Utopia of the Seas Short Cruises??

[Pratique]

1 minute ago, A&L_Ont said:

Great fuel savings compared to a full eastern or western sailings as well. 
 

They should have you on board as an educational host to provide information on CoCo Cay. 

Or they could just hand out virtual reality headsets and never leave port to save even more fuel.

[lcpagejr]

15 minutes ago, Pratique said:

I don't see the appeal of B2B with only one sea day and two days at each of Nassau and CocoCay plus a turnaround day at PC.

Apparently RCL is betting on the appeal being the ship and Coco Cay which will result on passengers spending most their $$ in RCL venues. I for one will stay clear of this large of ship with an amusement park type itinerary and 6000 passengers fighting to use the amenities on board and at Coco

Edited June 25, 2023 by lcpagejr

[orville99]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

Or they could just hand out virtual reality headsets and never leave port to save even more fuel.

AI = Artificial Itinerary😇

[Pratique]

1 minute ago, lcpagejr said:

Apparently RCL is betting on the appeal being the ship and Coco Cay which will result on passengers spending most their $$ in RCL venues. I for one will stay clear of this large of ship with an amusement park type itinerary and 6000 passengers fighting to use the amenities on board and at Coco

It will be even worse if they are sharing Coco with another ship on the same day. Whatever novelty there is with a B2B will wear off by Day 5. I see these cruises as appetizers for the uninitiated or for folks who can only spare a weekend to cruise or who are combining it with a land vacation in Florida. Then it makes a little more sense. But B2B, not for me.

[soremekun]

22 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

Great fuel savings compared to a full eastern or western sailings as well. 
 

They should have you on board as an educational host to provide information on CoCo Cay. 

The latest: I think I found out who the manufacturer of the electric shuttles buses is.

Edited June 25, 2023 by soremekun

[cruise_co]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The 3-4 day market is not just a bunch of first time cruisers. There are plenty of regular and seasoned cruisers just taking the long weekend approach to vacations.

Exactly. Our preference is Oasis class ships. We love, love this new itinerary on a preferred class ship for a short winter break. I booked a January 4 day to get away from Colorado cold for a few days and spend a day or two on a beach.  We have 5 other "regular" cruises booked but I can see us booking more of the short Oasis class cruises for a quick cold weather get away.

[Rackham]

13 minutes ago, orville99 said:

AI = Artificial Itinerary😇

Honestly, a VR app which allows users to explore Icon and Utopia's public spaces, and a 20-30 minute, 360 degree video production for each ship in the style of a souvenir video, wouldn't be such a bad idea from a marketing perspective. Capture the imagination of new, potential, cruisers and might encourage bookings for people who are on the fence about the latest ships in Royal's fleet.

Edited June 25, 2023 by Rackham

[OCSC Mike]

28 minutes ago, Pratique said:

I don't see the appeal of B2B with only one sea day and two days at each of Nassau and CocoCay plus a turnaround day at PC.

 

Then it's not for you. We did one of those last year on Indy and had a great time enjoying the ship and CocoCay twice b/c we enjoy sailing for the ship and love CocoCay.

 

It will be even more enjoyable for us on Utopia. As with many things cruise-related, different strokes...

[Pratique]

2 minutes ago, cruise_co said:

Exactly. Our preference is Oasis class ships. We love, love this new itinerary on a preferred class ship for a short winter break. I booked a January 4 day to get away from Colorado cold for a few days and spend a day or two on a beach.  We have 5 other "regular" cruises booked but I can see us booking more of the short Oasis class cruises for a quick cold weather get away.

I get that but when you spend the better part of two days flying to and from the port for just three full days on the cruise then the math (cost in terms of time and money and travel hassle) starts to look less appealing than blocking out extra time for a full seven night cruise.

[Jimbo]

I think they need to find a way to build a floating walk way from PC to Coco Cay? Would save a lot of fuel and could be  very cost effective. 🙂

 

Who needs to bother getting on and off the ship 2 times in 3  or 4 days for boarding. Takes to much time wasted when they could be making money with people on Coco Cay longer.

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, Rackham said:

Honestly, a VR app which allows users to explore Icon and Utopia's public spaces, and a 20-30 minute, 360 degree video production for each ship in the style of a souvenir video, wouldn't be such a bad idea from a marketing perspective. Capture the imagination of new, potential, cruisers and might encourage bookings for people who are on the fence about the latest ships in Royal's fleet.

True, but would much rather have them develop a series of 15 minute videos that would provide an educational and historical backdrop for each of the ports that RCL visits. If they are going to cater to families with children, at least provide something more substantive than mindless water activities. I would expect that most adults would also like to know a bit more about the countries they are visiting than just what shore excursions are available.

 

Point in fact: we just got off Mariner with one of our grandsons. When we were in Jamaica rather than take a shore excursion, we hired a pedicab to take us around Falmouth. Our grandson was fascinated by the history, and after we got back on board he facetimed his parents and repeated virtually every fact he had heard on the tour. When they asked him about Haiti and Labadee on the other hand, he drew a complete blank.

[cruise_co]

21 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

My cost for boardwalk balcony on utopia for Feb 2025, our S2S is quite a bit less per day than wonder. Just the opposite. 

We are booked on Allure B2B in September, '24, same itinerary, in a Star loft.  The 4 night is $5900, the 3 night is is $4,800. I was excited to see that for just a few hundred more, I could switch to Utopia.......in a crown loft.  I was on the phone with Royal Caribbean to switch it when my brain fart subsided and I realized that few hundred + change fee was actually way more expensive when I then had to add the DBP, UDP, and gratuities.  So, rather than spend several thousand to switch, I just used those $$$ to book an additional 4 day. Bonus, extra cruise!  Utopia was far more expensive than her geriatric sister doing the same itinerary, comparison was cruises booked on release day.

[Pratique]

7 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Then it's not for you. We did one of those last year on Indy and had a great time enjoying the ship and CocoCay twice b/c we enjoy sailing for the ship and love CocoCay.

 

It will be even more enjoyable for us on Utopia. As with many things cruise-related, different strokes...

I notice you didn't mention two days at Nassau. I presume you stay on the ship? Which is fine but I'd rather be at sea than docked. I'd rather see a seven night itinerary with two stops at Coco. Didn't they try that at one time? My memory is fuzzy.

[cruise_co]

2 minutes ago, Pratique said:

I get that but when you spend the better part of two days flying to and from the port for just three full days on the cruise then the math (cost in terms of time and money and travel hassle) starts to look less appealing than blocking out extra time for a full seven night cruise.

Colorado is only a 3 1/2 hour flight to Orlando. We can be in Port Canaveral by noon for some beach time and lunch at Fish Lips. The 4 day also gives us the opportunity to tack on some beach time, depending on the monthly temperature, in Coco Beach over the weekend if we care to.  We much prefer the Coco Beach area to South Beach where we would go on Allure.

 

For us, it makes us extremely happy. I understand that others don't feel that way. We now have the opportunity to do short getaways, enjoy Coastal Kitchen and the ship without having to commit to a full 7 day cruise. For my husband's work, that is a huge win for us.

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

I notice you didn't mention two days at Nassau. I presume you stay on the ship? Which is fine but I'd rather be at sea than docked. I'd rather see a seven night itinerary with two stops at Coco. Didn't they try that at one time? My memory is fuzzy.

 

Yes, we stay on the ship, and we'd rather be docked b/c people get off and empty out the ship (although plenty stay on b/c, well, it's Nassau). Just another personal preference thing, no right or wrong answers here.

 

It's probably worth noting that many people seem excited about the beach club RC is building not far from Nassau. I suspect many will go there once it's built. I'd need to see the price first.

 

Also, PC is an hour drive for us. If I were flying, that would make a difference I'm sure.

 

Not sure if they ever did a 7-nighter with 2 CocoCay stops but we'd obviously like that even more than manufacturing one with the 3/4 B2B. Highly unlikely to happen going forward with even more big ships going to CocoCay now of course.

[Pratique]

3 minutes ago, cruise_co said:

Colorado is only a 3 1/2 hour flight to Orlando. We can be in Port Canaveral by noon for some beach time and lunch at Fish Lips.

How does that work with the two hour time change? What time do you need to be at the Denver airport? Isn't that like a 5:00 am flight out of Denver?

[cruise_co]

13 minutes ago, Pratique said:

I notice you didn't mention two days at Nassau. I presume you stay on the ship? Which is fine but I'd rather be at sea than docked. I'd rather see a seven night itinerary with two stops at Coco. Didn't they try that at one time? My memory is fuzzy.

For us, who are loving this itinerary, I highly doubt we stay on the ship since we are cruising for beach time.  We may go to Margaritaville or enjoy the beach at Atlantis or Baha Mar. Or we may choose to stay on the ship to explore a bit more, treating Nassau as a sea day if we need it. I love that option.  The options will be even better when the RCL beach club opens. This gives us a warm weather option to a winter weekend in the mountains.  Since we are not huge skiers, this is preferable to us as we love cruising.   Everyone has different wishes. We just happen to be in  the demographic Royal Caribbean is marketing to with the short cruises on newer, bigger ships.

Edited June 25, 2023 by cruise_co

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

How does that work with the two hour time change? What time do you need to be at the Denver airport? Isn't that like a 5:00 am flight out of Denver?

Yes. There are a few flights to MCO in the 5-6am hour.

[cruise_co]

5 minutes ago, Pratique said:

How does that work with the two hour time change? What time do you need to be at the Denver airport? Isn't that like a 5:00 am flight out of Denver?

The 6:25am flight gets into Orlando before noon. So maybe be in Port Canaveral by 1:30. Denver has TSA appointments so you only have to arrive 30 minutes before boarding. It makes those early flights much more palatable.

[Pratique]

Just now, smokeybandit said:

Yes. There are a few flights to MCO in the 5-6am hour.

That seems to make for a very long day. I used to live in Westminster. It would take me a while to drive out to DIA  even and that was before 9/11 and the need to arrive at the terminal well before the flight. So getting up at 2:00 am to make a 5:00 am flight would burn me out by the time I got to the ship. But I'm not as young as I used to be.

[Oceansaway17]

12 hours ago, lcpagejr said:

Why would RCL build a behemoth ship and only sail her on 3/4 night cruises??  Seriously ...you won't be able to enjoy the ship nor experience all its amenities and areas.

To compete with DCL Wish in PC

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

7 minutes ago, cruise_co said:

I highly doubt we stay on the ship since we are cruising for beach time.  We may go to Margaritaville or enjoy the beach at Atlantis or Baha Mar. It will be even better when the RCL beach club opens. This gives us a warm weather option to a winter weekend in the mountains.  Since we are not huge skiers, this is preferable to us as we love cruising.   Everyone has different wishes. We just happen to be in  the demographic Royal Caribbean is marketing to with the short cruises on newer, bigger ships.

I'm sure many people outside of cruise critic would agree with you as well. These boards are pretty populated with folks who enjoy the more "traditional" style of cruises.

[cruise_co]

5 minutes ago, Pratique said:

That seems to make for a very long day. I used to live in Westminster. It would take me a while to drive out to DIA  even and that was before 9/11 and the need to arrive at the terminal well before the flight. So getting up at 2:00 am to make a 5:00 am flight would burn me out by the time I got to the ship. But I'm not as young as I used to be.

Things have changed drastically since pre 911. Denver TSA now has appointments so you only have to arrive 30 minutes before boarding, less if you are not in concourse C. With the Northwest Parkway/E470, you can now be at DIA in less than 30 minutes from Westminster. Even during rush hour, the Northwest Parkway is crickets at 80 mph.

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by cruise_co

[Pratique]

Just now, cruise_co said:

The 6:25am flight gets into Orlando before noon. So maybe be in Port Canaveral by 1:30. Denver has TSA appointments so you only have to arrive 30 minutes before boarding. It makes those early flights much more palatable.

Yes the TSA shortcuts help. As long as it's not snowing I guess I could see trying that. I lived in Denver when DIA opened and as much as I love the airport it is huge and it wasn't a quick trip from my apartment to the airplane including the drive, checking in, getting through security, taking the train out to the airside and then inevitably having to walk to the farthest gate (always my luck it is the last gate). We always fly in the day before a cruise because there are too many risks trying to make it the same day. Too much anxiety.

[cruise_co]

13 minutes ago, Pratique said:

Yes the TSA shortcuts help. As long as it's not snowing I guess I could see trying that. I lived in Denver when DIA opened and as much as I love the airport it is huge and it wasn't a quick trip from my apartment to the airplane including the drive, checking in, getting through security, taking the train out to the airside and then inevitably having to walk to the farthest gate (always my luck it is the last gate). We always fly in the day before a cruise because there are too many risks trying to make it the same day. Too much anxiety.

We always fly Southwest, so are always in Concourse C. Paying for a cruise on the Southwest card always ensures enough points to book the flight for the next cruise 😁  They just expanded Concourse C so the walk is forever. We flew to PC last August and they hadn't put in the moving walkways yet. It took us forever to get to the last gate. I know they fly out of the other 50 gates, but we always happen to be in the last 20 in the new section which is practically in Kansas. We fly a lot as our daughter is on a travel sports team and it seems every place we go is from the new section.  

Edited June 25, 2023 by cruise_co