Port Canaveral-bound Utopia of the Seas floats out for first time

It was a big weekend for “the world’s biggest weekend” – Royal Caribbean International’s Utopia of the Seas is now one step closer to its debut in Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida, in July 2024.

The Oasis Class ship floated for the first time over the weekend, marking a major milestone and the next phase of construction at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.

Known as the float out, the key moment in the construction of Utopia took 17 months to reach, RCI said in a press release.

The process itself took nearly 15 hours, beginning with filling the new ship’s dry dock with more than 46 million gallons of water overnight.

Utopia was then moved into an outfitting dock, where it will be completed in summer 2024.

Since construction on the next Oasis Class ship started in April 2022, the new vacation has taken shape with more than 74 blocks of steel that have been lifted and assembled into place.

Utopia will now begin to come to life as its highly anticipated features are installed, from the longest dry slide at sea – the 295-foot-long Ultimate Abyss – to a first-of-its-kind immersive train car dining experience. 

Royal Caribbean's sixth Oasis Class ship, at 362 metres in length with about 2,800 cabins, will carry just under 10,000 passengers and crew members.

Utopia will offer more than 40 ways to dine and drink, “more pools than the days to count,” thrills, ways to chill and more.

Friends and families celebrating any occasion can create their ultimate weekend and memories with their pick and mix of new signature adventures and reimagined experiences, like newly-designed resort-style pools, a new Caribbean tiki bar – the Pesky Parrot – a reimagined Izumi restaurant, now in Central Park, with a new convenient pick-up window for fresh sushi and Japanese street food, and al fresco dining; and showstopping nightlife and entertainment.

The ultimate three-night weekend and four-night weekday getaway will be the first in the revolutionary Oasis Class to offer short escapes when it debuts in July 2024.

Every vacation will feature visits to Nassau, The Bahamas, and Perfect Day at CocoCay – Royal Caribbean’s award-winning private island – that will feature its first adults-only paradise, Hideaway Beach, starting in January 2024.

Utopia will also make waves when it debuts in July 2024 as the first Oasis Class ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

More details about Utopia are available here. 

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