Rhapsody Review 3/25

[bd6862]

Just returned from ROS out of Galveston. I was somewhat nervous of our trip due to the previous reports and am happy to report that in our experience most of the problems were fixed. There were a few exceptions..........

 

One HUGE complaint that no one can do anything about.... is the vaccum system (which flushes the toilets). We were in a JS on the 8th floor and the noise was unbelievavble. It sounded like 20 kids running up and down the hallway. the first two days were spent trying to find where all the noise was coming from. Literally it sounded as if they were going to crash thru the floor at any moment. We went to the front desk on numerous times and they blamed it on Spring Break kids. Well come to find out if you listen closely enough you will hear a toilet flush then followed by a series of loud bangs that fade away. It would only stop at Midnight and begin back at 6am......which brings me to the next problme, No water from 12am - 6am every night on the cruise. Make sure you fill a water bottle up if you stay up late otherwise no water until 6am.

 

Other than this the cruise went smoothly. Elevators were all working, the WJ was ok for buffet food, service in the dining room was wonderful and the staff very friendly. Embarkation was a breeze. We were at the pier at 11am and on the ship by 11:15. We also used the spa, had wonderful massages but I would skip a manicure if you are planning one. Overpriced for the service you receive $45.00. It was over in 20 minutes and the young lady was not happy to be there.

 

One other note to mention is bringing alcohol aboard. If you plan to do it, plan to be disappointed. They search every bag now and confiscate everything. If you disguise it in a bottle, it is gone (which is what we did) If it is in the original bottle you get it back at the end of the cruise. They will leave you a note in your luggage, not to mention all of your neat packing is ruined. You could absolutely tell that everything was riffled thru. Dont plan on brining it on in the ports either. No beverages are allowed back on the ship period!!! Not even un-opened bottled water. If you purchase alcohol they will collect it and give it back to you at the end. So be prepared to purchase from the ship.

 

Would be happy to answer any questions one might have.

[papermans]

Do you know why the water was turned off at night? Before the dry dock this was not done.

[bd6862]

There was never an explanation given. Some nights we had a card in our stateroom, other nights it was simply off. We were not notified the first night so we were not prepared. Every night after we filled our two large water bottles for face washing, teeth, and toilet. It was inconvienent but it was also wonderful because the vaccum system stopped too. We could sleep in peace but forget about taking any afternoon naps.

[Cruiserfrom]

So no one at all made it on the ship with liquor?

[232271]

so they go through every bag even if there is no liquor in them?

[TEXASMUNK]

of people going through withdrawl right now!

 

The agony of deciding to either pay for your liquor onboard or go dry for a whole week.

 

Sorry, just get a kick out of all the "how to smuggle" liquor postings.

[Natanni]

bd6862-Where was your cabin?? We were in Jr Suite 8588--I am thinking we were only a few cabins away! We didn't have any problems with toilet flushing! We were also boarding at almost the exact same time.

 

We saw all the bottles of hard alcohol lined up ready to return to passenegers at disembarking. In all honesty, I was one of the most upset people about not being able bring my own wine onboard, almost to the point of changing my booking to the Grand Princess. I did order the wine package once on board, and that worked out extremely well. I tried two new wines, and found new favorite.

 

I am so disappointed that the Rhapsody is leaving. This was our best cruising experience. The kids program was exceptional according to my 10 year old daughter. I would have gladly sailed her again, but won't be able to do the Orient or Alaska any time soon :(

[Nitra]

How did they get into your luggage? They are not allowed to open luggage I thought. I use TSA locks so they would have to have the keys for those in order to open mine.

 

Also have to wonder about sodas, what if you drink pepsi and they only have coke products, not that I care either way cause sodas weigh too much... LOL

 

I do my fair share of drinking in the bars on the ship but have always taken on with me too, usually end up bringing a lot of it back home but like it just the same, in case I want a drink and am not in the mood to go get one. It also pays to have friends in high places :D

 

Anyway I really had not planned on taking anything this cruise, just too much extra to pack and I dont wanna use the space for that. I am going to pack some of the packets of crystal light you mix with water. I love that stuff!

[txskier]

..were your checked bags searched for alcohol or just your carry-ons?

[txskier]

bd6862-Where was your cabin?? We were in Jr Suite 8588--I am thinking we were only a few cabins away!/quote]

 

We are in 8588 coming up in less than 3 weeks.....did you have a couple of loungers on the balcony?

[Natanni]

We didn't have locks on our luggage, and our carry-ons were only Xrayed, not searched. The only thing I saw was a table full of hard alcohol with hang tags at debarking.

[karensi]

If you order the wine package does that give you a bottle or two to have in your cabin, or is it ( the wine package) only for the dining room?

Thanks, Karen

[brn2crz]

Not quite following this...( I don't smuggle booze,but I have openly brought DP & water onboard often)...But you are telling us that if someone puts something say in a mouthwash bottle they will know? How can they possibly,unless they search each and evey item...even carry ons?? Not possible...What am I missing ?? '

 

oh...glad you had a great cruise...We will miss our Rhapsody :(

[lynn62]

BD6862, Can you tell me how eveyone was dressed for formal nights on Rhapsody? We are sailing this weekend. I have heard so many different suggestions and comments. Some say absolutely formal, others say men can get away with dress pants, shirt and tie and women nice dresses, versus suits and formal dresses. Appreciate any comments and suggestions.

Lynn

[bd6862]

Hi Everyone - Lets see if I can answer all of your questions. I didnt write down who asked what (only the questions) so here goes:

 

As for alcohol - we filled a large water bottle with vodka and placed in 1 of our 3 suitcases. All 3 suitcases had been gone thru completely. Everything was riffled thru very very well. We had a note left in the "bad" suitcase stating that we brought on an "item" that appeared to be liquor and it was agaist RCI policy for outside liquor to be brought on. We do also drink Sugar Free red Bull and had one case of it with us as well. they did not confiscate it as the ship only sold regular red bull. So to answer the question previously if the ship sells it you can't bring it on, that is what we were told. We questioned almost every bartender we came into contact with (and it was alot) that their new policy is a joint effort of all employees to increase revenues and the way to accomplish this is beverage sales. Also if you will go to my review on the review board I explain a lovely little memo that I read while tendering into Grand Cayman on the employee floor. I tried to take a picture but did couldn't find it on our way back. We met several people on board and almost everyone had their liquor confiscated. One couple packed theirs in all 4 suitcases and 3 suitcases were emptied, 1 made it thru. Another couple that had locks on their luggage were called to the holding area and asked to open their luggage. Our carry on bag was also searched. I can't emphasize this enough - if you are one of the cruisers who packs tons of liquor in hopes of not spending money on the ship you are going to have a problem, period!! One note when we asked if we would get our "water bottle" back the front desk told us if the liquor was in the original unopened packaging then we would receive it back at the end of the cruise. If it was not in the original unopened packaing then it had been disposed of. Also note that when in ports you are not allowed to bring any food or beverage on the ship at all. If you buy liquor you check it in as soon as you hit the ramp. If you buy thier bottled water to go ashore you can't even bring it back on the ship.

 

As for wine - you cannot bring even one unopened bottle. You can purchase their wine package which we thought was a good enough deal and you can bring any or all of it back to your room. You have to go to the dining room to get it but we had no problem. We carried a bottle a night from our package to our room and went off the ship with the 4 bottles we were not able to drink. In the morning we would bring OJ back from breakfast and enjoy mimosas on our balcony.

 

Our cabin was 8028, port side - we spoke to 8 other rooms on our floor and all experienced the same thing. We were all midship and the rooms included both sides of the ship. the first two days we even went door to door to find out what the noise was about because the ship wouldn't do anything about it. We were told it was Spring Break and this was the worst time of the year for noise. We were also told to report it to security anytime we heard the noise. If you were on our cruise last week and didn't experience the noise - how LUCKY you were because it was down right obscene. I have even written a letter to RCI, not that it will help, but for anyone to have to deal with that noise....especially on vacation.....UNACCEPTABLE.

 

Our balcony was very nice - we had one lounger chair, 2 regular chairs, and a table. Our room was also very nice as well.

 

Dress on formal nights - I brought a long gown and a short cocktail dress. I would have felt like an idiot had I worn the long gown. I sent my sweetie down on a mission because I peeked out the hallway and saw nothing similar. The short black cocktail dress was perfect for the first formal night. I wore a silk spaghetti strap dress for the second night (again knee length) and it was perfect. Don't overdress. Not out of Galveston .....a few beads is good for the first formal night...... second night go less. As for other nights in the dining room I wore black slacks one night and dress jeans and heels many of the other nights. It was pretty casual compared to other cruises out of Miami

 

I will go back and read the thread to make sure I answered all the questions. If I missed any I will post again.

 

I don't mind answering any questions so please send them.

[bd6862]

Not quite following this...( I don't smuggle booze,but I have openly brought DP & water onboard often)...But you are telling us that if someone puts something say in a mouthwash bottle they will know? How can they possibly,unless they search each and evey item...even carry ons?? Not possible...What am I missing ?? '

 

oh...glad you had a great cruise...We will miss our Rhapsody :(

 

brn2crz - we could not bring bottled water on at the ports. And yes one couple put liquor in a shampoo bottle and it was confiscated. May have been just a freak thing and we heard from some employees that every 3rd bag is checked completely. Again this was our expeirence but from previous cruises and visiting with other passengers this was the hardest crack down many had ever experienced.

 

Rule of thumb if the ship sells it........you will be buying it from them.

[crazy 4 cruising]

How did they get into your luggage? They are not allowed to open luggage I thought. I use TSA locks so they would have to have the keys for those in order to open mine.

 

Also have to wonder about sodas, what if you drink pepsi and they only have coke products, not that I care either way cause sodas weigh too much... LOL

 

I do my fair share of drinking in the bars on the ship but have always taken on with me too, usually end up bringing a lot of it back home but like it just the same, in case I want a drink and am not in the mood to go get one. It also pays to have friends in high places :D

 

Anyway I really had not planned on taking anything this cruise, just too much extra to pack and I dont wanna use the space for that. I am going to pack some of the packets of crystal light you mix with water. I love that stuff!

 

on the Splendour Mar 22 I brought a 6 pack of Diet DP on in my checked bgs. When I opened my bag I KNEW someone had been in it. the DDP were in the zip ock, but there was air in there so I knew it had been opened. I guess they got in to see if the bottles were sealed and they were, so no problem. they left it alone. My sisiter had a bottle of wine & they took it and left a card in her bag. We are guessing it was due to spring break as Galveston has never done that before.

[bd6862]

Not quite following this...( I don't smuggle booze,but I have openly brought DP & water onboard often)...But you are telling us that if someone puts something say in a mouthwash bottle they will know? How can they possibly,unless they search each and evey item...even carry ons?? Not possible...What am I missing ?? '

 

oh...glad you had a great cruise...We will miss our Rhapsody :(

 

BD6862, Can you tell me how eveyone was dressed for formal nights on Rhapsody? We are sailing this weekend. I have heard so many different suggestions and comments. Some say absolutely formal, others say men can get away with dress pants, shirt and tie and women nice dresses, versus suits and formal dresses. Appreciate any comments and suggestions.

Lynn

 

lynn62 - sorry I didn't completely answer your question. My sweetie brouht a tux but wore his suit. he was PERFECTLY fine. There were a some people in tuxes but I would say 80% were suits. A pant suit would be completely appropriate for the first night if it had a little flash to it, example would be silk suit or a slightly beaded or dressier suit. The second night you could easily get away with a simple pant suit . If you click on my profile you can see a pic of me and Buz. The dress I am wearing in the picture I wore to the second formal night and again it was more than appropriate. One more thing for the men on formal nights absolutely a jacket. I wouldn't suggest just a shirt and tie. Have your hubby bring a dark suit, two dress shirts and two ties and he will be fine. Even the same ensemble and changing up the tie would also be appropriate.

[bd6862]

Here is a link that might be helpful - it is our roll call.

 

Lake Erie Boaters and some other have written down some great things. they also chime in on liquor issues.

 

The ladies have great information as well.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=9659085&posted=1#post9659085

[crazy 4 cruising]

bd6862-Where was your cabin?? We were in Jr Suite 8588--I am thinking we were only a few cabins away!/quote]

 

We are in 8588 coming up in less than 3 weeks.....did you have a couple of loungers on the balcony?

 

lucky ducky. one of these days I want that cabin. had 8088 on Splendour & it was a great , but corner aft did not wrap around like on ROS. We had 2 loungers & a 2 chairs (? I think) & a table

[Lake Erie Boaters]

Hi! I did watch the horse races!!! Too funny that was you! Were you the ones who won the Love & Marriage Game??

Here is the review I posted already in another thread, so in case anyone missed it! Also, we had TSA locks on our luggage, we were called down and had to open it. He did go through every nook and crany and I had nothing!!!! He checked my hairspray and tanning lotion too. We had bought the 5 bottle wine package prior to leaving and got wine in the Windjammer at times, main dinner, at the pool, whenever you want it you can just ask the waiter, really easy. We took it to the room, got ice, even got room service and had a bottle sent! The water was only off 2 nights for us, from 12-5am we did get a note a day prior in our compass, but only 2 days on deck 4. The toliet flushing was a suction type toliet, like our boat we have here in MI, so I was used to the loud noise it made, it was no big issue for us, but like I said we were on deck 4. Do you know how to get the cruise in review DVD? Also, we forgot to go back to buy our pictures!!!!! Having way too much fun to stop I guess! They had good buys at the shops too! Ok here is my review!

 

 

Well all I can say is that our cruise was a solid 15 out of 10!!!! Right out of the ballpark like a homerun here in Tigers Stadium

I'm sorry we didn't go to the Meet and Mingle, I never got the notice in our cabin so I thought maybe it was cancelled, plus it was hard to tear myself away from the glorious pool!!!! We boarded at 1pm after Amy "TIGFAM" called me and said to get on board! I'm sorry we never got to meet you, Amy1118 said you had left a message, but our light never blinked that we had one. I did meet Amy1118 and Karen "Hogwild" also I met Montgomeryfamily, it was great to share wonderful memories with you all. Our Cabin Steward was a wonderful women and we had room 4570 and she was awesome! I did buy a fan in Galveston and left it to the her after, she loved it! I have NEVER slept better in my life, the covers were wonderful and soooo cozy!!! We got there on Sat late afternoon and after renting a car at Houston Airport-Enterprise we were in Galveston around 9pm after going to Targets, then we ate at Gaido's- Kaseys that is attached, yummy and friendly, great view of the Gulf!!!! We stayed at Gaido's also, it was clean and friendly, they did have a pool, but no frills inside the room, but it was only $79 for cruisers so perfect as long as it was clean!! Plus right on the Gulf of Mexico also and attached to the 2 restaruants!! And they give you a $10 coupon to eat there too! So after we ate it was 10pm, we asked about buying liqour and to my surprise all liqour stores were CLOSED!!! And no liqour on Sundays either. We were shocked they closed so early on Saturday, so if you need to buy prior to boarding buy before 8pm on Saturday!!! So no smuggling for us even though I had 4 rum runners!!! So we got up Sunday, shopped in town and then dropped the rental in Galveston and got a shuttle from them to the ship, the line for Carnival when we past it was I swear 2 blocks long, I thought oh no!! But we got to pier 2 where RCI is and breezed right in NO LINE at 1pm at all, got our sea pass cards etc and had pics taken and bingo we were on Rhapsody in awe!!!! They know what they are doing for sure. The rooms were ready at 1pm when we got on also. The staff was fantastic, so friendly and helpful always had a smile for you and help. The Windjammer was good, they had an omelette station for breakfast, yummy! And at lunch/dinner it was a stir-fry- I almost liked the Windjammer better for breakfast/lunch/dinner better because of the choices and things I would never eat before but did try, and liked!! At the late seating dinner hour we had a great bunch of people, 2 people never showed up! But we all had fun!!! The midnight chocolate buffet was awesome too, what a show!! Chris the CD was really upbeat and a lot of fun!! The comedians were good and the games also. We did the drink seminar, $9.95, highly recommend it!!! The bar staff puts on a "Cocktail" type show with the bottles and dancing and then you get to get the 4 drinks that they show you how to make!! YUMMY and all for $9.95, plus lots of fun and entertainment too, this was done in "Shall We Dance Lounge", "Broadway Melodies Theater" had decent entertainment shows, "Piano Man" "Pure Country" "Mosaic" "Bobby Collins" "Milt Abel" -The pool entertainment was "Heatwave" a great reggae group!! I miss hearing them! The pool games were a blast, best leg contest for men, best biceps for women, belly flop, and cannon ball, plus more!!! So much to do! At bingo they gave away a 7 night cruise and a $3,000 prize, plus the smaller winners too! We only played a tiny bit in the casino, lost of course, but had fun!

We tendered at Cayman, docked at Key West and Cozemel. I posted a review of Nachi Cocom at Cozemel on there board, awesome place!!!!!! The Quest was so funny!!! Surely not to miss! Even after posting on the ships compass, adult only, and after Chris said it prior, I was surprised to see people come in with with their kids .

I did use the extension cord, brought the duct tape but didn't use it, but glad to have it just in case, I did use TSA locks on all my luggage and no problems at all, even brought our snorkel gear in a back pack and checked it on the plane! Be aware with the TSA 1 qt 3-1-1 ziplock bag rule, they are enforcing it!! Also, funny story, we still did not have one bag and it was 6:30pm Sunday, so our CS said to call the purser desk, we did and she said there was something suspicious in it, well we laughed because we didn't even have any liqour!! The 4 rum runner bags were in a bag we had gotten already but empty!! So we went down to deck 1 and there were about 200 bags plus, so he opened ours and rifled through and he thought my tanning lotion and hair spray were liqour, so we opened them and proved him wrong, gathered our bag laughing thinking we get busted and didn't even have anything!! So be warned they are really checking!!! Disembarkation was perfect also, we were ready prior to the 9:10am yellow tag calling, and we checked the deck and no one was there, they said sure grab your carry ons now if you'd like, we were off in no time back to real world

The weather was great, the waves cooperated and it was just a perfect trip! Not one complaint!!!

PS- The drinks of the day were great!!! Plus only $4.25!!! Also, if you want a chair by the pool, you have to be there by 9am, people saved chairs everywhere and there are signs that say please respect others and not to save more than 30 min. but sadly I saw many chairs with towels on them and literally no one ever showed up hours. I would put my book down and go grab something in the Windjammer or my DH would stay till I got back, but after an hour I think the pool attendees should remove the towels, so be advised on sea days if you want a chair poolside get out there by 8:30-9am, or you will be on the upper deck, which is nice too but not close to food or drink stations. But great breeze!! Have fun and if you have a question please ask!!!

We met some wonderful people and I'm sorry we didn't get to meet all the CCers here, I probably did run into you and said hi, everyone was so friendly there, my only disappointment was leaving this great ship!!!!

Lori Any questions????? I'd love to help out!!

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[bd6862]

Hi Lori!!! - that was not us in the love and marriage game. But yes that was me in the puprple witches hat with the pinata!!! That was a blast.

 

The noise was not the actual toilet flushing it was the vaccum system (after the flush) above our rooms carrying the waste that was the loud banging. After a long day of drinking and all you want is a quick power nap to get ready for the evening........it was awful!

 

I am so glad you posted your review as you guys didnt miss a thing!!! We tried to plan to go to some activitites but would meet up with people and frankly the casino kept our undivided attention in the evening.

 

We had a great time!!!

[Lake Erie Boaters]

Sounds like you had fun too! We only spent $40 at the casino! Were not gamblers at all! Did you go to the drink seminar and Quest?? That was fun! I heard that "Indygalandgirl" his wife was hit on her scooter she was driving in Cozemel, and broke her knees, I guess it was pretty bad from what I heard! I never met them either! I only met a few CCers. I am surprised more reviews aren't coming in!!! Great cruise!!!!! :D

[Natanni]

Hey! Did anyone have their kids in the 9-11 talent show? Our 10 year old daughter did :D We also did the comedians, pretty good. Hubby said the Magician was "so-so".

 

I WANT that garlic soup recipie. I posted on the CA board in search of the RCCL cookbook, but apparently it wasn't in there!!

 

We did the glass bottom boat in Caymen and it was outstanding! Hubby and our 15 year old son snorkel, but our daughter and myself don't, so it was a great way to check out all the scenes.

 

I was very happy with the wine package. Hubby and I also did the wine tasting thanks to our crown and anchor coupon book! That was alot of fun, enjoyed more than Princesses wine tasting in 2005.

[cruise.freak]

We had our locked checked make up bag put on "hold" until we came down. We don't drink but through the x-ray machine they saw our sunscreen bottles. When we got down there they had us unlock the luggage and they searched the bags. Also everytime we came back on the ship they would check our water bottles. If they were not sealed they would open them and smell them. They were checking everybodys bags when they got back on the ship.