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TravelStories Episode 56: Two Cruises

Apr 11, 2025

Dive into the world of cruising as the hosts share their adventures on Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas and Princess Cruise Lines' Sun Princess. Discover the ups and downs of travel logistics, humorous flight mishaps, and delightful dining experiences aboard these two ships. Enjoy highlights from mesmerizing ice and aqua shows, fun audience participation events, and the challenges of coordinating family trips. Gain insights into loyalty rewards, casino experiences, and the evolving culinary scene at sea.

01:03:06

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Quick takeaways

Travel logistics challenges, such as canceled flights, highlight the need for passengers to communicate and adapt before cruise embarkation.

Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas showcases a variety of entertainment options like ice and aqua shows, enhancing guest enjoyment.

Dining experiences on cruises vary significantly between lines, influencing guest satisfaction and future travel preferences based on service and food quality.

Deep dives

The Return of Grand Dining Experiences

Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean recognize the importance of enhancing guest experiences, particularly during the embarkation phase. They are reintegrating features once cut during the pandemic to ensure a memorable journey for customers, with an emphasis on delivering high-quality meals as the first dining experience aboard the ship. The buffet serves as a key starting point for most guests, showcasing an expansive selection of seafood to generate excitement about the cruise ahead. By putting their best offerings forward, these corporations aim to set a positive tone right from the outset, enticing guests to indulge in what the cruise has to offer.

Intro

3min

Travel Turmoil: A Weekend Journey

7min

Exploring Utopia: A Cruise Experience

16min

Adventures in Cruise Entertainment: Shows and Parades

4min

Cruise Cuisine: A Dining Journey

6min

Cruise Casino Chronicles

24min

Reflections on Cruise Experiences: Health, Enjoyment, and Relaxation

3min

Two Cruises

Episode 56: Show Notes.

This episode, we head back to the high seas to talk about not one, but two different cruises! Join us as we discuss our experience on Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas and Princess Cruise Lines’ Sun Princess. In this detailed discussion, we talk about everything from flight Irregular Operations (IRROPS) and loyalty rewards to dining, entertainment and more, drawing out differences, common features, and what we liked and didn’t like. To kick off our conversation, we talk about flights to Jacksonville and Orlando, and some of the unexpected obstacles along the way. Next, we touch on key aspects of the experience at Utopia of the Seas: facilities, dining, casino, and more, before diving into Thomas’s arrival on the Sun Princess. Comparing the demographics on each ship, Thomas shares what he liked about the dining setup and entertainment options, drawing a comparison with other cruise trips. Despite having been sick, Thomas shares a short review of what he was able to partake in, including a specialty European-style dinner. If you’re curious about the newest ships on two different cruise lines, this episode is for you!

Key Points From This Episode:

[00:45] What this episode will explore: two different cruises.
[04:13] The journey to Jacksonville and Orlando.
[12:05] Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, Utopia of the Seas.
[15:02] Splitting up for lunch on day two before enjoying the ice and aqua shows.
[22:32] Loyalty, points and miles in the cruise community.
[26:39] How ‘Name that Tune’ in the Main Theatre exceeded expectations.
[30:30] Dining on Utopia of the Seas.
[37:04] The casino experience and final thoughts on the Utopia experience.
[41:20] One feature both ships share that we agree all cruise ships should have.
[44:46] Thomas’s arrival on Sun Princess, the buffet, demographic, and entertainment.
[50:56] Ports on the itinerary and why Thomas only got to experience one of them.
[51:26] The specialty dinner he got to enjoy: The Butcher’s Block by Dario.
[55:44] Staff on the Sun Princess in comparison to Royal Caribbean.
[59:30] Gaming and travel-hacking discussions that will follow in future Patreon episodes.

Quotes:

“One thing that really jumped out at me is, because it’s such a big ship, [there’s so much to do], there’s an ice show, there’s an aqua show, they have two different shows in the main theatre, they’ve got two different slides—you can’t do it all.” — @tmount [13:59]

“I also suspect that putting their best product out there, their newest ship with all the newest bells and whistles and restaurants, they are converting a lot more who may not have been looking at cruises.” — @tmount [13:34]

“For better or for worse, Royal Caribbean is actually pretty good at delivering a standardized product.” — @TktweetsKim [35:44]

“This trip was trying out the newest ships on two different cruise lines. Utopia of the Seas is the newest ship for Royal Caribbean; Sun Princess is the newest ship for Princess Cruise Lines.” — @TktweetsKim [41:24]

“They are taking every opportunity, on Royal Caribbean, to engage with you and make you feel special.” — @TktweetsKim [56:50]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sun Princess Star of the Seas

Utopia of the Seas

Royal Caribbean Cruises Carnival Cruises

MSC Cruises

Thomas Kim on X

Trevor Mountcastle on X