Is Utopia of the Seas the Best Royal Caribbean Ship?

I recently had my first cruise on Utopia of the Seas and I couldn't help feeling like this was the best ship Royal has to offer. I know all the buzz is around the Icon class but I still find myself drawn back to the Oasis class ships more. I wrote a whole article here if you want to know why.

By why do I feel like Utopia is the best? It is really a combination of the best features of all the prior Royal Caribbean ships rolled into one. I think the 3/4 day itineraries also shorten the amount of things that you can do and compress the fun so there is really no downtime on the ship. And there were just enough new features to make the ship fell different and we were intrigued to do them all.

Out of the new features, the spare tire food truck was my favorite. There is always a time while I'm on the pool deck having a beer and want a snack. I love El Loco Fresh, but that still requires a plate and it is a bit off of the pool deck, so to have something that really is grab and go was very nice. It it the healthiest thing you can eat....no, but will those tornadoes hit the spot, yes. If you don't know what a tornado is don't worry, I didn't know either. I would classify them as a deep fried hot pocket, and I'm ashamed to admit how many I threw down in a four day span.

Other features that differ from the other Oasis class ships are the Royal Railway, which we didn't get to do and Izumi in the park, which is a crowd pleaser that first introduced on Icon of the Seas, but I don't see that ever going back to another part of the ship. The to go window to be able to get sushi or those delicious bubble cones is one of my favorite spots on both ships. We also stopped by the new Pesky Parrot bar that was a fun spot to grab a drink and the kiddos loved playing with the parrot robot.

Now is it a party ship like some Carnival cruises. The short answer is no only because there are ways to avoid the parties and as we cruised with 3 kids under 10, there was no time were we felt uncomfortable having the kids be part of the party. Though you can definitely feel that Royal was making an effort to bring more group activities together on this ship. Even the main dining room staff had people up and dancing during the meals and it seemed like any milestone that was even close (we had two kids with birthdays 1 and 2 months away respectively), was celebrated with songs. It was really the best main dining experience we ever had on a Royal Cruise.

It wasn't perfect though. I heard from many cruisers that the "All In" show in the main theater isn't very good. Also, I don't like itineraries that have Coco Cay as the last day of the cruise. I'd prefer the last day being a sea day, but that just may be my preference.

Overall though this was one of my favorite times on a cruise and would not hesitate to book another tip on Utopia of the seas! This is a perfect trip for anyone that would want to try out cruising for the first time or Royal Caribbean for the first time. Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions in the comments. Thanks for reading!