I used to be fortunate sufficient to cruise on the inaugural crusing of Royal Caribbean’s latest cruise ship, Utopia of the Seas. Whereas onboard this weekend cruise, I bought to expertise all the pieces this sixth Oasis Class ship has to supply, together with the attractive staterooms.
Again in early November, my fellow Royal Caribbean Weblog co-worker and I booked a assure balcony for $2,223 for 3 nights. This included pay as you go gratuities for 2 folks. Approaching the sail date, Royal Caribbean assigned us cabin 10198, a balcony on deck 10, midship.
This oceanview balcony has a bigger balcony than a regular balcony onboard. For context, I stayed in a regular oceanview balcony throughout a preview cruise on Utopia of the Seas the week prior, and the balcony was 50 sq. toes. On this cabin (appropriately named an “oceanview with giant balcony”), the balcony is 80 sq. toes. The additional 30 sq. toes is seen in how lengthy the balcony is.
The residing space of the cabin totaled 191 sq. toes.
Strolling into the cabin for the primary time, I used to be in awe of how fairly it was. There have been accents of blue all through the cabin, from the carpet and the blinds to the headboard and pillows. Even all of the doorways within the hallway are blue.
The very first thing you see when strolling into the cabin is the sunshine change and slot the place you place your Seapass card to generate energy. With out a card on this slot, there shall be no electrical energy or air-con within the cabin. On this crusing, there was already a card there. Oftentimes, I exploit an outdated Seapass card to place on this slot, however I did not want to do this on this cruise.
On the alternative facet is a full-length mirror that’s close to the self-importance space. The self-importance is sort of spacious and contains many retailers, together with two European retailers, one USB outlet, one USB-C outlet, and three customary U.S. retailers. The chair can also be snug, as I discovered myself sitting in it whereas utilizing my laptop computer or trying on the Cruise Compass.
Connected to the self-importance is a big dresser. There are 5 drawers, together with one on prime of the mini cooler. The drawers had been deep sufficient to put my packing cubes.
I rarely used the mini cooler, nevertheless it’s all the time helpful to have one simply in case!
I believed the wall above the dresser felt empty. I want there was a floating shelf or a bit of art work right here. To utilize this area, I used magnetic hooks to hold up some cruise paperwork so it did not muddle up the self-importance.
Throughout from the self-importance and dresser had been the sofa and closets. This sofa could be remodeled right into a double couch mattress, making the cabin capable of match 4 folks.
On either side of the sofa was a closet. One closet was large open and contained 20 hangers to hold up lengthy outfits like clothes and jumpsuits. This closet may even retailer your suitcase, backpack, and different baggage.
The second closet had 5 cabinets together with a protected to retailer valuables. There was additionally a small space to hold up a couple of lengthy outfits. Beneath this closet had been two giant drawers. I used one in every of these drawers for my footwear.
I actually appreciated having two giant closets on this new cruise ship. Whereas on Icon of the Seas, I used to be stunned at how small the closet space was. There was sufficient area for me since I used to be touring alone, however with multiple individual, I feel the storage would’ve been missing. On Utopia of the Seas, you will not have to fret about operating out of cupboard space, as there was lots for the 2 of us. Having two closets is a game-changer!
Subsequent to the balcony was the “bed room.” The king mattress could be cut up into two twin beds (as seen beneath).
Every of us had a small nightstand subsequent to the mattress. On prime of each nightstands was a lightweight that had a U.S. charging outlet and a USB outlet. This was excellent for charging my telephone and watch whereas I used to be sleeping, and I may simply see what time it was by checking my telephone. Every nightstand had two cabinets for added gadgets that you’d want near you whereas in mattress.
On one nightstand was the cabin’s telephone which took up nearly all of the highest shelf. This was simple to maneuver to one of many backside cabinets. On this facet of the mattress, there is a mild change that controls all the lights within the cabin.
Throughout from the mattress was a big flatscreen TV. The one time I turned on the TV, I observed there was not an choice to stream movies from my telephone to the TV. I want it had this selection like on my latest Odyssey of the Seas cruise.
Beneath the TV had been 5 built-in hooks to hold up numerous gadgets, like hats or baggage. I’ve by no means seen these hooks on different cruise ships earlier than, and I believed they had been an attention-grabbing design alternative. I like having extra choices to hold up issues, however the hooks are decrease on the bottom, which will not be as useful for many who can not bend over simply.
The balcony had two chairs and a small desk. The balcony was very spacious and I may inform the distinction within the dimension between a daily balcony cabin and this “giant balcony.” That is the proper place to sit down, calm down, and watch the ship sail away from port.
Lastly, essentially the most thrilling a part of this cabin tour, the lavatory. I felt that there was sufficient storage within the toilet for 2 folks. There have been three cabinets by the bathroom, a shelf beneath the sink, two towel racks, and two hooks on the door for hanging beauty organizers.
The bathe had just one shelf inside, although I want there have been extra. Whereas this bathe would not have the brand new design because the showers on Icon of the Seas, I did not thoughts as a result of I believed this bathe was simply as spacious. I may even put my elbows out and never bump the edges of the bathe.
One thing else I preferred in regards to the toilet was the blue floral backsplash. It actually tied in with the blue theme of the cabin.
There’s a built-in nightlight within the toilet so you’ll be able to simply navigate to the lavatory in the course of the night time when it’s darkish contained in the cabin.
General, I’d advocate this oceanview balcony on Utopia of the Seas. It was spacious, well-designed, and excellent for 2 vacationers. The cabin might really feel cramped with greater than two folks, however it could definitely work.
I imagine this oceanview with a big balcony cabin is extraordinarily just like the standard oceanview balcony cabin, so both choice can be a good selection. Actually, the one distinction is that additional 30 sq. toes on the balcony, which is not a drastic change.