Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas Review

Travel advisors Ryan and Julie share their honest first impressions of Royal Caribbean's newest mega-ship, Utopia of the Seas. Fresh off their 3-night Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral, they dive into everything from boarding chaos to Perfect Day at CocoCay bliss. Despite sailing together, their vastly different experiences prove this ship truly offers something for everyone - from families with toddlers to adults seeking party vibes.

What You'll Learn

Ship Experience: Detailed review of Utopia of the Seas' amenities, noise levels, and "perfect weekend" party atmosphere designed for short getaways

Family vs. Adult Perspectives: Compare Julie's family adventure with three kids (including toddler in triple stroller) vs. Ryan & Jasmine's adult-focused cruise experience

Accommodation Intel: Ocean veranda vs. boardwalk view staterooms - which delivers better value and why boardwalk views disappointed

Port Strategies: Nassau alternatives including Dilly Dally walking tours ($55) vs. staying aboard for pool time; CocoCay cabana rentals and timing tips

Food & Dining: Comprehensive breakdown of main dining room, specialty venues, El Loco Fresh, Solarium Bistro, and included options throughout the ship

Pre-Cruise Planning: Airport hotel vs. Cocoa Beach exploration; transportation options including Royal Caribbean shuttles and Uber logistics

Embarkation Reality Check: Why arriving the day before is crucial, plus honest look at boarding delays and crowd management

Key Destinations

• Nassau, Bahamas: Dilly Dally Tours review, revamped Straw Market, and family-friendly alternatives to expensive Atlantis excursions
• Perfect Day at CocoCay: South Beach cabana experience, Hideaway Beach adult area, Splash Away Bay waterpark, and crowd management strategies

Pro Tips Revealed

✈️ Book flights day before cruise - weather delays happen 🏨 Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport perfect for families needing car seat transfers 🎢 Ultimate Abyss slide rarely has long waits 🍕 Solarium Bistro superior lunch option over crowded Windjammer buffet 🏖️ Arrive CocoCay early morning - crowds build fast by afternoon 💳 Passport expedites embarkation significantly vs. birth certificates

Perfect For

Families seeking action-packed weekend cruises, first-time Royal Caribbean guests, multi-generational groups wanting diverse activities, travelers looking for honest ship reviews beyond marketing hype

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Episode Transcript

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to All Things Travel.
Ryan and I just got off RoyalCaribbean's newest ship, utopia
of the Seas.
We are so excited to share ourinitial impressions, favorite
experiences, and how our cruiseswere very different from each
other, still had a great time.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (00:20):
Listen in with travel advisors and
destination experts, Ryan andJulie.
I'm your travel professorteaching you everything you need
to know to have a magicalvacation, and she's a Disney
loving Maryland mom of three anda specialist in family travel.
Whether we're discussingincredible destinations, top
vacation tips, or sharingpersonal stories, it's always,

(00:42):
all things travel.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (00:46):
Okay, so let's start with a couple, just
like details, backgrounds

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (00:50):
Yeah, yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (00:51):
So we were on Utopia of the Seas.
We picked to go on this shiptogether just to try rural
Caribbean.
My family had never been on it.
it was a brand new ship.
Neither of us had been on one ofthese big, almost mega type

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:07):
Well, I was on ICON when it first came
out, so I had some famil.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:11):
different sailing.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_1344 (01:12):
Correct.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:13):
Yeah, we wanted to see what a regular one
was like.
we tried to, package this asbeing research,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:20):
Sure.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:20):
So we sailed July 25th to 28th.
It was a three night cruise outof Port Canaveral.
That means it's easy for us totack on a couple days at Disney
Universal, things like that.
It's easy to get to.
we had two stops, Nassau andCoco K.
And we had no days at sea.
So this was like a whirlwindthree night cruise.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:40):
And I will reiterate I do not like
three night cruises.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:45):
Yeah.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_13441 (01:46):
They're way too quick.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:48):
They are

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:49):
a four night cruise just feels
completely different, than athree night cruise.
I feel like, yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (01:55):
Because on the three night you usually
have Nassau and the privateislands and no day at

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:01):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:01):
you don't get that down day really.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:04):
yes.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:05):
we're excited to share kind of how our
trips were a little bitdifferently, how we approached
the trip differently, what kindof rooms we had, our impressions
of the ship and the food and theactivities.
We're excited to get into allthat today.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:16):
But before we do that, if you have
not listened to last week'sepisode, go back and take a
listen because we talked allabout some off the beaten path
places you might wanna visit inNorth America,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:27):
All right, so sailing out of Port
Canaveral, we both flew intoMCO, the Orlando International
Airport,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:33):
yep.
The day before.
The day before.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:36):
Always, always,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:37):
And, and Julie, what happened to you
in Baltimore To re to reiteratethis?

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:44):
Oh yeah.
I think I made a post about thisour flight there, when we
arrived at the airport, we had adelay until 3:00 PM

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:51):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:52):
which is not good.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (02:54):
So, if you extrapolate that to the next
morning, you get up early tryingto get to the airport the day of
the cruise, and now all of asudden you may not get there.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (03:03):
yeah.
And our flight, We were supposedto leave around 10 and land
around one, and we got

ryan_1_08-08-2025_13441 (03:10):
Gotcha.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (03:11):
Baltimore at 3:00

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (03:12):
Whew.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (03:13):
So at first we were like, oh my gosh,
what are we gonna do with thesekids?
we kept trying to switch to adifferent flight, but the other
flights didn't have five seats,so we kind of gave up on
switching flights.
thankfully we had all of ourkids activities in their book
bags

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (03:27):
Yep.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (03:28):
So we just got some food spread out.
They did their activities andslowly the delay shortened and
we ended up only being delayedlike two or two and a half
hours, But again, just like Ryansaid, had I booked that flight
to the day of my cruise, I wouldnot have been on the cruise

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (03:47):
Yeah.
and you look at a three nightcruise, that means you're done.
there's no, joining that cruise.
I want to talk about thedifferent ways that we approach
this day before, because it wasinteresting that we did two
completely different things,which I think is gonna be the
theme of, of us discussing thecrews here today, even though we
spent a lot of time together.
What did your family choose todo and why?

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (04:09):
with having the three little kids,
that means everywhere you go,after you get off the plane at
the airport, you need a transferwith car seats.
to avoid a transfer like that,we decided to just stay at the
hotel at the Orlando airport,the Hyatt Regency Orlando
Airport,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (04:27):
And I know you have and going with
Jasmine, this was our first timecruising together and her first
time in Royal Caribbean.
I mentioned that your family wasactually doing that, and she's
like, oh yeah, we did that onetime too.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (04:37):
Yeah, pretty much everyone staying at
that hotel is doing it the nightbefore a cruise

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (04:41):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (04:42):
in, we see everyone with their cruise
gear, whether they're getting ona Disney ship, a royal ship.
we saw so many people that werecruising.
the hotel, the Hyatt, it's whenyou come off the Orlando
International Air, you come offin the main terminal and then
you take the little monorail tothe other terminal, it's back
there.
after you leave security and youjust go straight up, it's
literally right in the lobby.
You get to it kind of right nearwhere like that Disney store is.

(05:05):
and we were a little like, whatare we gonna do the whole time?
They do have a pool, but wedidn't wanna get into that and
have wet clothes.
We ended up having a suite whichhad a lot of space for us.
So I would definitely recommendthat.
The rooms were nice.
The hotel was nice.
they had two restaurants, andplus all the food downstairs in
the airport.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (05:23):
I was gonna say you have access to
that lobby area in the airport,right?
'cause you're not going throughsecurity.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (05:29):
correct, you do have access to a lobby
area and there's, you know, aStarbucks there, there's
Sparrow, there's a, aMcDonald's, I wanna say a couple
other places.
but there is a really nice sitdown restaurant, on the main
floor of the lobby.
And then there's a really nicerestaurant, like on a higher
floor of the hotel.
we went to one of them fordinner and it was surprisingly
delicious.

(05:49):
My kids destroyed their meals.
They also had a cool scavengerhunt going.
The kids had a great time doingthat.
So that was nice.
the benefit of doing that isthat you don't have to get off
the plane and then have atransfer to a hotel and then
another transfer from that hotelto the cruise port.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (06:06):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (06:07):
That also allowed us to do Royal
Caribbean's shuttle going fromthe airport to the port for the
cruise, which is also prettyaffordable, It does not require
car seats, which makes it alittle bit easier for my family

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (06:22):
And you're comfortable with that for
your kids?

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (06:25):
I am.
we've done that.
it's a very, same shuttle likethey have for mirrors connect
and

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (06:30):
sure.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (06:30):
mean, yeah, it's like a huge coach
bus.
It was super easy to find.
They just.
Rural Caribbean doesn't differthan a couple other cruise lines
I've been on.
They don't give you a specifictime to show up for your
transportation.
They say, Hey, the desk opens at10 30 and it'll be open until
1230.
Come down and we'll assign you atime.

(06:51):
So we tried to get there aroundlike 10 10 so

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (06:54):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (06:54):
the earlier buses.
we still didn't get to the portuntil close to noon, even though
our boarding time was 11 and wedid have a big, big line

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (07:04):
we'll talk about this in a second, but
you had a very differentcheck-in experience than we did.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (07:08):
Yeah.
I mean, really good experiencingat the Hyatt.
I recommend it to many, many,many of my clients as an easy
way to start your trip.
It was also nice, like eventhough we had that delay in our
flight, like we weren't like, wehave to get there.
We have to get there.
Because we We're just staying atthe airport.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (07:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (07:24):
what did you guys do?

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (07:26):
So we did a different, tact to all of
this.
we got in, I think at 1230 fromIndianapolis to Orlando and had
about a 45 minute drive to PortCanaveral.
I did a couple things I hadn'tdone before.
First and foremost, I Ubered,directly from the airport to
Port Canaveral.
Super easy.

(07:47):
it was the same as getting anUber or a Lyft to go to Walt
Disney World.
No problem getting one.
I wanna say it was about 75bucks, for the Uber, which
wasn't bad.
if you hit MCO at the wrongtime, you may be paying that
much to get to Walt DisneyWorld.
we went to our hotel anddecided, what we wanted to do,

(08:07):
Jasmine's like, what are wedoing today?
And I'm like, well, my job wasto get us here.
I'm not sure what we're doingnow.
Um, but I did have a couplethings in mind.
we went and got some key winepie.
We played some mini golf,checked out the beach, and then
Jasmine had seen a pamphlet inthe lobby, for this place that I

(08:29):
absolutely loved.
We both loved it.
It was called Coco Village.
So we took an Uber back acrossthe bridge'cause we were staying
in Port Canaveral and went tothis kind of, What I would
consider like old town, cocoaBeach, little tiny shops, old
architecture.
They had a park right by theocean.
We were in like this, artistco-op.

(08:52):
These two women were running.
So they're like artists from allaround the community.
we were talking about what wewere doing, and then our first
time there and said, well, youneed to go to the French bakery,
don't you?
And we're like, well, of coursewe need to go to the French
bakery.
So, we checked that out.
There were antique stores,little stores.
There was a theater there.
We went to a candy place wherethey made their own candy.
it was such a fun find

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (09:13):
Yeah.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (09:14):
were not expecting at all.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (09:16):
That's awesome.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (09:17):
I would totally stay in Cocoa
Beach and Port Canaveral tospend time at Cocoa Village the
day before a cruise.
I think it totally made sense.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (09:27):
awesome.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (09:27):
And then I had found us a nice place
for, dinner.
We went to, grills on the waterthere and watched boats come in.
we had some seafood and I wasready for our cruises.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (09:38):
That sounds great.
And then the next day, did youUber to the

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (09:42):
Yeah.
So we just Uber.
we decided not to rent a car tobe honest, with all the Ubering
we did, we probably paid as muchas we would renting a car, but I
didn't have to drive anywhereand I didn't have to worry about
anything.
we had an 11 o'clock, boardingtime for Royal Caribbean and
literally it was straightwalkthrough.
we obviously had to stop atvarious times and show our

(10:02):
boarding pass or our passport,but we walked right through
security, walked right onto theship and we were ready to go.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:09):
Yeah, we did not have that.
We had a bunch of switchbacks.
It was crazy.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:13):
you can tell.
I mean the Royal Caribbean,terminal there, I mean, it's
definitely built for a largenumber of people.
you probably got there at apoint when a lot of people were,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:24):
Yeah,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:24):
on and you just kind of got stuck.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:27):
I think so too.
And please remember I waspushing a triple stroller down
these switch packs.
the guy would be like, go allthe way down to the end of that
line and wait there.
And I was like, can I just go tothe terminal?

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:36):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:37):
You want me to push the stroller all the
way down here again, super easyif you had your passports.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:42):
Yep.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:43):
will mention that I had my Nia with
me of course, and she is, she'stwo and they had to like scan
hers separately and do thislittle check-in thing
separately.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (10:56):
Some tips that I would say for this
is just like you said, have yourpassport or your birth
certificate, whatever you'reusing as your primary.
ID out and ready to go.
Don't be searching in a bag forthat.
Have your luggage.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:09):
with your app, you also need your app

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:11):
Y

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:12):
that whole

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:12):
you either need your app out or to
be honest, I had the papersprinted out so I didn't have to
worry about it.
if I'm already printing otherstuff out for the trip, I'm
gonna print that out and then Ijust have those papers.
also make sure you have yourluggage tags or those tag
holders.
on your luggage so you can justdrop it off curbside.

(11:32):
you don't need to see your bagstill they're in the state room.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:35):
They did have extra luggage tags,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:38):
Yes.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:38):
they gave us some extra luggage tags
because we had so much luggage.
also, don't forget to tip your

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:43):
Yes.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:44):
If you forget to tip your porter,
they're gonna remind you thatyou forgot to tip them.
I would say just one small tipis because you don't know how
long that line for security isgonna be.
if you have little kids packlike a snack or

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:56):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (11:56):
just, just in case, um, once we got
through all that, getting on theship was easy.
So, Ryan, Tell us your initialimpression.
Walking onto the ship.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (12:06):
You know, walking onto a ship like
Utopia or Icon, it's almost likeyou walk into a shopping mall.
It's the promenade.
So folks that are familiar withother royal ships, you've got
your bars shops, Sorentos pizza,and you walk in and it's sensory
overload.
now I was there earlier thanyou, so mean, it was not as

(12:27):
loud.
But I would say over the threedays, the thing that Jasmine and
I commented about the most was,this ship is loud.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (12:35):
Yeah.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (12:36):
always noise.
not even just the number ofpeople, but the background
music.
And I'm not one of those oldfuddy duddies, but the
background music was louder thanit needed to be a lot of the
times.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (12:47):
sometimes I think, is that because it was
a three night weekend cruise?

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (12:50):
Yes.
and as we have said before onthis podcast, the last cruise
that you and I went on was athree night out of Miami.
That's a party cruise.
That's a weekend cruise.
And this utopia is designed, youknow, and they even say this in
their marketing.
It's the best weekend ever.
So, they're really gettingpeople up and going.
Now, I will say, when we got onJasmine, I did something I've

(13:11):
never done before.
We wore our swimsuits, on theship went to lunch at the
solarium and went right to theadults pool there and started to
chill.
It was very, very nice.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:23):
Did you feel like the adults, only area
back in the solarium was loud aswell, or no?

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:27):
I thought that's what,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:28):
time there, so I

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:29):
that's what I expected it to be.
it really is, a more chillenvironment.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:35):
Okay.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:36):
yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:36):
on Freedom of the Seas, we did not
feel that way, but I think thisone is different'cause it's more
enclosed.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_13441 (13:41):
inside.
Yeah, it's inside it's not justa secondary pool, like what it
is on some of the,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:47):
Yeah,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:47):
um,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (13:47):
more relaxing areas, things like
that.
A lot more chairs around.
And again, it has a solariumbistro, which even though the
solarium itself is 16 plus, thebistro is all ages, that is the
place to go for lunch when youboard,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_13441 (14:00):
because you're not in the jungle of
windjammer.
We did that for lunch and thenmet you guys when you got on a
little later that's a totallydifferent experience.
Absolutely.
The top tip.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:11):
Now, I will say the food selection is
definitely significantly morelimited because it is a much
smaller restaurant than theWindjammer.
The Windjammer has everythingyou've ever

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:20):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:20):
in your

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:21):
Which it always does.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:22):
it always does.
And it is good food.
it's a good buffet.
Solarium Bistro though, like forexample, there was not chicken
tenders and mac and cheese,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:29):
Yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:30):
is at the Windjammer, but my kids were
just fine with some pasta andfruit,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:35):
and I had some really good seafood
salad and lobster tails, and theguy's even like, well, you
probably need two lobster tails.
And I'm like, you're right.
I do need two lobster tails.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:45):
Yeah, it was a lovely experience.
we also had some other friendscruising with us, so we

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:48):
Right.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (14:49):
of met there for lunch.
Um, and I did not feel out ofplace at all with my triple
stroller in the adult only area.
Ryan's like looking for me.
I'm like, just look for thetriple stroller.
It's the only one here.
Okay.
That's where we are.
but yeah, so walking onto theship is, is fairly, uneventful.
The kids were excited.
I will tell you that pooling upto the port, I had tried to warn

(15:09):
Steven like, this ship is huge.
think of a cruise ship thatyou've seen before and it's like
times five.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:14):
Yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:15):
and we were pulling up and he was like,
oh my God.
Like you can't even see thewhole ship.
When you look out the window,you have to like look out like
three windows to see the

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:21):
but you know, once you're on board,
I felt the same with the icon.
I don't feel like it's anybigger

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:29):
No.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:30):
then, like when we were on the freedom
of the Cs, like, and part of

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:33):
Yeah, I

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:34):
once you're like, I need to get from
point A to point B, it doesn'tfeel that big.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:39):
I didn't think it felt that big onboard
either.
I mean, it felt big.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:42):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:43):
But outside.
It looks like a mons straplesscity.
that was really fun for the kidsand Steven pooling up, seeing
the ship and the slides and howbig it looks.
they were really excited toboard.
I think it was very loud forthem when we boarded, but I was
like, we're gonna get right tothe bistro, go meet our

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:58):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (15:58):
it's much quieter there.
And actually then rooms wereready right at one

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:02):
Oh yeah, absolutely.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:04):
Awesome.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_13441 (16:04):
Jasmine and I spent that first,
afternoon wandering the ship,getting oriented, she hadn't
been on Royal Caribbean before.
I wanted to show her thedifferent spaces like Central
Park we tried some of thedifferent bars'cause we had the
drink package and, and just kindof wandered around, went to our
room.
so let's talk about rooms.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:23):
Yeah.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:25):
your family had two ocean veranda
state rooms.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:29):
Yes.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:30):
You have been on older Royal
Caribbean ships.
What were impressions of thestate rooms?

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:35):
the state rooms were fine.
we had to get two rooms becausewe're a family of five.
There are very limited rooms fora family of

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:42):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:42):
on the majority of rural Caribbean
ships.
I think with the icon class,they're expanding that a little
bit.
having the two connecting roomsmeans you have two balconies,
you

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:52):
Yes.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:53):
two living areas.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:54):
Two bathrooms,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (16:55):
bathrooms and the bathrooms they are
small.
I don't know how we would'vedone that with one bathroom.
it still felt really smallhaving the two bathrooms, of
that size.
I was glad that we at least hadthat because it was hectic when
it was shower time and get readytime

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (17:08):
right?

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (17:09):
but the two, the two bedrooms were nice.
We able to spread out a littlebit.
we love the ocean view balconybecause I like just having that
little bit of separate space.
we probably didn't spend as muchtime out there as we want to.
We always wanna hang out outthere, but like, there's always
so much to do.
it is nice to have that separatespace.
having the two rooms was nicebecause my youngest, did take

(17:29):
some naps

ryan_1_08-08-2025_13441 (17:30):
Mm-hmm.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (17:30):
go to sleep earlier, so it was really
nice to be able to put her downand then everyone else kind of
go in the other room.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (17:37):
I did something different, when we
started to put this cruisetogether and we're looking at
different rooms.
I chose to do a boardwalk viewpurely because I had not ever
done that before.
I wanted to see, okay, I'mworking with clients.
What does that look like?
How does that feel?
And boy, I wish I hadn't donethat.
it's a good learning curve forme because not even that I

(18:00):
needed the, the ocean viewveranda.
I think I would've even beenhappy with an ocean view.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (18:06):
yeah,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134 (18:06):
literally were looking across at other
people's rooms that the noisewas not a problem.
the aquatics show would go ontill about 10 o'clock, and then
the noise would be done.
I wasn't worried about thenoise.
I, it was more I felt like Icouldn't have my, my, curtain
open.
And so it really, the state roomwas great.

(18:28):
I loved the state room, but itfelt like we were in an inside
state room, to be honest withyou.
'cause our curtain was alwaysclosed.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (18:34):
Yeah.
I will say though, there aresome Boardwalk view balconies if
you get the right deck and theright location.
I just had clients come back ona Boardwalk View balcony on
Quantum of the Seas, and theylooked right over the Aqua Show,
which is

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (18:48):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (18:49):
because that means you have an ocean
view out there.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (18:51):
I'm glad that I did it from that
standpoint.
but that's not what I would bookagain, and I would counsel,
clients if that's what they wereinterested in.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (19:01):
Got it.
Cool.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (19:02):
So let's talk about onboard.
What were the types of thingsthat your family did, to take
advantage of everything thatUtopia had for this quote
unquote perfect weekend.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (19:13):
there were a lot of activities and the
nice thing with World Caribbeanis their app does load the
activities about like a week inadvance or

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (19:20):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (19:20):
you can start going through and seeing
what you're gonna be able to doon the ship.
we did not make advancedreservations for any of the
shows, partly because they wentfast.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (19:31):
went very fast I couldn't get a
reservation for the water show,which I really wanted to go to.
they have a box office meetup,that first day.
you get on the app and you canreserve stuff right away.
so we were able to reservemultiple shows, and even change
some stuff around, and I wasvery happy with it.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (19:51):
That's good.
wasn't super worried about itbecause with the kids you just

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (19:55):
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (19:55):
how that's gonna go.
And the show was kind of late.
My kids don't like loud noises,you know, whatever.
So we had kind of scouted theactivities.
they did have a lot of familyactivities, but the thing I
noticed was it was like at onetime they at all, which could be
because it's a three nightcruise,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (20:13):
yeah, yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (20:13):
here's family bingo, but it's one night
at like five o'clock, which isthe same as early dining.
So that didn't make a lot ofsense to me.
So we did not end up doing a lotof the organized activities.
We spent a lot of time in SplashAway Bay, which is the kids'
waterpark.
My kids had a great, great time.
A very quick reminder that youdo need to be potty trained to

(20:34):
go in there for obvious reasons.
it shut down the first day onboard because kids were not
potty trained in there.
It was none of my kids.
but they shut it down and thatmeans it's closed for like three
or four hours.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (20:47):
Yeah.
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (20:48):
that's not fun for anybody.
But we did get there, the nextday was Nassau, and we knew we
weren't getting off the ship.
So we got there right when itopened at 10:00 AM and they got
to play a lot that day too.
they also had three or fourother pools in that open section
one was pretty deep.
it was like four and a half,five feet deep.
So that kind of surprised me alittle bit.

(21:08):
But on the other side of theship, they were more, compared
them to like walking into abeach but without sand.
Like it was very, very shallowwith some loungers.
And then it went to like, maybelike three, three and a half
feet.
And my kids really loved both ofthose pools.
They did have, life jackets forall sizes on board, which was
nice.
So we spent a lot of time there.
We spent a lot of time at minigolf.

(21:30):
My kids

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (21:31):
Yes.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (21:32):
golf.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (21:32):
spend time with your kids at mini
golf.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (21:34):
You did get to do that.
that was fun.
It's really easy.
Just a quick walk up.
The clubs and the balls areright there.
we did a lot of time on thecarousel at the boardwalk, and
there's a candy shop right theretoo.
There's a very small climbingarea there for the kids.
So they did that.
there is a bigger play scapethat's right next to the golf
course.
So we did that too.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_13441 (21:55):
Mm-hmm.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (21:55):
and then there were a couple organized
activities we went to.
My kids' favorite was a namethat tune Taylor Swift version.
My kids had an absolute blast.
They were definitely theyoungest kids in there by like a
solid 10 years and we did prettygood.
We got 12 out of 15 they wouldplay a snippet and you were
trying to guess the song, Wedidn't really care about
winning, we just knew the kidswould have fun'cause my kids

(22:17):
are, big swifties.
the best part was after we wentthrough all the guessing, then
they played like, you know,three quarters or even the whole
song at the end as we like, wentthrough being like, what song
was it?

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (22:28):
Yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (22:29):
tour up

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (22:31):
it turns into a dance party.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (22:32):
the member that was hosting it,
called Steven out and made himgo dance.
it was a blast.
after that we went to a silentdisco My kids had so much fun
there.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (22:42):
I love silent disco on a cruise ship.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (22:45):
Yeah.
And then they crashed prettyhard after that.
the next night we actually didmake it to the ice show.
The ice show was at seven 30, soit's a little earlier than some
of those other shows.
It's also a fairly small venue.
So I felt pretty good that theywould be okay with that.
And they had so much fun.
They were amazed.
it was a really fun experiencefor them.

(23:06):
so yeah, we took advantage of alot,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (23:09):
Yeah.
That's great.
That's great.
like I said, a couple weeks or.
Ago when we talked about goingon this cruise, you can't do
everything.
So, try to do the things thatyou want to do in those, two and
a half days, that you have.
we focused on the shows.
the first night we went to thewater show, the water acrobatic

(23:31):
dance show and was absolutelyblown away.
the downside to that is then wewent to the production show
right after and that felt alittle ho hum.
even Jasmine and I are like,wow, I wish we would've seen
this before we saw the watershow.
I think we would've liked it alot better.
Um,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (23:48):
vibes.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (23:48):
and so we did that the first night.
The second night, we kidnappedSteven and took him to the adult
show.
We went to Battle of the Sexesand then we went to Crazy Quest,
which if you have not been tothose two adult only shows, they
are absolutely hilarious.
crazy Quest is an audienceparticipation where you're

(24:08):
getting things for your team.
in the first five minutes ofCrazy Quest Stephen's shirt, got
sent down to help with the taskand he did not get his shirt
till the end of Crazy Quest.
but he was a, he was a goodsport about it.
the last night we went to theadult comedy show and that was a
lot of fun.
it was nice the last night notto have quite as many things

(24:31):
scheduled.
we were winding down and then wewent to the.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (24:34):
too,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (24:34):
And we have to pack.
And we went to the casino alittle bit'cause Jasmine enjoys
a little bit of time at thecasino.
So that was kind of fun toexperience'cause that's not
something that I do a lot of.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (24:43):
Yeah.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (24:44):
really we just enjoyed the different
spaces on the ship.
we go to this lounge and have adrink before dinner.
We go to this lounge and listento some live music for a while.
And really that's kind of how Ilike to do it, is just, bebop
around and see what's going on

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (24:59):
yeah.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (25:00):
I think that really served us
well.
before we get into our days,overall impression of Utopia.
was it a cool looking ship?
Did you like the vibe of it?
do you think they hit the markon what they're trying to
accomplish?

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (25:15):
I think they're trying to make a big
weekend party ship, and

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (25:18):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (25:18):
a big weekend party ship

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (25:21):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (25:22):
my kids had an absolute blast.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_13441 (25:26):
there's art everywhere.
there's lots of, interestingarchitecture, of the different
spaces.
you go into a lounge and itlooks completely different.
And, there's some, there's somespaces here like the mason jar,
which we absolutely fell in lovewith, completely different, than
anything on another ship.
I think Utopia is a fantasticship if that's the type of place

(25:49):
you're looking for.

j_1_08-08-2025_1344 (25:50):
Absolutely.
it is a great testament to themthat you and I had completely
different experiences on thesesame

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:00):
Yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:01):
they are able to, we always say a cruise
is great for multi-generationalfamilies that wanna go on a trip
together because everyone can dotheir own thing.
And we literally proved everyonecan do their

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:13):
I mean, we,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:14):
we saw each other at dinner.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:16):
yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:16):
it.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_1 (26:17):
Absolutely.
we would go our separate waysafter dinner most of the time.
so let's talk about our twodays.
The first day was Nassau, whichis obviously a very common port
for anyone who has sailed in TheBahamas.
So much so that people are verytired of it.
what did you guys decide to do?

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:35):
We stayed on the ship, we hung out at
Splash Way Bay.
We did mini golf, we did thecarousel.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:42):
You used it as a sea day

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:43):
we used as a Sea day.
We did so many onboardactivities.
and that's just, you know, thatwas what we wanted to do.
We

ryan_1_08-08-2025_1 (26:50):
absolutely.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (26:51):
Like if you're gonna get off the ship in
Nassau, the best place for youto go is Atlantis.
and that's a pretty priceyexcursion.
also just thinking abouttraveling with the kids, then
you have to go that extra stepand think, what's our
transportation to wherever we'regoing, what's that gonna be
like?
And I didn't wanna get off andwalk around the straw market
just'cause it's kind of like ahassle to get them off and back

(27:11):
on.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (27:12):
Yeah.
And I would say, not only isAtlantis expensive, you don't
have a lot of time, if youfactor in the transfers and
everything like that, we decidedto get off and we did go to the
straw market, one'cause I'mlike, I want to do something in
Nassau.
Because so many people saythere's not much to do other
than, going to Atlantis orhaving a beach day somewhere.

(27:34):
I'm like, I wanna findsomething.
And Jasmine and I had a reallygood experience.
I booked us a tour, throughDilly Dally tours, and it was
only$55 a person.
It was a three hour walking tourthrough Nassau.
And so we got off and went tothe straw market and did some
shopping, looking around.
and if you haven't been toNassau for several years, it's

(27:57):
completely different.
There is the older, more.
How do I wanna say colorfulstraw market.
but there's also a very nicebrand new straw market area
right off the port too.
It has a junko museum.
It's got a great bigamphitheater area, so they are
trying to do some differentactivities there.

(28:17):
we went to the Dilly Dally toursand met our tour guide Charles,
I was happy to have Charlesbecause when I had read reviews
of the tour, his name keptpopping up over and over and
over and he was absolutelyfabulous.
Tons of stories, tons ofexamples.
we did a walking tour aroundNassau.
He showed us the queen staircaseand the fort.

(28:37):
he talked about, colonialismand, pirate culture because that
was like the capital of thePirates at one point then the
British were there and he talkedabout, you know, the influence
of Nassau on Ian Fleming and whowrote James Bond and the movies
of James Bond.
And we walked around and, wentto the National Gallery of The

(28:59):
Bahamas, a rum distillery.
We went to a chocolate factory.
We went to a winery, tastingroom.
And he talked about thegovernment of The Bahamas and
not just, the Iowa that we wereon, but The Bahamas as as, a
whole.
And then we ended at the strawmarket.
I really thought that was, itwas such a good return on

(29:20):
investment and a neat way tospend our day.
And we were still back at theship by two o'clock.
I thought it was a lot of fun.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (29:28):
Wow.
You guys had a busy day, but

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (29:30):
We had a

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (29:31):
to the ship early,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (29:32):
yeah.
'cause we had already doneshopping at the straw market, so
we knew like one shop that wewanted to go grab something at,
and then we were ready to comeback.
We had spent our time on Nassau.
I will say, maybe I'll wait fora rainy day sometime at Nassau.
I, I do want to see that junkCano Museum junk Cano is kind of
their carnival culture there inThe Bahamas.
I'm excited to learn more aboutthat.

(29:54):
we went back to the ship, hadsome lunch, and then we found
you and did the giant insideslide.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (30:00):
Oh yeah.
We did the Ultimate abyss.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (30:02):
that was really fun.
That was one of those thingswhere when you watch a video, on
YouTube of Utopia, they alwaysshow it.
our wait was what, like fiveminutes, 10 minutes?
I mean, it was very short.
It was fun to do.
why not?
you're on a cruise ship.
Why not go on the inside slide?

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (30:17):
And if you don't know, the ultimate
abyss is an inside slide.
So it's a dry slide.
You do have a mat that you siton to go down.
They instruct you how to usethat, but it's on deck 16

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (30:28):
It's on deck 16 and goes down to deck
six.
it goes all the way down to theboardwalk.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (30:33):
Yes.
Which is pretty cool.
and a funny comment about thisexperience that I had going down
the slide.
my children, being children arelike, we wanna do this, we wanna
do this, we wanna do this.
by day three, I'm like, listenguys, we've done things that you
guys wanna do this whole cruise.
let mom and dad pick what we'regonna do next.
We haven't gotten to do any funthings that we wanna do, you

(30:54):
know, and Luca plain face looksat me and goes, well, you did do
that one thing.
And I was like, what?
I said, what thing?
And he said, you went down thatslide one time.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (31:05):
He kept that in his back pocket.
'cause he knew he was gonna usethat as a leverage at some
point.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (31:10):
Sure.
The 15 seconds that I spentgoing down the slide was
apparently all the,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (31:16):
that was your self, that was your
self care for the cruise.
you had your time and then itwas time to be mom again.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (31:22):
I was just like, you're right.
I did go down the slide.
Thank

ryan_1_08-08-2025_1344 (31:25):
Alright, so then our next full day, super
excited.
You wake up in the morning andyou hear the perfect day at Coco
K theme song that they'replaying and it just gets you
excited.
Gosh darn it.
I love Perfect day at Coco K.
Julie, what did your family do?
You had a great experience withthat.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (31:43):
we had a really great day.
I have some great pictures ofwhen we were docking and my kids
are just on the balcony, They'rereally excited.
So we stayed with some otherfriends on the ship who also
have, a younger kid, like ourage, like a age.
So we rented a cabana on SouthBeach, which is on the opposite
side of the island.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (32:02):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (32:02):
be a little bit less crowded over
there.
Um, so the Cabana was great.
They escort you.
They're, they're two, you know,your private cabana, you've got
loungers, you've got a couch,you've got a cooler full of
waters.
The, you have a server bringingyou food.
You know, food on the island isincluded.
Drinks are included if you havea drink package.
but you can still order drinks ala carte.

(32:24):
It comes with two floating watermats, which are amazing.
I have a great picture of myselfthat looks like I'm floating.
Solo, but when you zoom out I'mstill surrounded by a bunch of
kids.
the best part to me about theCabana is, we haven't said this
yet, but our crews had 7,300people on the ship

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (32:45):
Yep.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (32:45):
almost everyone gets off at K or the
majority get

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (32:49):
Why would you not?
I mean, I don't understand whyyou wouldn't.
Unless you have literally beenthere so many times because
there's so much to do and somuch to do, that's included.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (33:01):
Yeah.
So thinking about how manypeople are on the ship, the best
thing about the Cabana isthere's a small roped off
section between the cabana andthe public space of South Beach.
The difference in the number ofpeople was drastic.
where we were, it was ourcabana.
We had a stretch of beach rightin front of us and then the

(33:23):
water my kids played right infront of the cabana and we got
in the water right in front ofthe cabana we were the only
people in that space.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (33:29):
Very nice.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (33:30):
a little to the left and it was like
sardines down there.
So that was the best part

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (33:36):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (33:37):
when we first got off at Coco K, we went
straight to Splash Away Baybecause we figured it would be
less crowded in the morning,which was true.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (33:44):
Which is the included water park area,
not the pay for extra water parkarea.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (33:49):
Correct.
And the slides, there's fiveslides and a really big climbing
structure.
My kids had a blast.
I was unaware though that theslides had a height minimum
because they looked like smallslides to me still.
So my youngest could not go onthose slides and she was not
very happy with that.
I think the minimum was either36 or 38 inches, whichever it

(34:11):
was.
My middle like, was just allenough.
so that kind of surprised me alittle bit.
I didn't expect it to have that,but, I guess'cause you're coming
down into a pool, granted thepool is only two feet deep.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (34:21):
I.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (34:21):
kids had a great time.
It's included.
And then we went off to thecabana and we were at the
cabana, like we got on theisland around eight 30.
We were out our cabana for stilla solid like five hours.
And then

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (34:33):
Nice.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (34:34):
and ready to go back

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (34:35):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (34:35):
the kids wanted to go back to Splash Away
Bay.
we tried, but it was packed.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (34:42):
there was another Royal Caribbean ship
there.
I don't remember what it was.
It was a smaller one.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (34:48):
maybe.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (34:48):
there were definitely people, but what
we noticed, and I'll talk aboutwhat we did here in a second, is
it really took some time for theisland to wake up.
But by the afternoon it waspretty full.
So I would suggest If you wantto maximize your time at Perfect
Day at Coco K and even if you'vepaid for stuff, don't assume
that that's going to give youall the space in the world.

(35:09):
So if you're going to throwIowa, get there right away.
It's go.
First thing I know you don'talways want to get up and get to
breakfast and get off the shipas soon as possible, Jasmine and
I decided to go to HideawayBeach, which you and I were at
on our last cruise.
We did pay for that.
That's an extra cost.
but there's food there.
Our drink package worked there.

(35:31):
There's a huge pool.
There's a DJ playing in theafternoon.
There's beach, there's cabanasif you want to rent them.
And because we got there rightaway, We were one of probably
the first 20 people at HideawayBeach.
We got a pool bed, so we had abed lounger, next to the pool,
which later on when I took anap, felt really good.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (35:52):
Yeah,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (35:53):
there was nobody there, till probably
11 ish, or even later, it feltreally dead at Hideaway Beach,
which is good.
that's perfectly fine.
So we just enjoyed the pool, weenjoyed the food there.
there's multiple places to havefood.
We enjoyed the swim up bar andjust relaxing for the day.
and I even asked Jasmine when weleft, I said, do you wanna go

(36:14):
see other parts of the island?
She's like, no, I think I've hada good day.
Um, and so,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:19):
day

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:19):
yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:20):
beautiful day.
Steven says that was hisfavorite part of the

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:23):
yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:24):
I try to prep him a little, being like,
cocoa is a big island.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:28):
It's very big.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:29):
a big island.
this was a great day.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:31):
A

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:31):
I have no regrets about renting that
cabana, let me tell you.
It was not cheap.
But splitting it between twofamilies, if you're gonna be
with friends, it is a

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:38):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:39):
worth it to bit of your space.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (36:41):
I would say with Hideaway B Beach,
even though we have to pay forit, I think it's worth it.
But I don't think you have to doit.
You can find other spaces, ifyou enjoy a pool, there's a huge
pool there, that's included.
If you enjoy the beach, there'smultiple beaches to choose from.
So you don't have to spendanything extra on Coco k and

(37:01):
still have, I'm gonna say it,Julie, a perfect day.
I think it's the best thingRoyal Caribbean has.
I love it so much.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (37:07):
And I will say like, so we had been to
our local beach, ocean CityBeach, about two weeks before
the cruise, and that is on theAtlantic Ocean.
the waves were brutal.
the current was so high, sostrong the week we were there
that my children could not beout of arm's reach

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (37:26):
Uhhuh.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (37:26):
they would be floating away with the
current.
going to a place like Cook okay,is just really, really great for
little kids because you're inThe Bahamas, the water is clear.
you can walk right out into it.
It's a good temperature.
It is there, there's no waves.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (37:43):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (37:44):
just a really great space for the kids
to play.
It feels like a safe space.
It's just a really great day.
We spent the entire day in thewater.
It was great.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (37:52):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (37:52):
so those were busy days.
They were very full days.
What do we think of the food,Ryan

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (37:58):
our families were together the three
families.
your family and your friend'sfamily and Jasmine and I.
And so that was nice to kind ofcatch up with everybody at
dinner time.
we had dinner in the main diningroom, so let's start with dinner
and then work backwards.
dinner in the main dining roomall three nights.
I've had dinner on RoyalCaribbean chips at specialty

(38:19):
meals.
I've had dinner at Buffets.
I've had dinner at the maindining.
I really like the main dining.
I think, I think the food isstrong.
There was one of the nights Ididn't like as much as the
others, but it was still a lotof options.
Our server was beyondphenomenal.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (38:36):
Yeah.
Yeah.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (38:37):
I think they do a great job with
main dining.
I know everybody loves theDisney rotational dining where
you have your same wait staff,you have your same wait staff if
you have a designated diningtime, either the earlier late
seating, you have that sameserving team.
So it does kind of have thatsame feel.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (38:54):
Yeah, and we did have the early seating
because we like the vibe ofeating, getting everyone's
bellies full, especially yours,Ryan.
and then having the evening todo

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (39:03):
Yes, agreed.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (39:05):
do things that way.
And then you can always getanother snack later if you need
it.
you just have to be aware of thetime so you can get back and get
ready for dinner.
we enjoyed the main dining room.
We had a big table, so ourserver did an amazing job.
my kids really liked the maindining room.
Their food was good every night.
I thought our food was goodevery night.
I never had an issue with myfood.
I think it was the last nightwhat Steven ordered like four

(39:26):
plates of food,

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (39:28):
I don't know if he was Jones in
for protein or what, but heliterally ordered a steak,
salmon

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (39:37):
and like two other things.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (39:38):
He ordered some lamb

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (39:39):
the lamb.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (39:40):
I'm like, what?
Wow.
Are you going to a bodybuildingcompetition after this?
no, I think the food is great.
There's lots of options.
Jasmine tends to be a pickiereater and she was able to find
things that she liked.
I'm a more adventurous eater.
I was able to find things that Ilike.
So dinner's great.
Um.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (39:57):
have themes.
if you've never been on a cruisebefore, were eating in the same
room every night, but the menuswere different and they would
let you know upfront, thisitem's gonna be on the menu all
three nights.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:07):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:08):
so if you see something else, try
something else because it mightnot be, so there's a Caribbean
night, a Mediterranean night,and an American night.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:14):
Yeah.
to me, I think the Caribbeannight is the best I love shrimp
and jerk chicken and all thatstuff.
that was really good.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:21):
So after that we also tried, like for
lunch we did El Loko Fresh oneday.
we did the Solarium Bistro

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:29):
I am so bummed.
I did not get to El Loco fresh.
I'm really bummed about that.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:33):
you did the cafe, right?

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:35):
Yeah, so we went to the Central Park
Cafe the day that we got backfrom Nassau, and that's really
good.
It's got little pastries,sandwiches, fruit cups, that
kind of stuff.
Yeah.
All included.
Sorentos we went to multipletimes.
That's really good.
Great pizza.
there's a hot dog place on theboardwalk that's good for walk
up and grab,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:54):
which is good.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:55):
Yeah.
So everything we're talkingabout is included.
You're not paying extra for anyof this.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (40:59):
Lot of ice cream.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (41:01):
I only did the ice cream once, but you
can certainly do that as much asyou want.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (41:04):
I kids got it four times in one day.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (41:06):
Does it count as a snack?
If we go up to the mason jar andthe, apple pie old fashioned
that Jasmine orders comes withan apple turnover, does that
count as a,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (41:16):
that.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (41:17):
does that count as a snack?
yeah.
They had some really coolcocktails up there.
for breakfast, both mornings wewent to Windjammer.
had a great breakfast there.
The second day we got an omelet.
The good thing is they give youa little pager, so you're able
to go back and get it.
the last day, when we left, Ialways like to take that day a
little slower if I can.
so we actually went to therestaurant and had breakfast

(41:38):
that last day, and that was anice pace.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (41:41):
We did the Solarium Bistro breakfast
one day too.
I think Cocoa K Day, which wasreally good.
Again, much smaller selectionthan Windjammer, but we still
had, the pancakes and everythingthat we needed for the kids.
and we did that on our Cocoa Kday just because the side of the
ship that our room was on, whenwe went up the elevator, bistro

(42:02):
was right there.
So it

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (42:03):
Yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (42:04):
faster for us to get off the ship that
way.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (42:06):
well, we actually lucked out on Coco K
day because only half of theWindjammer was open.
And then right as we walked in,they opened the other half.
So everything was fresh, nobodywas there.
So we got our seat right away.
We got our food.
and then on Coco k, we did thequick service at Hideaway Beach.

(42:27):
there's a pizza place that hasfour different kinds of pizza.
we had some there for a snack.
for lunch, I think I had like achicken sandwich, maybe some
shrimp and fries,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (42:36):
Mm-hmm.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_13441 (42:37):
shrimp, that kind of stuff.
they have the ice cream there.
yeah, so it's all good food.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (42:42):
We had a very basic menu of like chicken
hamburger, chicken tender, stufflike that, mozzarella sticks.
So, our server just brought us acom.
We had like a fruit platter,couple fruit platters, couple of
chicken tender platters, coupleof fry platters, and then we
just kind of munched.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (42:57):
I've always been happy with Royal
Caribbean's food.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (43:00):
I

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (43:00):
I think it's great.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (43:01):
let's talk very briefly about
embarkation.
So embarkation is, you know,when you're getting off the
ship, we both, chose to pack ourbags and set most of them out
the night

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (43:12):
Yep.
we packed our bags.
if you set them up by 10o'clock, they'll take care of
them.
I've done that a couple timesand feel completely comfortable
with it.
So you basically keep yourclothes and your toiletries and
stuff the next morning and then,so basically Jasmine and I just
had our backpacks, with thatstuff, but our big suitcases
were taken out.
We went and had, um, breakfastat the main dining room, then we

(43:34):
were ready to leave we justwalked right in line and walked
off the ship.
Which I know is not yourexperience.
there was no line of any sort.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (43:44):
What my embarkation was.
Chaos on the promenade.
you embark on the royalpromenade, the same general
location where you get on thisship.
It was pure chaos.
No one knew where to go.
There was like three differentswitchback lines and nobody knew

(44:04):
like, where am I supposed to getin this line?
Where is this line going?
Is this the line to get off theship?
So people are just like walkingslowly every direction, pure
chaos.
and then we finally got off ofthe ship and it was a whole
nother building of switchbacks.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (44:21):
Oh,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (44:22):
crazy.
we got off the ship, It was veryquick to find our luggage.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (44:27):
yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (44:28):
transfer waiting for us to take us from
the port Disney World, which iswhere we were going afterwards.
our private transfer was therelike a half hour to 45 minutes
earlier than what I hadrequested.
And she waited, she kept intouch with me the whole time and
I would just say Hey, we're inline to get off.
We're trying to get off, we'regetting our luggage now again, a
lot easier if you havepassports.

(44:49):
the passport versus birthcertificate line is long.
the line that we were waitingin, that I'm saying was long,
was the line to physically likeexit the ship.
but once we got off that and gotthrough like the custom section,
it was, it was easy.
like I said, our driver wasthere early, She was the fourth
person in line.
She had a great, big, likesuburban waiting for us.

(45:09):
We had car seats waiting for usand the private transfer was on
point after being in the chaosof embarking and being on a ship
with 7,300 people being in aprivate car with no music and
air conditioning was so lovely.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (45:28):
I'm sure.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (45:29):
She was very kind.
this was a new transfer companyI was trying out.
I was really happy with thatexperience.
They dropped us off at the yachtclub and we were like, we're
home.
We're in Disney World.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (45:41):
as far as us getting off the ship, it
was very, very easy.
found our luggage, walked rightout.
the only snafu was it took usforever to get an Uber.
so that was the only issue, butthat was, had nothing to do with
the crews.
That was just the, the terminal.
so as far as getting off, my tipis, you know, they give you,
here's your number, here's yournumber.

(46:02):
Don't overstay your welcome, butyou don't have to follow that.
you can sit and have breakfast.
that's one thing that Iappreciate about Royal Caribbean
and celebrity versus DisneyDisney's basically like it's
morning time, get off the ship.
there's like very littlebreakfast, Royal Caribbean, like
the, the restaurant is there,the buffet is full buffet.

(46:24):
you don't have to get off theship, you can certainly, as long
as you're outta your state room,you can spend time on the ship.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:30):
Yeah.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:31):
Yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:31):
And I remember our friends asking the
night before, so our getting ourtime to get off is this.
And you were like, oh no, youdon't have to follow that.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:37):
Yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:38):
that's a

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:38):
yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:39):
but you

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:39):
yeah.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:40):
All right, so wrapping up up, would
you do another Royal ship?
Would you recommend Utopia?
What do you think?

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (46:46):
I would certainly recommend Utopia
if it fit what people wanted todo.
if they were looking for a shipthat had a lot of fun things,
but they didn't have a lot oftime to cruise.
I think Utopia is great.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (47:00):
I agree.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (47:01):
I still appreciate, I've been on
two of the smaller ships, I'vebeen on independence and I've
been on freedom, and I tend tolike those better, even though
they don't have all the newbells and whistles of the,
directional elevators, which arefantastic.
They don't have a, a water show.
I think they're really strong,experiences, and I prefer that.

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (47:24):
I agree.
And I think we're gonna talkabout this a little more in a
couple episodes.
considering age ranges of kidsand the makeup of your party, I
still think this is a greatoption for multi-generational
generational cruising.
both of us had very full dayswith

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (47:38):
Yeah,

j_1_08-08-2025_134415 (47:39):
different activities.

ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415 (47:41):
The world is full of wonder and your
next great adventure is waitingat Wonder and Beyond Travel.
We work with you to create a oneof a kind journey, taking the
stress off your plate so you canfocus on the joy of exploring
and the memories that will staywith you forever.
If you're ready to startplanning or you just want to
dream a little bigger, head onover to Wonder and beyond

(48:02):
travel.com.
We would love to get started.
We look forward to talking toyou next week on All Things
Travel.
when we continue our series onOff the Beaten Path and discuss
European options.