Is Rhapsody nice?

[CruiseTobey]

Wow, I'm excited! I've been in a JS on the Adventure but not Rhapsody. Sounds great - thanks so much for the input! :)

[alfaeric]

My wife and I booked JS 8598 on the Rhapsody for next April. We have never been on a vision-class ship. Has anyone stayed in that stateroom or vicinity? If so, any comments? Is it a good room?

 

Been in that cabin and 8096. Totally awesome. Best balcony, ever. And it's a JS price at that.

 

We keep trying to get either of those cabins on the Rhapsody.

 

Since all of April 2017 is out of Tampa- you may consider getting some wine, a plate of cheese and crackers, and hang out there the whole time you sail out of Tampa.

[Crism]

We just spent 14 days on Rhapsody for her Atlantic Crossing way down on Deck 2 with an inside cabin....and had a FANTASTIC time! Personally, I like the Promenade with various places to eat and drink which she doesn't have, but there's a special charm about the Vision class ships. I wouldn't hesitate to take a trip on her again!

[island lady]

We are looking forward to first time on Rhapsody in December out of Tampa.

 

JS cabin 8030, (if anyone has been in that one?). Looks to be under the

main pool area port side.

 

Looks like we are on board just after refurb? Will be nice to check out the

upgrades! :)

[Thetrail]

Lucky you! Yours is an aft balcony JS. Our friends were in the corner aft next door and we had the corner aft on the opposite side. This was on Vision but Rhapsody's aft is the same. Being in an aft JS is wonderful wonderful wonderful. Great big deep balconies and a magnificent view of the wake. You scored big. Enjoy!!!!

Have been searching for any aft balcony photos of the JS on Rhapsody.....K.O.:)

[Thetrail]

Lucky you! Yours is an aft balcony JS. Our friends were in the corner aft next door and we had the corner aft on the opposite side. This was on Vision but Rhapsody's aft is the same. Being in an aft JS is wonderful wonderful wonderful. Great big deep balconies and a magnificent view of the wake. You scored big. Enjoy!!!!

Have been searching for any corner aft balcony photos of the JS on Rhapsody.....K.O.:)...Or any Vision class photo of a corner aft JS.....K.O.:)

[dln929]

If you want to see pics of Vision class after balconies, all you need to do is used the search function. Ship & cabin number. There are several photos floating around out there. It's easily found.

[The Collector]

Rapsody will be refurbished just before it leaves Malaga, Spain for Trans Atlantic in September

[champagne123]

Rapsody will be refurbished just before it leaves Malaga, Spain for Trans Atlantic in September

 

Are you sure? Everyone keeps saying November.

[The Collector]

Are you sure? Everyone keeps saying November.

 

You are right, it leaves Malaga on the 19th of November

[Clarea]

Rapsody will be refurbished just before it leaves Malaga, Spain for Trans Atlantic in September

Plus, this dry dock might only be for marine maintenance. I've not heard of any major changes coming to the interior.

[hellsop]

We spent 11 nights on Rhapsody last summer in the Mediterranean and had a marvelous time. Well sorta. We were in a junior suite under the Park Cafe and it was very noisy. We were moved to another, quieter cabin and all was good. Avoid being under the Cafe and you will find a lovely ship with a friendly crew. I like the size of Rhapsody. Smaller ships are often overlooked because they don't have all the bells and whistles of the Oasis and Quantum classes but they have a certain charm that cannot be duplicated. I hope you enjoy Rhapsody as much as we did!

 

Aft-ish starboard JS under the spa are lovely, quiet, out of the main traffic, and the only noise you hear from overhead is when someone up there drops one of the massage rocks. Which seems to happen about once a week, but that's probably pretty good since they soak them in hot oil or something...

 

ANYWAY, another advantage to the starboard side is that there's a "secret" stairwell from Deck 8 just up to the Spa's lobby, and from there you're right into the Solarium and Park Cafe. Port side? No stairs. Gotta go around and up or forward to the Centrum lifts and up.

[hellsop]

Keep this in mind when reading recent reviews: Rhapsody's South American itinerary was brief. Meaning ... when it hit Valparaiso, it was every two weeks .. twice? So boarding issues, etc. should have been anticipated. Not poor, just learning .. so what?

 

Valpo's trying. They're working to make a good cruise terminal, but with only maybe a dozen stops a year, it's hard to justify a full-on port to the populace, and the current space is something of a compromise between "port terminal" and "function hall", and a lot of the staffing doesn't get the practice that Miami gets.

 

And, I think, some of the reviews of the South American cruises were tempered by other kinds of misapprehensions about things. It's NOT a particularly dirty city, it's just ... well, Valparaiso elevates graffiti to an art form. There's a lot of it. The citizens that live there are PROUD of it, for the most part. It's color, and a lot of it is pretty intricately wrought. Also, the cool part of town is not down in the flat bit near the water. It's back up on the hills above the actual port (Not the VTP building), and there's some STEEP climbs to get up there.

 

Finally, at least on the end of March sailing, there were a LOT of Americans that had simply not understood that they needed to get visas for Brazil and THAT ended up souring their experience in general.

[bridget02]

Sailed on Rhaspody February/March in South America.

Loved the ship.

Good condition, very clean, food was good.

Staff exceptional.

Good size ship, not too small but not huge.

[Firefighterhoop]

Some of the smaller/older ships get an unfair negative review. Looking into, and reading many reviews and signatures, a lot of the cruisers have recently cruised a large ship (Voyager, Freedom, Oasis, Quantum) and then they go on a smaller ship with less bells and whistles and immediately they feel the ship isn't as good as their previous ship because it's smaller with less amenities.

 

I see this on the board and hear it from cruisers on board ships all the time. Especially when people go on an awesome ship like the Oasis as their first cruise. A lot of people don't seem to research what their next ship has, or more fitting doesn't have.

 

I like the variety of ships - as I feel each class offers something different.

 

As far as Rhapsody goes - I really like the Rhapsody and have had many good cruises on it.

[PamJack]

We will be on Rhapsody in April. Thanks for all the information.

[springaussie]

I was on Rhapsody last month and it was a great ship.

The carpet is showing signs of wearing and will be past it's use by date in a year.

With Legend being sold I think the dry dock is not on now in November.

Captain said dry dock was going to mainly marine wear and tear stuff.

[jonbgd]

With Legend being sold I think the dry dock is not on now in November.

Captain said dry dock was going to mainly marine wear and tear stuff.

 

Did the Captain say it was not on?

[north29]

Ship.... I have experienced some poor cabins, poor service, but NEVER been on a BAD SHIP. Since we are D+ I guess I say that with confidence. Having said that, I do not look for the little things like wear in carpet or paint pealing, stuff like that happens. By the way I was booked B2B cruise then a TA home but the TA was canceled and moved forward for the Dry dock. Now booked on a cruise just before the Dry Dock, I have no worries except that they might put some stuff on sale that my wife cannot do with out LOL.

[Virtopia]

Glad to read so many good things about Rhapsody. I can't wait to board her in 88 days :D

[Gabbill25anni]

Two of our best cruise experiences were on the Rhapsody. So when she came up as sailing out of Quebec, we booked it immediately.

 

(although, not fast enough, as we didn't get the desired cabin- one day late)

 

One needs to read the reviews to understand why people had a bad time.

 

Especially when you look at the numbers of reviews- a large number of the poor ratings were the South American cruises, and the ones I read- it mostly wasn't about the ship.

 

Take it as you will. If people start canceling, that will mean our cabin price will drop. :D

 

I was a bit concerned as well after reading some not so very nice reviews, so it is nice to read what everyone here is saying.

[luisrp]

I am on Rhapsody right now on a 10-day cruise. This is my first Royal Caribbean cruise and my third overall. Prior ones were on Carnival.

 

I will say that the ship shows its age (19 years) but that doesn't make it less beautiful or not worth sailing. I think she is due to drydock soon. If you want bells and whistles, this is not the ship for you. It is on par with what was offered in cruise ships her age. Carnival Destiny (before she became Carnival Sunshine) was my first cruise and is the same age and about the same size. Both are similar in many ways. If you are looking into any of its itineraries, by all means go for it. It is a big ship but not a huge ship and I like it that way.

 

I did find the food not on par with what I expected. it is good but I liked Carnival food more.

[53sunset]

Has anyone ever been in a cabin that has a virtual balcony on Rhapsody?

[springaussie]

Has anyone ever been in a cabin that has a virtual balcony on Rhapsody?

 

 

 

No Virtual Balconies on Rhapsody of the Sas.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sharkb8]

Valpo is gorgeous for all the reasons you mentioned,especially the local art and crafts scene. We have boarded twice there and yeah, it's not used much, but it's not a poor terminal. We had long lines but no issues boarding. It's a marine port, so you have to shuttle from the main entrance. It's clean, no locals begging with trinkets.

 

Valpo's trying. They're working to make a good cruise terminal, but with only maybe a dozen stops a year, it's hard to justify a full-on port to the populace, and the current space is something of a compromise between "port terminal" and "function hall", and a lot of the staffing doesn't get the practice that Miami gets.

 

And, I think, some of the reviews of the South American cruises were tempered by other kinds of misapprehensions about things. It's NOT a particularly dirty city, it's just ... well, Valparaiso elevates graffiti to an art form. There's a lot of it. The citizens that live there are PROUD of it, for the most part. It's color, and a lot of it is pretty intricately wrought. Also, the cool part of town is not down in the flat bit near the water. It's back up on the hills above the actual port (Not the VTP building), and there's some STEEP climbs to get up there.

 

Finally, at least on the end of March sailing, there were a LOT of Americans that had simply not understood that they needed to get visas for Brazil and THAT ended up souring their experience in general.