Saturday:  AQUA80too

Aqua Show - so good, we watched it twice.  Photos below from 10/1/25

September 2025 Highlights and Shows

September is birthday month for Royal, and for anyone with a birthday this month (or year!).  Another excuse to party.

Why is this our favorite?

At this writing in July 2025, we have cruised the Utopia twice and have scheduled several more.  The ship size and variety of activities are appealing.  So far, we’ve enjoyed our meals, including the Main Dining Room, Chops Grille, and even the Windjammer buffet (find seats in the back).  The shows are of high quality and the variety of music is enjoyable.  Central Park offers a quiet respite to relax, along with evening jazz music.  Our balcony overlooking C.P. offered the ability to sit in our room and enjoy the evening.  Utopia cruises out of Port Canaveral which is a convenient location for us.  Random or otherwise, we’ve received Express Boarding on our first two experiences.  Finally, the Utopia has expanded its Non-smoking Casino, to the enjoyment of many.  (To be fair, the regular section had pretty good air flow and was not avoided.)

September 2025 update:  Our Express designation meant nothing on the ground floor.  We arrived at 11:30 and moved through the lines quickly.  The Express kicked in upstairs for a quick check of our passports and acknowledgment of our health status.  We were seated at the Bell & Barley pub on the Promenade level (5), sipping our drinks by noon.

• Enough entertainment options to fill a few sailings
  • The Ice Show is really good; our two most recent cruises had a new (and better) show, which we attended once
  • The Aqua Show is so good, we saw it twice - be sure to book in advance; a long line of non-ticketed cruisers formed 45 minutes in advance.  Our first visit got us the pick of seats when arriving 30 minutes early; the second visit had fewer “best” seats, even though we arrived 40 minutes in advance.
  • Two comedians filled in the “Adult Comedy Show,” with one rotating out between our two September 2025 sailings.  You can expect to like one better than another, and we cut out early on the second show, when the repeat comedian told his second repeat joke (as expected).
  • We only visited a couple music venues - but there are plenty to choose among, whether acoustic guitar, piano singer, Latin, jazz or funk.  Since space can be limited, check out the Cruise Compass on your app, to arrive early enough to enjoy the performance.  I walked past (and into) the Music Hall a few times, and it was never crowded.  Due to its location on the 8th and 9th decks, near elevators and cabins, you need to make it a destination.  Whenever we visit the Mason Jar Southern Bar, we have trouble finding a seat.  (Note:  we haven’t arrived earlier than performances are scheduled, so…our bad.)

Our Utopia voyages - past and future:

• 1/9/26 - 3 nights - Nassau and Coco Cay - Guarantee Oceanview (2nd of B2B, cabin not yet assigned)
• 1/5/26 - 4 nights - Nassau and Coco Cay - Oceanview Balcony (1st of B2B)
• 12/22/25 - 4 nights - Nassau and Coco Cay - Oceanview Window
• 11/3/25 - 4 nights - Nassau and Coco Cay - Oceanview Balcony
• 9/29/25 (B2B with cabin change) - 4 nights - Nassau and Coco Cay - Oceanview Balcony
• 9/26/25 - 3 nights - Nassau (canceled); Coco Cay - Boardwalk Balcony
• 7/21/25 - 4 nights - Nassau and Coco Cay - Central Park Balcony
• 9/20/24 - 3 nights - Nassau and Coco Cay - Oceanview Balcony

Cruised Utopia 4x (9/20/24 - 10/3/25); 4 more scheduled (11/3/25 - 1/12/26)

• 14 nights cruised; 15 nights scheduled

In September, we checked out the next 4 cabin locations:

• 2 are Ocean Balcony on the 8th deck, mid-ship; one is port-side, one is starboard (November and January)
• 1 is on the on the 10th deck, a spacious OceanView window, with a slanted wall from the center, looking forward (Christmas)
• 1 is OceanView Guaranty, so the cabin is not yet assigned for January; we’ll check back for a possible upgrade (2nd January)

Central Park

A special place on Deck 8, deserving of its own section.  This is a feature of all Oasis Class ships (of which there are six).

Crowded?  Kid Friendly?

When it’s summer, it’s going to be busy - pretty much without exception.  Even though most schools were in session during our September cruise, it was also busy.  (Maybe the Friday-Monday schedule allowed some school to be missed.). Plenty of kids and families.  But the Utopia is large enough that it rarely felt crowded.

• As an Oasis Class ship, the Utopia has a large number of children’s activities, starting with Boardwalk (deck 6) which has a carousel (Open 10a to 10p, when I walked by; see below).  In addition to the Splashaway Bay, Aqua Dunes Mini Golf is available extended hours.
• For teens, the options include FlowRider, Rock Climbing, the Sports Court and Zipline.
• For 18+ there is “Red” - billed as the “Ultimate Nightclub Experience.”

Updates for Crowds and Kids - September 2025

• It was definitely a mixed crowd of parties - birthdays, anniversaries, and bachelorette.  Apparently, some children were allowed to miss school.  Except for the occasional running down the halls and elevator packing, there was nothing notable about the number of behavior of children - or maybe I’m becoming more tolerable (?).
• See photos above for the birthday bash and balloon drop turnout.

Entertainment

Options abound.  Highlights we have enjoyed include:

• Opening night Production Show “All In!”  This high energy production kept us engaged from start to finish (just 45 minutes), and looking forward to seeing it again.  That’s a rare endorsement from someone who does not watch any movies a second time.  The music was upbeat, somewhat familiar rock/pop songs, featuring a few soloists and nearly two dozen dancers.
• Music at multiple venues, including a country trio in the Mason Jar restaurant/bar, guitar and vocal artist at the Bell & Barley pub, jazz band in Central Park.
• The newly expanded non-smoking casino option offered a more enjoyable experience to make our ‘donations.’ There was a noticeable improvement in July 2025, compared to September 2024.

In addition, consider Family Karaoke, Game Shows, Trivia, and some shows we couldn’t get to in July (but have seen in the past):  the Aqua Theatre Show, Youtopia Ice Spectacular and Quest (definitely 18+).

Photos below:  Music Hall performers, Comedian A.J. Jamal, and Aquatic Theatre from behind (on jogging path, through plexiglass)

Updates for Entertainment - September 2025

• The Ice Show was terrific, worth the effort to reserve in advance, and definitely worth a 30 minute early arrival for the best seats.  Grab a drink before, order one from the wait staff, or just sit back and enjoy a conversation with new folks.
• Similar to the ice show, arrive early for the Aqua Theatre show.  Most of seats are wooden and uncomfortable, but arrive early for the best choice.  We sat tall “pub” style chairs with mesh seats.  We had a great view with no seats behind us.  A few standees kept us from feeling lonely.
• The Aqua Theatre was a great venue to watch MNF - a little windy, but comfortable.
• Photos below:  Cruise Director Dan-Dan, Comedians Gary Caouette and Collin Moulton

Updates for Dining - September 2025

• Standard RC dining fare and always above average wait staff in the MDR.  We enjoyed Chicken cordon bleu and salmon, along with creamy butternut squash soup.
• On the second of B2B cruises, the MDR offered NY Strip Steak (tasty) and Key Lime Pie, which we enjoyed.
• Pea risotto - better than it sounds, maybe.  Very tasty, and great service.

Vitality Fitness Center

On this relatively young vessel, all the equipment was in good shape.  It was kept clean and was never busy during my daily visits.  (My observations compare to the mid-size and smaller ships, which have been full, if not crowded, in 2024 and 2025.)

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
  • RC plans a new Nassau experience in late 2025, maybe similar to Coco Cay
  • 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.