Port Canaveral welcomed the largest cruise ship to ever call it home as Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas arrived on Thursday morning. It’s the latest Oasis-class ship larger than its five sister vessels including 2022’s Wonder of the Seas, which also calls Port Canaveral home. It’s only second in size to the new Icon of the Seas, part of a larger class of ship that sails out of Miami.
The ship had been on a transatlantic voyage since late June after it left the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France where it had been under construction since 2022. The 236,860-gross-ton Utopia is 1,188 feet long with 18 decks and a 5,668-passenger capacity based on double occupancy. Original ship in the class Oasis of the Seas was the largest in the world when it debuted in 2009 followed by 2010’s Allure of the Seas, 2016’s Harmony of the Seas, 2018’s Symphony of the Seas and 2022’s Wonder of the Seas.
The vessel made its way into port passing by Jetty Park at 7:15 a.m. and arriving to Cruise Terminal 1 by 8 a.
m. The ship has some shakedown cruises ahead of its debut with paying customers starting July 19 when it will begin three- and four-night Bahamas cruises, taking over the short-cruise duties from the recently departed Allure of the Seas. It continues Royal’s strategy that began last fall of parking two of the world’s largest ships at Port Canaveral.
Wonder of the Seas will continue year-round seven-night sailings. Utopia’s role is part of what Royal Caribbean has dubbed the “ultimate short getaway” with each sailing making stops at the cruise line’s private Bahamas island Little Stirrup Cay, which it has renamed Perfect Day at CocoCay. Similar to its sister ships, Utopia of the Seas features eight distinct neighborhoods including the popular open-air Central Park carved into the middle of the ship and the Boardwalk area that mimics the Jersey Shore at the aft of the vessel.
Unique to Utopia of the Seas is a themed railroad-dining experience called Royal Railway-Utopia Station and a new bar concept called the Pesky Parrot. Its popular, twisting 10-deck dry slide The Ultimate Abyss is the longest in the fleet, and the ship will be just the second home to the popular Southern restaurant, The Mason Jar, that debuted on Wonder of the Seas. Utopia is also the first Oasis-class ship to use liquefied natural gas, a cleaner burning fuel that’s part of the cruise industry’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
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