twangster Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 September 22, 2025 from Port Canaveral I haven't seen anyone start a live blog for this event cruise so I'll start. I hope anyone else on board will jump in and post as well as I can't be in all places at all times. The more the merrier. One hundred and fifty of us are making this a back to back starting out on the 3 night sailing the weekend before the President's Cruise. That's where I am as I post this as the ship is making its way back to Port Canaveral. Many have been on board starting from before this current cruise. I was not one of them. This is my seventh time sailing Utopia. I don't plan to post about the ship or the standard entertainment on board, my focus will be related to the President's cruise. Spoiler alert, she is a great ship with awesome venues, great entertainment and a fantastic crew. I wouldn't keep coming back if that wasn't the case. SplashOfWater, Debstr66, Sweety and 14 others 17 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Final CAS numbers I'm sure will be forthcoming but for now I have been told there are approximately 500 Pinnacles expected with the top 50 being above 1,750 to 1,780 CAS points. Here on our final night of the cruise before the President's cruise I came back to my cabin to discover a letter and a gift. The letter explained the consecutive cruiser process including that CBP has cleared us and we won't need to leave the ship. Consecutive cruisers will gather in the theater in groups where we will be scanned off and scanned back on the ship using the new sea pass cards that were sent to our cabins. This is not the normal B2B process but I like it already. I'm in group A. A sugar cookie was also sent. I hope I wasn't supposed to save this because it's already gone. JohnK6404, Debstr66, instaGator and 13 others 15 1 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 More in the morning, it's after midnight and I need my beauty sleep. Ampurp85 and Ogilthorpe 2 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 If you are boarding today, your ship has come in! MaryS, Lovetocruise2002, ScottishRobbie and 4 others 7 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Ready to party! ScottishRobbie, VC22, FionaMG and 8 others 10 1 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 6:30 am and the ship has been cleared by CBP to begin debarkation. It's about to get real! WAAAYTOOO, Ampurp85, Ogilthorpe and 1 other 2 2 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 In other news this is my 100th Royal Caribbean cruise. I didn't plan it this way, it just worked out that way. At just over 1,500 CAS points I didn't make the cut for Coastal Kitchen access and I'm okay with that. According to my spreadsheet I sail in suites 28 6% of the time so I can see this from both sides. When I do cruise in a suite I expect access to suite benefits. This time I'm solo in a balcony cabin. The fact there are so many more cruisers ahead of me is humbling and a reason to book more cruises! PPPJJ-GCVAB, SplashOfWater, ScottishRobbie and 18 others 15 4 2 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 The makings of a beautiful day! Lovetocruise2002, Debstr66, ScottishRobbie and 6 others 9 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 B2B time Upon entering the theater we scanned off the ship. Now we wait. The ship still needs to reach zero count, at least electronically. Lovetocruise2002, Ampurp85, JohnK6404 and 5 others 8 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Day one cruise compass. UT 9-22-25 PC Day 1 Cruise Compass.pdf Ampurp85 and Ogilthorpe 2 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 We are still in the theater waiting for zero count. USCBP officers are on the way to do the process in the theater once all those stragglers who aren't staying have left the ship. Lovetocruise2002, Ampurp85, MaryS and 5 others 6 2 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Easiest B2B ever, for the US anyways. ScottishRobbie, PPPJJ-GCVAB, Ogilthorpe and 8 others 10 1 Quote
AshleyDillo Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 We boarded about 10 mins ago! twangster, Lovetocruise2002, Ampurp85 and 2 others 4 1 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Sweety, JohnK6404, WAAAYTOOO and 6 others 9 Quote
Sweety Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 Have the announcement been made for the President's cruise 2026. I might be able to go on that since I am retiring June 2026. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote
AshleyDillo Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 Mason Jar got some new drinks! WAAAYTOOO, OCSC Mike, Lovetocruise2002 and 5 others 6 1 1 Quote
AshleyDillo Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 These are the exclusive Royal Visa card holder activities. Robert M, MaryS, Ampurp85 and 5 others 8 Quote
OCSC Mike Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 18 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said: Mason Jar got some new drinks! They didn't get rid of everything not listed, did they? Like the Mississippi Moonlight. Ampurp85 and VC22 1 1 Quote
AshleyDillo Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 @Matt has fans everywhere. Lovetocruise2002, twangster, Ampurp85 and 3 others 5 1 Quote
AshleyDillo Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 7 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said: They didn't get rid of everything not listed, did they? Like the Mississippi Moonlight. I missed a page! Props to @PG Cruiser VC22, Ampurp85, Ogilthorpe and 4 others 7 Quote
OCSC Mike Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 2 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said: I missed a page! Whew, that page has my two drinks (although I modify the peach tea). Thanks for sharing. Nice to see a couple new ones that aren't whiskey-based. AshleyDillo, Ampurp85 and VC22 1 1 1 Quote
AshleyDillo Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 4 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said: Whew, that page has my two drinks (although I modify the peach tea). Thanks for sharing. Nice to see a couple new ones that aren't whiskey-based. I got the peach pecan old fashioned (Pretty in Peach is my go-to) and it was tolerable! Usually Old Fashioned is too strong for me..but I dont have to mod the Pretty in Peach. OCSC Mike and Ampurp85 2 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Beach towels! Ampurp85, ScottishRobbie, Lovetocruise2002 and 7 others 6 4 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 I stepped off briefly to have lunch with a local Pinnacle friend who isn't on this sailing. He grabbed something from my home I had ordered for a crew member. I call him my land genie. Now he is also a porch pirate. We had lunch at Grills. That gave me an opportunity to see how the terminal looked for this PC. DJ rocking the terminal upstairs. It's a good thing I had lunch off the ship. WJ is slammed. Queue to get in. Ampurp85, ScottishRobbie, WAAAYTOOO and 5 others 6 2 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 I dare anyone on board to use these towels to be a chair hog. Go ahead. Leave them unattended at 6am. TJP, MaryS, Snotarni and 10 others 3 10 Quote
AshleyDillo Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 13 minutes ago, twangster said: I dare anyone on board to use these towels to be a chair hog. Go ahead. Leave them unattended at 6am. My mother will gladly collect them all MaryS, Lovetocruise2002, Ampurp85 and 3 others 6 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Door magnet VC22, Lovetocruise2002, WAAAYTOOO and 6 others 7 2 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 WJ spread. Lots of seafood including lobster tails Shrimp Filet Mignon Lovetocruise2002, MaryS, FionaMG and 6 others 5 4 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Virtual reality display on the promenade. Lovetocruise2002, FionaMG, Robert M and 4 others 6 1 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Okay so I have a much better understanding of Perfect Day Mexico now. The virtual balloon ride runs around 10 minutes. It "flies" over and around PDM with narration to describe the different areas. It was difficult to hear with the music blaring in the promenade but since I don't have motion issues from VR headsets I was able to cup my hands over my ears to hear better. Otherwise they encourage folks to hold onto the railing. It's a pretty effective method to provide an overview of the proposed private destination. I was in line for about 20 but it was worth it. FionaMG, MaryS, Ogilthorpe and 4 others 5 2 Quote
skywalk640 Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 25 minutes ago, twangster said: Okay so I have a much better understanding of Perfect Day Mexico now. The virtual balloon ride runs around 10 minutes. It "flies" over and around PDM with narration to describe the different areas. It was difficult to hear with the music blaring in the promenade but since I don't have motion issues from VR headsets I was able to cup my hands over my ears to hear better. Otherwise they encourage folks to hold onto the railing. It's a pretty effective method to provide an overview of the proposed private destination. I was in line for about 20 but it was worth it. Nice, any cool insights about Perfect Day Mexico that weren't clear before? Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 D+ & P party in the solarium . It was pretty packed and very loud from a thousand conversations. I had to get out Hoppy2BHere, WAAAYTOOO, MaryS and 6 others 6 1 2 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 17 minutes ago, skywalk640 said: Nice, any cool insights about Perfect Day Mexico that weren't clear before? Not specifically, more how it will flow from one area to the next, with large areas of undeveloped land in its natural state. Unlike a theme park concrete jungle this had the appearance of fitting into the natural environment. TessFromFlorida, skywalk640, FionaMG and 2 others 5 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Now it's a party. This is by far the loudest and craziest sail away party I've seen. Robert M, PPPJJ-GCVAB, Ogilthorpe and 5 others 3 5 Quote
Lovetocruise2002 Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 10 hours ago, twangster said: In other news this is my 100th Royal Caribbean cruise. Wow! That's a milestone! 5 hours ago, AshleyDillo said: Mason Jar got some new drinks! I need to read menus better. Was Berry Nice to Meet you always there? It's calling me.... Oh, and this is a @twangster blog!!!! I'm always here for that! Ogilthorpe, OCSC Mike, twangster and 4 others 5 2 Quote
OCSC Mike Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 11 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Was Berry Nice to Meet you always there? It's calling me No, that's one of the new non-whiskey drinks that caught my eye too. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Found these in my cabin Sweety, WAAAYTOOO, Ampurp85 and 4 others 6 1 Quote
skywalk640 Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 Thanks for the great vlog so far! I'm surprised that they're actually using the amphitheater at Nassau, I've always just seen it as an empty stage with a nice patch of grass. Also, I thought Utopia was only at Nassau until 4pm, I guess the Disney and MSC passengers can enjoy the end of the party. Sweety 1 Quote
twangster Posted September 22 Author Report Posted September 22 Numbers from the LA: Pinnacle 503 Diamond Plus 1,074 Diamond 669 Emerald 206 Platinum 387 Gold 1,086 MaryS, instaGator, ScottishRobbie and 9 others 12 Quote
Ampurp85 Posted September 22 Report Posted September 22 It looks like there are different color cards for this cruise. Also the sarsaparilla always make me think of the Simpson and grandpa drinking so much he needs a new kidney. Hoppy2BHere, AshleyDillo, Sweety and 3 others 6 Quote
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