This was a 4 night family and friends cruise (me, DH, and 11 yr old son are from GA and flew in). We have sailed Royal, Celebrity, and NCL previously for context. This ship lived up to the hype of “World’s Biggest Weekend” and to be honest I didn’t even get to see every area of the ship in the short 4 days because it’s so big. There was ALWAYS music, energy, and something going on for each one of us. The ship itself is beautiful and clean. The passenger was primarily 55 and younger. LOTS of families as you can expect and we met people from all over the country. We took Uber from Orlando airport to the hotel and that was over 100 dollars from the airport. A transfer to the hotel would have been cheaper so price it out. We stayed at an area hotel (Hilton Cocoa Beach) the night before and we used a transportation company to get to the ship (10 dollars per person) That was very organized and while the hotel didn’t offer the service, they recommended it. Embarkation was a breeze with express embarkation. Do your check in early, complete your safety drill, upload your photos all before you sail and you’ll get express entry. Our board time was 1130 and we were on the ship in 10 minutes. There’s no shortage of bars in this cruise so for the deluxe beverage crowd you won’t have a wait. The favorite Lime and Coconut bar had a little wait out at sea, same with Pesky Parrot in the promenade but nothing crazy. The bartenders were very friendly and they follow the rules of one drink at a time. Every bar had their own special menu and I felt the drinks were strongest at the el Loco Fresh bar and at Bolero’s. Don’t miss playmakers sports bar out on the boardwalk if you have a favorite team playing. No frozen beverages here but drinks were strong and I’d argue the bartenders were the best on the ship. As for food, we ate at specialty, main, and buffet. Here’s the thing. Later in the cruise (day 3) waiters were walking the ship offering 40 and 50 off specialty dining which was a better rate than if you booked pre-sailing. We reserved hibachi pre-sailing and I am glad we did because that was fully booked all cruise. It was awesome. Loud, fun, HUGE portions and so good, and the chefs were funny. It was better than any hibachi we had on land but it was expensive at 70 for each adult but we knew our son would love it and he did. Lobster tail was included in menu without up charge! We got Chops at 50 off cover price because a waiter found me in the promenade. We took advantage. It was probably the best meal of the week and one of the best I have had on a cruise. The 21.99 up charge for the lobster was so/so, but the steaks were perfect and the service was outstanding (ask for waiter Edison if you can). It was a 2.5 hour dining experience because it was very busy but the experience was as good as the top notch steakhouses in land. Easy to see why it’s a favorite. Okay on to the main dining room for dinner. This was not very good. Our service was excellent but the flavor and menus were just not there. We ate here twice and simple things like chicken breast and pasta were missing the mark. The menu we had on both nights was Caribbean themed and one night had an Indian theme. You can order a filet from chops (20 Dollar up charge and a lobster tail from chops 17 dollar up charge) and my son did it once because the menu was blah. Windjammer buffet was the typical buffet, I found it to have a ton of options and we ate breakfast here 3 of the 4 days. Pastries and breads were excellent, food always warm, tables were a challenge if you went right at peak time. However, embarkation day don’t skip the windjammer for lunch as the cold seafood (half lobster tails, clams, mussels, shrimp cocktail) were plentiful and we definitely indulged. We hit sorrentos pizza almost every day and it was always busy. Playmakers sports bar had food for purchase which I wish wasn’t the case but it had all the typical bar food and the wings looked really good as did the nachos. We just didn’t want to pay for it. As for entertainment, we saw the 80’s themed water show which I thought was great, DH felt they should have included more popular 80s songs. My 11 year old enjoyed it but we had to see the 1030 pm showing bc when I reserved pre-cruise it was the only one available. He was tired by that point so keep in mind for kids. You should reserve this pre cruise because the line for non-reservations was VERY LONG. if you don’t want to get splashed a little, sit in rows 4 and higher. We did. It see any other shows on the trip so I can’t speak to it. There was a band in the music hall the last night who did a rock and dance tribute and they were very good. We stayed in a Central Park view cabin and I probably won’t do that again. Being right under the pool deck and the acoustics, you couldn’t escape noise during the day and it started around 830 am. But the cabin itself was spacious, cabin attendant was available but not intrusive. I had no idea about the “find a duck” mission everyone was on but there were little rubber ducks hidden all over the ship. My son was looking for one all cruise and because I mentioned it to our cabin attendant, one “mysteriously” was left on our bathroom sink. If you like the paper copy of the daily agenda on the ship, just ask for one because it’s now digital. Getting off the ship was very smooth as well. No clunky passport and customs process. Everything is digital. Getting in line to disembark to getting off the ship was less than 15 minutes. Very organized. We carried our own bags off the ship. We chose Go Port as the transfer company to get back to the airport (11 per person and well worth it). Ports of call- we did not go to the Royal Beach club in Nassau. I couldn’t justify the price since we were going to Perfect Day the next day. The drink package wasn’t honored on the island and we skipped it. No one was trying to upsell it so we chose to shop a little and spend the rest of the day in the ship. That was great because the pool deck was not busy, water slides had no wait, buffet was not crowded and it felt like you had room and time to do what you wanted. Perfect Day at Coco Cay was good. The island has a lot of different areas and venues to pick from. We purchased a cabana in the water park (water park admission was included) and my son enjoyed the slides and the wave pool. We took the tram over to south Beach and enjoyed the beach there. The tram system was confusing and I don’t know why they don’t just make one big loop. We had to ask several times which tram was going where and there were long waits at times. Weather was not the best here, it rained a little which is the gamble. However, people seemed to enjoy it as well. We were in port with Vision of the seas and even with almost 10k ppl on both ships, Perfect Day was never crowded where you couldn’t get a chair anywhere. I wouldnt pay for the cabana at the water park again though. We weren’t in it a lot but the service was good and it did provide cover from the rain when a storm came through. My son and his friend went to the kids club 3 times and my only complaint is that they should have a middle school age group. They are 11 and being grouped with kids as young as 6 made no sense. If there was a group 10-13, they would have loved that. They were too young for the teen club and too old for the youth club. But, it was very secure and well run. They did enjoy the evening session 7-10 the best. If you wanted to stay from 10pm to 1am it was 15 dollars per hour and we took advantage one night as they had a sports tournament. They do not leave the kids area and you have the option for your children to do self check in or out which we did not choose. We checked them in and out and I am glad we did. There were kids all over this ship and it’s so big, I was fearful. Overall, 4 nights was not enough time for us. If Utopia did 4 and 5 nights, I would choose the 5. One more sea day would have allowed us to explore a little more. It was a great cruise and I really loved the ship.