Royal Caribbean International has never plunged a new Oasis-class ship into the short-cruise market until now. The Utopia of the Seas, the largest ship in the Oasis class and the world's second-largest cruise ship, begins sailing three- and four-day itineraries out of Port Canaveral in Florida this month. Vicki Freed, Royal's senior vice president of sales, trade support and service, sat down with cruise editor Andrea Zelinski during the Utopia's preview cruise to talk about the onboard experience and what makes this ship different from the Icon of the Seas.
Vicki Freed
Q: What's the vibe Royal is going for on Utopia of the Seas?
A: It's a high-energy ship, meaning that there's a lot of music and the shows are very high energy. Even the big production show "All In!" is music, dance and vibrant in its colors and its costumes. It is the only main production show. As a three- and four-day product, you wouldn't do more than one main show, because you have so many other shows, such as the ice skating: high energy, great music, beautiful ice skating. The costumes are magnificent. Then you have the water show. Think about it: You have three main shows, and if you're on a three-night cruise, you barely make it to all three -- and then there's all the live music on the ship.
Q: Why is that high energy important for this product?
A: We just want everybody to feel like this is a party ship, and this is a ship that if you want to get away for a short break you're going have the most amazing time. There are so many different venues for people to experience, but they will be very frustrated in some cases because they won't have been able to experience it all. I guess that's a good news problem to have, because then they want to come back again and again.
Q: There's an itinerary next year with Utopia calling at Perfect Day at CocoCay twice on one four-day sailing. What's that about?
A: We test that out, and people love it because one day they'll do the thrill [portion of the private island] and then the next day, they'll do the chill [portion]. So, every once in a while, you'll see an itinerary that will have Perfect Day twice. I think we like it, but I don't think we have the capacity, with all the ships that call at Perfect Day, to do that very often. And now our sister brand, Celebrity, is also calling in Perfect Day now and then. It's not a huge chunk of calls, but it's meaningful.
Q: How do sales for Utopia compare to Icon of the Seas?
A: The sales for Utopia are very, very good, very strong. It's a different kind of product than Icon. Icon is a vacation, and this is a short getaway. It's two different types of vacations. I don't even want to say two different types of audiences because people who vacation also like a quick little getaway.
The demand for both products has been exceptionally strong, and we're excited to put a brand-new ship on three- and four-day cruises, because it's really the on-ramp for new-to-cruise and for people that want to take shorter, quicker vacations but cruise more often.
Q: What advice would you give advisors about how to differentiate Utopia and Icon?
A: Two different types of vacations. Icon is a vacation because it's a week, and this is a quick getaway, just a few days of fun. Even if you look at the entertainment on Icon with "Wizard of Oz," which has been a humongous hit, then you have the dueling pianos and so many different places to go on that ship. There are a lot of options on the Utopia, because this is the second-largest ship in the world, so there are still a lot of options here, but it's really focused around a high-energy vibe.