Testing the Waters with Dori: Does Utopia of the Seas Set First-Time Cruisers Up for Disappointment?

Last week I returned from a three-night cruise onboard Utopia of the Seas. It was a whirlwind and I barely got to touch the surface of what the ship offers. With me was my almost-15-year-old niece, who had previously been with me onboard Wonder of the Seas’ inaugural cruise. Having only experienced two of Royal Caribbean’s latest-and-greatest ships, you could say she’s a little bit spoiled when it comes to cruise ship bells and whistles.

Which got me thinking – if I took her on an older, smaller cruise ship on a future sailing, would I be letting her down?

Which, again, got me to thinking. (My husband would say that’s never a good thing!)

Royal Caribbean purposely chose to put Utopia of the Seas into the short cruise market, sailing three- and four-day cruises. The idea is to wow first-time cruisers and get them hooked on all the entertainment, dining, and activities. And leave them wanting more.

Short cruises, as Royal Caribbean’s president and CEO Michael Bayley has repeatedly said, is the on-ramp to cruising. First-timers can dip their toes into cruising on a short sailing and once hooked, make the move to seven-night cruises.

(For the drive market, short cruises are also perfect, but more so in that cruisers will repeatedly want to do the same short sailings over and over because they’re easy getaways.)

“The idea itself is brilliant,” said Dream Vacations franchise owner Carol Nunnery. “There is no way a person can experience the entire ship in four nights so they will leave wanting more.”

Up until recently, these short cruises were offered on older ships. So when first-time cruisers decided they were ready to move to a seven-day cruise, inevitably they “traded up.”

Moving a client from one of these ships to just about any other ship was easy, Tracy Schatz, president of Elite Travel Journeys and the president of the Central Penn. ASTA chapter, told me.

“”It was an easier sell [before] because they went from a ship like Grandeur of the Seas or Mariner of the Seas,” she said.    

As I thought about it, I wondered, conversely, would someone going from a short cruise on Utopia now be “trading down”? And, doesn’t that kind of set these cruisers up for potential disappointment?

I reached out to some travel advisors who had also been on the Utopia inaugural sailing to see what they thought.

Qualify, qualify, qualify

The advisors I spoke to said that more than anything, going from Utopia to any other ship (except perhaps Icon of the Seas or the most recent Oasis-class ships) requires qualifying. Without that, yes, there’s a potential for disappointment.

“As a travel advisor, it’s our responsibility to manage the client’s expectations,” Nunnery told me. “… if looking at an older ship, it will be important to focus on the destination and not the ship.”

“Anybody that goes on Utopia as their first time, somebody’s going to have to qualify them,” Schatz said. “If they have kids of any age and they go from Utopia to even a Freedom-class ship, they really could be disappointed.”

“It’s all about the listening and the communication and really understanding what your guest enjoyed about that sailing [on Utopia] and what they might be looking for in the future,” said Jamie Margolis, another Dream Vacations franchisee I spoke with.

“We really are navigating a new market,” Nunnery said. “Will people be willing to go back to the old ships? Only time will tell. Honestly, if we come to a place where we are downgrading the client to an older ship to meet their budget, it is our responsibility to prepare them accordingly.”  

Ports, not the ship, as destination

Of course, budget isn’t the only reason a client might need to choose an older, smaller ship for a future cruise. Certain destinations can only be visited on the smaller ships.

“People need to understand that all the bell and whistles do come at a cost in that you’re not going to be able to go to all the places you may want to go on those itineraries,” Schatz said.

Margolis said that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “It’s all about balances and when you can have that conversation and explain what they’re gaining. You’re gaining the port experience. It’s going to be a smaller ship, but you’re getting the ports, which is what you’re looking for.”

She added that that even if her client ends up on an older or smaller ship, they’ll still find “a lot of the brand continuity that they may have loved [on Utopia] when it comes to the more popular venues, activities and a continuity of service throughout the fleet.”

She also pointed out that in many cases, advisors can find a seven-night cruise that fills the client’s needs with another Oasis-class ship or even a Freedom-class ship.

“These ships are not small,” Margolis added. “That’s another thing that we have to remind our guests all the time, you might be going to Freedom class, but this is just a small shift. It still has so much to offer.

Of course, with the Discovery class of ship coming out in a few years, there’s a chance some of Royal Caribbean’s oldest, smallest ships will be going out of service. And then, perhaps, this entire question becomes moot.

Hmm, is Utopia even right for new cruisers in the first place?

Interestingly, one of the advisors I spoke with actually said she wouldn’t start a first-time cruiser with Utopia. For her, Utopia is best for experienced cruisers.

“I am not sure how often I would recommend this ship to a new cruiser, honestly,” said Elizabeth Caran, owner of Outlander Travel LLC. “I think it is so huge that for a new cruiser it could be overwhelming… With so much to do, I think the new cruiser who I would qualify for an Oasis-class ship would truly get so much more out of a longer cruise.”

She added that she puts new cruisers on seven-night itineraries “all the time.”

“I think the best clients for this product are experienced cruisers who want a beach vacation at a floating resort… The cruisers who are going to really get the most out of Utopia are the ones who already know what they love about Oasis class ships and can therefore hone in on those aspects of it.”

As always I’d love to hear what you think.

Am I totally off-base? Does it matter whether a first-time cruiser gets their first taste of cruising with a brand new ship versus an older one?  Email me at dsaltzman@travelmarketreport.com and let me know your thoughts.

And, while I have your attention, please indulge me for a moment. My debut novel “Death of a Travel Advisor” is available for purchase on Amazon. It’s a murder mystery set entirely in the world of travel advisors, with a cruise ship inaugural, business development managers, a hotel fam, and more. It is, in a way, my love letter to the travel agency community. As I say in my dedication: “To all the travel advisors out there whose hard work and dedication to their craft often goes overlooked and under-appreciated. I see you.”