Rhapsody of the Seas Greece/Adriatic Review from a RCCL newbie!

[Bostonjetset]

Earlier this week we returned from a 10-nights sailing on RCCL's Rhapsody of the Seas and I wanted to share some thoughts from a first-time-on-RCCL perspective. I hope you find this helpful.

 

This trip departed from Venice, Italy [where we spent 2 nights pre-cruise] on 13 May 2016 and called at the following ports:

Ravenna, Italy

Kotor, Montenegro

Santorini, Greece

Athens, Greece

Mykonos, Greece

Corfu, Greece

 

On this trip were my DH [48] and I [33] along with my mother [62] and one of her girlfriends [63]. DH and I have traveled to Europe numerous times in the past but never via cruise ship and never to these 3 countries so it was a lot of exploration for us. I usually take a trip diary with me and record my thoughts each day so will post in that format [day by day commentary]. If anyone has any questions, please ask and I will do my best to help.

[champagne123]

Looking forward to your review, as there are so few of them for the Rhapsody. We will be on her next year for 13 days and it is our first "older, smaller" ship that we have ever been on. Many people here on CC seem to love her. Hoping you did too!!!:)

[Bostonjetset]

"Exhausted after a long day of traveling and then exploring some of Venice. We had a VERY handsome water taxi driver but the pouring rain made it difficult to see any scenery on the ride from the airport. Cost of water taxi to central Venice was 110 Euros. After checking into the hotel we just walked about to explore, over to the Rialto Bridge [which, we discovered, is being refurbished and thus has a fake picture covering one side of it] and looked in a few shops. Service is hit or miss so far; some people are extra friendly like the ladies at our hotel reception and others seem like they can't be bothered to be helpful such as the taxi dispatcher at the airport. Dinner was good [carbonara] but not great as everyone has told me the food in Italy would be. Hotel Alloggio Santa Sofia is WONDERFUL though...great price, fantastic location on Strada Nuova, and super friendly staff."

[Bostonjetset]

"Today was a wonderful day in Venice. No rain other than a few sprinkles for about an hour in the afternoon. Enjoyed coffee at Cafe Florian in St. Marks Square [COMPLETELY overpriced at almost 25 euro pp after the cover charge was added but a must-do experience when in Venice...atmosphere is lovely] after wandering around the fish market in the morning. I bought a very nice Murano glass and sterling pendant at a shop on the Rialto Bridge since my mother and her friend must go in EVERY shop we pass. Around 4pm we took a gondola ride [80 euro total] and the gondolier kept yelling at DH and mom's friend to sit still so the balance of the boat wasn't thrown off. He was not the friendliest and he cut our trip short by about 10 min since the sky turned black and sprinkles of rain started to fall...not a big deal but I must note that he still charged us the full price and we were too tired to argue. Dinner at Poste Vecie [next to the fish market] was FABULOUS and service was the best we've had in our two days in Italy."

[Bostonjetset]

"Boarded RCCL's Rhapsody of the Seas today for 10 night Adriatic cruise. Venice is such a beautiful city but SO unorganized. I didn't think it could get any worse than the 30 minute wait at the post office yesterday just to buy stamps [complete with deli-style number calling] but today at the port took the cake. Almost one hour of waiting in line just to check in, no porters to take luggage, and a helter-skelter public transport system just to get to the port in the first place. Good news is that the shop is lovely and the sailaway was amazing. Our dining room waiter Anderson and his assistance Tetiana are terrific as well."

 

*Afterthoughts: We have cruised a fair amount on most major lines from Carnival to Cunard and in between but this was our first for RCCL. We picked this ship specifically for the itinerary as it was one of very few that offered both Athens AND the major Greek islands on one sailing. We did not know what to expect with RCCL or the Rhapsody in general but expectation were not extremely high as we know the ship is an older girl without the fancy diversions offered by many of the newer and larger ships. Our expectations were surpassed! Rhapsody is well-kept and clean; her public areas are tasteful [not as elegant as QM2 or even Regal Princess but certainly better than Carnival's garish decor] and our oceanview stateroom was a decent size and included a sofa which I always appreciate.

[Bostonjetset]

"A lovely day in Ravenna. We took a taxi into the city center [cheaper than the ship's shuttle when divided by the 4 of us and MUCH more convenient as we can come and go as we please] and spent the day exploring the Byzantine churches full of fabulous mosaics. San Vitale was just stunning and it's amazing to see what people accomplished centuries ago. We also went to see Dante's tomb as he died and was buried in Ravenna. After returning to the ship we took a nap after lunch in the buffet. DH spent some time painting/sketching and I went for a swim in the solarium...it is great that it is adults only in there but it gets too hot inside for me; similar to being in a greenhouse. The Jacuzzis are a bit strange as well; they are warm but have almost no jet pressure...it feels like you are sitting in a bathtub and I missed the powerful whirlpool jets I've experiences on other lines. Dinner was terrific, especially the mushroom soup and the "rum baba" dessert!".

 

*Afterthought: We really enjoyed Ravenna and I'm surprised this is not a more popular port. In fact, I don't know anyone else who has even been there at all either by ship or by land. The mosaics are a wonderful thing to see if you are into art and/or history and whilst one day there is enough it is certainly a worthwhile port. If we ever end up there again we would likely do an excursion to Bologna; this was offered on this trip as well but we are glad we explored this less-known city of Ravenna.

[aviator1945]

Thanks for this. DW and I will be spending seven nights on the Vision this Autumn, cruising in the same general area, so we look forward to your posts.

 

Tomorrow DW and I plus two friends will board the Serenade for seven nights in the Baltic area: besides Denmark, it will be Sweden, Estonia, Russia and Finland.

 

May we all have good cruises!

[cincicruisers]

Enjoying your trip report. Looking forward to the rest.

[BermudaBound2014]

Thank you so much for writing this. We are doing a similar itinerary on rhapsody in August. I have santorini, Mykonos, and Athens planned but am really struggling with zadar, kotor, and Corfu so I am excited to hear all about your trip!!

[Bostonjetset]

Looking forward to your review, as there are so few of them for the Rhapsody. We will be on her next year for 13 days and it is our first "older, smaller" ship that we have ever been on. Many people here on CC seem to love her. Hoping you did too!!!:)

 

Thanks for this. DW and I will be spending seven nights on the Vision this Autumn, cruising in the same general area, so we look forward to your posts.

 

Tomorrow DW and I plus two friends will board the Serenade for seven nights in the Baltic area: besides Denmark, it will be Sweden, Estonia, Russia and Finland.

 

May we all have good cruises!

 

Thank you both for reading!! I enjoy writing these mini reviews. I know some people prefer those with pictures but I think there is still some power in the written word haha.

 

The Rhapsody is a lovely ship. I will go through the rest of the nights now that I am home for the evening.

 

@Aviator, enjoy the Baltics!! That is a bucket-list cruise for me. I'm dying to see St Petersburg as I have Russian/Ukrainian heritage.

[Bostonjetset]

Enjoying your trip report. Looking forward to the rest.

 

Thanks for reading! The rest is on its way! :)

 

Thank you so much for writing this. We are doing a similar itinerary on rhapsody in August. I have santorini, Mykonos, and Athens planned but am really struggling with zadar, kotor, and Corfu so I am excited to hear all about your trip!!

 

I will get to it in the posts, but Mykonos and Kotor were my favourite ports on this trip [although they were all lovely!]. Kotor is my next post so stay tuned as I'm going to work on that one now.

[IsanTom]

Great review and looking forward to more. We are on a B2B in October. Have you seen any specials for the specialty dinner packages? I want to use OBC, but if no specials offered on board, I will go ahead and prepay! Do they offer specials for certain nights for

like Cagney's?

[Bostonjetset]

"Kotor was amazing! Being anchored in the bay, surrounded by mountains on 3 sides, was just breathtaking. We hired a private, local driver/guide for the day [only 60 Euros total for the 4 of us] and he drove us to the neighboring town of Perast where we had a delicious local lunch [45,90 Euros for all 4 of us including beer!]. Then we hired a water taxi [5 Euros each] to take us to the Our Lady of the Rocks church which sits on an island in the bay. Our guide waited for us on the mainland whilst we toured the church. After, our driver took us to the top of one of the mountains so we could have a full view of the town and the bay [incl Rhapsody anchored in the middle] below, before driving back to Kotor to browse around the old town. Our guide, Medo [apparently means "bear" in Montenegrin] was just wonderful! DH said this was one of his favourite cites we've every visited after Lisbon."

 

*Afterthoughts: We usually find private tours to be much cheaper than those offered through the ship unless one is travelling solo. This was especially true in Kotor though. 60 euros [we tipped him an extra 20 at he end since he was so terrific] for a 4-5 hour tour with a private guide is almost unheard of in most of Europe; we have paid more in the West Indies for tours that were not nearly as good. The ship excursion STARTED at around $60USD per person and went up much higher. I would highly recommend hiring a local once you get to the port area; they are everywhere outside of the port gates soliciting business. If you happen to find Medo, snag him immediately as we have nothing but great things to say about him!

 

There is so much beauty in this country that we wished we could have stayed longer; in fact we are considered a land-based trip to the Balkans at some point in the future, before tourism and thus prices catch up with the rest of the continent.

[Bostonjetset]

"Today was just a day at sea. It was nice to have a break after two ports days [in addition to the two days in Venice] but we have 3 port days in a row starting tomorrow with Santorini. Today we found a little time to go to the gym which is lucky since one eats SO much when travelling. I actually won in the casino this evening as well! Only $30 @ roulette but it's better than nothing! Off to bed now as we have a VERY long day tomorrow."

 

*Afterthoughts: I explored some of the ship today as we had the whole day at sea. I found Rhapsody to be a lovely ship and her size was perfect for this itinerary as one did not feel obliged to spend every waking minute exploring the ship when this is already a very port-intensive trip. The one thing I think could be better though, is the day-time entertainment. Evening shows/performances were quite good, but during the day I felt as if there was a lack of things to do unless one liked roasting in the sun, playing bingo, or watching silly lido-deck games like belly flops and sexiest man contests. I truly missed the enrichment offerings that we had on the QM2 [our most recent previous cruise]: lectures, stringed quartets at afternoon tea, a wonderful library, etc. Rhapsody did not offer anything even remotely close to intellectual-based daytime activities; I know RCCL is not Cunard and I respect that however it would not hurt to offer SOMETHING more than sun-baking or belly flops during the day.

[Bostonjetset]

"Lovely day in Santorini but SO exhausting!! We took the cable car up to Fira and then got an overpriced taxi to Oia. He charged us 30 Euros for the trip and the driver we had later in the afternoon only charged us 20 for the return. Oia was beautiful; actually it was quite a bit prettier than Fira. After a lovely lunch and some shopping we returned to Fira where we decided to walk down the 600-step footpath to the old port. I wanted to take a donkey but DH and mum refused to we all walked. Then we had some ouzo and baklava before heading back to the ship. Athens is tomorrow."

 

*Afterthoughts: The driver to Oia said there is not much to see in Oia and 30-45 min should be enough time to get out and take some pics. He offered to wait for us and drive us back to Fira for the same price. WHAT A SCAM! We ended up spending most of the day in Oia; it is much more charming than Fira and there are loads of restaurants, shops and art galleries. He wanted to get another overpriced fare from us and thankfully we declined. Beware of this if you go to Santorini!

 

This is a tender port like Kotor but, unlike Kotor, there were no tender tickets needed to go ashore; it was first come first served which worked out much better for those of us not taking a ship excursion. YMMV but check out the details on your sailing. Also, there is very little shade anywhere when walking in either Oia or Fira but especially when walking down [or up] the footpath to the port. I looked crazy with my umbrella opened to avoid the roasting sun but one must do what is necessary; I don't like being hot and it was really the only option haha.

[BermudaBound2014]

I'm loving this - thank you thank you thank you

[Bostonjetset]

"Today was a long and tiring day in Athens. It was quite amazing to see the Acropolis and Parthenon though! 2,500 years of history right beneath our feet. The New Acropolis Museum was very interesting and educational but not quite as unbelievably amazing as I'd heard from friends who've been there. I did get an adorable sterling owl brooch and a sterling Athina/owl coin pendant in the Plaka. 80 Euros for the pair; not too bad. After returning to the ship we went for a snack at the Park Cafe; well, I lost my footing for a second and hot corn soup splashed from my bowl and onto my arm, burning it. It was pretty bad; the skin started to peel and show the raw layer underneath. Luckily, the ship's nurse wrapped it for me with silver sulfadiazine and gave me some cream and gauze to take in order to use later."

 

*Afterthoughts: This was the only port that we booked an excursion through the ship. We did the tour named "Acropolis, New Acropolis Museum and Plaka free time" for $129pp. Normally we book tours on our own but since this was fully guided and it included the main sights we wanted to see we decided to just go for it. It also included a "snack" of souvlaki, salad and drink which was truly more like a full lunch. The excursion was definitely overpriced, especially since we were in Athens on National Museum Day when the sites were all free. However, the one benefit is that we were taken to the Acropolis right away and thus avoided any lines. When were were leaving, the lines snaked 1/4 of the way to the parking area and would have been at least 30-45 min of wait time. There was an MSC excursion in line as we were leaving so apparently not all cruise ship tours are created equally!

 

As far as my burn from the corn soup, I don't blame RCCL for my own clumsiness. However, that soup had to be almost boiling in order to burn my skin the way it did; it's only just turned from red to pink over the last few days and it was quite raw for almost a week! The nurse in the infirmary was wonderful and very kind; she did not even mention charging me for anything. I was a bit surprised that no one from the Park Cafe asked if I was okay though. There was one staff member walking by who saw the incident and asked if I was okay and he cleared up the dishes I dropped but that was it. No one mentioned I should see the doctor or tried to escort me to the infirmary as I have seen happen on other lines when people had lesser incidents [thankfully not myself]. All's well that ends well but I thought I should at least mention it.

[Bostonjetset]

"What an amazing day in Mykonos!! So far it has been my favourite of the Greek ports. Such charming shops and seaside restaurants, all with about 50% less tourists than Santorini. After touring around the old port and Mykonos Town [including the beautiful and must-see windmills!] we hailed a taxi to Paradise Beach to spend about an hour there before returning to the ship. We had a hilarious driver who said his name was Zeus but who really knows! He was so proud of his island and could not stop telling us how much fun it was. He said that it was always a vacation spot for rich Greeks but then the gays started coming and added fun and style to an already wonderful place. If only all taxi drivers were like him!"

 

*Afterthoughts: Mykonos is usually a tender port but we were lucky enough to dock there on this trip. The new port is about 1.5 miles from the center of Mykonos town and although technically walk-able we did not attempt it. There is a shuttle bus for 1,60 Euros pp or a water taxi for 2 Euros pp to get to town; we opted for the land bus since there was less of a wait.

 

We found the streets to be less crowded here than in Santorini and the town is just as beautiful. Whilst Santorini has blue-domed churches and cliff-top views, Mykonos has red-domed churches and seaside windmills. Both are lovely but if I had to pick one to spend a week on, I would pick Mykonos. There seemed to be more going on here that was not just based on tourism. Both are tourist spots for sure, but Mykonos also had plenty of local life that was visible even to us day-trippers.

[Bostonjetset]

"Just back from a wonderful dinner of beef Wellington. Anderson got the chef to prepare some Indian food for us also since we mentioned how much we like it. Today was actually a bit of a boring day at sea. I read a bit of Dante's Inferno at the Schooner Bar and then had a beard trim at the salon. Tonight's show "Ballroom Fever" was good but not as wonderful as last night's violinist! Corfu, Greece tomorrow!."

 

*Afterthoughts: Not much to write as I expressed my opinion on the lack of daytime activities in a previous post. One thing I forgot to mention before though is that somehow we ended up with the beverage package on this trip. Just the one that includes beer and wine [and sodas] but still it was a welcome touch. I am not sure how we got it because it was not a promotion I was aware of at the time of our booking and it was not listed anywhere in any of our cruise documents; the stickers were just mysteriously on our seapass cards when we checked in. Perhaps our travel agent somehow got RCCL to give us the packages since the cruise fares dropped considerably after final payment [we booked almost 7 months in advance]. If that is the case, kudos to her. We never buy any drink packages because neither DH nor myself drink a lot of alcohol. One drink per day is maybe our average on a cruise...at home it's more like one or two per month!

Edited May 29, 2016 by Bostonjetset

[Bostonjetset]

"Fabulous day in Corfu even though it rained a bit. We walked all the way to the top of the Old Fortress and enjoyed 360-degree views of the old town, the Ionian Sea and even out to the coast of Albania! Whilst Corfu was amazing, I still think Mykonos was my favourite of the Greek ports. We missed seeing the stunning beaches on Corfu because of the rain but wandering around the old town still took up the whole day. We even caught some of the military parade celebrating the unification of the Ionian islands with Greece on 21st of May in 1864."

 

*Afterthoughts: Corfu is a lovely island with a much different character than the islands on the Aegean side of Greece. One can really see the Venetian influence in the architecture much like is seen along the Dalmatian coast not too far to the north. I appreciated that we got to call here as it seems to be a bit less traveled than other Greek islands and appears on far fewer cruise itineraries than say Santorini or Mykonos.

[Bostonjetset]

"Our suitcases were just collected as we disembark in the morning. Today we just lazed about on our last day at sea. I fit in about 45 minutes or workout time and caught up on some more of Dante's Inferno, which I have neglected for most of the trip. My burn is still red and tender. I had the ship's nurse check it again yesterday and she said it looks normal but it still feels and looks very raw to me. We said goodbye to Anderson and Tetiana tonight with a bit of sentimentality. They were such a great pair and made our evenings something to truly look forward to."

[Bostonjetset]

"We finally arrived home after a trying and exhausting day! After breakfast in a VERY crowded Windjammer buffet, we were off the ship by 8am. A quick 30 minute taxi ride to the airport and we had a 2 hour wait before we could even check in for our 1.40pm flight! Venice airport is somewhat of a dump until after security; then it gets nicer but everything is 3x the price one would pay in town. 25 Euros for a hamburger and a beer?! I think not! Our first flight from VCE to MUC was terrifying as the left engine got struck by lightning mid-flight. I've never been more scared on a flight. We saw the burst of light hit the engine right outside the window next to our seat and heard the huge BOOM. It sounded and looked as if a bomb went off. Luckily we were able to land as scheduled and were greeted by a parade of emergency vehicles on the runway. Not pleasant to end a trip this way but at least we were still alive! The MUC to BOS flight on Lufthansa was great but I was already nervous thanks to Air Dolomiti and Mother Nature. When we arrived to BOS we had to wait in line for an hour at immigration since they now use these ridiculous computer kiosks before still making you see an agent face to face!!! Finally we made it to the parking garage and DH's car would not start...the battery died and needed to be jumped! One thing after another!!

 

However, the overall trip was truly amazing. Mom and T really enjoyed it as did DH and I. It was special to stand in the birthplace of western culture and just contemplate how the ancient Greeks accomplished so much so many year ago."

[baileymouse]

What a great review, day by day! I loved this. I want to do that itinerary for my birthday in a couple of years, and you really brought things to life for me.

[redrob1234]

Thank you, I enjoyed reading your review.

 

I am doing the 12 night Med/Venice on Brilliance in July, also stopping in Ravenna & Kotor. Do you remember approx. how much the Taxi in Ravenna from Port to Town cost? There will be 4 of us so this may be a good option for us when we do our DIY Ravenna tour.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Bostonjetset]

Itinerary:

We picked this voyage solely for the wonderful itinerary. Many cruises include some of the ports but this was one of the few that included all the ports in Greece we wanted to see [Athens, Mykonos, & Santorini] on the same trip that was under 14 nights. We looked at several others that had Greek Islands without Athens and then other that had Athens and some wonderful alternate ports like Istanbul and Dubrovnik but yet no Greek Islands. This sailing on Rhapsody of the Seas had it all and also included Kotor and Ravenna. We especially appreciated being able to visit some less-called-on ports like Corfu and Ravenna. I would recommend this itinerary to anyone who is considering it; it truly visits some magical ports!!

 

Ship/Line:

Rhapsody of the Seas is a well-kept lady despite her age. Her small size was a pleasure and she did not feel overly crowded except at the Windjammer and the main pool. It seemed like it was a challenge to get sunbeds/loungers by the pool, especially on sea days, although as someone who avoids the sun it did not bother me. The Windjammer could be an exercise in patience at lunchtime [we never ate dinner there as we prefer the dining room for dinner on all our cruises]; it was often difficult to find a seat and the general layout of the WJ seating was awkward with chairs that were too large to be pushed in completely causing a lot of obstructions between tables. The evening shows that we saw [violinist, "Ballroom Fever", the acrobats in the Centrum, the contortionist] were all well done and were a step above what we've seen on other lines, excluding Princess. Daytime activities were not to my taste as I've already stated. Food in the main dining room was very good with several hits and only very few misses; Cunard and Princess were our favorites for the MDR. RCCL was on par with HAL and Carnival and far better than Norwegian. Of course food is subjective and I must state that we've had good food on all lines [although one must really go to the extra charge venues on NCL for truly good meals]. One complaint in the dining category would be the complete lack of cream on the ship; I don't want milk in my coffee, I want cream or half½ well, it was NOWHERE on the ship. This truly baffled me but we made do. Our dining room staff during late seating was EXCEPTIONAL; among the best we've had on any ship. We looked forward to seeing them at dinner each night. Our stateroom steward was efficient and polite; he often seemed in a rush to turn down our stateroom each evening though. Sometimes he would knock on the door at 6.30pm! On every other line we've sailed, they turned down the cabin whilst we were at dinner; HAL has the best stewards IMO as they are like ninjas that sneak in to clean and never disturb you whilst you are in the stateroom [they also don't use the bulky carts that take up so much space in the halls which is a nice touch]. However, taking everything into account, I now understand why Royal has many loyal followers; they offer a great product at a good value.