Utopia of the Seas – from Port Canaveral, FL to Nassau, Bahamas and Perfect Day at Coco Key. Not only was this my first cruise experience, it was also the first time I left US soil, my first time using my passport. I also had the best of the best of company, my daughter Suzy and my Cruise-Experienced sister Diane. Diane was our Cruise Director, and she rocked it!
The Ship
The Utopia of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean ship out of Port Canaveral, Florida. Our ports of call for this trip were Nassau, Bahamas and Royal Caribbean’s private island, Coco Key.
A note about the seas, and motion sickness. I took Bonine daily as a preventative measure, and I never felt nauseous or sick, or even uncomfortable. We stayed on Deck 7, with balconies. The seas on the first night and at Coco Key were rough, even on a big ship like this, I felt it. At night when we were sailing, the motion was perceptible, but not in a bad way. Weird. Also, as noted by others, the ship creaked. Very odd noises, maybe the ceiling panels flexing. The ship runs on natural gas, and the refueling process at Coco Key did not look like fun.
Yes, Suzy did indeed ride The Ultimate Abyss, a dry slide that went several stories, twisting, down, and very, very fast. I passed on the ride and took the elevator.
Special Touches
Nassau
Although my traveling companions had forbidden me from doing any history geek stuff…I did anyway. We took a bus tour of Nassau, which included a couple of historic stops and points of interest along the way. I was the only tourist on the bus snapping photos of the cemetery in New Providence. While I was unable to convince everyone to stop there, I paid my drive-by respects to Brigadier General Robert Cunningham, (even though he was a Loyalist).
John Watling’s Distillery – we did shots of rum that was some of the smoothest, tastiest straight liquor ever. So good!
My traveling companions, knowing me too well, did not allow me to try and navigate the Queen’s Staircase. I was only able to take this photo from the top.
Royal Railway
The Utopia Station experience on the ship was AMAZING! It’s super-difficult to get reservations, we had planned many months in advance. Well worth it.
The dinner experience starts as soon as you come down the stairs. A railway schedule board updates you with your table number.
I’m not going to give away all the surprises, but there are bandits on this train. Dinner was beautiful, creative, and delicious! My gluten free sister, and vegetarian daughter both had excellent choices. The rolling sensation, the sounds, and the view from our train window all added up to a great dinner treat.
Entertainment
We attended two shows on board, I did not take a lot of photos because I was really immersed in the talent and production of both. The first show was a music show in the theatre, great performances singing and dancing.
The second show was the Aqua Show – and it was incredible!!! I got next to no pictures because I was on the edge of my seat the entire show, dancing, diving, acrobatics, these performers worked it hard for a full 45 minutes, nonstop.
Views
Perfect Day
Royal Caribbean has their own private island at Coco Key. We spent the day at the adults-only Hideaway Beach, with a beautiful, heated infinity pool and enormous pool bar. We only saw a small portion of the island, there was also a water park, and other beaches. While the ocean was too chilly, the pool was perfect.
Suzy won big at Bingo, and while we didn’t win big, Diane and I enjoyed the casino games. We drank many, many espresso martinis, ate a lot of Sorrento’s pizza slices, rode the levitating bar, owned 80s Music Trivia, and I even found a cruise duck, after hiding a dozen of my own. I greatly enjoyed cruising, and would go again in a heartbeat!
