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

[nelblu]

16 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

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

3 ladies sitting next to us in the MDR on the 3 night sail of August 23, raved about the experience.  They got at a reasonable price of about $72 pp.

[mandyleighflies]

Following! We are sailing on Utopia 10/05 in a JS and have RR booked as well as CP and Hideaway beach. Can't wait to get a preview of the ship through your live! 

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

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

Great to hear.

 

The Birds are following you around this season (the Encore, now we will be on the Utopia in a few weeks). We will be eagerly following your live post. (And we're on the Seashore later in the year 🙂, so we'll have to check out your two live posts - we were on her sister, the Seascape in March). The Birds are sailing on the World America in the YC next year, hope to see you there. 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

Great to hear.

 

The Birds are following you around this season (the Encore, now we will be on the Utopia in a few weeks). We will be eagerly following your live post. (And we're on the Seashore later in the year 🙂, so we'll have to check out your two live posts - we were on her sister, the Seascape in March). The Birds are sailing on the World America in the YC next year, hope to see you there. 

You have excellent taste in cruises! 😆

 

I appreciate that you enjoy sailing on all the different cruise lines like we do...too much to experience out there to limit ourselves to one!

[BirdTravels]

9 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

You have excellent taste in cruises! 😆

 

I appreciate that you enjoy sailing on all the different cruise lines like we do...too much to experience out there to limit ourselves to one!

We are Diamond on NCL, Diamond on Royal, Diamond on MSC, Platinum on Cunard, and low level on other cruise lines.

 

We started cruising when there were hard wooden loungers that had to be rented and you tipped the pool attendant to set them up for you (minimized chair hogs). A time when you needed a suitcase for shoes because you were expected to be in a gown and tux for dinner. We're very happy not to have to do that any more. You read posts longing for the "old days",,,, not us. Even though we are [very] old, we still enjoy a good water slide... I never remember to tuck in the arms on the Abyss and always get some road rash every time I go down one. Have a great cruise! (Post Daily Compasses if you can)

Edited September 3 by BirdTravels

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

11 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

We are Diamond on NCL, Diamond on Royal, Diamond on MSC, Platinum on Cunard, and low level on other cruise lines.

 

We started cruising when there were hard wooden loungers that had to be rented and you tipped the pool attendant to set them up for you (minimized chair hogs). A time when you needed a suitcase for shoes because you were expected to be in a gown and tux for dinner. We're very happy not to have to do that any more. You read posts longing for the "old days",,,, not us. Even though we are [very] old, we still enjoy a good water slide... I never remember to tuck in the arms on the Abyss and always get some road rash every time I go down one. Have a great cruise! (Post Daily Compasses if you can)

 

You sound like who I aspire to be! Hopefully we can keep that same youthful joy for life as we gain more wisdom...I'm working hard in the gym to try and ensure we can still enjoy things like that as our bodies slow down as well! I'm definitely not a fitness guru but I know being active is more and more important as time goes on.

[RFerrington]

We are on this one as well as the 9-16 sailing.  Was able to make all of our entertainment rezzies for both cruises this morning....but only on the website.  That [useless] app didn't even show the entertainment !

 

See on in a few days !  We're on AD right now but will be back on 9-7.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

3 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

We are on this one as well as the 9-16 sailing.  Was able to make all of our entertainment rezzies for both cruises this morning....but only on the website.  That [useless] app didn't even show the entertainment !

 

See on in a few days !  We're on AD right now but will be back on 9-7.

We'll see you onboard!

 

I've learned to not even bother with the app on Royal...seems like only half the stuff on there works.

 

Celebrity's app is basically just the same thing as Royal but it seems to be better about including things vs having a bunch missing like on Royal for whatever reason.

[RFerrington]

So...what is Tribute ?  I didn't see this event on the 3 night cruise (9-13) but it's an option to book on the following, 4 night.  Will there be some yet-to-be-named Tribute band onboard for the 4 night sailings ?  I went ahead and booked it but really have no idea what it is....

[BecciBoo]

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

reasonable price of about $72

🤞

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

So...what is Tribute ?  I didn't see this event on the 3 night cruise (9-13) but it's an option to book on the following, 4 night.  Will there be some yet-to-be-named Tribute band onboard for the 4 night sailings ?  I went ahead and booked it but really have no idea what it is....

No clue other than a cover band(s) but we are signed up as well!

[Vibe]

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

So...what is Tribute ?  I didn't see this event on the 3 night cruise (9-13) but it's an option to book on the following, 4 night.  Will there be some yet-to-be-named Tribute band onboard for the 4 night sailings ?  I went ahead and booked it but really have no idea what it is....

The Tribute show on my recent Utopia 4 day cruise was the rock cover band (I don’t remember their name) that was featured in the Music Hall on the other nights.  I saw them once as the Headliner show on another ship. Not my favorite music genre however they were excellent at what they did.

 

Edited September 3 by Vibe

[nelblu]

7 hours 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!

Here’s photos of Adventure OTS joining Utopia at Coco Cay at sunrise. 

[Cruising to Retirement]

Was able to book all of the Shows today for our Sailing... Only 6 days to go.. looking forward to it..Party Hard on Utopia then relax on Serenade of the Seas afterward.. 

[SilkySal]

14 hours ago, Cruising to Retirement said:

Was able to book all of the Shows today for our Sailing... Only 6 days to go.. looking forward to it..Party Hard on Utopia then relax on Serenade of the Seas afterward.. 

My thoughts exactly! We'll be on Utopia for a B2B in February next year; after the 7 days, we will also head to Tampa to hop on the Serenade for 9 days of relaxation! Perfect!😁

[cruiselover04]

Hi! 
Just found this thread today. Currently on the Freedom but will be joining you on the Utopia for this cruise. 
 

Jenni

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

3 minutes ago, cruiselover04 said:

Hi! 
Just found this thread today. Currently on the Freedom but will be joining you on the Utopia for this cruise. 
 

Jenni

Awesome, we'll see you onboard! 

 

Feel free to say hi if you see us!

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Today is the big day! 

 

We're doing breakfast at Chef Mickey's here at the Contemporary Resort where we've stayed the past couple nights and then we're headed to Terminal 1 at Port Canaveral.

 

I read in a roll call group on a different forum about somebody who lost their passport while traveling... Heartbreaking for them! 

 

Excited to board this amazing ship... Stay tuned for details!

[Fall2010]

I’m following your review and I board Utopia at the end of the month.  I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[elizabethbp]

I am following your report as we are on Utopia next weekend.  Please let us know how you got to the Port, ie Uber, rental, etc.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

43 minutes ago, elizabethbp said:

I am following your report as we are on Utopia next weekend.  Please let us know how you got to the Port, ie Uber, rental, etc.

We took an Uber to get to the port. 

 

To go from Contemporary Resort at Disney to Terminal 1 at Port Canaveral was $128 + tip.

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Embarkation Day is always a mix of fun, excitement, and also some stress as the ship is crowded and my kids want to do everything they see! 

 

Fortunately the boarding process was smooth and uneventful. 

 

We arrived to Terminal 1 at 10:23am and it took around 10 minutes to get from the vehicle entrance to the terminal to drop off where we were met by a friendly porter who made sure our bags made it onto the ship. 

 

 

 

---

 

With our bags dropped off, we made our way from the parking garage and into the terminal.

 

 

 

---

 

Security was busy but very efficient and took us less than five minutes to clear.

 

 

---

 

We're staying in a suite so we followed the signs to the suite area

 

 

 

---

 

The suite boarding area had lots of comfortable seating and refreshments but the check-in process was so fast we didn't really have any time to enjoy it before we were ready to board the ship.

 

 

 

---

 

With our photos taken and documents checked, it was time to have our boarding passes scanned where we were told our sea passes would be waiting for us at our rooms. 

 

 

---

 

Tip: If you enjoy the cruise line photos, skip the first couple of these as you pass through the final check-in. 

 

The first couple have a line but there are multiple following those that had no line at all.

 

---

 

Having completed the embarkation process it was time to make our way up the gangway and take the final steps to board the beautiful Utopia of the Seas for our 4 day cruise!

 

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

We are currently trying take let our kids take a nap in the room before heading to the Sail Away Party but it's proven difficult as extremely loud announcements have blasted into our room 4 times in the last 20 minutes. 

 

Now that they've completed the safety announcements I'm hoping any future announcements will not be played in the room. 

 

Celebrity doesn't play these in the staterooms in my experience but it's been a bit since we've sailed on Royal so I don't remember how they handle things. 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

We boarded the ship on Deck 5 to the excitement on the promenade. 

 

It doesn't have the big, beautiful pearl the Icon has greeting you but it is a beautiful space nonetheless. 

 

 

 

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

Upon boarding, we made our way up to our room to drop our carry on bags off before exploring the ship. 

 

We're in room 17608, a 1BR Grand Suite.

 

I upgraded to this from a Sky Junior Suite so we could be located in the same area as Coastal Kitchen, the Suite Lounge, and the Suite Deck. 

 

The forward elevators/stairs only go as high as deck 16 so we made our way across the upper level of the lido deck toward the aft of the ship to continue our way to deck 17.

 

 

 

 

---

 

When we reached deck 17 we were greeted by the secure entry which was fortunately unlocked at this point since we had not yet been to our room to get our sea passes. 

 

 

---

 

The 1BR Grand Suites are fairly basic rooms but they have lots of space to spread out and have modern designs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

 

The bathroom is spacious with a double sink and a shower tub that is tall enough for most people though the glass does not extend all the way back so we will see how well it does at keeping the water in the shower. 

 

 

 

---

 

The balcony has lots of rooms with tons of furniture, including a table for 4 so we can potentially enjoy a meal from the balcony if we choose to (it will likely depend on how hot it is out there... It's extremely hot and humid today in Port Canaveral).