Rhapsody Review 6/17/07

[tkportersat]

We went 6/17 on the Rhapsody out of Galveston. We had 6 family members with us. 2 teens, 4 adults.

This was my mom (55) and my (35) 8th

Dad’s (56) 6th

Grandma’s (78) 2nd

Teens (15/13) 4th

We stayed at the Super 8 in La Marque (about 10 minutes before Galveston off I-45) the Saturday before. Not the most luxurious hotel, but $60 a night compared to $199 a night in Galveston it was worth it. We had dinner across the street at a place called Acapulco, very very good Mexican food and Margaritas and great prices. It was a nice area and we felt very secure staying there. We got to EZ cruise parking at about 11:00 and were eating in the Windjammer by 12:15. Checking in was so quick, we didn’t experience a single line!! Had our luggage by 2:30 and had everything unpacked before muster.

SHIP: The Rhapsody is still in great shape and we are going to miss it when it leaves Texas L As usual people are working hard all the time cleaning and painting the ship. I still dislike the set up in the Windjammer, people crossing and running into you constantly. Way too much of a maze going on in that area……the food was pretty good here (we ate most of our breakfast and lunches here and one dinner). I still prefer Carnival’s food over RC, but that is just my personal opinion. I am sure there are others that feel differently (like my mom). It was of course better than me having to prepare it and clean up after it, so my comment is more of a statement than a complaint. Definitely have to try an omelet, very tasty and made to order.

ROOM: We had a cabin on deck 4, Ocean view, 2nd room from the atrium (room 4074). Very good location I might add and we pretty much took the stairs to get everywhere. I especially liked how close our room was to the dining room, way too convenient! Very quiet room as well, I guess RC anticipated the noise that comes from the atrium and have a door on that hallway. Never heard a peep (although I was up every night until 2-3am so maybe I missed all the noise). I did take a few naps after port stops though and slept like a baby. Room was spacious until about day 4, then being in a room with a 15 and 13 year old started to become a bit claustrophobic for me. Lemur took great care of our room and I was amazed how he was able to clean around all the wet clothes hanging off poles, light fixtures, doors, etc. Very nice towel animals every night and I LOVED the new bedding. Ugh, if I wasn’t having so much fun I might have stayed in the bed all day.

 

ROOM SERVICE: We used this service the first 3 mornings and it was very prompt. Great for a wake up call and on the port days when you have an early excursion (like we did). Always tipped 2-3 bucks for the service. Couple of times the order was off, but nothing major. We did a lot of write ins and they were great about changing things. For instant my daughter wanted the fruit plate, but only strawberries – they did great with this request. Food was always good and we were happy with it. We got our lazy butts out of the room for the rest of the week and went to the Windjammer for breakfast.

DINING ROOM: We had 6 out of 7 dinners in the dining room. No breakfast or lunch. Our waiters were Johan and Esmael. Table 160. For the most part the food was good, nothing that I recall that really stuck in my mind as excellent. I had a great steak one night and the next night it was a little chewy. I am not a big complainer, so I didn’t send anything back as I really hate to waste food. I did enjoy the flourless chocolate cake and the tiramisu, but would have liked more chocolate choices throughout the week. Chicken Marsala was pretty good and they have great bread and caesar salad. My mom was waiting for Banana’s Foster all week and that never came……Overall the food was good and again having people take care of you is the big highlight. Oh, and the guys that played the guitar and violin were so great – we just loved them and sitting straight across from them was very nice. Very talented performers.

 

SHOWS: For the first time in 8 cruises I did not attend a single show. I just didn’t feel like sticking to schedules much this time and since I was with more family then usual, I spent the extra time on their balcony and in the casino at night. You should definitely attend the QUEST (adult scavenger hunt) which is a blast. If you are not sure about it, at least go and be a spectator. It is all kept in one room, so not a true scavenger hunt. I have a medal to show for it as we came in first place (technically) but had two crew members on our team so we didn’t get recognized as the true winners in front of everyone.

MEET & MINGLE: Very nice treat by Royal Caribbean with hors deuvres and door prizes. So nice to put faces to screen names and meet everyone. We had a pretty good turn out and I hung out with a few of the people throughout the rest of the week.

CASINO: Did okay here, won some and lost some but basically broke even. Very nice crew in the casino that were quite helpful if you had any questions about the tables. Johannes even tried to explain Craps to me and I made $80 bucks. Thursday was a non smoking night which I really enjoyed, but my parents hated.

PORTS OF CALL:

 

COZUMEL: You can just always count on Cozumel being fun! We did the Catamaran sail, snorkel and beach break. You are on the boat in route to the snorkeling area, snorkel for about 45 minutes and then to a beach for about an hour. On the way back they play all kinds of fun music and I danced with the crew and had a blast!!! This might be a good time to mention the open bar J There are also bathrooms on board and shaded areas as well. You don’t have to snorkel if you don’t want to. Food is not included but you can buy burgers and hot dogs while at the beach. The best thing about this excursion is that it has limited space and not crowded at all. I highly recommend it.

ROATAN: So beautiful here, but HOTTTTTTTTT. Make sure you get some bottled water. We did the Pirates, Birds and Monkeys at Gumbalimba Park. Short air conditioned bus ride to the Park. There is a lot of walking on this tour and while my chipper 78yr old grandma kept up, it might not be good for anyone with health issues. She was a trooper though and even crossed the rope bridge. The birds are beautiful and the monkeys were so much fun. There are only two monkeys though, so don’t think you are going to have a swarms of monkeys around you. One tried to pick my pocket, unzip my bag and then tried to undo my dad’s water bottle. He also seemed to enjoy chewing on my grandma’s hair and after he went through all of us he jumped on a 13 yr old and peed all over him. Glad it wasn’t me J Very cute though and you will be warned to hide wallets, glasses and jewelry – the will take it and run off. Beach was nice enough, but you will be bombarded by kids trying to sell you necklaces and bracelets. I went ahead and bought one for $5 and they left me alone after that. Only food available here is hamburgers and hotdogs at $4.50 each. Plenty of drinks available though. If you don’t like to be hassled you might want to skip the shopping area at the port area, the people are very pushy. We really just wanted shirts so we made our purchases quickly and got back to the ship. Great deal on shirts, most were only $5 and coconut bracelets $1.

COSTA MAYA: This was the most pleasant surprise of the trip, this island is wonderful. We went to the area at the end of the pier and booked a trip to Tequila Beach for the day. It was $35pp for all the drinks you can drink (alcohol and regular) and chips/salsa/guacamole, one entrée, kayaks, beach chairs all included in the price. If you mention cruise critic they will drop it to $30pp. Very nice/clean beach with showers, bathrooms, shopping, massages, and beautiful teal water. We really enjoyed our time here and I can’t wait to go back someday. I wish on the 4/5 cruises I take with Carnival that they would replace Progreso with this stop. But I digress…….

PROGRESSO: Been here before and was not impressed…..so, we decided to stay on the boat and hang by the pool all day. Besides that we were exhausted!! So nice and relaxing to have the ship all to ourselves. The pool and hot tubs were all ours as was the waiter (Marlon) who took very good care of us.

 

KID'S PROGRAM: This was great, my kids had a wonderful time with the activities and meeting new people. I hardly saw my teenagers all week…..they have been talking to many of the people they met on the phone all week since we left. They both agreed it was a great program and very much enjoyed the crew that ran it.

ROCK WALL: I climbed the rock wall and I made it to the top (sorry I had to brag). My arms are still sore by the way.

DISEMBARKATION: This was the smoothest ever. We were off the ship and through customs in less than 20 minutes. Probably helped that my parents were in a Junior Suite and I was able to leave with them.

 

OVERALL: I would definitely rate the trip an A!! It was a great week with wonderful weather, friendly crew, family that I love, good food and new friends. I can’t wait to go on the Voyager in March J Happy cruising everyone!!

[wolfganghowell]

Thanks so much - we are doing the same itinerary in 2 months and are so ready! Great info - one question - were the heated jets working in the solarium pool?

 

I'm also guessing that Monday and Thursday are the formal nights - like they usually are.

[kittymom65]

Thanks for posting the review, glad you enjoyed your cruise!

[sajeffc]

I got our cruise docs and I did on line check in yesterday for Rhapsody departing July 22nd. We are really getting antsy and ready to go. Loved the good report, although we are going to MoBay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel....

[tkportersat]

I never got in the Solarium pool :( But the hot tubs were working good in there, nice and hot! Yes, you are correct on the formal nights.

 

Thanks so much - we are doing the same itinerary in 2 months and are so ready! Great info - one question - were the heated jets working in the solarium pool?

 

I'm also guessing that Monday and Thursday are the formal nights - like they usually are.