Success!! Booked Railway Experience on Utopia

[mandyleighflies]

After months of watching we were finally able to book on of the elusive dinner spots for the Railway experience on Utopia for our upcoming cruise in October!! While we have some time to wait, I thought I might tell others to go look and see if it just popped up for their sailing as well! 

[SilkySal]

26 minutes ago, mandyleighflies said:

After months of watching we were finally able to book on of the elusive dinner spots for the Railway experience on Utopia for our upcoming cruise in October!! While we have some time to wait, I thought I might tell others to go look and see if it just popped up for their sailing as well! 

Thanks! We've heard that the bookings for the Railway are open up through December. Sadly, ours isn't until February and I'm watching it closely! Congrats on snatching your reservation!

[EdsTinyT]

How did you book it

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, EdsTinyT said:

How did you book it

Welcome to CC. 
Typically the planner is the best way to book. 

[cruisegirl1]

After reading this, I checked for our January Utopia, and there is availability on every day of the cruise. Price is $119/pp. 

 

OP, thanks for spreading the word as lots of people are looking forward to dining there. I didn’t book. 
 

 

[mandyleighflies]

5 hours ago, EdsTinyT said:

How did you book it

 

It popped up as an option in our cruise planner on the RC website. 

[mandyleighflies]

30 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

After reading this, I checked for our January Utopia, and there is availability on every day of the cruise. Price is $119/pp. 

 

OP, thanks for spreading the word as lots of people are looking forward to dining there. I didn’t book. 
 

 

 

You're welcome!! I love to help where I can! I'm going to log back in tomorrow morning and see if our sailing is sold out yet. 

[BecciBoo]

7 hours ago, SilkySal said:

Sadly, ours isn't until February

And ours is NEXT Sept. '25~  I'll be watching like a hawk.

[little britain]

1 hour ago, cruisegirl1 said:

After reading this, I checked for our January Utopia, and there is availability on every day of the cruise. Price is $119/pp. 

 

OP, thanks for spreading the word as lots of people are looking forward to dining there. I didn’t book. 
 

 

It’s not $238 for 2 - it works out at $289 for 2 including grats 

Edited August 6 by little britain

[cruisegirl1]

13 minutes ago, little britain said:

It’s not $238 for 2 - it works out at $289 for 2 including grats 

Correct. I forgot to include grats. I didn’t purchase it so didn’t get a chance to look at the final price.   Seems to be popular. I don’t get the appeal.   

Edited August 6 by cruisegirl1

[silentbob007]

Availability still for all times/days on my 3-day in November.  I think the price has chilled the enthusiasm a bit.

[SilkySal]

2 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

And ours is NEXT Sept. '25~  I'll be watching like a hawk.

Tom talked me into writing an email to Mr Bayley explaining the problem of opportunity for some higher C&A members and UDP purchasers that  they might miss out on dining at the Royal Railway and something should be put in place to offer it a few days before opening reservations to the general public. Not an accusatory email, just an informational one to consider Royal's loyal cruisers. Not sure if anything will come of it but I did try for all of us. Fingers crossed!🤞 Good luck and cheers!

[perfect match]

I just looked at our January 2025 sailing on Utopia and found no sign  of Royal Railway. It wasn’t even listed as sold out. Doesn’t bother me much because I wasn’t planning on booking at $119/pp anyway but wondered if it was available for those old king to book. I hope that those of you who are looking to book are able to do so and that you enjoy the experience. I also hope those of you who do book come back and tell us what you thought of the experience. 

[mandyleighflies]

The price is pretty high and I even mentioned that to my husband but he insisted that he wanted to try it out. I will do write a full Live Report when we sail so no worries, y'all will basically be at the table with us!! 

[twangster]

Check back from time to time to see if the price drops.  If they set the price too high and folks avoid it due to the cost they will put it "on sale" to stimulate bookings.

[BecciBoo]

11 hours ago, perfect match said:

I wasn’t planning on booking at $119/pp

I think the key is to book to secure your spot and then watch for sales.

[md80fan]

I wish they offered two options. One sitting without the show and actors doing the fake hold up and robbery. Then you could choose. Maybe in the future this will be an option. I would like to try this but just sit in peace and quiet and look at the scenery on the tv screens while having food and drink themed to the wild west without the dinner show. Then offer another sitting or time that includes the dinner show for the people that want to partake in a dinner theater. I like the concept and themes but can do with out the theater bit. They shoukd be able to offer both or maybe add a lunch option without the show

[Sail2k]

50 minutes ago, md80fan said:

I wish they offered two options. One sitting without the show and actors doing the fake hold up and robbery. Then you could choose. Maybe in the future this will be an option. I would like to try this but just sit in peace and quiet and look at the scenery on the tv screens while having food and drink themed to the wild west without the dinner show. Then offer another sitting or time that includes the dinner show for the people that want to partake in a dinner theater. I like the concept and themes but can do with out the theater bit. They shoukd be able to offer both or maybe add a lunch option without the show

 

They do plan on doing that type of thing...they plan on starting soon a different dining experience without the wild west theme.  They describe it as a more romantic / date night event.  Also they are going to be doing train rides for wine tastings that go thru Napa Valley and also a burbon tasting is also in the works.  

 

[RobInMN]

57 minutes ago, md80fan said:

I wish they offered two options. One sitting without the show and actors doing the fake hold up and robbery. Then you could choose. Maybe in the future this will be an option. I would like to try this but just sit in peace and quiet and look at the scenery on the tv screens while having food and drink themed to the wild west without the dinner show. Then offer another sitting or time that includes the dinner show for the people that want to partake in a dinner theater. I like the concept and themes but can do with out the theater bit. They shoukd be able to offer both or maybe add a lunch option without the show

In addition to what @Sail2k said, here's what the RCI rep told the group Trev & Chels were with on the inaugural?/pre? cruise they were on (should start at 44:03):

 

 

[PhillyFan33579]

19 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

After reading this, I checked for our January Utopia, and there is availability on every day of the cruise. Price is $119/pp. 

 

OP, thanks for spreading the word as lots of people are looking forward to dining there. I didn’t book. 
 

 

I have several friends (couples) who ate there who said while the experience was interesting, it wasn’t worth $79. Based on their feedback, I would not pay $119 to eat there 

[silentbob007]

As noted above, I booked but will look for price drops and may still cancel anyway before sailing.  I know ... it doesn't help that some have booked it at the outrageous pricing.  I believe it was $50 for a child.

[SilkySal]

On 8/6/2024 at 5:12 PM, BecciBoo said:

And ours is NEXT Sept. '25~  I'll be watching like a hawk.

Did you read the so-called "trick" to booking the Railway on another thread? Go to your sailing, click on dining and on one of the specialty restaurants open to book, like Chops. Go up to the URL and change CHOP to RAIL in the URL. It should open up the booking for the Railway. Yesterday, this did not work for our February cruise but, today, wallah, it did! However, it listed the Railway as "sold out" for the entire 4-night cruise! What?!! I am not a happy camper about this.

 

BTW, Royal's office (Nicole) just called me to discuss the problem but to no avail. She said that my February booking should open up around the end of September/first of November, so to try again. She could not guarantee that those who purchased the UDP or anyone for that matter would be given special consideration. Oh well, I tried. Maybe the P's or the suites will have better luck!

[Surfguyxxx]

I've a Utopia sailing on 09/30/2024 and when I try to do the Railroad booking it says "We’re stuffed! Reservations are currently not available".  Are they sold out or a glitch in the system?????  Also, I've purchased the UDP already but thinking I should book this beforehand as it'll probably be sold out; if it's not already.  I'll just take an obc towards the purchase price. Any suggestions other than keep trying?  Thanks.

[SilkySal]

22 hours ago, Surfguyxxx said:

I've a Utopia sailing on 09/30/2024 and when I try to do the Railroad booking it says "We’re stuffed! Reservations are currently not available".  Are they sold out or a glitch in the system?????  Also, I've purchased the UDP already but thinking I should book this beforehand as it'll probably be sold out; if it's not already.  I'll just take an obc towards the purchase price. Any suggestions other than keep trying?  Thanks.

We are in the same position with you and also have the UDP. Last time I talked to the executive office, she explained to me that they are currently working on that problem. They want to make reservations first available to those who purchased the UDP, and open it up to the rest of the cruisers a day or so later. That may be the reason why we are unable to book the Royal Railway, as it seems to quickly sell out. I noticed that your cruise is this month and ours is not until next February. I hope this problem quickly resolves for both of us! However, I still check everyday to see if I make reservations.

[BirdTravels]

On 8/6/2024 at 9:05 AM, mandyleighflies said:

After months of watching we were finally able to book on of the elusive dinner spots for the Railway experience on Utopia for our upcoming cruise in October!! While we have some time to wait, I thought I might tell others to go look and see if it just popped up for their sailing as well! 

Ours has been open a couple of weeks. Still not sold out. Seems like low interest.