Utopia of the Seas - November 2025
Oasis Class / 5668 Passengers / Maiden Voyage: July 2024 / Ports: Port Canaveral; Nassau; Coco Cay
Utopia #5 - 11/3 to 11/7/2025 (4 nights)
- Cabin #8624 - Midship; Deck 8 features Boardwalk
Onboarding, eating and drinking: We arrived before noon, parked and queued up, ate some lobster and grabbed a cocktail at the English Pub “Bell & Barley” before unpacking between 1 and 1:30.
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).
Boardwalk Balcony photos below; oceanview on left below.
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 November cruise, it was also busy. 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.”
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 others: the Aqua Theatre Show, Youtopia Ice Spectacular and Quest (definitely 18+)
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.