SilkySal Posted July 21 #76 Share Posted July 21 I've been hearing that the Utopia Royal Railway Station has been selling out as soon as it appears open for booking. Some are saying that they mistakenly put it on-line and that you are only supposed to book the Railway on board. Can you check and verify what's what? TIA! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare h20skibum Posted July 22 #77 Share Posted July 22 2 hours ago, SilkySal said: I've been hearing that the Utopia Royal Railway Station has been selling out as soon as it appears open for booking. Some are saying that they mistakenly put it on-line and that you are only supposed to book the Railway on board. Can you check and verify what's what? TIA! on our sailing, it was available two days ago. Sold out in less than a day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 22 Author #78 Share Posted July 22 5 hours ago, SilkySal said: I've been hearing that the Utopia Royal Railway Station has been selling out as soon as it appears open for booking. Some are saying that they mistakenly put it on-line and that you are only supposed to book the Railway on board. Can you check and verify what's what? TIA! From what I have heard it is only working at half capacity due to some technical issues. We haven’t tried it but the station on deck 4 is pretty cool. Hopefully, it gets cracking at full blast soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilkySal Posted July 22 #79 Share Posted July 22 2 hours ago, h20skibum said: on our sailing, it was available two days ago. Sold out in less than a day. I read that also but some think that putting it on-line to reserve pre-boarding was a mistake, which will probably be honored. They have since not allowed any more booking pre-cruise, so I guess we'll see what happens next. Hopefully, someone can tell us if we will have to wait until we board to make reservations for the Royal Railway. We bought the UDP for our 4 night and we want to reserve the Railway for my birthday. Fingers crossed! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 22 Author #80 Share Posted July 22 Day 3 Update: Today we just hung around the ship. It was pretty overcast and rained a little in the AM and then a bunch after sail away. It was a pretty early port call as all aboard was 2:30pm. I don’t know how many people got off but it must have been a brutal beach day. Ship didn’t feel too crowded for a port day but we are sailing at less than 100%. Johnny Rockets is still a hidden gem for breakfast. Tonight we had hibachi for dinner and was fantastic. There was still some availability for reservations and comparatively there at least 6 more hibachi tables then other oasis class ships. Spent some time in the casino tonight. Slots look updated, table games seemed to have a variety and table minimums ranged from 10 and upwards. Didn’t win any thing but we still have 4 more days to try to pay off our next cruise 😀 Saw about half of the ice show Youtopia. Enjoyed what I saw and looking forward to seeing the whole thing later this week. We left the ice show because the wife wanted to do the bon voyage balloon drop. First time I’ve seen a balloon drop on the last night of the cruise. Maybe it’s a new thing or maybe it’s a one and done because I don’t see it in the next cruise planner in the app but who knows as this one showed up unannounced other than the balloons appearing in the Promenade. After the balloon drop we headed to the silent disco toga party. Sheets were provided for those who wanted to get into the festivities but they weren’t required as many were in their regular clothes. It was kind of funny watching some guests fashion togas from the sheets. IMO the solarium is a cool space for the silent disco. The bar was stocked and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. One thing I have noticed on this cruise is that there are many dancers from Royal Caribbean (wearing their name badges) at different venues serving as sort of an “atmosphere dancer”. It’s possible I’ve never noticed this before or it’s possible it’s new on Utopia to keep the party vibe in place. Tomorrow is turn around day. In my opinion I have been a little disappointed in the communication. There is about 500 B2Bers allegedly. We didn’t receive the standard letter in our stateroom and when we went down to guest services they first told us to head to the royal theatre at 7:30. When I asked why so early they then changed it to 8:30. Feels like with so many staying on board the communication should have been a little more clear. Weren’t instructed to take passports etc. but as this isn’t our first B2B experience we know what to expect. I hope others experiences were clearer but I guess we will find out tomorrow. Hopefully, things are smooth and they are prepared for what I gather is a usually big B2B crowd. Glad we aren't heading home tomorrow as we aren’t ready to leave! More tomorrow… 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted July 22 #81 Share Posted July 22 4 minutes ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: We didn’t receive the standard letter in our stateroom In case you need it for reference! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bajathree Posted July 22 #82 Share Posted July 22 8 hours ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: From what I have heard it is only working at half capacity due to some technical issues. Shocking....lol 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BecciBoo Posted July 22 #83 Share Posted July 22 On 7/19/2024 at 7:58 PM, Hooked.on.Royal said: Walked right on the ship at about 10:15. That's our plan...gotta get that Royal Railway rez. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BecciBoo Posted July 22 #84 Share Posted July 22 On 7/20/2024 at 7:59 PM, h20skibum said: No way we would fly to Florida for just a three day cruise We would since we always fly free...thank you Amex 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare twangster Posted July 22 #85 Share Posted July 22 9 hours ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: From what I have heard it is only working at half capacity due to some technical issues. We haven’t tried it but the station on deck 4 is pretty cool. Hopefully, it gets cracking at full blast soon. New concept on a new ship on the inaugural sailing. If this is the biggest issue on an inaugural voyage that's pretty good. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare little britain Posted July 22 #86 Share Posted July 22 Just watched the blog lengthy utube video - it certainly is a lot more 'colourful' than your average RCI ship - but wow, that outside seating on Giovannis looks incredible. Not sure if I would like to be in those first BW balconies though! I guess they could always throw you a bread stick! 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare little britain Posted July 22 #87 Share Posted July 22 21 hours ago, AshleyDillo said: Gotta keep up with the theme to match the frat party.. Only 30 mins instead of the usual 60..? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted July 22 #88 Share Posted July 22 1 hour ago, little britain said: Only 30 mins instead of the usual 60..? You can't churn as many people through in a day if it's longer 😂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUgirl Posted July 22 #89 Share Posted July 22 Could you please post the show schedule for the 4 nighter if/when you have a minute? Thanks so much for sharing all of this info!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 23 Author #90 Share Posted July 23 5 hours ago, AUgirl said: Could you please post the show schedule for the 4 nighter if/when you have a minute? Thanks so much for sharing all of this info!! Here you go.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 23 Author #91 Share Posted July 23 Thoughts from turn around day: Today was turn around day. I have to give Royal credit as there were almost 500 B2B cruisers and the process was fairly seamless. We arrived at the royal theatre at 8:30 picked up our new seapass cards (luckily we have the same room on both cruises) and there was a small set up of danishes, coffee, teas, water etc to keep the masses at bay 😀. At about 9:15am the Hotel director made an announcement on how the process would work. Basically we all were instructed to stay together as we all needed to clear the ship and customs as a group. We walked off the ship through customs and back on the ship and it took about an hour. We were back on the ship at about 10:15. The hotel director said 500 is about as large of a group as they have seen. If you are doing a B2B I would expect a smaller number. For Thanksgiving 2023 on Allure there was 80 B2B cruisers for perspective so probably somewhere between 80-500 for future sailings. After getting back on the ship and handling all the embarkation day protocols we headed to Mason Jar for brunch. The food was good the service was ehhh but I’ll cut them some slack as it is clear the ramp up in guest count has begun. Later, we took the kiddos to Playmakers where our waiter told us there is about 5200 passengers with about 800 minors . According to him there was 4700 on the first sailing and about 500 minors. So take it for what it’s worth. Just on my observations the ship is a little more crowded and there are a lot more families with kids. It makes sense that the 4 nighters will have more families. It still is kind of funny to hear them say on this cruise “welcome to the biggest weekend” when it’s Monday but I guess everyday is a Friday on a cruise (or at least that’s what Royal is going with). The kiddos enjoyed Playmakers and so did the adults. It might be the best I have had in the fleet. Would highly recommend. The wife and I had dinner reservations at 150 Central Park. Admittedly, it’s my least favorite restaurant on board but we gave it a shot. Food was good service was excellent. One observation was that it was pretty empty. We had an 8:00 reservation and there was maybe 6 tables in the entire venue. I wonder if 150 is the right venue for the 3/4 night clientele. After dinner we saw the All in Production show. It was good and there is a cool little number with drones that is pretty but I wouldn’t rush back to see it. Also saw the ice show in its entirety and really enjoyed it. After the ice show we stopped by the “Royal Kappa Delta” party in the Attic. It was only 11:15 but it didn’t remind me of any college party I had been to in my day 😀. There were a few beer pong tables set up and people seemed to be enjoying themselves but it wasn’t rowdy. Depending on the cruise I can see it being a thing but I wouldn’t stress much about it ruining your cruise. On our way back to our room we watched a little of the “one hit wonder party”. Pretty much the same thing you’ve seen on other Oasis class ships. People were dancing but nothing outrageous. Tomorrow is Nassau and hopefully we get a better weather day than yesterday. We have a little more time in port so hopefully the ship we will a little more quiet. Fingers crossed 🤞. More tomorrow… 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare perfect match Posted July 23 #92 Share Posted July 23 Thank you to everyone for sharing their experience on Utopia. We will be on in January, a weekday 4 nighter in attempt to enjoy the ship without the full on weekend party crowd. Nothing wrong with it if that’s your thing but DH and I were done with that scene many years ago. Maybe it will bring back some memories from those days ….. that is, if I can remember them! 😂😱😜 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vibe Posted July 23 #93 Share Posted July 23 @Hooked.on.Royal When were you able to make reservations for the shows? My cruise is in three weeks, the option to reserve shows is not available yet. Thanks for sharing your cruise experience with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BecciBoo Posted July 23 #94 Share Posted July 23 (edited) 23 hours ago, little britain said: Just watched the blog lengthy utube video - it certainly is a lot more 'colourful' than your average RCI ship - but wow, that outside seating on Giovannis looks incredible. Not sure if I would like to be in those first BW balconies though! I guess they could always throw you a bread stick! But really when are you on your balcony during lunch or dinner times...I would certainly eat out there! We have to wait a whole year for our cruise 😝 Edited July 23 by BecciBoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBeardedCruiser Posted July 23 #95 Share Posted July 23 9 hours ago, Hooked.on.Royal said: The wife and I had dinner reservations at 150 Central Park. Admittedly, it’s my least favorite restaurant on board but we gave it a shot. Food was good service was excellent. One observation was that it was pretty empty. We had an 8:00 reservation and there was maybe 6 tables in the entire venue. I wonder if 150 is the right venue for the 3/4 night clientele. First, thank you so much for your awesome review of this new ship! I've been living vicariously through you 😀🎉🥳 I'm just curious... Why is 150 Central Park not your favorite? I've never had dinner there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BecciBoo Posted July 23 #96 Share Posted July 23 10 hours ago, perfect match said: Thank you to everyone for sharing their experience on Utopia. We will be on in January, a weekday 4 nighter in attempt to enjoy the ship without the full on weekend party crowd. Nothing wrong with it if that’s your thing but DH and I were done with that scene many years ago. Maybe it will bring back some memories from those days ….. that is, if I can remember them! 😂😱😜 OUrs is Sept. of '25 but Monday thru Friday...hopefully the same lack of kids. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BecciBoo Posted July 23 #97 Share Posted July 23 2 hours ago, TheBeardedCruiser said: I've never had dinner there. We've done it several times on different Oasis class ships and we loved it every time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bead Pirate Posted July 23 #98 Share Posted July 23 Getting off wonder on Sunday (been on this one 3 weeks). Going home for 2 weeks and then getting on Utopia for 3 weeks (B6B)... Hoping all of the turnaround days go as smoothly as this one appears to have gone. Thanks for the review! BTW Did manage to snag 2 reservations for the train so far... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 23 Author #99 Share Posted July 23 6 hours ago, Vibe said: @Hooked.on.Royal When were you able to make reservations for the shows? My cruise is in three weeks, the option to reserve shows is not available yet. Thanks for sharing your cruise experience with us. We made reservations on board for both cruises because they weren’t available prior. Hopefully that changes but I think they are still trying to fine tune when shows will be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hooked.on.Royal Posted July 23 Author #100 Share Posted July 23 5 hours ago, TheBeardedCruiser said: First, thank you so much for your awesome review of this new ship! I've been living vicariously through you 😀🎉🥳 I'm just curious... Why is 150 Central Park not your favorite? I've never had dinner there. I think we just like the other restaurants better. I’d probably rank it chops, gios, hibachi, mason jar, Izumi, hooked, then 150. Someone’s gotta be last 🤣🤣🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now