Standard warning: My intro posts tend to be TLDR.
Intro
As most people reading this are aware, we just did our first Utopia B2B in early June. Even though Utopia is very similar to Wonder (which we've sailed five times), the small differences and inclusion of new shows to see made it a pretty different cruise than our past few on Wonder. While our general routine didn't change, I did spend a good amount of time checking out what was new or different from Wonder. I made my way through most of the Pesky Parrot drink menu, we saw every show (some twice), we ate several meals in the WJ (which has some significant differences in terms of food selection), we skipped the MDR entirely, I tried most of the Spare Tire menu, we ate in GK's new location on deck 11, etc. It was definitely nice to have new shows to see and the nuances of a new ship to explore but my favorite part after all of that is the end result. I now have my (new) favorites as well certain things that I now consider one and dones.
I really like being very familiar with a ship. I'm sure others prefer exploration and variety but that's just how my mind works. So now that I have all this firsthand information, I can't wait to return, skip most of the exploring and taste-testing (although I skipped 1-2 Parrot drinks I'll go back to try), and head straight for my favorites. All that said, we will actually be trying a few new experiences, but more on that in the dining section.
Cabin
We have the same exact interior on deck 10 forward as last cruise. It was chosen for location which we knew we liked from Wonder but now we know specific details about it. The mattress was fine for me but a bit too hard for my wife so she's going to ask for an extra blanket to sleep on. The shower was great (and had a small repair made during our last cruise). The cooler is a good one that actually gets/keeps stuff pretty cold. Overall, we had no major issues with it. On a related note, unless they moved him, we will have the same cabin attendant (also named Mike) who was very nice and efficient so that's another small plus.
Itinerary
Obviously we're going to Nassau and CocoCay again (twice) but this one is a 3/4 and leaves on a Friday (the first was a 4/3). We saw a slight difference between the 4N and 3N legs last time. The 4N was full of families and people of all ages and felt like any other June cruise. The 3N seemed to have less kids and was a bit more of a party crowd but there was nothing overly crazy about the behavior (at least where we spent our time). Judging by the mentions of kids in both FB groups for this one, I think it's possible that the 3N may be more similar to the 4N this time but we'll find out. What I expect to prefer about the 3/4 over the 4/3 is that we will end with a sea day as opposed to a CocoCay day. I've always liked ending with a leisurely sea day to just chill, go around having some of my favorite food/drink items for the last time, packing whenever (although we pack pretty quickly and always use self-assist so we can leave most of it for the end of the night), etc. We will again stay on the ship in Nassau and spend our CocoCay time in our usual spot by the Oasis Lagoon.
Day 1 - PC (Embarkation)
Day 2 - Nassau
Day 3 - CocoCay
Day 4 - PC (Turnaround Day)
Day 5 - Nassau
Day 6 - CocoCay
Day 7 - Sea Day
Day 8 - PC (Debarkation)
Having been at CocoCay with two Oasis class ships before, it's never a big concern which ship is there with us. We get off the ship early and watch as it doesn't get busy until after 10am. That said, we had two very good draws last time (Grandeur and Jewel). We weren't as lucky this time but we'll just try to make sure we get off first thing. We will be joined by Oasis on the first leg and Freedom on the second.
Entertainment
Entertainment reservations opened long before our June B2B so I again have every show booked on both legs. We already know we're not seeing All In again but I kept the reservations anyway (we still need to see the last 10 minutes that we missed due to a stage malfunction but that will likely wait until next year with the family who has never seen it). I can definitely see us going to Aqua80TOO twice again and the ice show once or twice (the cast was changing after our last cruise). We'll go to Name That Tune again b/c it's really just a game show and we always go to adult comedy (a 2nd time will depend on whether either of the comedians change in between legs). Beyond that, we don't have many set plans. Other stuff like Love & Marriage or Perfect Couple or nightly musicians will depend on how we feel and what we're in the mood for. The second leg also has a new wrinkle that could affect our post-dinner plans.
Dining
If you've been reading my post-cruise ramblings in my June blog, you already know what the new wrinkle is. Our original plan was to use a BOGO for GK, have burgers at Playmakers one night, and switch MJ brunch to dinner (with another BOGO). That's been our usual specialty lineup for quite a while and I was very content with all the seafood and Indian food in the WJ on Utopia. My wife had a bit more trouble with the WJ but since she only likes one of the MDR menus on Utopia, she made do. Fast forward to June 12th and while checking random stuff in the CP as I always do, I was shocked to find the UDP on sale for 55% off!
For Utopia, that brought it down to under $30/day pp before gratuity. We've never had the UDP before and I've had some concern over it being too much food even for me... but there's no way I could pass up that price. I booked it for both legs and we then spent a while debating if we wanted to just try it for the 4N leg rather than both. It's clearly a good deal on paper and I was on the fence but my wife agreed it would likely be too much food and said she really didn't care about finding stuff for the first three days knowing how much we'd be eating on the last four. Her opinion coupled with the fact that I was looking forward to the WJ seafood and the other included venues before the sale appeared led us to eventually drop the 3N leg. I also realized that we might as well book the MDR under MTD for night 3 since Bon Voyage is the one acceptable menu on Utopia for my wife and I can still go get seafood/Indian in WJ before and/or after.
We kept the 4N leg over the 3N because the one sea day is the only time lunch is offered at restaurants at which we don't normally dine. Ignoring Izumi Hibachi (which didn't interest us), the choices for embarkation day were Mason Jar or Gio's Kitchen and the only choice for Nassau is GK. Those are our two longtime favorites so we're happy to eat there but besides value and quantity, we wanted to try new restaurants with the UDP so the additional lunch and dinner helps with that.
*At some point inside of three weeks out (after I wrote the above) Chops appeared as another lunch option for day 1 of the 4N leg. We considered moving things around but my wife will already be eating multiple filets for dinner and she can get as many burgers as she wants between Playmakers, JR's, and Mason Jar so it didn't really make sense as that's what she would order and I was happy with the current plan.
Subject to change, here's what we currently have booked for the 4N leg...
Day 4(1) - MJ brunch / Chops dinner
Day 5(2) - GK lunch / Hooked dinner
Day 6(3) - CocoCay / GK dinner
Day 7(4) - Izumi Sushi lunch / MJ dinner
I can see having all those specialty meals and not falling into a full food coma if I don't go nuts; it's the daily credits for Playmakers, Gio's Wine Bar, and Izumi in the Park that I feel will turn the UDP into a crazy amount of food. I'm also not sure when we're supposed to go to Johnny Rockets (possibly never). I plan to use my Playmakers credit for late night snacks since it's open late (sorry Sorrento's). I usually just get the burger and garlic parm fries so I'm looking forward to going through the rest of the menu. I'm not concerned about Izumi in the Park since I can always eat some sushi (my wife will stick to the bubble cones). The Wine Bar might wind up as the odd man out since it's only open from 5-9pm most days and we have dinner reservations for 7pm three of the four nights (one night is a bit earlier so we can go to an 8:30pm aqua show). I suppose I could go there at 5pm for a pre-dinner snack and maybe get tiramisu to go and stick it in the cooler but I don't think I'll be looking to eat a pizza or anything heavy less than two hours before a specialty dinner.
My extended family booked the UDP for all 7 days next March so this will also serve as a good test run.
Miscellaneous
Crystal Block - We are crossing 210 points on the first leg so we have our 2nd block coming, woohoo!
Sleeping/Mornings - My wife and I both have some sleep issues and they often pop up on cruises, especially for her. This really messed with our routine last cruise so we're going to do our best to prevent a repeat. I often delayed my early morning CL coffee runs and we didn't disembark on CocoCay as early as usual. Neither was a huge deal but I enjoyed the few mornings I walked across deck 16 to the CL in the early AM with most of the ship asleep and my wife usually goes walking in the morning more often than she did. I'd also prefer to get an earlier start once the UDP kicks in so I can have a little something with my coffee while leaving plenty of time to be hungry for the rest of the day. I don't plan to have large breakfasts on the 4N leg.
Cruise Director - It was nice to sail with Marc "Bing Bong" Walker again last cruise. Unfortunately, he left Utopia at the end of June. As I mentioned last blog, we don't really care about the CD, Marc just happens to be from our area and his daughters went to my wife's elementary school (plus he's a fun CD). "Dan Dan" Whitney took over for Marc and he was our CD on Wonder in April.
Photos - I vowed to try to take more non-food pics last blog... and I guess I sort of did but not really. I think I'm just going to have to accept that I'm not much of a photographer and stick to mostly food/drink pics. If my wife feels like taking pics of other stuff I'll have her drop them to me. Otherwise, I'll throw in as much random stuff as I can but no promises.
Parking - Apparently we got to the port TOO early last time as the main outside lot right next to the garage wasn't even open yet. It was nearly empty but the payment machines hadn't yet been activated for the day. A miserable port employee tried to get us to park across the street (uhh... no). The good news is we confirmed that we like parking in the lot instead of the garage. Maybe we'll leave five minutes later than last time but even if we get there too early again, it's not a big deal to do a quick loop until the lot is open. It certainly beats parking across the street.
Jen the Concierge - As I mentioned last blog, Jen the CL concierge was both very helpful in fixing an issue with our D+ internet credits as well as being sweet and friendly. After chatting several times over the course of the cruise, on the last night my wife asked her if there was anything she missed that she can't get onboard and she mentioned some sort of Chinese hot sauce we had never heard of. Fortunately, a quick Google search let me know that it was available locally so we got her a couple small jars on our last Walmart run. She mentioned that she may be switched to the SL but to just come find her if she is. We'd prefer her to be back in the CL but if she has been moved... SL here we come! It's not sneaking in when the concierge invites you, right?
Other New Friends - Being the social butterfly that she is, my wife wound up chatting with a couple of the Mason Jar crew members multiple times since I stopped there for drinks so often (a manager and a hostess I think) and also asked them what we could bring. One requested chocolate and the other wanted coconut water. We had already asked Mike the cabin attendant and he also wanted chocolate. Lastly, some of you have either met or have at least heard me mention Jocelle, the amazing Mason Jar server we first met on Wonder in 2023 that my wife has kept in touch with via social media. Unfortunately she's not working right now (for a good reason) but her significant other is currently on Utopia. He works in the Royal Railway at night and I believe the WJ in the mornings. Since we can't bring Jocelle anything, my wife figured the next best thing was to ask her what we could bring him. So anyway, now my wife's carry-on (usually a beach bag or small backpack) will be full of various little gifts. I know some people don't believe in these small gifts and feel the crew just wants cash but none of them are in lieu of tips and some are for people we wouldn't normally tip to begin with (like my wife's new MJ friends). We also find the crew to be genuinely appreciative, especially when we bring them something personal that they requested.
RC Blog Members - I know at least one member will be on the 1st leg and two on the 2nd. No set plans like meeting up with @WAAAYTOOO last cruise but maybe we'll run into each other.
As always, questions, comments, and tangents are welcome both pre-cruise and during. With no significant travel I don't normally have much to share in the week leading up to embarkation day.
Ditto.
We have Harmony booked this December and also next December.
(1) Hopefully they wait until dry dock to change it out (as it's not an easy task for a new set)
(2) Hopefully they at least pick another Broadway musical in it's place and not just a Royal production show.
Well, it appears that it's just short of 15 days and 20 hours from sail time when they assign the cabin...we got ours and while we would have selected deck 11 or 12 and closer to midship we did get deck 11 but more aft than usual. Not a big deal and it was a savings of $700 plus over an assigned cabin when we booked.
Does anyone else kinda find this game a little fun? I will admit I check probably 5 to 10 times a day but I would open the Royal Caribbean app that many times if I didn't have a GTY suite. It's just a thing I do.
There's a poster across the street who has been on 4 Utopia 3N weekend cruises since May (including this weekend being his 3rd in a row). He was on the 3N leg of our B2B.
He felt that all 4 had completely different vibes. He said the one in May was like a quiet weekend getaway (I didn't find the volume oppressive but I'd never call Utopia quiet, lol), ours he felt was "adults gone wild with massive drinking" (I definitely thought there were less kids and more of a party crowd but there was nothing crazy where we frequented), last weekend's he said was full of family graduation groups, and this weekend's he described as feeling like Carnival so far with lots of craziness and poor behavior.
I'm just sharing this because I found it interesting and it lent some support to some of my own longstanding opinions.
I've never liked sweeping generalizations... i.e. calling Utopia or all short cruises "party ships" or "party cruises." There are so many variables like where one spends their time or personal opinions/preferences/tolerances in addition to different sailings of the same ship not necessarily being the same that I just don't think it's prudent to generalize going by one review or even one personal experience.
It's also important to me to get some specifics when people say something like "it feels like a Carnival cruise" or "the behavior is crazy." One example this poster gave for this weekend's cruise feeling that way was how insane the WJ was for breakfast this morning. He didn't say when he was there but the WJ is commonly crazy for breakfast unless you go early. Knowing that was one of his reasons for the overall description lets me know that likely wouldn't be my experience b/c we eat early in the Solarium Bistro.
That may have been some classic rambling on my part or maybe someone with an interest in Utopia cares. I dunno. Just trying to get into cruise mode and keep my mind off my remaining real life annoyances. 20 days to go...
Yes but it has to be the exact same category (as in letter code).
I’m not familiar with JS’s so they may all have the same code but other cabin types like interiors & OV balconies have varying category codes depending on things like max occupancy or mid-ship vs. fwd/aft.
Our interiors are always 4V for example but mid-ship interiors are 2V so I couldn’t switch to one of those.
Seems Royal is sticking to a 16 day assignment on GTYs (at least with the small sample size from this thread). Officially 16 days out and got our cabin assignment sometime after 7PM Central time. Not sure when exactly but I know it wasn't before that given how often I was checking today. We had a GTY Balcony for this one and got a Large Balcony, so no complaints here.
That said, we do have a couple of RU bids in that are still "Submitted", but given this is (presumably) a sold out sailing, I doubt that'll go anywhere. But - the excitement for the sailing now grows more since we have a cabin number!
I just got my WS GTY assignment for August on Enchantment of The Seas. We got a Sunset Jr Suite on the 7th floor. Absolutely tickled with our assignment.
Thanks for reporting. Hope the location is ok for you. Fingers crossed for your royal up.
As you know, we cruise same date as you. I've already checked a couple times today but checked after seeing your email and voila. We have a room too. Didn't expect it on a Saturday evening!
We got interior as per our GTY but room location is ok so no complaints.
Looks like they do them in bulk and there is some formula. Seems like it hasn't hit all systems yet though. Hopefully all will be in sync soon so you can tell if your royal up is still around or if you have to re-bid.
I thought of you as soon as I saw mine tonight. I also did not expect it on a Saturday night. I checked several times today and nothing, but after dinner it showed up. Others in my roll call group also got their GTY assignment today.
As for the RU, I don’t know what to do now. Many posts on the RU FB group say that when you get your GTY assignment, your bid cancels and you have to re-bid. But mine still appear to be intact. However, when I go to check my RU bids, it still has me in a guarantee cabin. I will see what happens to the stays tomorrow morning.
Thanks for reporting. Hope the location is ok for you. Fingers crossed for your royal up.
As you know, we cruise same date as you. I've already checked a couple times today but checked after seeing your email and voila. We have a room too. Didn't expect it on a Saturday evening!
We got interior as per our GTY but room location is ok so no complaints.
Thanks for reporting. Hope the location is ok for you. Fingers crossed for your royal up.
As you know, we cruise same date as you. I've already checked a couple times today but checked after seeing your email and voila. We have a room too. Didn't expect it on a Saturday evening!
We got interior as per our GTY but room location is ok so no complaints.
Mine dropped again this morning, about 25 bucks but I'll take it. If a junior suite was the same as we paid for a Central Park interior view I think I would do that but it's not even close I don't think. I'll take a gander though right now.
My TA has a automatic price checker system and applies it pretty much right away.
One time I emailed them because I saw a drop and even I emailed my TA he said the drop was less than the on board credit even I first booked so they didn't apply it. That's a answer TA.
Our Liberty cruise in September there are no more junior suites left which I found very strange. We have a suite guarantee but everything will shake out. A lot of moving parts with cruise cabins.
Similar situation. Got a GTY Balcony on my upcoming Ovation sailing in 24 days. Luggage tags are blank and just have space to write in the room and deck numbers.
I can't even do a mock booking to check what rooms they are still selling since the sailing no longer shows up anywhere and the suspense is killing me!
This isn't uncommon. If you keep checking you may or may not also see a few actual cabins to choose reappear. As inventory dwindles RC's algorithms handle things however they do.
WannaCruise got a reaction from Jjohnb in The End of Grease on Harmony
WannaCruise got a reaction from ImOnlyHereForTheInk in Quick GTY Room question for the pro's
WannaCruise got a reaction from Lovetocruise2002 in Quick GTY Room question for the pro's
WannaCruise got a reaction from OCSC Mike in Quick GTY Room question for the pro's