Royal Caribbean International’s Utopia of the Seas is closer to its July 2024 debut in Port Canaveral (Orlando), Florida. The game-changing Oasis Class ship floated for the first time over the weekend, marking a key milestone and the subsequent development phase at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.

The crucial turning point in creating Utopia, known as the float out, took 17 months. The operation took approximately 15 hours, beginning with the overnight loading the new ship’s dry dock with more than 46 million gallons of water. Utopia was relocated to an outfitting dock, which will be completed in the summer of 2024. The new cruise ship has taken shape with more than 74 blocks of steel hoisted and placed into position since building on the next Oasis Class ship began in April 2022. Utopia will soon take shape as its much-anticipated elements, such as the longest dry slide at sea, the 295-foot-long Ultimate Abyss, and a first-of-its-kind immersive train car dining experience, are installed.

Utopia will deliver unrivalled weekend energy with more than 40 food and drink options, more pools than you can count, thrills, relaxing places, and more. Friends and families celebrating any occasion can create their ultimate weekend and memories by mixing and matching new signature adventures and reimagined experiences, such as 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.

When it launches in July 2024, the ultimate 3-night weekend and 4-night weekday getaway will be the first in the groundbreaking Oasis Class to provide short getaways. Every journey will include excursions to Nassau, The Bahamas, and Perfect Day at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s award-winning private island, which will open its first adults-only island paradise, Hideaway Beach, in January 2024.

Utopia will make headlines when it launches in July 2024 as the first Oasis Class ship fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG), the cleanest-burning marine fuel to date. Utopia, the cruise line’s second LNG-powered ship, will advance Royal Caribbean’s decades-long environmental commitment by combining LNG technology with the brand’s already-established environmentally friendly initiatives and features, including waste heat recovery systems to shore power connection.