I am thrilled to share a special guest post today from one of our amazing clients, Tammy Martin. Tammy is an avid Disney Traveler and Royal Caribbean Cruiser. Tammy and her family just got off of the brand new Utopia of the Seas. You guessed it, they scored the coveted reservation at Royal Railway℠ — Utopia Station℠.
Royal does it again! They add another layer to what was they are coining the phrase – the biggest weekend!
My husband I just got off of Royal Carribean’s newest ship – Utopia of the Seas! It had everything we wanted and more!
Royal Carribean has entered into the immersive dining experience. What that means is that we not only had dinner but dinner and a show. We personally have sailed on another cruise line with similar immersive experiences and this experience was just as great! Who knew! A train at sea?
In order to get a chance to experience this new venue, let me start off by saying, I checked the Royal Carribean app daily (yes – sometimes multiple times throughout the day) as I knew with the ship being brand new the reservations would be very limited. When the reservations first appeared in the app around 29 days before departure, I could not secure a reservation. However, I was able to get a reservation three days before we sailed at 5:30am (yes I know that was early, but don’t you look at your phone first thing?).
We scored a 6PM reservation on the last evening of the cruise. The cost per person for our sailing was $141.58 a person (gratuity included). I literally had heart palpitations after I quickly added the reservation to my cart and checked out. I even texted my travel agent Kelly saying…”you will understand my excitement.”
Fast forward to day 3 of our cruise. We received train tickets to our cabin. We then arrived at the Royal Railway Station about 15 min prior to our train departure. When we arrived we were greeted by the Royal Railway train station flip board (just like train stations in Europe!) We checked in, gathered on the platform and had a delicious drink.
The cast members of the show were already on the train platform chatting with train riders in character and then were escorted to our table. Since we were a party of two, our table was for two. Tables on the train 2 and 4 top.
Once seated, we were greeted by our Royal Railway server who shared the menu options, poured our water and took our beverage order. We had a bottle of wine that we purchased the night prior in Giovanni’s – the bottle was retrieved and brought to Royal Railway.
Once the show started, it was delicious and fun from start to finish! What I personally liked was that each course was spaced out and didn’t interfere with the show. We were able to eat and watch. We felt attended to and service was top notch.
We ordered Soapy Smith’s Corn Chowder and the Fart & Dart Baked Bean for our appetizers. We both had the Braised Short Ribs (the meat fell right off the bone) and for dessert we tried the Royal Railway Cigar and the Denver Gold Bar. The food presentation and taste was outstanding. I personally thought the cigar dessert was one of a kind and delicious. All in all – our dinner was great.
While I won’t spoil the content of the show, I was made a honorary deputy! I enjoyed all of the actors! It was well done and I feel this new venue has a lot of possibilities for Royal in the future. Maybe a German Rhine River wine tasting trip? A ride through the Silk Road in China? Who knows what will be next!
Regardless if you do the Royal Railway or not, Utopia of the Seas was a great cruise.
All aboard & Bon Voyage!
By:
Tammy Martin
Guru Travel Customer
Are you ready to set sail on Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, Utopia of the Seas? Contact us today. We have several sailings with reduced pricing and onboard credit. Call us at 630-885-3999 or email us at letstravel@thewdwguru.com
