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Rhapsody Mediterranean review including compasses, photos, and more

BermudaBound2014
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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

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Friday, August 12- at sea day

 

We spent the last three days In Santorini, Athens, and Mykonos. Whirlwind. Long, hot, spectacular days!! Today is a sea day so I hope to get this log caught up before koror and zadar.

 

Random observations about the rhapsody:

1) still loving this ship. With the exception of the windjammer design she is laid out functionally. Lots and lots of participation at all the events. Centrum area is a massive gathering area (8 decks high) and people congregate along the window railings to join in the singing and dancing. Great fun- great energy.

 

2) One area for improvement is the buffet times. Just as breakfast and lunch times are altered in mdr on port days, it would serve customers well to alter windjammer times to coordinate more with ship times. The last 3 days we have come onboard after 4 tired and a quite hungry from the days activities. Unfortunately, the windjammer closes at 3:30 forcing everyone into the park cafe.

Lines in park cafe were very long yesterday. Park cafe has a nice salad area and some soup. They also have panini sandwiches (ham and cheese, three cheese, vegetable, etc...) that they will heat. Totally fine for a snack, but The guys working there bust their butts off and have earned an bit extra from us.

 

3) Another area for improvement for us would be the nightly entertainment schedule in the atrium. There is always something starting at 8:00 and ending around 8:45, but we have 8:30 seating. If they starter the activity at 7:30-7:45 I believe everyone could attend. Of course that would make it even more packed with people so that could be problematic. Just a suggestion for the ship to try. Also, the evening shows are reversed- attend show at 7pm if you have 830 dining. Attend show at 9 pm if you have early dining (6:30). Personally I dislike that set up and as a result have only attended one show (celion dion, which was at 10pm for late seating).

 

4) Food has still been pretty darn good. Not great but except for th pizza everything has been infinitely better than Msc (including our dining room Waiter). At least one appetizer an evening had been a hit. Yesterday rice ball with portabella mushroom stuffed with cheese. I had a very good broiled goat cheese number the other day. Dh had a shrimp and tuna pate' he enjoyed. Caesar salad and escargot are on the menu nightly. They have served prime rib also.

 

5) I can't rave enough about the ice cream machine. Usually cruise ship ice cream machines are icy and not very creamy and Sometimes with a bit of an aftertaste. On rhapsody it is almost like soft serve gelato. Smooth, extra creamy. Pure deliciousness - truth be told, I suppose if I had to choose between lunch or the ice cream machine I'd choose the ice cream machine so I suppose I shouldn't care about the buffet hours as long as the ice cream machine is working.

 

6) Another sinful snack/lunch is the roast beef sandwiches at park cafe. I know you rcl fans have a specific name for these but I can never remember it :). I call it Roast Beef sliders with horseradish.... Super yummy. Served at 11 until they run out. We've only managed to have them on sea days, but they are super tasty.

 

7) speaking of tasty- the oj and lemonade are highly concentrated. Instead of the typical watered down cruise version, on rhapsody I actually add a half a glass of water to thin it out so I don't make duck lips all day.

 

8) pool attendants are out in full force and equipped with post its again. I haven't seen them actually remove items off chairs yet, but I do think the post its are deterring people from leaving chairs unattended. Most people went to the buffet and brought their plates back to the solarium this afternoon.

 

9) overall, I love the rhapsody. I think she has a terrific crew who fills her with positive vibes. Even all the passengers are extra friendly. Everyone genially appears to be having a glorious time :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Virtopia

Virtopia

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Posted
Friday, August 12- at sea day

 

We spent the last three days In Santorini, Athens, and Mykonos. Whirlwind. Long, hot, spectacular days!! Today is a sea day so I hope to get this log caught up before koror and zadar.

 

Random observations about the rhapsody:

1) still loving this ship. With the exception of the windjammer design she is laid out functionally. Lots and lots of participation at all the events. Centrum area is a massive gathering area (8 decks high) and people congregate along the window railings to join in the singing and dancing. Great fun- great energy.

 

2) One area for improvement is the buffet times. Just as breakfast and lunch times are altered in mdr on port days, it would serve customers well to alter windjammer times to coordinate more with ship times. The last 3 days we have come onboard after 4 tired and a quite hungry from the days activities. Unfortunately, the windjammer closes at 3:30 forcing everyone into the park cafe.

Lines in park cafe were very long yesterday. Park cafe has a nice salad area and some soup. They also have panini sandwiches (ham and cheese, three cheese, vegetable, etc...) that they will heat. Totally fine for a snack, but The guys working there bust their butts off and have earned an bit extra from us.

 

3) Another area for improvement for us would be the nightly entertainment schedule in the atrium. There is always something starting at 8:00 and ending around 8:45, but we have 8:30 seating. If they starter the activity at 7:30-7:45 I believe everyone could attend. Of course that would make it even more packed with people so that could be problematic. Just a suggestion for the ship to try. Also, the evening shows are reversed- attend show at 7pm if you have 830 dining. Attend show at 9 pm if you have early dining (6:30). Personally I dislike that set up and as a result have only attended one show (celion dion, which was at 10pm for late seating).

 

4) Food has still been pretty darn good. Not great but except for th pizza everything has been infinitely better than Msc (including our dining room Waiter). At least one appetizer an evening had been a hit. Yesterday rice ball with portabella mushroom stuffed with cheese. I had a very good broiled goat cheese number the other day. Dh had a shrimp and tuna pate' he enjoyed. Caesar salad and escargot are on the menu nightly. They have served prime rib also.

 

5) I can't rave enough about the ice cream machine. Usually cruise ship ice cream machines are icy and not very creamy and Sometimes with a bit of an aftertaste. On rhapsody it is almost like soft serve gelato. Smooth, extra creamy. Pure deliciousness - truth be told, I suppose if I had to choose between lunch or the ice cream machine I'd choose the ice cream machine so I suppose I shouldn't care about the buffet hours as long as the ice cream machine is working.

 

6) Another sinful snack/lunch is the roast beef sandwiches at park cafe. I know you rcl fans have a specific name for these but I can never remember it :). I call it Roast Beef sliders with horseradish.... Super yummy. Served at 11 until they run out. We've only managed to have them on sea days, but they are super tasty.

 

7) speaking of tasty- the oj and lemonade are highly concentrated. Instead of the typical watered down cruise version, on rhapsody I actually add a half a glass of water to thin it out so I don't make duck lips all day.

 

8) pool attendants are out in full force and equipped with post its again. I haven't seen them actually remove items off chairs yet, but I do think the post its are deterring people from leaving chairs unattended. Most people went to the buffet and brought their plates back to the solarium this afternoon.

 

9) overall, I love the rhapsody. I think she has a terrific crew who fills her with positive vibes. Even all the passengers are extra friendly. Everyone genially appears to be having a glorious time :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

This makes me so happy to read!! I didn't have any doubts that I'd enjoy myself but hearing great things about the ship is really positive.

 

Definitely want to hear what you have lined up for Zadar. I have no ideas for this port.

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NewfieGuy1972

NewfieGuy1972

Posted
Posted
Friday, August 12- at sea day

 

We spent the last three days In Santorini, Athens, and Mykonos. Whirlwind. Long, hot, spectacular days!! Today is a sea day so I hope to get this log caught up before koror and zadar.

 

Random observations about the rhapsody:

1) still loving this ship. With the exception of the windjammer design she is laid out functionally. Lots and lots of participation at all the events. Centrum area is a massive gathering area (8 decks high) and people congregate along the window railings to join in the singing and dancing. Great fun- great energy.

 

2) One area for improvement is the buffet times. Just as breakfast and lunch times are altered in mdr on port days, it would serve customers well to alter windjammer times to coordinate more with ship times. The last 3 days we have come onboard after 4 tired and a quite hungry from the days activities. Unfortunately, the windjammer closes at 3:30 forcing everyone into the park cafe.

Lines in park cafe were very long yesterday. Park cafe has a nice salad area and some soup. They also have panini sandwiches (ham and cheese, three cheese, vegetable, etc...) that they will heat. Totally fine for a snack, but The guys working there bust their butts off and have earned an bit extra from us.

 

3) Another area for improvement for us would be the nightly entertainment schedule in the atrium. There is always something starting at 8:00 and ending around 8:45, but we have 8:30 seating. If they starter the activity at 7:30-7:45 I believe everyone could attend. Of course that would make it even more packed with people so that could be problematic. Just a suggestion for the ship to try. Also, the evening shows are reversed- attend show at 7pm if you have 830 dining. Attend show at 9 pm if you have early dining (6:30). Personally I dislike that set up and as a result have only attended one show (celion dion, which was at 10pm for late seating).

 

4) Food has still been pretty darn good. Not great but except for th pizza everything has been infinitely better than Msc (including our dining room Waiter). At least one appetizer an evening had been a hit. Yesterday rice ball with portabella mushroom stuffed with cheese. I had a very good broiled goat cheese number the other day. Dh had a shrimp and tuna pate' he enjoyed. Caesar salad and escargot are on the menu nightly. They have served prime rib also.

 

5) I can't rave enough about the ice cream machine. Usually cruise ship ice cream machines are icy and not very creamy and Sometimes with a bit of an aftertaste. On rhapsody it is almost like soft serve gelato. Smooth, extra creamy. Pure deliciousness - truth be told, I suppose if I had to choose between lunch or the ice cream machine I'd choose the ice cream machine so I suppose I shouldn't care about the buffet hours as long as the ice cream machine is working.

 

6) Another sinful snack/lunch is the roast beef sandwiches at park cafe. I know you rcl fans have a specific name for these but I can never remember it :). I call it Roast Beef sliders with horseradish.... Super yummy. Served at 11 until they run out. We've only managed to have them on sea days, but they are super tasty.

 

7) speaking of tasty- the oj and lemonade are highly concentrated. Instead of the typical watered down cruise version, on rhapsody I actually add a half a glass of water to thin it out so I don't make duck lips all day.

 

8) pool attendants are out in full force and equipped with post its again. I haven't seen them actually remove items off chairs yet, but I do think the post its are deterring people from leaving chairs unattended. Most people went to the buffet and brought their plates back to the solarium this afternoon.

 

9) overall, I love the rhapsody. I think she has a terrific crew who fills her with positive vibes. Even all the passengers are extra friendly. Everyone genially appears to be having a glorious time :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the update..Any chance you can get a picture or 2 of the wine list?

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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

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Ok- I'll snap a photo of the wine list tonight :)

 

We have private tour booked for hiking in the mountains for both zadar and kotor. I'm pretty sure I put the plan in our roll call, but i will report details. I was in the same spot as you for zadar and decided to do a private tour with hike. It's a good thing, because not all excursions offered online were offered onboard. Kyka was offered, but the other mountain and that is what we ended up arranging (forget the name at the moment, but it will come to me).

 

 

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BermudaBound2014 Great Review Rare

BermudaBound2014

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We planned a day sail in Mykonos with Artemis Zara (onboardmykonos). Got all the referrals from tripadvisor. I'll post a detailed review there upon return but it was a glorious day for a sail. We tendered in. Walked to the red dome church (staying left along waters edge). Taxi stand is behind the red church. Waited a little bit for a taxi. Apparently Mykonos only has 30 taxis for whole island and one taxi stand so keep that in mind. Taxi to Artemis was 20 euro each way. Day trip was 100 euro per person. They provided all beverages and cooked fantastic authentic Greek lunch. Artemis had taxi waiting for us upon return and we made it back to ship with 4 minutes to spare (we were in line for tenders at 4:15 so not even close). I will do detailed trip report later but here are some photos of our terrific day in Mykonos :)

 

We had captain Theo as captain Artemis was on a private charter.

 

 

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Edited by BermudaBound2014
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