Ultimate Family Suite - Utopia of the Seas - Trip Report
- OralSurgeyNinja
- Jan 1
- 3 min read
Well, the family is at it again. This time with a short 4 night sailing on Utopia of the seas. We've booked the Ultimate Family Suite for this sailing due to our plethora of children. When i originally booked the room, I had every intention of doing a room tour video specifically highlighting the differences between this suite on Utopia and Wonder. But, as you can hear from my kids in the video, its pretty much the exact same suite. There are a few minor differences that I'll highlight in this post.
The floor plan is exactly the same and the decorations are almost the same as well. One of the differences (that is expressed in my nephew's shocked face in the opening video clip) is that this suite comes with a Playstation 5 in addition to the Nintendo Switch. Below you'll see a picture of all the games available as of Oct 2024.
Another difference is the Utopia removed the chalkboards and replaced with a magnetic board with lots of play magnets.
The UFS on Wonder used to have a book rack in the corner next to the kids bedroom. This has been removed and replaced with just a few books above the shelves.
The downstairs nook has lots of pillows and a new connect 4 game.
The balcony of the suite has a similar layout; however, I noticed there were no loungers next to the hot tub as there were on Wonder. I'm sure some could be brought up if requested.
That pretty much highlights most of the differences I noticed on our short sailing. Like I said, its practically the same suite. More accurately, its the exact same AMAZING suite and our kids loved every minute in it. You'll find all the details on my trip report and room tour video during our Wonder of the Seas sailing.
I'd also like to mention one huge difference between Wonder of the Seas and Utopia. The Royal Railway. My kids and I were super excited to try out this brand new venue. For those that don't know, the Royal Railway is an immersive dining experience. You "board" a train complete with virtual windows, sounds, and vibrations to simulate the experience of actually being on a train. The dining experience even includes a show with sheriffs and bandits!
The entrance to the venue has an old-style departures flipboard that includes the last names of all the guests booked on the train. You're then escorted onto the train platform where you're served a cherry-flavored drink in a old-style bottle. They had non-alcoholic versions for the kids.
After your board the train, you're taken to your table. We were a party of 8 so we had to be split between two tables for 4. You're given a menu for dinner as well as a map of the train route. The Sarsaparilla Old Fashioned was 🔥
I was actually quite impressed with the level of immersion of the train ride. My kids thought it was the coolest thing ever! The show was a little cheesy at times but the kids ate it up and it really helped keep them occupied while they waited for food.
I didn't get many pictures of the food. But everything was train themed and I remember enjoying all of it.
One downside of such a short sailing in a star-class suite is that you really don't have enough time for the genie to get to know you and your family. The relationship you develop on longer sailing just wasn't there at the same level. Our genie was great though and really worked hard to make our trip enjoyable. She even came up with a scavenger hunt for the kids one day.
I'll leave you with a video of the sailaway. Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about the sailing or suite!