Utopia of the Seas Short Cruises??

[Another_Critic]

19 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Then you have already experienced everything Utopia has to offer.

Can experience LNG fumes and soot vs. diesel fumes and soot.

[Vera/Lee]

14 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

It will be interesting to see how many B2B with DCL Wish. That ship is in town same days Mon and Fri.

Interesting in whether the port will now have shuttles.

I’m curious about something. How does Disney Wish stay full during the week when kids are in school? We’ve cruised a lot during the week (b2b) for a good price! The weekdays had older passengers that had retired.  

[orville99]

29 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Can experience LNG fumes and soot vs. diesel fumes and soot.

LNG should burn cleaner, so maybe the suite sun deck will actually be usable.😇

[Mikamarii]

If you build it, they will come….plain

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, Mikamarii said:

If you build it, they will come….plain

Interesting theory, but it rarely works out in the real business world when you build a solution in search of a problem that doesn’t exist.

[firefly333]

25 minutes ago, Mikamarii said:

If you build it, they will come….plain

They built a port in houston. No one came. Too far from hotels and all. 

 

Closed down now as a cruise port. 

[fla33023]

1 hour ago, Vera/Lee said:

I’m curious about something. How does Disney Wish stay full during the week when kids are in school? We’ve cruised a lot during the week (b2b) for a good price! The weekdays had older passengers that had retired.  

I teach 3rd grade in south Florida. I have students absent throughout the year that are going on a cruise. The days of parents not wanting kids to miss school are long gone! Cruising during holidays and summer is so pricey so many parents take them out and travel during the year. 

[ink76]

1 minute ago, fla33023 said:

I teach 3rd grade in south Florida. I have students absent throughout the year that are going on a cruise. The days of parents not wanting kids to miss school are long gone! Cruising during holidays and summer is so pricey so many parents take them out and travel during the year. 

That is true

[gumshoe958]

2 hours ago, swoopy2110 said:

It's not for me. Really surprised they're marketing it to the UK guests (and presumably worldwide) in the way they have been. I have no intention of flying in to Florida to spend 3 or 4 days on a ship this size, but I know why they're doing it. I think it's not a good decision but I'm sure cabins will fly out.

Very few people would fly from the UK all the way to Florida just for a 3/4 night cruise. But Disney’s already proved there are plenty who’d combine a 3/4 night cruise with a week or 10 days at the theme parks. I think it’ll be extremely successful.

 

We need to remember that Royal’s target market is very different from the typical CC poster whose ideal cruise is a repo lasting at least two weeks on a smaller ship visiting previously unserved ports on a cheap group rate, using their D/D+/Pinn free drink vouchers and spending virtually nothing on board!

[SailorMarg]

2 hours ago, Pratique said:

That seems fair since one of those days is a turnaround day and not a "real" cruise day. Does that include port fees?

Yes, the prices I gave are “all in” cruise costs. The cost for the B2B Grand Suite I reserved aboard Utopia has gone up about $450 since the first day it was available for me to reserve, June 22nd.

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

3 hours ago, SailorMarg said:

......since the first day it was available for me to reserve, June 22nd.

Interestingly, while they advertised Utopia could be booked on Friday June 23rd for the public and Thursday June 22nd for past guests, I was able to book our cruise on Wednesday night June 21st. Utopia sailings were listed and bookable so I grabbed one!

[ARandomTraveler]

10 hours ago, SailorMarg said:

Just checked.  My B2B on Utopia in August 2024, Grand Suite is around $8800 vs Wonder 7 night leaving 2 days later is around $10,000.  We aren't sailing these ships for the itinerary but to experience the ships so for us the B2B on Utopia makes sense.

I looked into both of those when they released the Utopia sailings a few days ago (Utopia B2B vs Wonder 7-day). After deciding the prices weren't worth the itineraries being offered, I started looking at Europe. Found a B2B 18-day cruise of Spain, Portugal, France and Rome the same price as those utopia and wonder sailings. 

[orville99]

14 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

We need to remember that Royal’s target market is very different from the typical CC poster whose ideal cruise is a repo lasting at least two weeks on a smaller ship visiting previously unserved ports on a cheap group rate, using their D/D+/Pinn free drink vouchers and spending virtually nothing on board!

I guess we have to get with the program then. We always book direct while on board, always sail in full suites, always do B2B's or longer, cruise for the peace at sea, really don't care what ports the ship stops at, and drop a lot of $$ while onboard. Who knew that as pinns we were doing cruising all wrong.😇

[UK Fan 78]

23 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

The 3-4 day market is not just a bunch of first time cruisers. There are plenty of regular and seasoned cruisers just taking the long weekend approach to vacations.

Very true! There are times that our schedules do not permit us to be gone for 8-9 days for a cruise due to business/family commitments. Honestly, we like the fact that there is an opportunity to sail on a new ship with a shorter itinerary. We prefer the larger (newer) ships, but most of the time a short sailing on them is not offered. 

 

Either way, there will be different opinions based on varying preferences.

[OCSC Mike]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Who knew that as pinns we were doing cruising all wrong.

 

Love this. Generalizations about anything to do with cruising are a huge pet peeve of mine.

 

There are an infinite number of ways to enjoy cruising. That's a huge reason it's such a great form of vacation. Everyone has different preferences but there is never a right or wrong way.

[Vera/Lee]

13 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

There are an infinite number of ways to enjoy cruising. That's a huge reason it's such a great form of vacation. Everyone has different preferences but there is never a right or wrong way.

I agree!

[UK Fan 78]

29 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

There are an infinite number of ways to enjoy cruising. That's a huge reason it's such a great form of vacation. Everyone has different preferences but there is never a right or wrong way.

I agree 100%. Thats the beauty of cruising and why I love it so much!

[orville99]

20 hours ago, firefly333 said:

They built a port in houston. No one came. Too far from hotels and all. 

 

Closed down now as a cruise port. 

And this ship along with Icon and Wonder were contracted well before the cruising world shut down, when the world economy was humming, and all the major cruise lines were sailing full and looking at a burgeoning market both domestically, in Europe, and the Pacific rim. The problem they were building these solutions for collapsed like a house of cards in March 2020. Now they have three pre-pandemic solutions trying to dig themselves out from under a multibillion $$ hole in a world economy on the verge of collapse. I wish them all the best. Sisyphus had an easier rock to roll.

[Mikamarii]

20 hours ago, orville99 said:

Interesting theory, but it rarely works out in the real business world when you build a solution in search of a problem that doesn’t exist.

 

20 hours ago, firefly333 said:

They built a port in houston. No one came. Too far from hotels and all. 

 

Closed down now as a cruise port.

Not quite the angle I was going for haha

[Mikamarii]

We had an 11 night Southern Caribbean booked for next year that we just switched over to b2b2b on Utopia. 

After our cruises this Dec we were only 11 nights from Diamond hence the 11 nighter as it seemed the simplest and if we were going to book a 7 nighter anyway may as well tack on another four while we are there.  We like the ability to explore new ports with cruising but sometimes just want a relaxing, do very little, beach vacation. 

The 3 cruises on Utopia are definitely going to be less ‘efficient’ than 1 X 11 nighter but we booked the same room all 3 legs, we really enjoy Coco Cay and it really is the easiest beach day especially with kids…..no cabs or transports and food everywhere! They’ll probably enjoy Utopia much more than Explorer (not that Explorer would be bad) but definitely more for them to do and more kids on the ship. Plus flying to Orlando is so much easier for us than Miami or Ft Lauderdale for flight options so it works out pretty good and managed to keep it roughly the same price.

We did a Transpacific in 2022 and hoping to do arctic circle in 2025 so we are sandwiching a really easy-to-plan relaxing beach vacation in between.

 

I’m glad we have so many options and a new one was just added that we probably wouldn’t have considered before but there is a certain draw to a brand new ship.

[ink76]

9 minutes ago, orville99 said:

And this ship along with Icon and Wonder were contracted well before the cruising world shut down, when the world economy was humming, and all the major cruise lines were sailing full and looking at a burgeoning market both domestically, in Europe, and the Pacific rim. The problem they were building these solutions for collapsed like a house of cards in March 2020. Now they have three pre-pandemic solutions trying to dig themselves out from under a multibillion $$ hole in a world economy on the verge of collapse. I wish them all the best. Sisyphus had an easier rock to roll.

RCCL I would think has hard data shown how cruise market is going this is no oh let throw it at the wall see if it stick they got to many $$$$ in it for a maybe. But the good news they plenty of other ships to choose from

[orville99]

33 minutes ago, ink76 said:

RCCL I would think has hard data shown how cruise market is going this is no oh let throw it at the wall see if it stick they got to many $$$$ in it for a maybe. But the good news they plenty of other ships to choose from

Exactly what I said. All of their data from pre-March 2020 showed a significant upward trajectory of a market that was booming. Then everything shut down, and Wonder, a ship that was purpose built for the China market that still has not fully reopened, forced them to relocate Wonder to Port Canaveral. That made Utopia which was originally slated to do the 7-night cruises out of PC odd man out. Icon is a completely separate issue. Fain’s parting ego shot across the bow of the industry knowing full well that he would not be around to catch the falling knife if and when it bombed. IMHO, Icon will be a “one and done” experience for most seasoned cruisers, and I give it a year before it starts sucking exhaust fumes from the rest of the fleet, especially as the credit card balances come due in a looming recession, and nice to choices  are replaced by have to survive decisions.

Edited June 26, 2023 by orville99

[Oceansaway17]

23 hours ago, Vera/Lee said:

I’m curious about something. How does Disney Wish stay full during the week when kids are in school? We’ve cruised a lot during the week (b2b) for a good price! The weekdays had older passengers that had retired.  

Folks from Europe and also home schoolers from USA and also childless couples and singles as well. You would be surprised the number of adults with no kids or college age kids

[Oceansaway17]

15 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Exactly what I said. All of their data from pre-March 2020 showed a significant upward trajectory of a market that was booming. Then everything shut down, and Wonder, a ship that was purpose built for the China market that still has not fully reopened, forced them to relocate Wonder to Port Canaveral. That made Utopia which was originally slated to do the 7-night cruises out of PC odd man out. Icon is a completely separate issue. Fain’s parting ego shot across the bow of the industry knowing full well that he would not be around to catch the falling knife if and when it bombed. IMHO, Icon will be a “one and done” experience for most seasoned cruisers, and I give it a year before it starts sucking exhaust fumes from the rest of the fleet, especially as the credit card balances come due in a looming recession, and nice to choices  are replaced by have to survive decisions.

A new build will attract excitement and bring the dollars needed for next couple of years. Then time will tell.

[orville99]

1 minute ago, Oceansaway17 said:

A new build will attract excitement and bring the dollars needed for next couple of years. Then time will tell.

Maybe, but as high $$ amount final payment dates begin to collide with the inevitable credit card defaults in the next year, my take is that the house of cards created by the addictive effects of a two year flow of free money coupled with an impending market collapse will stop the excitement in its tracks.