perfect match

I keep trying to decide if we want to try Royal Railway or not. We wouldn’t be doing it for the food for sure but it sounds like it could be fun. However, it has not showed up on our sailing since we booked the cruise. I’ve not seen it on sale but maybe it will go on sale some day.

After I got offfline last night I went into the kitchen to make myself a bedtime snack. As I put it together I couldn’t help but think that your wife would have been proud of me. Vanilla ice cream, chocolate chips cookie and brownie crumbles, and dark chocolate syrup. Delicious! Mike, thank you for another great review! I always enjoy following along with you. I plan to come along next month for the next installment. Meanwhile, a couple of our neighbors boarded Utopia today. They don’t do online reviews but we do plan to get together once they get home to swap Utopia stories. That should carry me over until you sail again next month.

I listened to a bit of the video posted. Never heard it before. I didn’t want the ear worm so I shut down the video I’ve heard of the singer but never heard the song. Agreed! I’m a 60’s and 70’s music kind of girl but I can find some music from just about any music era that I enjoy.

Thanks. I need to get DH there for the seafood this time around. We didn’t try last time because I thought it was too late. Should have just gone for it. We must be the only people who liked All In. I looked over my pictures from the version of the show we saw back in January and I’m looking forward to seeing the show again in September. I don’t really need a strong plot to enjoy a show as long as the singers, dancers, aerialists and such are really good. The ones we saw were excellent. As for the Name That Tune show, it’s the only cruise ship show we’ve ever walked out of. I told them in my survey that maybe ok as an afternoon show for those who like that sort of thing but I still wouldn’t go. To call it a Headliner Show is a sad indication of the downhill direction Royal Caribbean seems to be going in. You probably wouldn’t like a Cirque du Soleil show either. We love them. Note to myself - bring a takeout container or two that will fit in the mini fridge along with the ziplock bags for room food! Now, why didn’t I think of that?

Mike, any idea how long the seafood was available in Windjammer yesterday? We tend to not be among the first to board because one of us is not a morning person and does not want to rush out to get to port early only to meet everyone else who is rushing to be the first on board and lugging carry ons until the rooms open. However, I know DH would love all of that seafood so I may make the effort to get there early if necessary. I have two of those bubble cones that are on my must have list. Hopefully I’ll be able to stop at one of each! We thought that the volume on Utopia was a lot louder than it needed to be. DH had the perfect solution. He took off his hearing aids. I didn’t have that option.

Have a safe trip to port tomorrow. Wish I was going with you now instead of having to wait until September. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

This is good info for me. I got a great price for a Suite Guarantee for our upcoming Utopia cruise. It says deluxe/suites guarantee on my payments page and is listed as a WS GTY/Suite GTY elsewhere in my reservation. I booked it fully expecting to end up in a JS, which is what we normally book. It has been quite a while since there have been any JS’s listed as available for booking. However, there have been options for a JS GTY offered even though none have been available to book, and plenty of GS available. Who knows, maybe we will get lucky and get one of those rare miracle GS assignments but I’m still keeping my expectations set on a JS. I know that at 99 days out it’s way too early to expect a room assignment but I wish they would hurry up and get it done already! I normally avoid GTY bookings because I like knowing where our room is going to be but at the time I booked my Suite GTY price wasn’t much more than a balcony so I went for it. We booked an extended balcony for our last cruise but found that we really missed the more spacious room. I don’t do spreadsheets because my old brain does not function in that format but I do keep lists on paper and there’s definitely a spot for outfits on my list!

Could be worse. They’re kicking us off of Utopia ON our anniversary which is September 12! Unfortunately due to our life stuff that as soon as we have one issue resolved, two more seem to pop up to take it’s place making out Utopia cruise into a B2B isn’t an option. We will definitely enjoy the four days that we do get to spend on the ship! I’m glad to hear that at least some of your life issues have been resolved favorably for you.

I thought I was done planning for Utopia in September - until the UDP dropped to $136/pp. It got my wheels spinning. If we didn’t have the Coco Cay beach club already booked, I would have booked it. With our lunch there and Giovanni’s and Chops lunches already booked I think we are going to stick with that. We are not really big eaters and I just can’t see us eating all of that food! It would be easy for me to cancel the 2 restaurant lunches onboard and rebook them with the UDP. I’m not willing to give up the beach club. It’s more about the beach and the ocean swimming than lunch for me. DH is not as much of a beach fan as I am, but he actually likes the beach club and eating our very delicious lunch overlooking the ocean. If the UDP was priced as it is now on our January Utopia cruise when we had no plans to go to the beach club and no Coastal Kitchen access we would have booked the UDP for sure.

We may have to try your spot by the pool at some point. We tried it once but didn’t like our spot. Besides, I really prefer to be looking at the ocean, not a pool.

We did not get to sit outside but we were by the window and had a great view. I can’t remember if there was anybody sitting outside. DH probably won’t remember either so it will remain a mystery. It was January so it might have been cold, but I don’t think it was that cold. To me, the Beach Club is worth it for the extra space. On the free beaches the chairs are so close together that you are practically sitting in your neighbor’s lap and have to climb onto your lounger over the end which is not something my replacement hips and knees have any interest at all in doing. Plus, I like to swim back and forth between the two groups of OTW cabanas. I also like the lunch and the overall vibe of the place. I w ish the snorkeling was better, but if the price is right I’ll be there. Never thought I’d say that but now I’m sold.

These sales have had me in a full blown planning frenzy the past couple of days. I booked Coco Beach Club at $119 hoping it might drop so I could cancel and rebook but missed going last time because the price was much higher. Price dropped, I rebooked. Then the lunch prices dropped. We couldn’t decide between GK and Chops so we booked both. We may or may not keep Chops but definitely keeping GK. Meatball Gigante, huge plate of Chicken Parm, & chocolate ravioli resulted in a food coma for both of us! Great view out over the Boardwalk, too! Now the UDP is on sale. I haven’t caved and bought that yet mainly because I’m definitely keeping the Beach Club with the price drop I got. Mike, we can’t keep up with your eating pace. If we do all 3 big lunches, we would just grab a couple of pizza slices or a sandwich or salad somewhere for dinner. It’s just a four day cruise, so ijust one regular dinner for us on this cruise. Maybe Coastal Kitchen if the JS I’m expecting to get with our suite guarantee will get us in. Definitely first world problems. Wish the rest of life’s problems were like choosing our meal options on the cruise!

@LandstromCruise, thank you! I’ll be looking for you in late May! @OCSC Mike, thanks to you, too. I’ll be looking for you in June! I don’t know how your cookies in the ziplock bags ever manage to make it all of the way home with you. Mine never do!

@OCSC Mike, I was browsing the deck plan on Utopia yesterday and noticed that The Attic has apparently already been converted into non smoking casino along with the Crown Lounge and the Crown Lounge has moved upstairs to deck 16. It was not like that when we were aboard Utopia oat the end of January. Any chance you can report on what both areas are like now? Among other things I’m wondering if we will be walking through the casino to get to Studio B, or will there be an open area to walk through. Pictures would be much appreciated. I’ll remind you again when it is time for your cruise. Thanks in advance!

Thank you for another great review, Mike, and for unknowingly motivating me to book our September Utopia cruise! I hope you and your wife’s real life issues have all been or will soon be resolved in a favorable manner. Always seems to me though that as soon as one issue is resolved another one pops up to take it’s place. I will be following you on your upcoming Utopia sailings so I can keep my excitement levels high for our own sailing in September and maybe get a few more tips or reminders about things we didn’t get to do when we were on board in January.