One of the lesser known activities on Royal Caribbean are the cruise line’s escape rooms, and I tried the newest puzzle room to see if it was worth it.
On several of Royal Caribbean’s ships, guests can reserve a time slot at an escape room, a room in which guests must figure out a series of puzzles in order to “break free” and win the challenge. The activity comes with an extra cost, and the escape room’s theme varies depending on the ship.
Utopia of the Seas, Royal Caribbean’s newest cruise ship, debuted a brand-new escape room onboard, and the experience costs $30 for a half hour in the room.
Some passengers may question whether or not it’s worth it to pay extra for an activity on a ship with nearly endless complimentary activities—myself included. I’m always looking to try new activities on Royal Caribbean, though, so I decided to book a time slot on my weekend cruise on Utopia of the Seas.
I wanted to see what the escape room was like and whether or not it’s worth paying extra for the short experience.
As an escape room novice, I was skeptical about whether I would enjoy the activity
Two years prior to my Utopia of the Seas cruise, I booked an escape room on Oasis of the Seas. It was my first time trying an escape room, and I remember feeling slightly intimidated around the other guests who appeared to be escape room experts.
I didn’t know where or how to look for clues, and even though my group solved the puzzle before time ran out, I’m not sure I helped in any way whatsoever.
Nevertheless, I wanted to give Royal Caribbean’s escape rooms another try. I thought I would have a better idea of what to do this time around, so I tried to maintain an open mind about the experience.
Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to have an escape room, and there are currently seven escape rooms across the fleet
Royal Caribbean is always trying to add new activities and thrills for guests, and escape rooms have been a huge success for the cruise line.
The rooms are designed and implemented by Puzzle Break, the first escape room company founded in the United States. I actually had the chance to speak to Lindsay Morse, the Game Designer for Puzzle Break, while onboard Utopia of the Seas, and her insights gave me a newfound appreciation for these addicting puzzle experiences.
She explained how escape rooms were viewed with curiosity when the company first launched in 2013.
“Back then it was a weird thing. We’d be like, we’re going to lock someone in a room and they’re gonna pay us money, and it’s like…what?!”
Clearly, however, Royal Caribbean saw an opportunity with escape rooms, and the cruise line launched a partnership with Puzzle Break prior to Harmony of the Seas’ launch in 2015. The ship was the first in the fleet to feature an escape room, Escape the Rubicon, and since then, escape rooms have been added to six more ships in the fleet.
Related: 50 things everyone should do on a Royal Caribbean cruise at least once
Currently, you can find an escape room on Harmony of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, and Utopia of the Seas. An eighth escape room is slotted and ready to install on Icon of the Seas, too.
All escape rooms are unique. Even those that have a similar look to the room, such as the escape room on Mariner and Navigator of the Seas, offer completely different puzzles to solve.
Escape U: Freshman Year is the escape room on Utopia of the Seas
With the launch of Utopia of the Seas, Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, came another escape room: Escape U: Freshman Year.
Although solving puzzles is fun enough, every escape room on Royal Caribbean follows a storyline. These storylines allow guests to better immerse themselves in the puzzle experience.
Oasis of the Seas, for instance, features an escape room titled Mission Control: Apollo 18. The escape room transports participants back to 1973, as they work together to launch a spacecraft to the moon before time runs out.
“[The escape room] on Oasis was hard to design,” Morse explained. “A lot of research went into it about the Apollo program. All things in that game were related to real life.”
On Utopia of the Seas, however, Escape U tells the story of a group of elite freshman students who, upon entering their classroom, discover that their professor has gone missing. A maximum of twelve participants (the “students”) must then work together as quickly as possible in order to find their professor.
Most of Royal Caribbean’s escape rooms are 60 minutes, but Utopia’s is only 30 minutes
Something you’ll notice when booking the escape room on Utopia of the Seas is that the experience is only 30 minutes long. All of Royal Caribbean’s other escape rooms offer a 60-minute experience.
When I asked about the time difference, Morse explained how Utopia of the Seas’ short, 3 and 4-night cruise itineraries led to the change.
“Often the escape room sells out before people even get onboard,” she said, “so this gets more people to play.”
In addition to the increase in time slots for Escape U, the 30-minute length could be more appealing to passengers on a short itinerary. Every minute of a cruise vacation counts, and with only a few days onboard, committing to a 30-minute experience might be more appealing than spending a whole hour at the escape room.
The time change seems to have worked, because the escape room sold out on the inaugural sailing of Utopia of the Seas.
While I was skeptical, I had nothing to worry about—the escape room was a ton of fun
As a beginner at escape rooms, my hesitations about the activity were unnecessary. The room ended up being a lot more enjoyable than I could have imagined.
Upon arrival at the escape room, myself and eleven other participants received a brief introduction about the room, letting us know that we were students who needed to save our missing professor.
During this time, we all introduced ourselves to the group as well, which helped to break the ice with other passengers.
After the introduction, we entered the room, which was designed like a typical classroom. The timer started, and everyone immediately began to look for clues.
Just like on Oasis of the Seas, several participants took charge over others, and I felt a little lost on what to do. There are no instructions to an escape room; instead, participants must look for clues themselves.
I, of course, do not want to spoil the escape room for those who plan to participate on their Utopia of the Seas cruise. What I will say, though, is that I ended up finding a key clue that allowed us to progress further with the game. I felt quite successful given my subpar performance at my first escape room.
With just 23 seconds left, we completed the puzzle, and managed to “find” our professor. What a relief!
I thought the escape room had an ideal level of difficulty
I'm no professional escape room participant, and I was initially concerned the puzzles would be too complicated to figure out. Yet I found the difficulty level adequate—it was neither too easy nor too difficult.
It’s essential for an escape room to be just complicated enough. If a room is too simple, participants will solve the puzzles in only a few minutes. Yet if the room is made too challenging, it’s likely to lead to frustration.
Speaking with Lindsay Morse after the experience, the game designer explained how tweaks are frequently made to the game prior to launch. Before a room launches on a Royal Caribbean ship, an identical game is set up on land, where test groups first play through the room.
By observing the test groups, game designers can tweak certain elements of the room to increase or decrease the difficulty.
“Most of what we’re looking for is that people have fun, that they’re not frustrated or bored, and that everyone stays engaged the whole time,” she explained.
For $30, I would try other escape rooms on Royal Caribbean
Even though I entered Utopia of the Seas’ escape room feeling skeptical, I left feeling happy I booked the add-on experience. Now that I have done two escape rooms, I have a better idea of how they work, and I’d say $30 was a fair price for the activity.
I actually preferred that it was just a half hour, especially because the cruise was so short. The shorter time allowed me to better fit the activity into my day without feeling like I was missing out on other programming happening onboard.
And even though the ship offers a plethora of complimentary onboard activities—waterslides, rock climbing, and a zip line, to name a few—the escape room offered a unique experience I could not find on other ships.
I love how Puzzle Break designs the rooms to be different on each ship, and now I’m itching to solve the five other escape rooms I have yet to try.
