the chairs and you are fine. If it could be true, there were almost too many people offering drinks. 6. Drink of the day: I”m not a drink concoction person, but the bartender handed me the special “lime and the coconut” and it was really good. A touch sweet for me, but if you have the drink package give it a try. There is also a margarita special price from 4-6 pm, unfortunately, I was never there at the time to try the special. 7. The Solarium Bistro menu is https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/solarium-bistro-menu-sample.pdf 8. Solarium: Solarium is an adult-only pool/whirlpool area that shares the restaurant area with those under the 18-year-old age limit. So there will be kids and teens in and out for meals. While covered, the windows were open on port days and the airflow was excellent, preventing a stuffy air quality that some complain about on prior Solarium experiences. Room Service: The continental breakfast is free, and the hot breakfast does have a charge as all the other selections. Continental breakfast is NOT available on the last day although this isn’t well communicated. Only the windjammer and dining room are open for breakfast on the last day. Movies: I believe they were $12.99 each and available for 24 hours. The selection wasn’t great, but there were recent selections. Shows: We booked at the last minute, so everything was sold out. Yes, there are lines to wait to get in and I didn’t speak with anyone who was turned away to a “sold out” event. So don’t worry if this happens to you. Due to having young kids, I went by myself to shows and had zero issues getting in, however, as I mentioned I was late due to dropping off Emmett at the kids club and some of the shows had started. For a three-day cruise, there were so many activities at night, performers even on the promenade, and in the theaters, you won’t be bored. Deck 16: Ok, I have so many favorite decks and this is one of the top three. 1. Hooked Seafood the menu is https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/hooked-seafood-menu-sample.pdf 2. Walk around overlooking the pools and have some Casitas that you can rent out or quieter beach chairs. 3. Heading aft, there is the second story of the lime and the coconut bar and a whirlpool overlooking the main pool area on deck 15 on port side. 4. Taco’s? Who doesn’t love tacos for breakfast and lunch? The El Loco Fresh/Cantina bar and restaurant are on port side and this included food venue is superb with the topping bar to create your own meal, just as you like it. The menu is https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/menus/el-loco-fresh-menu-sample.pdf 5. With El Loco fresh to your back, the Sand Dunes, the putt-putt course in on the left, free of charge, available at night as well and there are three ping pong tables to the right. Behind the putt-putt is one set up for the bean bag toss. 6. Sports court is behind the ping-pong and there are scheduled games as well as free hours for any pick-up games it was a very friendly just join in, although the ages seemed to be 12 and over. Check out the cruise activities schedules for details 7. Flow Rider is behind the Sports court and you have to pay strict attention to the schedule. It seems limited open hours are available and there is a move to schedule more pay for lessons. It’s next to impossible to walk up and try it out. 8. Ultimate Abyss: it’s the iconic monster figure at the end of the ship and it’s a dry slide. This is where you climb into a material nap sack and careen down to deck 6. It’s slower than it looks, meaning it’s safer than it looks for those in fear of heights of kiddos that just meet the height requirement. No swimsuits may be worn. 9. Zip Line: They require no swimsuits and want socks/shoes worn although I have seen some with crocs and sandals flying on it, so I’m not sure what you will get away with. Sandals with straps seem to be ok, but please review the rules prior to attempting as open times are limited and the lines can be 20 minutes or more. There is so much more to cover, as well as all the venues that we missed as this was just a three-night teaser. In summary, for a spring break cruise, it rarely felt crowded aside from the usual peak time at the pool or windjammer. The service was the best we have received in years of cruising and the food was more than adequate, even very good. Taking a three-night cruise, I expected sub-par service and was quite surprised to find the service 10/10 in all areas. I would do this again but on a B2B. Four happy cruisers ages 4-55 and that’s a hard feat to do!

I read a lot of reviews and insight prior to my trip and all I can say is - YMMV. For all I read about how crowded this cruise is, how long the lines are, and how incredible "Star Class" is, my experience doesn't align with what I read. This was a fully booked cruise and I expected it to be insanely crowded. Honestly, I never felt like this was overcrowded and didn't experience any really long lines anywhere. My only observation in that regard is that the pools could have been bigger. There are 4 tiny pools for 6000 people and that makes no sense. Apart from that, there is plenty to do. We needed a true two-bedroom suite, so our only option was the 2BR Aqua-Theater suite, which happens to be star class. We had a "shore-side genie" reach out to us about a month before sailing to start making all of our arrangements. After several emails back and forth over a 4 week period, everything the genie told me was inaccurate, and the itinerary she set up was not close to what my royal genie had at our first contact. I found the shoreside genie to be an annoying waste of time. The onboard genie was definitely helpful securing seats to shows, getting us the best tables at our restaurants, and helping us with a refund for an excursion that didn't go as planned. She also reserved the best overwater cabana at CocoCay for us, and (offered to) escort us off the ship in both ports. The zip line and ultimate abyss (giant 10 story slide) also have a priority lane for all star class guests and key holders. Having said that, you can easily make reservations for shows yourself and if you arrive 15-20 minutes prior, it was easy to get good seats. We saw folks getting better seats than the ones we had reserved just minutes before showtime...and this is on a fully booked cruise. It was also a little awkward having to chat with the genie before every dinner to go over our next plans. Getting on and off the ship was easy if you don't mind taking the stairs. Her real value was helping with accounting issues and coordinating expedited room service on demand (my sons really appreciated this). Those two things alone don't come close to justifying the cost. The 2BR ATS was a great room and the balcony is amazing. We still went to the aqua show in person and I can tell you it's much better to see it from the audience than it was from the balcony. We also hated having to walk down a long, narrow (and smelly) corridor any time we wanted to get to or from the suite. In contrast, the suite neighborhood hallways are almost 3x wider, and the rooms are spread out nicely. It was never a problem getting a table in Coastal Kitchen. The suite sun deck is also beautiful, and the bar in the suite lounge will give free drinks and beers from 11AM to 11PM daily whether you have a drink package or not. An actual pool in the suite sun deck would have been awesome, but it's still very nice up there. Only folks in suites have access, so it's much less crowded up there. I didn't see benefit to the "key" besides the internet, but again YMMV. It was easy to enter or exit the ship no matter what room you have. The Windjammer is huge. There are more than enough tables there, and so many food and drink stations that you can easily find what you want without a long wait, so the debarkation day breakfast really isn't a necessity. If you're paying slightly more than what the internet costs, the key is probably worth it for the boarding day lunch and priority access to the slide and zip line. There are also show seats allocated to key-holders, but again this isn't necessary because anyone with a reservation who shows up early can easily snag great seats. I saw this for myself and again, this was a fully booked to capacity cruise. The shows were all terrific. The aqua show is by far the best, but the ice show, "all in" production, comedy shows and game shows were all well done and a lot of fun. The promenade is very lively all day long and especially at night. The boardwalk offers a little of everything with a sports bar, carousel, a couple of dining options and of course the aqua theater. Central Park is a beautiful place to walk around and has some high end restaurants. The Trellis Bar is a great place to sip a few drinks and soak in the atmosphere. Chops, Izumi, and 150 Central Park are all terrific restaurants. The best one in our opinion was Izumi, but all are terrific. The Mason Jar was so-so. Playmakers didn't really have a broad selection of sports events to choose from...the only channels they have are ESPN 1 and 2. The food there was really greasy and meh. Giovanni's overlooks Central Park and has outstanding food. Nassau is a giant garage sale (excellent description by the comedian on board), the excursions there were very disorganized. We ended up walking around the newer shopping plaza there and did venture on to Bay Street; it was a nice change of pace from the ship, but we would have been fine staying on board for the day. CocoCay was beautiful, but they seem to cancel just about every excursion there due to wind and don't notify anyone. It would be great to send push notifications via the app when an excursion is canceled. We walked all the way to the jet ski stand just to learn that the tour was canceled for the day. All in all, it is a great ship. For us, we feel like we'd have gotten maximum value by booking doing the following: -Book two neighboring grand suites and opening the balcony between them so that they are effectively adjoining rooms. This would have given us two bedrooms and two bathrooms, while granting us access to the suite neighborhood. -Get the key if it's slightly more than the internet costs. The additional perks would cost very little since we need the internet anyway. -Reserve the premium restaurants that we want individually. Pass on the unlimited dining package. -as for the drink package, it really depends on what you're looking to do. We definitely had our fair share of drinks, but that was mostly due to taking advantage of star class. Again, it's a great ship, but a ship this size should probably go on longer (7 night) cruises to better destinations than Nassau.

Embarkation and disembarkation were smooth. The ship staff were very friendly and helpful in solving problems. As expected, the ship was quite crowded during spring break. There were excellent dining options and very good service. Entertainment choices were plentiful and of super quality. The evening "Showtime Spectacular" was a musical and light show extravaganza. Similarly, the AquaTheater show was amazing with young, athletic men and women performing incredible stunts. The evening dance options could have started a bit earlier (say, 10-10:30 instead of 11:30-11:45). The cabin was clean and well maintained by ship steward who was attentive to our needs. The indoor cabin which was located forward on Deck 8 was also very quiet. We did a specialty dinner at 150 Central. The food was fantastic although the portions a bit smaller than expected considering the upcharge. Still, it was probably worth it. The RCCL excursion to Pearl Island was NOT as expected and I cannot recommend same.