Oasis-Class ships changed the game for the cruise industry.
Before Royal Caribbean launched Oasis of the Seas, cruise ships were floating hotels that brought you to ports. After the class was introduced, the script was flipped and the cruise ship became the destination.
It's not that the ports stopped mattering altogether; it's that the Oasis-Class ships offered so much to do that the ports at which they stopped became secondary.
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As Royal Caribbean has introduced new Oasis-Class ships, it continues to refine the formula. You'll find relatively few differences between each ship in the class.
Yes, restaurants and some minor features differ, but for the most part each ship follows the same basic, and spectacular, format. That format is built around the neighborhood concept, with the Central Park neighborhood being the centerpiece of that strategy.
Central Park is literally a park in the center of each Oasis-Class ship. It offers plants, trees, grass and tranquility in a neighborhood dotted with bars and restaurants. There's often music at night, and at times it's easy to forget that you are at sea while you are on one of the world's largest cruise ships.
Utopia of the Seas, the sixth Oasis-Class ship, represents the best of the class. It's an evolution of the class that takes the best of what has come before it.
Image source: Royal Caribbean
Utopia of the Seas is all about new-to-cruise
Utopia of the Seas, the newest Oasis-class ship, will sail Friday through Monday and Monday through Friday sailings out of Port Canaveral. This marks the first time the cruise line is using a new ship for short sailings.
That's a specific commitment from the cruise line to bring new cruisers to Royal Caribbean.
"It's a giant on-ramp for new-to-cruise," said Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley. "...It's a perfect product. There's no reason you can't hop on Utopia on a Friday and be back at the office Monday."
Essentially, Royal Caribbean is putting its best foot forward to win over new cruisers. That's an attempt to get people to sample cruises who might otherwise have opted for a theme park or beach vacation.
"One of the reasons we put this brand new Oasis-Class ship into this market is we expect some kind of combo with people going to Disney or Universal," Bayley said. "That's a great vacation for a family."
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Utopia of the Seas perfects the class
Utopia of the Seas borrows heavily from its sister ships. It has some minor differences, but the cruise line has refined its offerings.
The biggest change is Royal Caribbean replacing the robot bar, a feature on most Oasis-Class ships on the Royal Promenade, with Pesky Parrot, a Caribbean-themed bar.
"You go to the bar and the parrot starts mouthing off to you," Bayley said. "Some things can just be stupid."
The bar will have an actual parrot named Brian when Utopia starts sailing with passengers.
Bayley pictures the parrot as a "belligerent old drunk guy."
"People may love Brian or we may end up with parrot curry," Bayley joked.
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Utopia of the Seas also has "Utopia Railway," a new restaurant that offers dinner and a show set on a "moving" train.
Aside from those changes, Utopia of the Seas tweaks the Oasis-Class formula. The cruise line has added an expanded Izumi, its sushi and hibachi restaurant, to Central Park while adding a takeout window.
In addition, Giovanni's, one of the cruise line's Italian restaurant concepts, has been moved to a spot overlooking the Boardwalk neighborhood, which enables diners to view the Aquatheater shows while they're eating dinner.
Utopia of the Seas is built around a party vibe as people on a short cruise want to pack in as much as possible. It takes the best of the offerings of its sister ships and makes the experience yet a little better.
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