Utopia of the Seas

Utopia’s top deck is built for sun days at sea and at CocoCay. The Perfect Storm water slides include two racers and a champagne-bowl slide that sends you round and round. Splashaway Bay and Baby Bay keep the youngest cruisers busy. There’s a beach-style pool with a shallow entry, a sports pool with in-water loungers, and the multi-level Lime & Coconut bar, where guests can try the steel drums. The Spare Tire food truck and Sprinkles ice cream are steps from the water.

The adults-only Solarium sits at the front of the ship. Like sister ship Wonder of the Seas, it’s climate controlled, so it stays comfortable whether it’s hot or cool outside. It has several hot tubs, pools, a large bar in the middle and a lower level with a plunge pool. Day beds are first come, first served. Next door, the Solarium Bistro serves a buffet at breakfast and lunch, then a Mediterranean dinner you reserve ahead.

Central Park is an open-air garden with thousands of live plants and living walls. It’s home to Chops Grille, the farm-to-table 150 Central Park, and an expanded Izumi Sushi & Hibachi, plus the Izumi in the Park walk-up window. Park Café serves the famous Kummelweck sandwich, the Trellis Bar sits in the middle, and the Rising Tide bar rides slowly between the park and the Royal Promenade below.

The Boardwalk is an open-air neighborhood at the back of the ship, anchored by a hand-carved carousel that’s free to ride. The Boardwalk Dog House is complimentary too. You’ll find Sugar Beach for candy and gelato, a kids’ shop, Johnny Rockets, and Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade with dozens of TVs. Rock climbing walls flank the AquaTheater, a playscape behind it lets kids burn off energy, and the Ultimate Abyss dry slide ends right here.

The AquaTheater is the signature venue of the Oasis Class. On Utopia it hosts Aqua80Too, an ’80s-themed show with high divers, highliners and acrobats; Danny ranks it among his top favorites on board. The Royal Theater stages a high-tech production with drones, Studio B hosts an ice show and open skating, and The Attic comedy club has family and adults-only sets. Music Hall brings live cover bands, two stories high.

The Royal Promenade is the ship’s main street, with natural light from above, and Danny notes it’s wider than on earlier Oasis Class ships. It’s lined with Starbucks, Boleros, Spotlight Karaoke with private studios, the Bell & Barley pub with live music every night, Sorrento’s pizza, Café Promenade, and the Schooner Bar overlooking it all. The Pesky Parrot tiki bar took the spot that holds the Bionic Bar on sister ships. At night the street becomes a party.

The Mason Jar debuted on Wonder of the Seas and was a hit from day one. It serves Southern comfort food at brunch and dinner, from shrimp and grits and Johnny cakes to po’ boys and fried green tomatoes. It’s also a bar with live country music most evenings, rocking chairs facing the ocean, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Danny calls it one of his favorite places on any Royal Caribbean ship. It’s a specialty restaurant, so plan ahead.

Royal Caribbean’s kids program starts as young as six months, with drop-off nursery care, then separate spaces for ages 3 to 5 and for older kids, who choose their own activities. There’s a workshop for crafts, a theater for puppet shows, an arena for gaga ball, and plenty of video games. Teens get Social100 and their own sun deck. Danny, a former middle-school teacher, says the counselors all have backgrounds in child development.