Royal Carribean - Utopia of the Seas Tips and Trick

I haven’t been on that one but just got off Wonder of the seas. If you want a chair by pool, you need to go really early. Reserve shows ahead of time but if they are all booked up, still go bc many people reserve but don’t show. Food on Royal as a whole was mediocre IMO.

Overall, I preferred Norwegian. Royal nickel and dimes you throughout the whole process and the experience was probably a little worse.

You will have a great time, just trying to set expectations. I know my expectations was probably a little too high for Wonder.

Port Canaveral is easy to manage. They make it fast to get on and off the boat. Make sure you do all your electronic check in through the app. You will breeze through check in if you get express pass even if you don't have a suite or reward level that gets priority check in.

The key is a waste of money, don't get it.

Speaking of which DOWNLOAD the royal app. It will be where you can make reservations, see the schedule of events, and basically be where you manage everything.

Check in time isn't important, Port Canaveral does NOT care if you get there early or later than your check in time. I always get there as soon as boarding is available no matter if I get that slot or not.

If you miss any show reservations or can't book the time slot you want, that's fine. If you get on the ship early you can go to the entertainment guest services, they have setup usually in a bar or karaoke place or through the app when connected to ship's wifi. They will have extra reservations for all shows on embarkation, do this first thing when you get on the ship if you miss when shows open up for reservations.

This brings up how do you know when shows open up for reservations. JOIN your specific cruise facebook group and monitor it. Shows usually open the first of the month, the month before you cruise, but they can be much later or much earlier. There is no rhyme or reason to it. The facebook group is key. Search for Utopia of the Seas Month Dates, Year.

There will be a lot of kids on RCCL, so even though you are leaving the kids at home, prepare for a lot of kids everywhere. Especially on Utopia sailings. Utopia being a short cruise gets a lot of locals and more party like Carnival crowds than the longer mega ship cruises.


You don't need to pay for the wifi package if all you want to do is text message without pictures. RCS and iMessage will both work if you connect to ship wifi to use the Royal app.

Royal Railway is a neat one time experience for paid dining. I don't really go for the other upcharge restaurants. They aren't worth it to me, I don't enjoy cruise food all that much.

I like getting access to the Hideaway at Coco Cay when we don't bring the kid.

Thanks for all the info.

We went last year on Utopia of the Seas. I was with my family so our experience will be a little different. I enjoy cruises but they are not my favorite vacation. My wife and kids really like them. Anyway, here are some tips. Keep checking the website or app for deals on drink packages and other bookings. You can cancel and then re-reserve anything previously purchased for the better price. You can bring 2 bottles of wine onboard. We checked in late last time (around 2-3pm) due to being in Universal and we walked right onboard without any wait. Don't stress about boarding or debarkation times, they are not stringent. We always go to Chops Steakhouse one night, they run specials before the cruise. Reserve the "water show" as soon as the bookings are available. We were able to see it but had to stand behind the seats; its the only the show that I would go see again. I would book the adult part of CoCo Cay. CoCo Cay is always our favorite stop. Stay on the ship if you port in the Bahamas; you'll have more fun and it will be less crowded.