Utopia of the Seas - Christmas 2025

Oasis Class / 5668 Passengers / Maiden Voyage: July 2024 / Ports:  Port Canaveral; Nassau (scheduled, but cancelled); Coco Cay

 

Christmas Cruise - Differences and observations

This was our first Christmas Cruise, and there is a unique vibe to this time - for families, mostly.  Our observations:

  • The ship was quite full, but this was not unusual for our 6th cruise on Utopia.
  • Families were in abundance, and the children were younger on average than previous voyages.
  • Christmas decorations were plentiful.  We’ve traveled in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, when decorations begin to appear; these were full-blown.
  • Costumes!  There were costumes - and not just for children.  Christmas pajamas were well-planned, too.
  • Weather issues can arise in any season, so I can’t say that the cancellation of visiting Nassau was unusual.  The seas had been rough the week prior and continued through some of this voyage.  Smaller ships managed to dock at Nassau and had the opportunity to visit the grand opening of the Royal Paradise Island.

 

Utopia #6:  12/22 - 12/26/2025 (4 nights)

  • Cabin #11181 - Midship; Deck 11 overlooks Central Park (higher than previous 8th deck in November)
  • This location was excellent.  It did not adjoin and there were no cabins across the hall.  It was near the elevator, but not so close as to hear any congregating groups.
  • We overlooked the Central Park “neighborhood,” near the front.  There is more activity near the aft of the neighborhood, although the entire area is quieter than the Boardwalk neighborhood.  (Either neighborhood provides a balcony above level 8, but not much, if any, view of the ocean.  Higher floors will have sounds from the pool deck, although only the pre-11pm sleepers will notice.)

Onboarding, eating and drinking:  We arrived before noon, and found a couple areas to enjoy before everyone came aboard - the Central Park Trellis bar, and the Pesky Parrot were of interest.  Later, we were able to review all the shows and parties on offer (below).

Central Park and Boardwalk

These are features of all Oasis Class ships (of which there are six).

 

Dining Highlights

As a Holiday Treat, we booked 150 Central Park - definitely fine dining.  After booking Christmas Eve, we noticed that 12/23 was significantly less expensive.  The Eve menu included a full lobster, but our meal offered plenty of options, was extremely tasty and provided service of the highest level.  (The lobster thermador was excellent, although the photo below does not do this review justice.). The pictured salt and pepper shakers were cute.

 

 

Entertainment

Many options were available, including the All-IN! Signature production show (first 2 nights), AUQUA80 and YOUTOPIA Ice Spectacular (each offered twice each, on two nights - so 4x total) - very popular and often crowded.  Name that Tune is a fairly new offering, which we saw in November.

 

Note:  See other Utopia reviews for many photos of the Auqua and Ice Shows.

 

Having seen all of these shows (mostly multiple times), and given their popularity (i.e., crowds expected), we opted to catch them again in January.  We did enjoy the Adult Comedy, which it was noted - was held at 8pm, a bit earlier than most. The topics ran “blue,” but the most potentially concerning material was focused on the comedians themselves.

 

Photos below capture Dave Russo of Boston, and Simeon (reportedly a favorite of the Royal Caribbean president).

Name That Tune (Photos from November)

  • A main stage “Production” show, complete with singers and dancers, more fun than expected, with 8 cruisers who had vied for a spot onstage earlier in the day.

Coco Cay photos - December 24, 2025 - Below.        

Ports

The following Port notes are repeated on other Ship Reviews, as applicable.

  • From Port Canaveral, the Utopia of the Seas spends a day at its cruiseline-owned island: Coco Cay.  In addition, on 4-night cruises, the Utopia pays a visit to Nassau.
  • Coco Cay - interesting that you will likely have a sister ship docked next to you (and not far away, you may see another cruise line which tenders its passengers to its own island)
    • You can pay a lot, or nothing - no charge for food; your drink packages are valid/active on the island
    •  Food is cooked aboard the ship and brought out to the island venues
    • There are activities and special beaches with service that are pretty expensive
    • We enjoy a brief frolic in the Oasis Lagoon pool, with a swim-up bar.
      • If the swim-up bar is overly crowded, you can walk around to the land-side of the bar and receive very quick service

  • Nassau (Grand Opening Paradise Beach scheduled for December) - CANCELLED

Hugely disappointing to many, weather prevented the ship from docking, although some smaller ships managed prior to our arrival.  The Grand Opening moved forward without us.

 

Click here:

**We have plans to visit the Royal Paradise Beach on 1/31/26, as part of our Explorer of the Seas cruise.

 

Nassau:

  • We’ve walked around Nassau a few times; it gets a little hectic once you leave the gated RC area
  • Some people swear by the bar experience just off the pier.  We’ll have to try it.  A few blocks away, we checked out a theme bar, but decided not to invest in what seemed to be overpriced libations
  • There is a market FULL of stalls with somewhat aggressive sales people.  There are dozens of stalls, each staffed by an individual, usually selling the same merchandise.