starfinder0489

We were on RC Rhapsody of the Seas last year (2014) and purchased the scrapbook kit that was for sale. My wife is a scrapbooker. Well, turns out that these kits from PULSARPRODUCTS.COM do not have the same page layouts (where the posts go) as normal papers/scrapbooks. I just got off the phone with the company and because they are made ONLY for the cruise ship industry, that you cannot buy the pages anywhere but from this company. So they wanted $9.99 for a pack of 15 but then wanted to charge me $15 shipping.

I told them to forget it. That's ridiculous for shipping when USPS has a flate rate for envelopes as does FEDEX..

My advice, if you're not going to ever want to add to what you buy, then you're ok, but if you think you are going to want to add pages later on, stay away from this product. In my opinion, just another ripoff to stay away from in this industry. One person told me that I could only buy the pages on the ship. I told her "i'm not on this ship!"

Make your own or find a scrapbook place in port, if there is one or wait til you get home and find one online.

Regards,

Alan

Colorado Springs, CO

We really enjoy sharing information because it could help someone else maybe get a better deal, make a better decision, etc.. These companies, no matter if it's a cruise line, bus line, etc.., there's always catches to things and there's only one place they get you, your money.

I think sites like this are great for people to post things so others get educated.

These cruise lines, IMO, need to just make the whole thing (food/beverage, except alcohol), all inclusive. The only reason I don't say alcohol is because people that don't drink shouldn't have to pay for it. I do my share of drinking though. This nickle and dime stuff is just obsurd.. I think it was $20 something for the bottled water package, per person. Or the minute maid juice package. For a family that just shelled out "cruisefare", then they get the next page of add ons just to drink water. Incredible.

I read that Disney now allows you to bring whatever you want on board. I'm still trying to find out but they are more expensive but even if you don't have kids, we found there was a lot to do for adults. And when we were on the Wonder, 2500 people and it didn't seem that way. Fortunately i budgeted for an extra $1000 just because i didn't know what to expect and got lucky staying under it.

My wife and I really like getting on the ships and going. I can see we will be doing more and now that we are even more educated, maybe i can budget for $500.. Wait, that's only 15 rum and cokes at their rates.. ;)

What do you mean by used cards? My wife collects the $1 chips and on our cruise, you could only buy chips at a table, not the cashier.. So she got Five - $1 chips, picked the best one (they gave her all new ones at the table) and cashed in the other four...

Alan

Colorado Springs, CO

Boarded the Rhapsody of the Seas on 7/11/2014 in Seattle. We had a great time and the staff was outstanding. Quality of the ship was great for being an older ship.

On day 2, we attended the "Shopping in Port" presentation that was in the Melodies Theater. If you want to hear a "QVC" type presentation on specific jewlery and only for certain merchants (because they pay a fee for someone to stand up there and sound like a circus barker for their business) then this is for you. If you are expecting to hear about what's available in the ports for shopping, dining, etc... do your own research and skip this event. They will boast this event with door prizes and all kinds of "free" stuff you'll get when you go into these stores. They will talk about VIP treatment if you have a coupon, etc.. Then when you get there, a few folks told me, all they tried to do was up-sell you on stuff. Many people got up and walked out. Again, if you want to hear about diamonds, tanzanite and other stuff, and watch someone display certain items, and talk like they are on QVC, then you'll enjoy it. Don't bring your kids. They will be wanting to leave within 5 minutes.

There were times when we went to the Solarium for a bit of quiet. They do not enforce the "adult only" part of this area. They do state, "*During inclement weather and select hours, the ship may permit the Solarium Pool to be used by persons under age 16 provided they are directly supervised by a parent or guardian." We were at see on day 6 and it was beautiful. The main pool was loaded with kids and so for a bit of quiet we went to the Solarium. It was just about as bad. The hot tub in the Solarium had kids in it, no adults to be found. While I realize it's a family ship, then RC should not advertise the Solarium if they can't enforce their own rules.

We had 2 nights that were formal. Day 2 and Day 5. I was expecting a low turnout in the way of guests wearing formal wear but it was really cool to have a lot of the guests dressed up.

The ship had a 70's night. Ok, who comes with clothes to be prepared for these "theme nights" when you have no idea what they have scheduled. One of the crew asked me "where's your 70's attire" and I promptly replied, "if you had let the passengers know that you were going to have a 70's theme night, maybe the 500 of us standing around at the moment would have been prepared. "Have a good night...." was the response. I brought a Hawaiian shirt anticipating a night because of what i had read before. So I went back to my cabin and put on my Hawaiian shirt. :cool:

We went to CHOPS Grille for our anniversary and we seated late so we had the entire staff and restaurant to ourselves. Everything was top notch and you won't be disappointed. It's $30 per person and includes everything EXCEPT drinks/soda's, etc.. You can have water, but they will first present you with the upscale bottled water that you will be charged for if you elect to get it.

When it comes to the "drink packages," we DID NOT purchase any of these and saved a ton of money. We brought our own Camelbak water bottles (with filters) and drank water or added some of the flavored stuff you buy at the store. I brought 3 kinds. The amount of money they are charging for this stuff is ridiculous and there's a buyer be ware on this.... "if you purchase a package, all guests in the same state room must purchase the pacakge" to get you to prevent you from sharing. It's ridiculous but one person said "we bought one and had to argue that one of us doesn't drink and they can't force us to drink..." RC gave in and only charged them for 1.

The water and OJ in the dining room was just fine. Everyone's taste is different so i'm sure some prefer the Fresh Squeezed OJ.. And it costs more. A soda was $2.50 each, loaded up with ice. So i'd say "no ice"... and I got it that way. Also, every drink you buy comes with an 18% gratuity added on ALREADY!.. You'll see the slip and note "Additional Tip" is there for you to add more. So pouring me a coke for 2.50 and then tipping 18% was more than enough. I'm sure RC is making a killing on this stuff.

Watch out for that "Additional Tip"... you could end up paying as much for the drink as you tip if you put a lot of extra on there. Some people didn't catch it and when I told them about it, they said "we just assumed it was the tip line and didn't notice that it was listed above"...

One other thing about the Gratuities. On night 6, after leaving Victoria, they had a table setup outside the theater selling shot glasses, etc.. We bout a set of 6 for $10 bucks. On the sign standing on the table, it says "A 15% gratuity will be added." So they are digging further into your wallet every chance they get.

Our room was great. We had cabin 3636, large window, bed converted to a king and it was kept clean and spotless by "Snowman"... The towel art was great and he made a monkey one night. So we would move it around and he saw us in the hall and said "i see the monkey keeps jumping around the cabin.." he was great and we tipped him extra (in cash directly to him) for how he treated us. I have a new respect for those people working. 7 days a week for 7 months is their normal contract. And the only time we didn't have a smile on a crew member, was a member that was from the USA on it dragging a luggage carrier. Most are from other countries like India, Philippines, Bali, New Zealand, Canada, etc.. They work their butts off for us on these cruises.

In Juneau, if you want to see a Bald Eagle up close, take the tram up to the top of the mountain. You'll find the standard gift store there but off to the side to the right when you walk in, there will be an enclosed area with items made by natives. yes, the stuff is pricey but it won't say "made in china" like the rest of the store was. My saying was "look, gifts from Alaska, made in China" at most places. We tried to avoid the usual tourist traps and looked for local stuff. You can get your souvenir totem pole for $10 made in China, or get an authentic hand carved, hand painted for $140.

Our dining was MyTime dining. i will say, the first night was not a great impression of the the seating, service, etc.. but I learned really fast that with every cruise, the first night is a mess.. Took almost 40 minutes for our entree's to come out. But with guests not knowing the routines and how things work, they send the crew on a scramble as they are trying to please everyone. On night 2, it was flawless.. seated on time, no delays. we were in and out in about an hour. We had "Jackie Leu (Chan as he called himself) for our waiter and Anthony Fernandez as the assistant waiter. They got to know us pretty fast (likes/dislikes, etc..) and we sat down and they would just know what to do. They were great to work with and we had a blast joking around with them.

Simon was the "bar person" and would take your drink orders if it wasn't water or juice. He knew from day 1 what i liked and when i sat down each night he would walk by, look at me, i'd nod my head and he'd just bring it. So we were taken care of and if you didn't like something on the menu, then they would work with you and fix you up something good.

The other thing i want to mention is the photography on the ship. There were appx 5 photographers. They setup every night some where around the ship and did photographs. So it was going to cost us roughly $600 at home to have a professional photographer due our anniv photos. So what we did was on Formal night 1, got all dressed up and went up to the photographer and said this is for our anniversary and would like some good ones. They came out great! The package on the ship was $299 for either ALL prints or ALL pix on a CD. If you wanted both, it was an extra $100. The first 3 days, they had it for $50 off, $249. So we bought that package and took the prints (since i can scan them at home)... To get the money's worth, we did all the photos we could.. portrait, goofing around, etc.. and then you just get them all. But if you plan it right, you can get some great photos of the family for a pretty good price.

Most of the photo stuff that's done (where they are not setup to take your card, which is only to match the photo to your account, not charge you) is face recognition. So if you don't see your pix somewhere, they will help you find them. On Rhapsody, we had Daniel, Maria, Gavish, and Brittany. They were all great and a lot of fun to work with. Daniel helps with posing, as does Maria (with her leg stomps and cha cha cha's), and Gavish is tall and has a lot of fun being silly with you. As they all do.

One note about the Butchart Gardens in Victoria. If you do the "garden only" excursion, it was about a 30 minute bus ride to the site, and we only had about 2 hours and 15 minutes there before we had to get back on the bus. Then the bus dropped us off in town (if you wanted to get off, you find your own way back to the ship) and we had lunch, walked around and walked back to the ship. It was only about a 20 minute walk from the fisherman's warf area back to the ship and there are signs pointing you in the right direction. We had a great afternoon in Victoria and promptly left port at 6PM.

Since it's your last stop and many were wondering how it takes all night to get to Seattle from Victoria, when they leave port, the captain takes the ship west out of Victoria into the Straight.. They go west for about 4 hours then turn around and sail back to Seattle to arrive around 6A.

Speaking of the Captain. he was great and when we were at the Sawyer Glacier, he got the ship in as far as he could and ten spun the boat 3 times around (360's) so everyone would get the same view. While you're out there, keep you eyes open for Bald Eagles sitting on the ice/ice bergs in the water. Many seals was well.

Whale watching was ok. There weren't many whales during this time and most that we did saw were small calves it seemed. They would skim the surface then the tail would go up and straight down as they dived. On day 3 when you enter the Inside Passage en-route to Juneau, bundle up some and head up to Deck 9 to keep an eye out for whales. You arrive in Juneau around noon.. Don't miss the scenery.. It's breathtaking and awesome. The same goes for the Tracy Arm Fjord (Sawyer Glacier).. Get up early and enjoy the ride to the glacier.. it was amazing.

Overall i give the cruise an 8/10. Our last cruise was a Disney Cruise. As I mentioned early in this post, the presentation on the Alaska port shopping was a waste of time unless you watch QVC and like it. If they would have enforced the Solarium it would have been better but they didn't and it was a free for all of kids in the "Adult only" area.

Watch your receipts, do your homework and you'll have a great time.. You get out of it what you put into it.. If you want to do a lot, then do a lot.. If you just want to take it easy, you can do it too.. no one forces you to do anything.

one more note about food... on Day 1... you have to be on board by 3PM'ish. Since you're standing in line to check in, and do all the priors before boarding, you'll be hungy. Everyone will flock to the main buffett, Windjammer Cafe.. It will be packed. Go to the Solarium Cafe where they have different selections (pre made sandwiches, fruit cups, salads, etc..." and you don't have to stand in long lines, especially with kids whining about being hungry. The Solarium cafe also is available for late night snacks, but nothing is 24 hours. One night, i had a sandwich with salmon. The salmon was cut so thin that there was only one piece and some lettuce. it was all bread. So look first at everything and give it a try... the Windjammer is where we went for most of breakfast and lunches. The main dining room offers all 3 as well but more in a formal setting and you order off a menu. At Windjammer, they have a short order cook area, buffet, etc.. The Windjammer is usually packed during peak hours.

I will say that I was impressed to see that the main dining room offered a Gluten Free menu as the Windjammer had a gluten free buffet. Be sure to tell your wait staff about any food allergies and they will help as much as possible.

It's a long post but wanted to make sure I emptied my head of what i wanted to say... Would we do this cruise again? maybe but there are so many other places to go that we will just mix up the destinations some. And when it comes to taking pictures of the scenery and you see someone trying to take a pix of family and then they turn around to get the other, offer to take one of them all/both.. Make it great for everyone on the trip.. I was asked a bunch of times to take pictures of others for their own camera and everyone was great repaying the favor.. Enjoy it all!!!

Happy cruising.....

Alan

Colorado Springs, CO