6th December sailing on Rhapsody

[pattle66]

Hello,

 

I have been enjoying reading the many reviews on cruise critic for a while and have never posted one of my own. So now is the time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed reading many others. Just remember it is my first time...

 

If anyone has any questions about Rhapsody or the Queensland cruise I'd be happy to answer them.

 

I am sailing with my husband and our two children in a balcony cabin. My sister and my mum are also sailing. We all live in Melbourne, Australia and have chosen to cruise for a relaxing time. We have not booked any excursions and plan on walking around the ports. We have been to Queensland before and have experienced the GBR and the Daintree before.

 

Shellie

[pattle66]

Day 1.

 

Up at 5.30am for 9.30am flight. We arrive into Sydney without any issues and got a maxi taxi straight to the Overseas Cruise Terminal. Boarding was very efficient, only 45 minutes between bag drop off and stepping onboard. We did have Priority boarding which definitely helped. The main queue was a lot longer.

 

Once on board I changed our 8.30pm dinner sitting to MTD. No problems doing this and there were a few others doing the same.

 

We went to the Winjammer for lunch and I tried the famous honey stung chicken. Very nice.

 

 

After lunch our cabin was ready. We are very happy with our deck 7 balcony cabin. We usually have an interior so this was nice and spacious. The kids enjoyed some coloring in (they were very excited and needed a bit of calm time). DH and I sat on the balcony watching the loading of the ship and looking through the cruise compass for the days events.

 

The weather wasn’t great but the kids still wanted to swim. I sat by the pool and by 4pm was sipping my first cocktail – a lava flow. I am surprised by the number of kids on board considering it is not yet school holidays in Australia.

 

We signed up for the spa raffle earlier in the day and after muster went to the gym for the drawing. My sister one the first prize of a free facial. She was very happy as she never wins anything. I won the 2nd draw – a 30% discount on acupuncture. Although I was happy to have won something this is not an offer I will be taking up.

 

Dinner booked in the MDR for 6.15pm. Casual dress tonight. We were seated by the window and watched as we cruised by the Sydney Opera House. Dinner was onion tart, chinese chiken salad and chocolate cherry cake. All very nice, service was great.

 

There was only one show tonight and it was at 7.45pm. Once we had our dinner we moved to the theatre. As we were up very early and the show wasn’t keeping our attention we decided to head back to the room for an early night. Our cabin was very hot so I called maintenance. They were very prompt and told us the thermostat was set at the wrong temperature. We thought it was turned to cool and it was actually on warm. How embarrassing. The cabin cooled down very quickly.

[pattle66]

Sorry, tried to upload photos and it failed. Sailing out of Newcastle now and will lose signal (not using ships internet). Will try and work out how to do it by the next port.

[Hard-habit-to-break]

We were on the Rhapsody on the last Qld cruise in November. You'll have a great time. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

[NeuroQueen]

Great start! Have a great cruise!

[catzatsea]

Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise with us Shellie!!! Looking forward to hearing more :D

[PurpleJet]

Thanks for this blog, we are booked on the same cruise next year!

 

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[TheDunphys]

Thanks for the blog. This is great. We're cruising on Rhapsody in January so I have a couple of questions. This will be the first time we do the MTD. How likely is it we'll get the same waiters each night (we booked at the same dining time each night)? Also I heard there's been a fab mentalist on board. Is he still part of the lineup?

 

Have a fab cruise. I'll be hanging out to hear more :)

[pattle66]

Thanks for the blog. This is great. We're cruising on Rhapsody in January so I have a couple of questions. This will be the first time we do the MTD. How likely is it we'll get the same waiters each night (we booked at the same dining time each night)? Also I heard there's been a fab mentalist on board. Is he still part of the lineup?

 

Have a fab cruise. I'll be hanging out to hear more :)

 

The second night we had a fab waiter and made a booking for the same waiter for the next night. No problem at all. When we leave dinner we make a booking for the next night taking into consideration what activities are on for the next day. This has been no problem. They have been able to give us our requested time or within 15 minutes either side.

[pattle66]

Can someone please enlighten me on how to post photos...:o

 

Day 2

Slept like a baby. There is nothing like going to sleep with a gentle rocking of the boat. Sat on the balcony with a cup of tea waiting for my husband and daughter to wake up. Walked a mile on deck 10 with my sister and then went to the Windjammer for a late breakfast. I tried to be good and just have muesli but after the muesli I could hear the scrambled egg and black pudding calling and I couldn’t resist!

 

Today we arrived in Newcastle. The weather wasn’t great, raining off and on. The kids were given the choice of walking around Newcastle or Kids Club. Kids Club won. After signing them in we headed in to town. Newcastle is a closed port so we took the provided free Shuttle Bus. We wandered around the main street, stopped off for coffee and walked up the hill to the Cathedral. The rain held off so we did not get wet.

 

Back on board we settled ourselves in the Solarium. Mum had a spa and the rest of us started off reading but ended up snoozing! There weren’t too many people in the Solarium, but I did notice a few kids in the spa and pool.

 

We headed back to our cabin to watch sailaway from our balcony. Newcastle put on a show firing the canons from atop the hill and Captain Stein responding with the ship’s horn. I soon remembered to take the Avomine when the ship started rocking. Note to self to take it half an hour before sailaway!! I have only ever felt queezy in Australian waters. I tried to use that as an excuse to book another cruise in the Caribbean but so far my husband hasn’t taken the bait!

 

After the kids were watered and fed and safely back in Kids Club we went and had a drink in the Shall We Dance Lounge where they had a band playing. My cocktail of the day was a Baileys Chocolate Café. We went to the MDR at 7.30pm and were seated at a table right away without having made a reservation. Service was great again and the food was delicious. I had breaded prawns, pan-fried salmon and chocolate cake with raspberry coulis.

 

Tonight’s show was Ballroom fever. I enjoyed it and thought the dancing and singing were brilliant. I took the kids back to the room and called it a night. DH and my sister went to Fun Family Feud and both enjoyed it.

[pattle66]

Day 3

Today was a sea day. The boat was rocking! Before I even get out of bed I asked DH to bring me an Avomine. Don’t want to take any chances! While I slept in my sister used the gym. She said it was very busy at 8am. I had plans to visit the gym in the afternoon. Light breakfast today before heading off to Meet and Mingle at 10am. There were about 35 people there. Anna, the Cruise Director was there and she gave away two prizes. Our winning streak continued and my mum won the first prize! It was a collection of Royal Caribbean branded items (T-shirt, coffee mug, satchel, key chains, pens…).

 

We entered the digital Scavenger Hunt at 11am and had an absolute ball. They gave you a flip video and a set of challenges around the boat that you have to record. I am sure some of the other guests thought we were stark raving mad! To give you an example for 1 point you had to propose marriage to a complete stranger. For 5 points you had to perform the actions and sing YMCA in a public area. You get the idea… After 20 minutes you meet back and watch everyone’s videos and count up how many points each challenge was worth. We came a respectable second, although my sister still argues that we should have won!

 

The sea was a bit choppy and I was feeling it so I had a mid afternoon nap. I also played Bingo with my mum, but sadly we did not win. Tonight’s attire was formal for the Captains reception. We all put on our best frocks and DH put on his Tuxedo and headed down to meet Captain Stein. I was surprised they only offered Champagne and fruit punch at the reception. On previous cruises I was offered an alternative as I do not drink Champagne. Not this time. No big deal, I drank the fruit punch.

Dinner was delicious as always. We are on MTD and have booked the same table as we enjoyed our waiters Vicky and Lester. I had prawn cocktail, Duck and chocolate soufflé. I like the garlic sauce on the escargots to dip my bread in but I do not like the snails. Lester bought me a serve and some bread, very thoughtful.

 

My mum looked after the little ones tonight so we could stay out late. Tonight’s headliner show did not start until 10.45pm for late seating guests. It was ‘Lionardo Piano Follies’. It was OK but not really my style. A quarter of the audience gave him a standing ovation so it was to some peoples taste. We stayed up until 12.15am for the late night Adult Comedy of Mike Harris. I was surprised by the amount of underage guests in the theatre. I thought there was a midnight curfew. Being a mother I did not think it was appropriate for the young ones to be listening to the adult show. I am proud that I stayed up so late. I never did get around to going to the gym!

 

Oh, My cocktail for today was the Japanese Collins.

[sochie]

Thanks for sharing this, we will be on this same cruise this time next year..

 

Enjoy!

[pattle66]

Sailing past opera house. If this works I know how to post photos now!

[pattle66]

Our Cabin

 

The Cathedral in Newcastle

 

Rhapsody in Newcastle

[hbtcruiser]

Thanks for you blog... we are going on the relocation cruise on Rhapsody in April and its great to hear about the ship, I have been trying to look up all i can :D

[pattle66]

Day4

 

What a day! The sun is finally out and the temperature is more like what I would expect for Queensland. We walked a mile before having cereal for breakfast. I must visit the gym this afternoon. We spent the morning in and around the pool. The pool was very warm, not refreshing at all. It was more like swimming in the bath. There were a lot of people in the main pool, half of which were kids. I am surprised by the amount of kids on board but a guest I was talking to said that Queensland kids are already on school holidays so I assume a lot of the kids must be from there.

 

We sat out on our balcony this afternoon watching the islands (Whitsunday) go by. This is the life! I wonder, is it is too early for a cocktail? We ordered the cheese plate and the spinach and artichoke dip from room service that I had heard so much about on CC. It did not disappoint. A tip from cc was to order extra chips for the dip, which I did. I would hate to see how many chips you would get in a regular serve.

 

 

Tonight was the welcome back reception and it was a packed lounge. Champagne and fruit punch was on offer. I know I am fussy but I asked one of the waitresses if I could have champagne with a little fruit punch in it (straight champagne is too strong for me). She said they have champagne OR fruit punch. I politely said no thanks. Another waiter offered me champagne and I asked the same question. His reply ‘No problem Madame, I will go and get that for you’. He was back within a few minutes with my champagne and juice. The latter is the type of service I have experienced so far across the ship.

 

Dinner tonight was later but still with our favourite wait staff. I had the beef and veal tortellini, barbeque pork salad and 2 crème brulees. My sister has been hanging out for the brulee, it is her favourite. We had previously asked which night it would be served and obviously our waiter had remembered as he had saved us 6 creme brulees – for 3 of us!! I did not have the heart to tell him I do not like Crème Brulee as he had gone to so much trouble so I ate two of them!

 

 

I needed to be rolled out of the dining room. We thought we had better go to the 50’s and 60’s night in the Centrum to dance off some of the calories. What a blast! The Cruise Director staff were brilliant and got the crowd up and dancing.

 

My Cocktail of the day was Blue Hawaiian.

[pattle66]

Day 5

Woke up to find we were already in Cairns. The Cruise Compass said we would not be arriving until noon due to unfavorable tidal conditions. There needs to be 2 metres of water under the hull to make it down the Cairns Channel. Obviously they were favourable because at 8am we were docked. We had planned to have room service breakfast on the balcony this morning. When I opened the balcony the heat and humidity hit me. Whooh, it was hot! I did manage to have my cereal on the balcony watching a jellyfish swimming in the water, but boy I was sweating!

 

We packed up our bathers and sunscreen and heading in to town. We did leave my mum on the ship, I think it would have been to hot and humid for her. The tourist lady at the pier told us about the lagoon on the Esplanade so that is where we headed. It was beautiful and very clean. We swam and hung out in the lagoon for a few hours. Captain Stein was also hanging out in the Lagoon with his family.

 

We decided to head back to the ship at about 2pm after stopping at the golden arches for frozen cokes. The ship was quiet as I guess most guests would be heading out to the reef or the Daintree. We sat by the pool and read.

 

 

Given it was so hot and humid we did not feel like going to the Main Dining Room. Tonight we set up on the pool deck and played Skipbo and ate cheese, biscuits, subs and fruit. We were in bed by 10.30pm.

 

My cocktail of the day was Melon Ball.

 

 

PS The Centrum looks beautiful for Christmas.

[TheDunphys]

Thanks so much for this blog and it's great to hear you've been able to get the same waiters each night in the MDR. Sounds like you're having a great cruise. Look forward to hearing more.

[MissCruising1]

Enjoying your review! We have friends that swear Rhapsody is one of the best so it's great to get an idea of what is like.

 

:)

[PurpleJet]

This blog us really interesting thank you, wet have only been on voyager and freedom class ships so looking forward to a different sort of ship.

 

Found out thanks to your blog that my husbands 30th birthday will be a formal night!

 

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[Debsta]

Loving the blog :D

[pattle66]

This blog us really interesting thank you, wet have only been on voyager and freedom class ships so looking forward to a different sort of ship.

 

Found out thanks to your blog that my husbands 30th birthday will be a formal night!

 

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

We have only been on Vision and Radiance class ships so I can not compare with the bigger classes. I am sure I am going against a lot of opinios when I say I prefer Rhapsody over Jewel of the seas! I liked Jewel but I think Rhapsody is a nicer ship. It am interested to see what the dry dock does for her.

 

Make sure you let your waiters know it is your husbands birthday. They will bring out a desert with a candle and sing happy birthday.

[pattle66]

Day 6

Kids slept in until 9am this morning. We are still in Cairns and the weather is hot and humid. I had breakfast with my sister at Café Latitudes this morning - coffee and Croissant.

 

 

After walking around Cairns in the morning we mainly sat by the pool in the afternoon. My sister and I played Pictionary (ship activity) in the Schooner bar. It was very funny. We won! There were only 2 teams. We all were given a RCI magnet photo frame!

 

We went to the 7pm show tonight. It was Country night and the RCI singers and dancers gave us a good show. The costumes and performance was very good.

Dinner was at the Windjammer tonight. The food was very nice. I am surprised to see the same food that was being served in the Main Dining Room.

 

The Love and Marriage show was on tonight. They struggled to get a couple that had been together over 35 years and settled on a couple that had been married 24 years. It was certainly a good laugh and I would recommend you stay up later to see it.

 

My Cocktail of the day : Frozen Brandy Alexanda

[pattle66]

Day 7

 

Today we are at Sea and the weather was perfect. We took the kids to the pool. They had refilled the pool last night so the water was not as hot. It was very refreshing. The pool deck was quite lively today with line dancing, belly flop competition and sexiest man competition. Today has been the only day it was hard to find 4 sun loungers together (in the shade) We ended up sharing 3!

 

We skipped lunch today and replaced it with cocktails in the Schooner Bar while playing Skipbo. We also watched a demonstration on how to make the perfect Mojito. It was free so we did not get to make our own. The bartender talked us through the process and then allowed a taste of the end product - one glass many straws anyone?? No thankyou, we ordered frozen majitos instead. They were very nice and refreshing.

 

We did not stay for the 7pm show tonight. It was a man on a piano. Not our style, although a lot of people enjoyed it and also bought the cd! We went to the MDR instead. It was quiet because it was during show time. Even though we didn’t book we were still able to have our favourite wait staff. Tonight I skipped a starter and had Cajun Chicken Salad. I didn’t have a dessert either. I think all the food finally got to me today.

 

We stayed up for the game ’60 seconds’ in the Broadway melodies Theatre. I felt sorry for some of the contestants but it did provide us with a good laugh.

 

My cocktail of the day: Frozen Mojito

[Cruzechick]

Thanks Pattle66 for your fantastic posts. I'm going on my first cruise with my Mum this Saturday on the Rhapsody, and following your posts has been wonderful! Enjoy the rest of your cruise.