Potential first time RCCL cruisers!

[Flnative9206]

Hello all! 
 

Just got off my 7th anniversary cruise on MSC Magnifica from Miami, and my wife and I are already planning for our 8th anniversary next year (trying to cruise for our anniversary every year). Next year, we are really interested in trying the RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas Southern Carib itinerary RT from San Juan PR. Has anyone done this route before? Has anyone been on the Rhapsody before? I know she is a very old ship… but that does not bother us, I fact we enjoy the smaller and older ships more anyway. For a potential first time RCCL’r that has cruised on Princess, Norwegian and MSC, do you have anything you love or hate about RCCL? My wife and I are trying to find “our sweet spot” when it comes to cruise lines. We are most likely booking this by next week. We are also considering the Mexican Riviera from LA on the Discovery Princess for March 2025… but leaning more towards the RCCL trip. 
 

TIA!! 

Edited March 22 by Flnative9206

[PhillyFan33579]

Since you know Rhapsody is an older, smaller ship and you like these older ships, I think you will have a great time on her. Most of the complaints you hear about older ships is their condition, their lack of bells and whistles, etc. I assume none of these will be an issue for you. The atmosphere on older ships is usually pretty different than on newer ships. One of the biggest differences is most cruises on older ships don’t have too many kids on them (this can be a plus or minus depending on individual preference). Since you have cruised on other cruise lines, you will find more similarities than differences to what you have experienced on other cruise lines. Just an FYI, the name of the cruise line is Royal Caribbean International (RCI, not RCCL).

[gmachar]

We love to cruise out of San Juan - weather always warm, seas almost always calm, a new port every day! We will be on Rhapsody next Jan/Feb - wouldn’t mind a little bigger ship, but with a port every day it’s fine.

Char

[coachmike1959]

The positive about this cruise is the ports are mostly all small ports that don’t cater to the big ships. I enjoy that itinerary very much

[SteelCityCruiser10]

We did the S Caribbean itinerary on Jewel in January.  Rhapsody is a class smaller than Jewel.  Not sure what ports exactly you are looking at but you can’t go wrong with a southern route IMO.  I did a LIVE report if you want to check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, coachmike1959 said:

The positive about this cruise is the ports are mostly all small ports that don’t cater to the big ships. I enjoy that itinerary very much

What?? All these ports take the mega ships on a regular basis.

 

That said, I do LOVE the southern itineraries out of San Juan

[StanleyandGus]

We had an aft balcony on Rhapsody on a transatlantic. Probably they have all been booked, but I highly recommend getting one if you can! 
 

I really liked the ship, even though it’s a little dated. 

[LeeW]

Pretty similar to Island or Coral Princess if you have been on the smaller Princess ships.  Cabins near the Centrum can be a bit noisy - a lot of the entertainment is done there.  And a lot of the entertainment is by crew members, not hired entertainers.

 

Used to be fairly cheap to fly to San Juan, so we have done a bunch of cruises out of there.  Great to be able to hit the ABCs in one 7 day cruise and the farther eastern Caribbean islands like Barbados on a second cruise.  Typically we stay in the Carolina area north of the airport (Embassy) - nice beach and the normal fast food restaurants we usually go to.  Costs $22 to get to the ship from there.  If you come in a day or two early the city buses can take you to Old San Juan.  Actually the airport hotel is a pretty good place to stay if your flight gets in late.  Basic (think IKEA), but very quiet.  Decent breakfast.

 

By the way, you start at one cruise a year, then two, ..., and get to 5-6 pretty quickly.

[lovesthebeach2]

8 hours ago, LeeW said:

 

By the way, you start at one cruise a year, then two, ..., and get to 5-6 pretty quickly.

Same way you may start with an inside cabin and gradually move up to a suite. It’s hard to go back..

[LeeW]

Yes, but I can cruise 5-6 times a year for the price of 2 cruises in suites, so we just get balconies.