Rhapsody of the Seas Feb 25 - The good, great, and ehh

Myself and my wife, both in our mid to late 20s just got back from a week on Rhapsody of the seas. We went to Grand Cayman, cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya. We stayed in junior suite 8568.

The good: the weather was PERFECT all week. We never saw a drop of rain and I don't think it ever got below 70 degrees the entire trip. The seas were pretty calm as well.

We did a snorkel and sting ray city tour in grand Cayman with captain Mario and it was wonderful. We had maybe 25 people on our ship so not crowded at all.

In cozumel, we went to Mr Sanchos and it was wonderful as well. The food and drinks just kept coming. It was a $20 cab each way and the cost of Mr Sanchos was $55 per person for all you can eat and drink.

In Belize, we did a ship tour to a private small island for snorkeling. It was okay. The beach wasn't that great, however it looked beautiful. It was an hour tender there and back, the plus was it picked us up right at the ship.

In Costa Maya we did a local excursion and went to kohunlich ruins. It was again a long ride, about 2 hours each way, but we happened to be the only two on this specific tour so we had our own private guide and it was a nice day. I liked it but I probably wouldn't do it again since it was such a long car ride.

The great : the crew! Our cruise director Elvis and activities manager TT were both phenomenonal all week and hilarious. There was a number of times we got to talk to them and have regular conversions. Our waiter and assistant, Elmer and Olga were both great. Our cabin steward, Emerson, was wonderful as well. We didn't ask for much but was always there and we had a towel animal every night of the cruise which was different from the past only getting them on formal nights.

The bartenders were also a plenty. We had the deluxe drink package and I was impressed with how easy it was to find a waiter by the pool or show room. Last year on Navigator it was nearly impossible to find a waiter and this time they were always there.

The ehh: the ship is definitely geared towards the old crowd so it was sometimes hard to find things to do. The ship got quiet fairly early. The shows were mostly geared towards the older crowd as well. We left early into a number of them in the show room and centrum.

I also didn't like the fact you couldn't see your on board account on the TV like all other ships.

The dining room had the "new" menus with dessert on the menu to order with all your other food but I didn't feel like it sped up the process at all. The food was still mediocre and the dessert options got even less. The only positive was they offered cheesecake every night but the "not every night"'desserts you had basically two new ones each night.

Our cabin, and from the looks of it, all deck 8, lost power the final night of the cruise for about 20 minutes around 3 am and it was definitely a creepy feeling. The air and everything shut off so all you could hear was the ship creaking. I looked out in the hallway and only the emergency lights were on but they never said anything. Just found it odd.

I didn't take pictures of the menus or compasses but any questions let me know. We ate in chops one night and you can taste the difference in quality. We only ordered the light breakfast room service so never experienced the fee

Myself and my wife, both in our mid to late 20s just got back from a week on Rhapsody of the seas. We went to Grand Cayman, cozumel, Belize and Costa Maya. We stayed in junior suite 8568.

 

The good: the weather was PERFECT all week. We never saw a drop of rain and I don't think it ever got below 70 degrees the entire trip. The seas were pretty calm as well.

 

We did a snorkel and sting ray city tour in grand Cayman with captain Mario and it was wonderful. We had maybe 25 people on our ship so not crowded at all.

 

In cozumel, we went to Mr Sanchos and it was wonderful as well. The food and drinks just kept coming. It was a $20 cab each way and the cost of Mr Sanchos was $55 per person for all you can eat and drink.

 

In Belize, we did a ship tour to a private small island for snorkeling. It was okay. The beach wasn't that great, however it looked beautiful. It was an hour tender there and back, the plus was it picked us up right at the ship.

 

In Costa Maya we did a local excursion and went to kohunlich ruins. It was again a long ride, about 2 hours each way, but we happened to be the only two on this specific tour so we had our own private guide and it was a nice day. I liked it but I probably wouldn't do it again since it was such a long car ride.

 

The great : the crew! Our cruise director Elvis and activities manager TT were both phenomenonal all week and hilarious. There was a number of times we got to talk to them and have regular conversions. Our waiter and assistant, Elmer and Olga were both great. Our cabin steward, Emerson, was wonderful as well. We didn't ask for much but was always there and we had a towel animal every night of the cruise which was different from the past only getting them on formal nights.

 

The bartenders were also a plenty. We had the deluxe drink package and I was impressed with how easy it was to find a waiter by the pool or show room. Last year on Navigator it was nearly impossible to find a waiter and this time they were always there.

 

The ehh: the ship is definitely geared towards the old crowd so it was sometimes hard to find things to do. The ship got quiet fairly early. The shows were mostly geared towards the older crowd as well. We left early into a number of them in the show room and centrum.

 

I also didn't like the fact you couldn't see your on board account on the TV like all other ships.

 

The dining room had the "new" menus with dessert on the menu to order with all your other food but I didn't feel like it sped up the process at all. The food was still mediocre and the dessert options got even less. The only positive was they offered cheesecake every night but the "not every night"'desserts you had basically two new ones each night.

 

Our cabin, and from the looks of it, all deck 8, lost power the final night of the cruise for about 20 minutes around 3 am and it was definitely a creepy feeling. The air and everything shut off so all you could hear was the ship creaking. I looked out in the hallway and only the emergency lights were on but they never said anything. Just found it odd.

 

I didn't take pictures of the menus or compasses but any questions let me know. We ate in chops one night and you can taste the difference in quality. We only ordered the light breakfast room service so never experienced the fee

Thanks for a great summation.

Royal only started to put interactive TVs on the ships with the Radiance class.

You will therefore not have them on Rhapsody, Grandeur, Vision, Enchantment, Majesty or Empress.

For the Belize stop, I am booked on the Barrier reef snorkeling wonders excursion. Was that the one you were on? Just wondering if we will be picked up at the ship or tender into Belize City? Thanks

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Nice review and thank you.

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In Belize, we did a ship tour to a private small island for snorkeling. It was okay. The beach wasn't that great, however it looked beautiful. It was an hour tender there and back, the plus was it picked us up right at the ship.

For the Belize stop, I am booked on the Barrier reef snorkeling wonders excursion. Was that the one you were on? Just wondering if we will be picked up at the ship or tender into Belize City? Thanks

 

 

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Yes this was the exact excursion. They have you meet in the show room and then take you off the ship directly to a tender that goes straight to the private island as you're the only group at the island. Once heading back, they take you right to the ship and if you want to go to Belize you have to grab a normal tender, which we did.

who was your captain. I need to verify my Current Captains thread.

Yes this was the exact excursion. They have you meet in the show room and then take you off the ship directly to a tender that goes straight to the private island as you're the only group at the island. Once heading back, they take you right to the ship and if you want to go to Belize you have to grab a normal tender, which we did.

Thanks for the info. Definitely a time saver!

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Lifeguards on board were new as well to me from last year

who was your captain. I need to verify my Current Captains thread.

Captain Tobias

Another thing I forgot to mention was being in a cabin below the solarium, we heard chairs scraping and anytime a cart would go above our cabin (which was often, and through the night), it sounded like an airplane taking off

Glad to hear this review as we are on Rhapsody in October. We're 51, don't care about entertainment or the dining room. Just drinks and condition of the ship. We are in a JS on deck 8. Any thoughts? We have one day at sea. Thanks.

Glad to hear this review as we are on Rhapsody in October. We're 51, don't care about entertainment or the dining room. Just drinks and condition of the ship. We are in a JS on deck 8. Any thoughts? We have one day at sea. Thanks.

As long as you're not a light sleeper you'll be fine. It never kept us awake, it just took some getting used to. The cart didn't happen much at night thankfully

Thank you for the review. We are on Rhapsody in just under two months going to almost all the same stops (Key West instead of Grand Cayman). I'm not quite looking forward to the new menus, but I hear the cold soups are still available if you ask.

Also, if you have a junior suite, the showers are extremely short. I'm 6'1 and it was a major challenge trying to shower because I had to crouch otherwise my head hit the ceiling and had to get even lower for the shower head.

Thank you for your review/report.

Keith

Excellent report, thanks much!

Thanks for the review. We are scheduled on this cruise in January 2019 and appreciate your comments.

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Forgot to ask--how was embarkation/debarkation in Tampa?

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Another thing I forgot to mention was being in a cabin below the solarium, we heard chairs scraping and anytime a cart would go above our cabin (which was often, and through the night), it sounded like an airplane taking off

Glad to hear this review as we are on Rhapsody in October. We're 51, don't care about entertainment or the dining room. Just drinks and condition of the ship. We are in a JS on deck 8. Any thoughts? We have one day at sea. Thanks.

Last month we were in JS 8028 and sister and BIL in JS 8030 and there was quite a bit of noise from the pool deck. I was surprised at the number of children aboard and the running around on the pool deck even late at night--at least I hope it was the children! I wish we had brought our small blue tooth speaker with us to mask the sounds.

On positive note, the crew was great.

Forgot to ask--how was embarkation/debarkation in Tampa?

 

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It was super smooth! We were able to get in the suite line for embarkation and on in 10 minutes. Getting off we did self disembark and carried our own luggage. They let you leave basically whenever so we walked out at like 9 and were on our way to the aquarium by like 9:20. If you want to skip the long line for customs grab a porter and they bring you right up to a customs agent

When were the formal nights?

Pool water Salt or Fresh

Pool water Salt or Fresh

Salt.