Utopia Of the Seas

[AlmondFarmer]

On 6/16/2023 at 5:56 PM, twangster said:

Already booked. 

Will you be my travel agent?

Lifetime supply of almonds!

[smokeybandit]

19 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

Will you be my travel agent?

Lifetime supply of almonds!

If you be my travel agent, I could be your long lost pal

I can call you Betty, and Betty when you call me,  you can call me AL(mondFarmer)

[JasonOasis]

2 hours ago, JoeC said:

Yeah, honestly I see a bunch of people being skeptical of the concept, but I do think that there's money to be made in trying to outflank the priciness of DCL in the PC market here. A family could come to Orlando for a few days, do Universal and/or Disney and then do a 3/4 night cruise. Best of both worlds. Those who are just about the ship can do a B2B. 

 

There is nothing to be skeptical about.  Royal is already doing 3/4 night cruises out of Port Canaveral and this coming November Allure another Oasis Class ship begins sailing 3/4 night cruises out of Port Canaveral, Utopia will replace Allure in 2024. The 3/4 night cruise market is huge and Royal already has a sizable piece of the market out of PC adding Allure and then replacing that ship with Utopia will surely cement Royal position in this market.  

[Jill]

5 hours ago, Mr. K said:

I doubt a new megaship will do short runs. If anything, the older Oasis Class ships will handle that. For example, starting in summer of 2025, The Oasis OTS will reposition to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale (currently sails from Miami part of the year). I believe that will handle the short runs to the Bahamas. Just my opinion, I could be wrong, but we will all know next week. Exciting times. 

 

[D Alt]

So what do you all think of today's announcement and information? 

I actually like they are doing 3 or 4 nights because I can actually try to take off work around a weekend to make one of these cruises because my 2024 is pretty booked already.  

It seems like it's going to be very much like Wonder with a couple new additions. 

[OCSC Mike]

Just now, D Alt said:

It seems like it's going to be very much like Wonder with a couple new additions.

As expected.

As someone who only sails from PC, I'll happily keep the Wonder/Utopia combo for as long as I can.

Prices will be inflated, of course, just waiting to see how inflated on Thursday.

[GatorCruiser]

As someone who lives outside Florida, I hope eventually it starts doing longer itineraries. I don’t get out of bed for less than 7 nights. 

[Zambia-Zaire]

^ Exactly

[twangster]

On board Navigator they had some Utopia stuff.

[F1guynz]

If you are Crown and Anchor member do you just sign on to the website to book early on Thursday  or is there more to it than that? Thinking of booking Utopia after our Harmony sailing.

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, F1guynz said:

If you are Crown and Anchor member do you just sign on to the website to book early on Thursday  or is there more to it than that? Thinking of booking Utopia after our Harmony sailing.

Anyone can actually book on Thursday. C&A members get an early heads-up but anyone can go to the site and book once it’s released. And of course so can a TA.

Anyway, yes, just go on and book.

[PG Cruiser]

11 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Anyone can actually book on Thursday. C&A members get an early heads-up but anyone can go to the site and book once it’s released. And of course so can a TA.

Anyway, yes, just go on and book.

So what's the point of them saying June 22 is for C&A members and June 23 is for general booking?

[twangster]

3 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

So what's the point of them saying June 22 is for C&A members and June 23 is for general booking?

Royal doesn't have the ability to require someone be logged in to a CAS before booking a cruise so this is the next best way to give CAS members an early opportunity to book her.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

4 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

So what's the point of them saying June 22 is for C&A members and June 23 is for general booking?

I was wondering the same thing.  Thanks for saying it out loud!

My question is:  at what time will the website make the info public?  Will it be right after midnight like it is for checking in?

[D Alt]

So how are C&A members able to book?  is it only if you're on a cruise (nextcruise) or can you call them to book or can you log in as a member and book online? 

when I booked Icon the day before it went public I was on a ship.  

 

[Rackham]

3 hours ago, D Alt said:

So how are C&A members able to book?  is it only if you're on a cruise (nextcruise) or can you call them to book or can you log in as a member and book online? 

when I booked Icon the day before it went public I was on a ship.  

 

There was a special email that was sent out for Icon. I'm assuming calling in or contacting your travel agent would work as well.

[D Alt]

they're posted. 10:30 pm EST.  prices are ridiculous.  not worth it for a 3 night or 4 night at this cost.  I guess another inaugural I won't be attending. 

[JohnK6404]

Yeah, absolutely insane pricing. No interest right now with sooo many other ships and itineraries we have yet to explore. We'd likely have to do a B2B to effectively make it a 7-nighter to make the flight down/hotel stay worth it. We're also sick of Nassau (at least until the Royal property is developed). CocoCay is really nice, but by next May we'll have visited the property 4 of our last 5 sailings. One day...

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

I ended up booking Labor Day but as refundable so at least I can cancel if I decide to do something different.  We’ll see!

Very limited room selections!  I will probably call in the morning to ask if any other decks or rooms are available that aren’t showing.

[smokeybandit]

I picked a few random dates to compare suite prices, and none of the standard suites even show as available

[twangster]

5 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I picked a few random dates to compare suite prices, and none of the standard suites even show as available

What date as an example?

[twangster]

It does take time for all inventory to load.   This is probably why they start a few hours before midnight.  

[Mick]

I checked a few suites on the US website and only the AquaTheater appeared, however checking on the Australian website all the suites appear. Might just take some time as @twangster mentioned.

 

 

[smokeybandit]

38 minutes ago, twangster said:

What date as an example?

July 2024

[Cactus527]

I'm seeing very limited availability too. Even the simplest Interior room isn't loading yet for USA!

[twangster]

26 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

July 2024

 

July 22  some Sky class popping in and out as people click on them, JS available

July 26 Most available except the top two suites (Ultimate Family and Royal Loft are gone).

July 29 every suite is available for TA's to book.  

[Sweety]

I am booked.

[ScottD]

Late January 25.... ocean view room for 3 of us is 1100 bucks. Not bad. (I didn't book, but looked around)

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Some of the prices are already higher now from when they first appeared at 10:30pm.  At this point I have an OV balcony booked (refundable).   What I really want is a Sky JS but would most likely have to settle for a JS since there is a $2,000 difference (crazy!) between JS and Sky JS!  

[Atricks]

 Prices are higher than the Wonder was for the same room types when it was brand new (comparing to the 2nd sailing trip I took on it), and that was for a 7 night.  I think Royal is overplaying it here, but I get why.   Going to hold off booking, but wish anyone well that does.

 

[AlmondFarmer]

Unless this ship actually sails to Utopia, prices seem high. 

The cure for high prices is high prices. 

[Jill]

Well we’re booked. October ‘24. Price was lower (by $200) than our upcoming October Allure for OV balcony. 

For $1300 more, we sprung for sky class JS. We rationalized it as: back out a 3 night dining plan (minimum $300)plus drinks beyond our Diamond freebies (likely $400-$500) and it’s basically $500-$600 more to do the suite. 

It was barely showing me any OV balcony. 3 on decks 6 and 9 and they were connecting. About double that on deck 10. 

[jticarruthers]

Sticker shock on the first few sailings , guess I wont be replacing my Allure sailing with the twice as expensive Utopia sailing after all

Doesn't seem too crazy later in the year so we will probably end up booking but my credit card is back in my pocket for today.

[smokeybandit]

Offseason rates actually aren't overly terrible for a new ship.

Inseason rates though, as insane as I expected.

[Cactus527]

Dates I was eyeing for September 2024 on Utopia are about $200-300 more than the same room/same dates for Allure. For me, I guess it will come down to if my TA has any deals and whether I want to fly to MCO or MIA. Nice to see the rooms are more available this morning than last night. Suite prices weren't terrible for a new ship either (prices listed for single traveler).

[twangster]

 

 

 

[barjpoe]

With only 3 & 4 night sailings there is no time to explore/enjoy the ship with all that it has to offer

[Jill]

4 minutes ago, barjpoe said:

With only 3 & 4 night sailings there is no time to explore/enjoy the ship with all that it has to offer

It’s basically Wonder with a few changes. I’m kind of at the point: you’ve seen one oasis class, you’ve seen them all with a few different venues. 

This will be our 9th oasis sailing. 

[OCSC Mike]

9 minutes ago, barjpoe said:

With only 3 & 4 night sailings there is no time to explore/enjoy the ship with all that it has to offer

B2B

[Lovetocruise2002]

50 minutes ago, barjpoe said:

With only 3 & 4 night sailings there is no time to explore/enjoy the ship with all that it has to offer

For me, the ship is the destination in Utopia's case. Thinking of doing a 4 night and not getting off the ship at all.