All Things Travel Podcast
Listen in each week with Wonder and Beyond Travel Co-Owners and destination experts Ryan and Julie.
He is your travel professor, teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. She is a Disney-loving, Maryland mom of 3 and a specialist in family travel.
Whether they're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories…it’s always All Things Travel.
All Things Travel Podcast
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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Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. Ryan and I just got off Royal Caribbean's newest ship, utopia of the Seas. We are so excited to share our initial impressions, favorite experiences, and how our cruises were very different from each other, still had a great time.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Ryan and Julie. I'm your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation, and she's a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always, all things travel.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Okay, so let's start with a couple, just like details, backgrounds
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah, yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:So we were on Utopia of the Seas. We picked to go on this ship together 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 of these big, almost mega type
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Well, I was on ICON when it first came out, so I had some famil.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:different sailing.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Correct.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah, we wanted to see what a regular one was like. we tried to, package this as being research,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Sure.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:So we sailed July 25th to 28th. It was a three night cruise out of Port Canaveral. That means it's easy for us to tack on a couple days at Disney Universal, things like that. It's easy to get to. we had two stops, Nassau and Coco K. And we had no days at sea. So this was like a whirlwind three night cruise.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:And I will reiterate I do not like three night cruises.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:They're way too quick.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:They are
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:a four night cruise just feels completely different, than a three night cruise. I feel like, yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Because on the three night you usually have Nassau and the private islands and no day at
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:you don't get that down day really.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yes.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:we're excited to share kind of how our trips were a little bit differently, how we approached the trip differently, what kind of rooms we had, our impressions of the ship and the food and the activities. We're excited to get into all that today.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:But before we do that, if you have not listened to last week's episode, go back and take a listen because we talked all about some off the beaten path places you might wanna visit in North America,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:All right, so sailing out of Port Canaveral, we both flew into MCO, the Orlando International Airport,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yep. The day before. The day before.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Always, always,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:And, and Julie, what happened to you in Baltimore To re to reiterate this?
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Oh yeah. I think I made a post about this our flight there, when we arrived at the airport, we had a delay until 3:00 PM
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:which is not good.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:So, if you extrapolate that to the next morning, you get up early trying to get to the airport the day of the cruise, and now all of a sudden you may not get there.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah. And our flight, We were supposed to leave around 10 and land around one, and we got
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Gotcha.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Baltimore at 3:00
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Whew.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:So at first we were like, oh my gosh, what are we gonna do with these kids? we kept trying to switch to a different flight, but the other flights didn't have five seats, so we kind of gave up on switching flights. thankfully we had all of our kids activities in their book bags
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yep.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:So we just got some food spread out. They did their activities and slowly the delay shortened and we ended up only being delayed like two or two and a half hours, But again, just like Ryan said, had I booked that flight to the day of my cruise, I would not have been on the cruise
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. and you look at a three night cruise, that means you're done. there's no, joining that cruise. I want to talk about the different ways that we approach this day before, because it was interesting that we did two completely different things, which I think is gonna be the theme of, of us discussing the crews here today, even though we spent a lot of time together. What did your family choose to do and why?
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:with having the three little kids, that means everywhere you go, after you get off the plane at the airport, you need a transfer with 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:And I know you have and going with Jasmine, this was our first time cruising together and her first time in Royal Caribbean. I mentioned that your family was actually doing that, and she's like, oh yeah, we did that one time too.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah, pretty much everyone staying at that hotel is doing it the night before a cruise
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:in, we see everyone with their cruise gear, whether they're getting on a Disney ship, a royal ship. we saw so many people that were cruising. the hotel, the Hyatt, it's when you come off the Orlando International Air, you come off in the main terminal and then you take the little monorail to the other terminal, it's back there. after you leave security and you just go straight up, it's literally right in the lobby. You get to it kind of right near where like that Disney store is. and we were a little like, what are we gonna do the whole time? They do have a pool, but we didn't wanna get into that and have wet clothes. We ended up having a suite which had a lot of space for us. So I would definitely recommend that. The rooms were nice. The hotel was nice. they had two restaurants, and plus all the food downstairs in the airport.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I was gonna say you have access to that lobby area in the airport, right?'cause you're not going through security.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:correct, you do have access to a lobby area and there's, you know, a Starbucks there, there's Sparrow, there's a, a McDonald's, I wanna say a couple other places. but there is a really nice sit down restaurant, on the main floor of the lobby. And then there's a really nice restaurant, like on a higher floor of the hotel. we went to one of them for dinner and it was surprisingly delicious. My kids destroyed their meals. They also had a cool scavenger hunt going. The kids had a great time doing that. So that was nice. the benefit of doing that is that you don't have to get off the plane and then have a transfer to a hotel and then another transfer from that hotel to the cruise port.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:That also allowed us to do Royal Caribbean's shuttle going from the airport to the port for the cruise, which is also pretty affordable, It does not require car seats, which makes it a little bit easier for my family
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:And you're comfortable with that for your kids?
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I am. we've done that. it's a very, same shuttle like they have for mirrors connect and
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:sure.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:mean, yeah, it's like a huge coach bus. It was super easy to find. They just. Rural Caribbean doesn't differ than a couple other cruise lines I've been on. They don't give you a specific time to show up for your transportation. They say, Hey, the desk opens at 10 30 and it'll be open until 1230. Come down and we'll assign you a time. So we tried to get there around like 10 10 so
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:the earlier buses. we still didn't get to the port until close to noon, even though our boarding time was 11 and we did have a big, big line
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:we'll talk about this in a second, but you had a very different check-in experience than we did.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. I mean, really good experiencing at 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 even though we had that delay in our flight, like we weren't like, we have to get there. We have to get there. Because we We're just staying at the airport.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:what did you guys do?
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:So we did a different, tact to all of this. we got in, I think at 1230 from Indianapolis to Orlando and had about a 45 minute drive to Port Canaveral. I did a couple things I hadn't done before. First and foremost, I Ubered, directly from the airport to Port Canaveral. Super easy. it was the same as getting an Uber or a Lyft to go to Walt Disney World. No problem getting one. I wanna say it was about 75 bucks, for the Uber, which wasn't bad. if you hit MCO at the wrong time, you may be paying that much to get to Walt Disney World. we went to our hotel and decided, what we wanted to do, Jasmine's like, what are we doing today? And I'm like, well, my job was to get us here. I'm not sure what we're doing now. Um, but I did have a couple things in mind. we went and got some key wine pie. We played some mini golf, checked out the beach, and then Jasmine had seen a pamphlet in the lobby, for this place that I absolutely loved. We both loved it. It was called Coco Village. So we took an Uber back across the bridge'cause we were staying in Port Canaveral and went to this kind of, What I would consider like old town, cocoa Beach, little tiny shops, old architecture. They had a park right by the ocean. We were in like this, artist co-op. These two women were running. So they're like artists from all around the community. we were talking about what we were doing, and then our first time there and said, well, you need to go to the French bakery, don't you? And we're like, well, of course we 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 where they made their own candy. it was such a fun find
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:were not expecting at all.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:That's awesome.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I would totally stay in Cocoa Beach and Port Canaveral to spend time at Cocoa Village the day before a cruise. I think it totally made sense.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:awesome.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:And then I had found us a nice place for, dinner. We went to, grills on the water there and watched boats come in. we had some seafood and I was ready for our cruises.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:That sounds great. And then the next day, did you Uber to the
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. So we just Uber. we decided not to rent a car to be honest, with all the Ubering we did, we probably paid as much as we would renting a car, but I didn't have to drive anywhere and I didn't have to worry about anything. we had an 11 o'clock, boarding time for Royal Caribbean and literally it was straight walkthrough. we obviously had to stop at various times and show our boarding pass or our passport, but we walked right through security, walked right onto the ship and we were ready to go.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah, we did not have that. We had a bunch of switchbacks. It was crazy.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:you can tell. I mean the Royal Caribbean, terminal there, I mean, it's definitely built for a large number of people. you probably got there at a point when a lot of people were,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:on and you just kind of got stuck.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I think so too. And please remember I was pushing a triple stroller down these switch packs. the guy would be like, go all the way down to the end of that line and wait there. And I was like, can I just go to the terminal?
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:You want me to push the stroller all the way down here again, super easy if you had your passports.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yep.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:will mention that I had my Nia with me of course, and she is, she's two and they had to like scan hers separately and do this little check-in thing separately.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Some tips that I would say for this is just like you said, have your passport or your birth certificate, whatever you're using as your primary. ID out and ready to go. Don't be searching in a bag for that. Have your luggage.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:with your app, you also need your app
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Y
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:that whole
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:you either need your app out or to be honest, I had the papers printed out so I didn't have to worry about it. if I'm already printing other stuff out for the trip, I'm gonna print that out and then I just have those papers. also make sure you have your luggage tags or those tag holders. on your luggage so you can just drop it off curbside. you don't need to see your bags till they're in the state room.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:They did have extra luggage tags,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yes.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415: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:Yes.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:If you forget to tip your porter, they're gonna remind you that you forgot to tip them. I would say just one small tip is because you don't know how long that line for security is gonna be. if you have little kids pack like a snack or
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:just, just in case, um, once we got through all that, getting on the ship was easy. So, Ryan, Tell us your initial impression. Walking onto the ship.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:You know, walking onto a ship like Utopia or Icon, it's almost like you walk into a shopping mall. It's the promenade. So folks that are familiar with other royal ships, you've got your bars shops, Sorentos pizza, and you walk in and it's sensory overload. now I was there earlier than you, so mean, it was not as loud. But I would say over the three days, the thing that Jasmine and I commented about the most was, this ship is loud.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:always noise. not even just the number of people, but the background music. And I'm not one of those old fuddy duddies, but the background music was louder than it needed to be a lot of the times.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:sometimes I think, is that because it was a three night weekend cruise?
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yes. and as we have said before on this podcast, the last cruise that you and I went on was a three night out of Miami. That's a party cruise. That's a weekend cruise. And this utopia is designed, you know, and they even say this in their marketing. It's the best weekend ever. So, they're really getting people up and going. Now, I will say, when we got on Jasmine, I did something I've never done before. We wore our swimsuits, on the ship went to lunch at the solarium and went right to the adults pool there and started to chill. It was very, very nice.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Did you feel like the adults, only area back in the solarium was loud as well, or no?
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I thought that's what,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:time there, so I
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:that's what I expected it to be. it really is, a more chill environment.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Okay.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:on Freedom of the Seas, we did not feel that way, but I think this one is different'cause it's more enclosed.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:inside. Yeah, it's inside it's not just a secondary pool, like what it is on some of the,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:um,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:more relaxing areas, things like that. A lot more chairs around. And again, it has a solarium bistro, which even though the solarium itself is 16 plus, the bistro is all ages, that is the place to go for lunch when you board,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:because you're not in the jungle of windjammer. We did that for lunch and then met you guys when you got on a little later that's a totally different experience. Absolutely. The top tip.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Now, I will say the food selection is definitely significantly more limited because it is a much smaller restaurant than the Windjammer. The Windjammer has everything you've ever
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:in your
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Which it always does.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:it always does. And it is good food. it's a good buffet. Solarium Bistro though, like for example, there was not chicken tenders and mac and cheese,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:is at the Windjammer, but my kids were just fine with some pasta and fruit,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:and I had some really good seafood salad and lobster tails, and the guy'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:Yeah, it was a lovely experience. we also had some other friends cruising with us, so we
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Right.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:of met there for lunch. Um, and I did not feel out of place at all with my triple stroller in the adult only area. Ryan's like looking for me. I'm like, just look for the triple stroller. It's the only one here. Okay. That's where we are. but yeah, so walking onto the ship is, is fairly, uneventful. The kids were excited. I will tell you that pooling up to the port, I had tried to warn Steven like, this ship is huge. think of a cruise ship that you've seen before and it's like times five.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:and we were pulling up and he was like, oh my God. Like you can't even see the whole 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:but you know, once you're on board, I felt the same with the icon. I don't feel like it's any bigger
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:No.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:then, like when we were on the freedom of the Cs, like, and part of
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah, I
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:once you're like, I need to get from point A to point B, it doesn't feel that big.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I didn't think it felt that big onboard either. I mean, it felt big.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:But outside. It looks like a mons strapless city. that was really fun for the kids and Steven pooling up, seeing the ship and the slides and how big it looks. they were really excited to board. I think it was very loud for them when we boarded, but I was like, we're gonna get right to the bistro, go meet our
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:it's much quieter there. And actually then rooms were ready right at one
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Oh yeah, absolutely.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Awesome.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415: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 the different spaces like Central Park we tried some of the different bars'cause we had the drink package and, and just kind of wandered around, went to our room. so let's talk about rooms.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:your family had two ocean veranda state rooms.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yes.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:You have been on older Royal Caribbean ships. What were impressions of the state rooms?
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:the state rooms were fine. we had to get two rooms because we're a family of five. There are very limited rooms for a family of
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:on the majority of rural Caribbean ships. I think with the icon class, they're expanding that a little bit. having the two connecting rooms means you have two balconies, you
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yes.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:two living areas.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Two bathrooms,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:bathrooms and the bathrooms they are small. I don't know how we would've done that with one bathroom. it still felt really small having the two bathrooms, of that size. I was glad that we at least had that because it was hectic when it was shower time and get ready time
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:right?
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:but the two, the two bedrooms were nice. We able to spread out a little bit. we love the ocean view balcony because I like just having that little bit of separate space. we probably didn't spend as much time out there as we want to. We always wanna hang out out there, but like, there's always so much to do. it is nice to have that separate space. having the two rooms was nice because my youngest, did take some naps
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Mm-hmm.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:go to sleep earlier, so it was really nice to be able to put her down and then everyone else kind of go in the other room.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I did something different, when we started to put this cruise together and we're looking at different rooms. I chose to do a boardwalk view purely because I had not ever done that before. I wanted to see, okay, I'm working with clients. What does that look like? How does that feel? And boy, I wish I hadn't done that. it's a good learning curve for me because not even that I needed the, the ocean view veranda. I think I would've even been happy with an ocean view.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:literally were looking across at other people's rooms that the noise was not a problem. the aquatics show would go on till about 10 o'clock, and then the noise would be done. I wasn't worried about the noise. I, it was more I felt like I couldn't have my, my, curtain open. And so it really, the state room was great. I loved the state room, but it felt like we were in an inside state room, to be honest with you.'cause our curtain was always closed.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. I will say though, there are some Boardwalk view balconies if you get the right deck and the right location. I just had clients come back on a Boardwalk View balcony on Quantum of the Seas, and they looked right over the Aqua Show, which is
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:because that means you have an ocean view out there.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I'm glad that I did it from that standpoint. but that's not what I would book again, and I would counsel, clients if that's what they were interested in.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Got it. Cool.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:So let's talk about onboard. What were the types of things that your family did, to take advantage of everything that Utopia had for this quote unquote perfect weekend.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:there were a lot of activities and the nice thing with World Caribbean is their app does load the activities about like a week in advance or
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:you can start going through and seeing what you're gonna be able to do on the ship. we did not make advanced reservations for any of the shows, partly because they went fast.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415: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 can reserve stuff right away. so we were able to reserve multiple shows, and even change some stuff around, and I was very happy with it.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:That's good. wasn't super worried about it because with the kids you just
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415: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 the activities. they did have a lot of family activities, but the thing I noticed was it was like at one time they at all, which could be because it's a three night cruise,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah, yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:here's family bingo, but it's one night at like five o'clock, which is the same as early dining. So that didn't make a lot of sense to me. So we did not end up doing a lot of the organized activities. We spent a lot of time in Splash Away Bay, which is the kids' waterpark. My kids had a great, great time. A very quick reminder that you do need to be potty trained to go in there for obvious reasons. it shut down the first day on board because kids were not potty trained in there. It was none of my kids. but they shut it down and that means it's closed for like three or four hours.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:that's not fun for anybody. But we did get there, the next day was Nassau, and we knew we weren't getting off the ship. So we got there right when it opened at 10:00 AM and they got to play a lot that day too. they also had three or four other 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 a little bit. But on the other side of the ship, they were more, compared them to like walking into a beach but without sand. Like it was very, very shallow with some loungers. And then it went to like, maybe like three, three and a half feet. And my kids really loved both of those pools. They did have, life jackets for all sizes on board, which was nice. So we spent a lot of time there. We spent a lot of time at mini golf. My kids
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yes.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:golf.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:spend time with your kids at mini golf.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:You did get to do that. that was fun. It's really easy. Just a quick walk up. The clubs and the balls are right there. we did a lot of time on the carousel at the boardwalk, and there's a candy shop right there too. There's a very small climbing area there for the kids. So they did that. there is a bigger play scape that's right next to the golf course. So we did that too.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Mm-hmm.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:and then there were a couple organized activities we went to. My kids' favorite was a name that tune Taylor Swift version. My kids had an absolute blast. They were definitely the youngest kids in there by like a solid 10 years and we did pretty good. We got 12 out of 15 they would play a snippet and you were trying to guess the song, We didn't really care about winning, we just knew the kids would have fun'cause my kids are, big swifties. the best part was after we went through all the guessing, then they played like, you know, three quarters or even the whole song at the end as we like, went through being like, what song was it?
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:tour up
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:it turns into a dance party.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:the member that was hosting it, called Steven out and made him go dance. it was a blast. after that we went to a silent disco My kids had so much fun there.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I love silent disco on a cruise ship.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. And then they crashed pretty hard after that. the next night we actually did make it to the ice show. The ice show was at seven 30, so it's a little earlier than some of those other shows. It's also a fairly small venue. So I felt pretty good that they would be okay with that. And they had so much fun. They were amazed. it was a really fun experience for them. so yeah, we took advantage of a lot,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. That's great. That's great. like I said, a couple weeks or. Ago when we talked about going on this cruise, you can't do everything. So, try to do the things that you want to do in those, two and a half days, that you have. we focused on the shows. the first night we went to the water show, the water acrobatic dance show and was absolutely blown away. the downside to that is then we went to the production show right after and that felt a little ho hum. even Jasmine and I are like, wow, I wish we would've seen this before we saw the water show. I think we would've liked it a lot better. Um,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:vibes.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:and so we did that the first night. The second night, we kidnapped Steven and took him to the adult show. We went to Battle of the Sexes and then we went to Crazy Quest, which if you have not been to those two adult only shows, they are absolutely hilarious. crazy Quest is an audience participation where you're getting things for your team. in the first five minutes of Crazy Quest Stephen's shirt, got sent down to help with the task and he did not get his shirt till the end of Crazy Quest. but he was a, he was a good sport about it. the last night we went to the adult comedy show and that was a lot of fun. it was nice the last night not to have quite as many things scheduled. we were winding down and then we went to the.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:too,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:And we have to pack. And we went to the casino a little bit'cause Jasmine enjoys a little bit of time at the casino. So that was kind of fun to experience'cause that's not something that I do a lot of.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:really we just enjoyed the different spaces on the ship. we go to this lounge and have a drink before dinner. We go to this lounge and listen to some live music for a while. And really that's kind of how I like to do it, is just, bebop around and see what's going on
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415: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 mark on what they're trying to accomplish?
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I think they're trying to make a big weekend party ship, and
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:a big weekend party ship
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:my kids had an absolute blast.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:there's art everywhere. there's lots of, interesting architecture, of the different spaces. you go into a lounge and it looks completely different. And, there's some, there's some spaces here like the mason jar, which we absolutely fell in love with, completely different, than anything on another ship. I think Utopia is a fantastic ship if that's the type of place you're looking for.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Absolutely. it is a great testament to them that you and I had completely different experiences on these same
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:they are able to, we always say a cruise is great for multi-generational families that wanna go on a trip together because everyone can do their own thing. And we literally proved everyone can do their
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I mean, we,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:we saw each other at dinner.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:it.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Absolutely. we would go our separate ways after dinner most of the time. so let's talk about our two days. The first day was Nassau, which is obviously a very common port for anyone who has sailed in The Bahamas. So much so that people are very tired of it. what did you guys decide to do?
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:We stayed on the ship, we hung out at Splash Way Bay. We did mini golf, we did the carousel.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:You used it as a sea day
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:we used as a Sea day. We did so many onboard activities. and that's just, you know, that was what we wanted to do. We
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:absolutely.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Like if you're gonna get off the ship in Nassau, the best place for you to go is Atlantis. and that's a pretty pricey excursion. also just thinking about traveling with the kids, then you have to go that extra step and think, what's our transportation to wherever we're going, what's that gonna be like? And I didn't wanna get off and walk around the straw market just'cause it's kind of like a hassle to get them off and back on.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. And I would say, not only is Atlantis expensive, you don't have a lot of time, if you factor in the transfers and everything like that, we decided to get off and we did go to the straw market, one'cause I'm like, I want to do something in Nassau. Because so many people say there's not much to do other than, going to Atlantis or having a beach day somewhere. I'm like, I wanna find something. And Jasmine and I had a really good experience. I booked us a tour, through Dilly Dally tours, and it was only$55 a person. It was a three hour walking tour through Nassau. And so we got off and went to the straw market and did some shopping, looking around. and if you haven't been to Nassau for several years, it's completely different. There is the older, more. How do I wanna say colorful straw market. but there's also a very nice brand new straw market area right off the port too. It has a junko museum. It's got a great big amphitheater area, so they are trying to do some different activities there. we went to the Dilly Dally tours and met our tour guide Charles, I was happy to have Charles because when I had read reviews of the tour, his name kept popping up over and over and over and he was absolutely fabulous. Tons of stories, tons of examples. we did a walking tour around Nassau. He showed us the queen staircase and the fort. he talked about, colonialism and, pirate culture because that was like the capital of the Pirates at one point then the British were there and he talked about, you know, the influence of Nassau on Ian Fleming and who wrote James Bond and the movies of James Bond. And we walked around and, went to the National Gallery of The Bahamas, a rum distillery. We went to a chocolate factory. We went to a winery, tasting room. And he talked about the government of The Bahamas and not just, the Iowa that we were on, but The Bahamas as as, a whole. And then we ended at the straw market. I really thought that was, it was such a good return on investment and a neat way to spend our day. And we were still back at the ship by two o'clock. I thought it was a lot of fun.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Wow. You guys had a busy day, but
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:We had a
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:to the ship early,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah.'cause we had already done shopping at the straw market, so we knew like one shop that we wanted to go grab something at, and then we were ready to come back. We had spent our time on Nassau. I will say, maybe I'll wait for a rainy day sometime at Nassau. I, I do want to see that junk Cano Museum junk Cano is kind of their carnival culture there in The Bahamas. I'm excited to learn more about that. we went back to the ship, had some lunch, and then we found you and did the giant inside slide.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Oh yeah. We did the Ultimate abyss.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:that was really fun. That was one of those things where when you watch a video, on YouTube of Utopia, they always show it. our wait was what, like five minutes, 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: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 sit on to go down. They instruct you how to use that, but it's on deck 16
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:It's on deck 16 and goes down to deck six. it goes all the way down to the boardwalk.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yes. Which is pretty cool. and a funny comment about this experience that I had going down the slide. my children, being children are like, we wanna do this, we wanna do this, we wanna do this. by day three, I'm like, listen guys, we've done things that you guys wanna do this whole cruise. let mom and dad pick what we're gonna do next. We haven't gotten to do any fun things that we wanna do, you know, and Luca plain face looks at 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 that slide one time.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:He kept that in his back pocket.'cause he knew he was gonna use that as a leverage at some point.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Sure. The 15 seconds that I spent going down the slide was apparently all the,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:that was your self, that was your self care for the cruise. you had your time and then it was time to be mom again.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I was just like, you're right. I did go down the slide. Thank
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Alright, so then our next full day, super excited. You wake up in the morning and you hear the perfect day at Coco K theme song that they're playing 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 with that.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:we had a really great day. I have some great pictures of when we were docking and my kids are just on the balcony, They're really excited. So we stayed with some other friends on the ship who also have, a younger kid, like our age, like a age. So we rented a cabana on South Beach, which is on the opposite side of the island.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415: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 bringing you food. You know, food on the island is included. Drinks are included if you have a drink package. but you can still order drinks a la carte. It comes with two floating water mats, which are amazing. I have a great picture of myself that looks like I'm floating. Solo, but when you zoom out I'm still surrounded by a bunch of kids. the best part to me about the Cabana is, we haven't said this yet, but our crews had 7,300 people on the ship
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yep.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:almost everyone gets off at K or the majority get
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Why would you not? I mean, I don't understand why you wouldn't. Unless you have literally been there so many times because there's so much to do and so much to do, that's included.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. So thinking about how many people are on the ship, the best thing about the Cabana is there's a small roped off section between the cabana and the public space of South Beach. The difference in the number of people was drastic. where we were, it was our cabana. We had a stretch of beach right in front of us and then the water my kids played right in front of the cabana and we got in the water right in front of the cabana we were the only people in that space.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Very nice.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:a little to the left and it was like sardines down there. So that was the best part
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:when we first got off at Coco K, we went straight to Splash Away Bay because we figured it would be less crowded in the morning, which was true.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Which is the included water park area, not the pay for extra water park area.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Correct. And the slides, there's five slides and a really big climbing structure. My kids had a blast. I was unaware though that the slides had a height minimum because they looked like small slides to me still. So my youngest could not go on those slides and she was not very happy with that. I think the minimum was either 36 or 38 inches, whichever it was. My middle like, was just all enough. so that kind of surprised me a little bit. I didn't expect it to have that, but, I guess'cause you're coming down into a pool, granted the pool is only two feet deep.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:kids had a great time. It's included. And then we went off to the cabana and we were at the cabana, like we got on the island around eight 30. We were out our cabana for still a solid like five hours. And then
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Nice.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:and ready to go back
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:the kids wanted to go back to Splash Away Bay. we tried, but it was packed.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415: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:maybe.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:there were definitely people, but what we noticed, and I'll talk about what we did here in a second, is it really took some time for the island to wake up. But by the afternoon it was pretty full. So I would suggest If you want to maximize your time at Perfect Day at Coco K and even if you've paid for stuff, don't assume that that's going to give you all the space in the world. So if you're going to throw Iowa, get there right away. It's go. First thing I know you don't always want to get up and get to breakfast and get off the ship as soon as possible, Jasmine and I decided to go to Hideaway Beach, 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. There's a huge pool. There's a DJ playing in the afternoon. There's beach, there's cabanas if you want to rent them. And because we got there right away, We were one of probably the first 20 people at Hideaway Beach. We got a pool bed, so we had a bed lounger, next to the pool, which later on when I took a nap, felt really good.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:there was nobody there, till probably 11 ish, or even later, it felt really dead at Hideaway Beach, which is good. that's perfectly fine. So we just enjoyed the pool, we enjoyed the food there. there's multiple places to have food. We enjoyed the swim up bar and just relaxing for the day. and I even asked Jasmine when we left, I said, do you wanna go see other parts of the island? She's like, no, I think I've had a good day. Um, and so,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:day
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:beautiful day. Steven says that was his favorite part of the
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I try to prep him a little, being like, cocoa is a big island.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:It's very big.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:a big island. this was a great day.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:A
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I have no regrets about renting that cabana, let me tell you. It was not cheap. But splitting it between two families, if you're gonna be with friends, it is a
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:worth it to bit of your space.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I would say with Hideaway B Beach, even though we have to pay for it, I think it's worth it. But I don't think you have to do it. You can find other spaces, if you enjoy a pool, there's a huge pool there, that's included. If you enjoy the beach, there's multiple beaches to choose from. So you don't have to spend anything extra on Coco k and still have, I'm gonna say it, Julie, a perfect day. I think it's the best thing Royal Caribbean has. I love it so much.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:And I will say like, so we had been to our local beach, ocean City Beach, about two weeks before the cruise, and that is on the Atlantic Ocean. the waves were brutal. the current was so high, so strong the week we were there that my children could not be out of arm's reach
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Uhhuh.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415: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 in The 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:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415: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 the water. It was great.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:so those were busy days. They were very full days. What do we think of the food, Ryan
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:our families were together the three families. your family and your friend's family and Jasmine and I. And so that was nice to kind of catch up with everybody at dinner time. we had dinner in the main dining room, so let's start with dinner and then work backwards. dinner in the main dining room all three nights. I've had dinner on Royal Caribbean chips at specialty meals. I've had dinner at Buffets. I've had dinner at the main dining. I really like the main dining. I think, I think the food is strong. There was one of the nights I didn't like as much as the others, but it was still a lot of options. Our server was beyond phenomenal.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. Yeah.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I think they do a great job with main dining. I know everybody loves the Disney rotational dining where you have your same wait staff, you have your same wait staff if you have a designated dining time, either the earlier late seating, you have that same serving team. So it does kind of have that same feel.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah, and we did have the early seating because we like the vibe of eating, getting everyone's bellies full, especially yours, Ryan. and then having the evening to do
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yes, agreed.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:do things that way. And then you can always get another snack later if you need it. you just have to be aware of the time so you can get back and get ready for dinner. we enjoyed the main dining room. We had a big table, so our server did an amazing job. my kids really liked the main dining room. Their food was good every night. I thought our food was good every night. I never had an issue with my food. I think it was the last night what Steven ordered like four plates of food,
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I don't know if he was Jones in for protein or what, but he literally ordered a steak, salmon
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:and like two other things.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:He ordered some lamb
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:the lamb.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I'm like, what? Wow. Are you going to a bodybuilding competition after this? no, I think the food is great. There's lots of options. Jasmine tends to be a pickier eater and she was able to find things that she liked. I'm a more adventurous eater. I was able to find things that I like. So dinner's great. Um.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:have themes. if you've never been on a cruise before, were eating in the same room every night, but the menus were different and they would let you know upfront, this item's gonna be on the menu all three nights.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:so if you see something else, try something else because it might not be, so there's a Caribbean night, a Mediterranean night, and an American night.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. to me, I think the Caribbean night is the best I love shrimp and jerk chicken and all that stuff. that was really good.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:So after that we also tried, like for lunch we did El Loko Fresh one day. we did the Solarium Bistro
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I am so bummed. I did not get to El Loco fresh. I'm really bummed about that.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:you did the cafe, right?
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah, so we went to the Central Park Cafe the day that we got back from 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 multiple times. That's really good. Great pizza. there's a hot dog place on the boardwalk that's good for walk up and grab,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:which is good.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah. So everything we're talking about is included. You're not paying extra for any of this.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Lot of ice cream.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I only did the ice cream once, but you can certainly do that as much as you want.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I kids got it four times in one day.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Does it count as a snack? If we go up to the mason jar and the, apple pie old fashioned that Jasmine orders comes with an apple turnover, does that count as a,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:that.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:does that count as a snack? yeah. They had some really cool cocktails up there. for breakfast, both mornings we went to Windjammer. had a great breakfast there. The second day we got an omelet. The good thing is they give you a little pager, so you're able to go back and get it. the last day, when we left, I always like to take that day a little slower if I can. so we actually went to the restaurant and had breakfast that last day, and that was a nice pace.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:We did the Solarium Bistro breakfast one day too. I think Cocoa K Day, which was really good. Again, much smaller selection than Windjammer, but we still had, the pancakes and everything that we needed for the kids. and we did that on our Cocoa K day just because the side of the ship that our room was on, when we went up the elevator, bistro was right there. So it
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:faster for us to get off the ship that way.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:well, we actually lucked out on Coco K day because only half of the Windjammer was open. And then right as we walked in, they opened the other half. So everything was fresh, nobody was there. So we got our seat right away. We got our food. and then on Coco k, we did the quick service at Hideaway Beach. there's a pizza place that has four different kinds of pizza. we had some there for a snack. for lunch, I think I had like a chicken sandwich, maybe some shrimp and fries,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:Mm-hmm.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:shrimp, that kind of stuff. they have the ice cream there. yeah, so it's all good food.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:We had a very basic menu of like chicken hamburger, chicken tender, stuff like that, mozzarella sticks. So, our server just brought us a com. We had like a fruit platter, couple fruit platters, couple of chicken tender platters, couple of fry platters, and then we just kind of munched.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I've always been happy with Royal Caribbean's food.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I think it's great.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:let's talk very briefly about embarkation. So embarkation is, you know, when you're getting off the ship, we both, chose to pack our bags and set most of them out the night
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yep. we packed our bags. if you set them up by 10 o'clock, they'll take care of them. I've done that a couple times and feel completely comfortable with it. So you basically keep your clothes and your toiletries and stuff the next morning and then, so basically Jasmine and I just had our backpacks, with that stuff, but our big suitcases were taken out. We went and had, um, breakfast at the main dining room, then we were ready to leave we just walked right in line and walked off the ship. Which I know is not your experience. there was no line of any sort.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:What my embarkation was. Chaos on the promenade. you embark on the royal promenade, the same general location where you get on this ship. It was pure chaos. No one knew where to go. There was like three different switchback lines and nobody knew like, where am I supposed to get in this line? Where is this line going? Is this the line to get off the ship? So people are just like walking slowly every direction, pure chaos. and then we finally got off of the ship and it was a whole nother building of switchbacks.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Oh,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:crazy. we got off the ship, It was very quick to find our luggage.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:transfer waiting for us to take us from the port Disney World, which is where we were going afterwards. our private transfer was there like a half hour to 45 minutes earlier than what I had requested. And she waited, she kept in touch with me the whole time and I would just say Hey, we're in line to get off. We're trying to get off, we're getting our luggage now again, a lot easier if you have passports. the passport versus birth certificate line is long. the line that we were waiting in, that I'm saying was long, was the line to physically like exit the ship. but once we got off that and got through like the custom section, it was, it was easy. like I said, our driver was there early, She was the fourth person in line. She had a great, big, like suburban waiting for us. We had car seats waiting for us and the private transfer was on point after being in the chaos of embarking and being on a ship with 7,300 people being in a private car with no music and air conditioning was so lovely.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I'm sure.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:She was very kind. this was a new transfer company I was trying out. I was really happy with that experience. They dropped us off at the yacht club and we were like, we're home. We're in Disney World.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:as far as us getting off the ship, it was very, very easy. found our luggage, walked right out. the only snafu was it took us forever to get an Uber. so that was the only issue, but that was, had nothing to do with the crews. That was just the, the terminal. so as far as getting off, my tip is, you know, they give you, here's your number, here's your number. Don't overstay your welcome, but you don't have to follow that. you can sit and have breakfast. that's one thing that I appreciate about Royal Caribbean and celebrity versus Disney Disney's basically like it's morning time, get off the ship. there's like very little breakfast, Royal Caribbean, like the, the restaurant is there, the buffet is full buffet. you don't have to get off the ship, 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:Yeah.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:And I remember our friends asking the night before, so our getting our time to get off is this. And you were like, oh no, you don't have to follow that.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:that's a
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:but you
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:yeah.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415: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:I would certainly recommend Utopia if it fit what people wanted to do. if they were looking for a ship that had a lot of fun things, but they didn't have a lot of time to cruise. I think Utopia is great.
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:I agree.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:I still appreciate, I've been on two of the smaller ships, I've been on independence and I've been on freedom, and I tend to like those better, even though they don't have all the new bells and whistles of the, directional elevators, which are fantastic. 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:I agree. And I think we're gonna talk about this a little more in a couple episodes. considering age ranges of kids and the makeup of your party, I still think this is a great option for multi-generational generational cruising. both of us had very full days with
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:Yeah,
j_1_08-08-2025_134415:different activities.
ryan_1_08-08-2025_134415:The world is full of wonder and your next great adventure is waiting at Wonder and Beyond Travel. We work with you to create a one of a kind journey, taking the stress off your plate so you can focus on the joy of exploring and the memories that will stay with you forever. If you're ready to start planning or you just want to dream a little bigger, head on over to Wonder and beyond travel.com. We would love to get started. We look forward to talking to you next week on All Things Travel. when we continue our series on Off the Beaten Path and discuss European options.
