Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Sea

In November, we got the opportunity to take a cruise on one of Royal Caribbean's newest ships, The Utopia of the Sea, and I want to tell you all about what we loved and also what we feel they could improve. Follow along with me to see and hear about the food, the shows, our room, the crew, the amazing spaces, the ports and this absolutely beautiful ship!

Royal Railway Utopia Station

Our very favorite experience was getting to eat at the Royal Railway. Yes, an actual railroad experience on a cruise ship! You have to reserve it as soon as you can because it sells out quickly. There are only 2 cars that hold 24 people each and on a ship that can have over 6,000 passengers - well you can imagine how difficult it could be to get a reservation. But, luckily, we were able to have the experience.

I'll start by saying that we were blown away. The train was down a hallway that mimicked an actual train station and the wall outside was what you think you might see at a railroad station for sure. Once on the train, you felt completely immersed in the experience. It's a train straight out of the wild wild west and soon after you are seated you can feel the gentle jolt as the train "takes off". Well, not really a jolt but you can definitely feel like you are riding on a train. and the window blinds open up to reveal the landscape you are traveling through and this can be seen all around the car.

Old West scenes on the windows as you are rolling by.

The scenes are just like anything you might see in a Old West type of movie. Gold rush type of towns, woods, lakes, tumbleweeds, cows, horses, and maybe an old cabin or abandoned mine.

The menu is so interesting with such things like Fart 'n Dart Beans, and Royal Railway cigar dessert. My favorite was the empanadas! Just beautiful. And the Denver Gold Bar was also a delicious dessert. I asked for an extra appetizer as I really wanted to try the empanadas and the corn chowder and my waiter made it work!

On top of all of this is the excitement of the show that is happening too. There's a train robbery, and also the conductor comes on to read telegrams to some of the passengers. It's very entertaining. This takes maybe an hour and half from start to finish and there is plenty of time to chat with your table mates. All in all I would love to go again and I highly recommend this experience. Much more than just a specialty dining experience, it's like getting to go back in time!

Central Park

Our second favorite spot on the Utopia of the Seas was Central Park. It was on the same floor that our room was on and was so beautiful, that we spent time there every day. It was a quiet oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the ship for us. It is an actual park with real trees and plants, little cafes and restaurants, lots of places to sit and take a short stroll and very pretty backgrounds for taking pictures.

One of the cool restaurants available in Central Park.

It's so hard to believe that they could actually put a real live park on a cruise ship, but it was outstanding. Here you can see how the plants grown there are grown on an amazing tall wall. Just incredible!

Just one of the walls that have beautiful plant life growing!

The Shows

I like the shows on the ship and although we didn't get to see all of them, the ones we saw were a lot of fun. Always try to get reservations to any of the shows you want to see but know that if you don't get a reservation, there is still a very good chance that you will be able to get in. Our favorite one was the "Name That Tune" show and it was only on one night and we went to both shows. You are basically in the audience for a taping of the TV show with all the glitz and glamour, a live orchestra, live singers, a DJ and host. You can apply to be a contestant on the show and they will draw your name out of a hat. There are only 8 players for each show. We loved it!

Beautiful dancing segments in the show from the stage of "Name That Tune"

The Aqua 80 show was phenomenal. Divers jumping from unbelievable heights into pools that really didn't seem deep enough. At times the dancers would seem to dancing on top of the pool, literally walking on water! There were plates that had to be moved to make that happen and then had to be removed for the divers. We couldn't believe how everything had to be so synchronized!

Just waiting for Aqua 80 show to start! So excited!

All the shows are time well spent, and I really enjoyed the various activities that were offered onboard. Things like the dance lessons, trivia games, and karaoke opportunities are so much fun! I highly recommend trying them all! The ship had plenty of variety of entertainment for all ages and thrill levels. From an arcade, an amusement park section with its own carousel, a five-deck rock climbing wall, zip line, a putt-putt golf area, an all adult section complete with several pools and hot tubs, and deck that felt almost like a shopping mall!

Beautiful room and great reception!

We were so impressed with the Boardwalk area. It was a whole floor with boardwalk games, and arcade, a carousel, a bar, a Johnny Rockets (breakfast is included in your fare there!) and much more.

Our Room

We got a balcony room facing the ocean and it was splendid! Our bed was actually close to the balcony so it was a great way to relax and still see the ocean from the comfort of our room. It was a very different layout than I'm used to on Disney cruises and Virgin Voyages but it was extremely functional, comfortable, and designed for the best flow. The accomodations were well appointed! We had two closets and several drawers for storage. I like to unpack as soon as I get on board and then stow away the luggage to get it out of the way for the rest of the trip. There was plenty of room and I loved that. All of the walls (even the ceiling) were magnetic and this was so helpful as my husband really needs a fan to sleep and was able to put it on the ceiling! Our housekeeper was amazing and our room was cleaned daily. She also left us little animal towels for our amusement. We had a whole menagerie by the last day! Because I am always cold, I bring an extra blanket with me. I use it at night to sleep and it goes next to me under the top sheet. I was so impressed with my housekeeper because she figured this out and always made the bed up that way for me! We were on the 8th floor and it was not far from the elevators and was very quiet. Occasionally we could hear the children next door but it wasn't disturbing. I must say that while there were parts of the ship that had a lot of loud music playing almost constantly, the soundproofing in our room was excellent and we never heard it at night.

Ain't she sweet? (and see my blanket all in the made up bed?

Our menagerie!

Aren't we just the cutest!?!

Of course if you are on a tighter budget and want to book an inside room or one that just has a window - they certainly have those options as well.

The ports

I know that many people are more interested in the ports. Where are you going? is a question I am asked when talking about a cruise. I will tell you that I'm one of those people that just enjoys being on the ship. I especially love being on the ship when so many people have gotten off at a port -it's just amazing not having to share it with the entire ship's capacity. But, I do try to get off at all of the ports if I have not ever visited them or I'm traveling with people who have not had the experience. This cruise was just 4 nights and we stopped at the Bahamas. We didn't get off here as we had been there several times. We also stopped at Royal Carribeans Perfect Day at Coco Cay and we did get off at this port. I was a bit confused as there were several different beaches to go to and I had no idea what the difference between them were. My bad, I should have done my research ahead of time! But now I know, that all the beaches there are not created equal. There is something for everyone! From thrilling slides to quiet relaxing adult only beaches with swim up bars and DJs. There is food everywhere but I will choose a different beach next time. I think Chill Beach will be the one I like the most. But, we did enjoy our time there and you will too!

I actually saw this on the way out but would have helped me more if I had noticed it earlier.

Water was a bit cold for me in November but I was determined to get my feet wet!

The Crew!

We were very impressed with the responsiveness of the crew. From the moment we got on and started exploring the ship, everyone we met was extremely helpful and what was even better was they all seemed to be very well trained. On day one, we saw many people with shirts on that said "Ask Me!" and we did and they were able to direct us to the place or give us the answer on the spot. We were trying to figure out how to connect all three devices to the internet and went to the help desk and within minutes she showed us how it works. We found out that our drink package free cups we could pick up at any of the bars. Really anything little thing that popped into our heads they happily answered for us.

Embarkation and Debarkation was smooth, stress-free, and fast! The crew was really on top of everything from start to finish. And we loved having the convenience of Port Canaveral. It is a newer port and the parking garage is quite spacious and easy to find a great parking spot. From the parking garage it was a short walk to get into the line to get checked in and start having fun! You could give your luggage to the porters if you like and you would find it in front of your door later, but we decided to walk it on ourselves. We went straight to the buffet for lunch and it was packed. It didn't look like there were any seats available, but one fo the servers saw our need and quickly found us a place to sit. By 1:00 pm our room was ready!

The Food

While we found some good food on the ship, I will personally not eat in the main dining room again. Next cruise I go on I will only eat at the buffet and the specialty dining areas and maybe a slice of pizza or two from Sorrento's. First, let me say that the Windjammer Buffet is the best buffet I've even seen on any cruise ship I have been on. The variety is outstanding and the service is impeccable. Of course, you know that the Railroad food was outstanding as well. But, the main dining room, even though it was quite beautiful, was very disappointing all three times that we ate there. Particularly the Thanksgiving meal. The turkey should really taste like turkey and the small, hard and round little circle of dressing was awful. When a Hungry Man frozen dinner would be better, you know it's really not good. We actualy couldn't even eat it because it was so awful. But, you may not be as picky as we are and I'm happy for you. But for me, I will be eating at some of the other fabulous restaurants and of course the amazing Windjammer!

The Drinks

We do not drink alcohol but really enjoy having a mocktail or fancy drink. We did hear from some of our friends that did buy the alcohol package that they felt the drinks were a bit watered down. But, we bought the non-alcoholic package and were very pleased! We loved The Pesky Parrot! There were lots of places to sit and relax and you could have fun people watching too. Plus they had a real live parrot and he talked and told dad jokes. Lots of fun. It was great to be able to use the drink package whenever we wanted without worrying how much we were spending.

Having our Pina colada (mocktail) at the Pesky Parrot

The Elevators

The smart elevators were incredible and very efficient. There was a small pad on a stand where you would pick which floor you wanted to go to and then it would tell you which elevator to get on. Once you were in the elevator you didn't have any other buttons to push and it would just take you to your floor. Some of us were so accustomed to punching the floor number in the elevator that it took a little time to get past that. I never felt like we had to wait very long for an elevator and it was a lot of fun. Of course there were many times we took the stairs as well because we wanted to get exercise. Some of the elevators had see-through walls so that you could see the beautiful decor as you were going up and down. I loved this!

The outdoor running track

And, speaking of exercise, the outdoor running track was also brilliant. There were several places you could stop and look at the ocean and it would give you exactly how much ground you were covering while you were walking. It was never crowded so was also a nice place to just wind down if you wanted to and have a nice chat and a stroll.

In Closing

I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed this cruise. So much that I have already booked our next cruise on the Star of the Seas, which is coming out this summer 2025. If you have any questions or would like to explore the idea of going on your own Royal Carribean Utopia of the Seas cruise please ask away. I would love to have the privilege of booking this amazing experience for you and your family!

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Key Words: Utopia of the Seas, cruise, Royal Caribbean