Rhapsody of the Seas Review - 9/5/08

[vickiw0318]

Just posted this to the Member Review Section. I wrote longer than I thought I would, but here's all of it. Hopefully, this will help someone planning for the next season. I don't think you all will be going to Prince Rupert, but the rest of the itinerary will the same.

 

Background: This was my third trip to Alaska having previously cruised on the Celebrity Galaxy in 1990 and the Vision of the Seas in 2006. This was my fourth cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas having sailed on her out of Galveston in 2004, 2005 and 2007. On both previous cruises, I had been to both Juneau and Skagway. Cruising the Sawyer Glacier and going to Prince Rupert on this one were new to me. Both of my prior cruises took place late May/early June so the September time frame was a new one.

 

Pre-Cruise: DH and I flew into Seattle the day before the cruise. We booked a room at the Westin through RCI for the convenience and the double BOA Visa points. We had no wait for a bus at the airport and got to the Westin before noon. I was sure we’d have to wait to check in, but they had a room ready for us. The room was very nice and we would definitely stay at this hotel again. After a brief rest (we’d gotten up early to make our flight), we enjoyed walking through the Nordstrom’s flagship store and our walk over to the Pike Place Market. We really enjoyed the market - loved the flowers, the free samples, the flying fish, the entertainers, etc. and bought all sort of goodies. Had a nice late lunch/dinner combination overlooking the water. It was early to bed for us. The next day we had a big breakfast at the hotel and once again walked to the market and found even more goodies. The bus picked us up around noon to take us to the pier. The bus wouldn’t start and after a small wait to have some one come jump start it, we were off.

 

Check-in: Painless, absolutely painless. There was one other couple ahead of us in the Platinum/Diamond line. The lines for the x-ray machine and the seapass card pictures went quickly as well. We had a five minute wait before the doors to the cabin areas opened.

 

Cabin(We were in 8088): I was happy to be able to show DH our wonderful corner wraparound balcony. (I’d had the one below when I cruised with my daughter in 2007.) We had two loungers, a small table and two chairs. The view was great even from the beds because there was no side wall blocking the view. The cabin was in very good shape. I liked having both the couch and comfy chairs with ottomans so I could vary my views when sitting inside. (The weather was not always conducive to being outside.) There was a newer TV (but not a flat screen) and the refrigerator/cooler actually cooled. I love having a tub, so I really enjoyed the larger bathroom. My only complaint was that the water wasn’t always hot. I’d put this down to the fact that I was taking baths/showers at the same time most other people were getting ready for dinner, but Sailaway Jack (who had the same cabin the week after we did) mentioned the same thing. Our steward, Benny, took good care of us.

 

Ship Condition: The Rhapsody seemed very much the same to me. I don’t go looking for frayed chairs, etc. and none leaped out at me.

 

Dining: It seemed to me that the food in the Windjammer was not up to previous standards. I noticed this from day one when I served up my honey stung chicken. Its consistency was not the same. I’ve thought carefully since the cruise and can’t really put my finger on the difference. It just seemed as though there were fewer veggie choices and more stew like entrees. I will say my morning omelets were very good. As to the dining room, the special Alaska dinner the last night was wonderful. My fish was terrific. All the other evenings were good/all right. (I miss the Tuscan tomato soup. The tortilla soup just isn’t as good.) Our table was right next to the Captain’s table in the center section on the fourth floor. We all joked that even if we weren’t invited to sit with him that they knew we’d be an excellent choice to surround him and his companions. One note in general: it seems like all the waiters are almost trying too hard lately, or al least it’s been that way on our past several cruises. Relax, guys and girls.

 

Shows: I only went to two. It seems as though we always miss the combined seating show on the first night because the first seating dinner runs too long (everyone taking time to find their tables, getting situated, learning the routine, etc.) I sure wish RCI would go back to having two shows on Day One. I enjoyed Bowzer and it seemed like his show had more energy than it did the last time I saw him in 2005. DH went a little under the weather, so I skipped the Production Shows (had seen two of the three before) and the Gauchos because I seen them before too just to be with him. It was interesting that there were three production shows this time vs. the two we’ve usually had. Is this another RCI cutback? I’m not a big production show fan so I really look forward to the different acts. I did like the dancing/magic act the last night. I noticed a sign though that I’ve been on several cruises because the whole farewell stuff - farewell songs, Top 10 jokes, etc. have gotten old.

 

Gym: Used this a couple of times. Should have been more! Everything fine there. Only cheated once on the use the stairs all the time cruise exercise program.

 

Shore Excursions: Very good, not as good, somewhat ugly.

 

Very Good: The Rainforest walk in Prince Rupert. I hesitated on going on this because it had poured all morning. Even when I left all dressed up in my rain suit to meet up with the group, I wasn’t sure if I was going or telling them that I wasn’t going. (By the way, two sets of people who didn’t go, didn’t relay a message of any type and we all waited for them for quite a while.) I am so glad I went. The rain had let up. The walk was beautiful, the Butze River rapids awesome, and the homemade granola bars that one of the guide’s girlfriend made were wonderful. (You can buy these as Cowpaccino in Prince Rupert.) The two young men who were our guides were quite knowledgeable and very personable. (I liked the stop in Prince Rupert. It was nice seeing something fresh.)

 

Very Good: Boats, Bridges and Billionaires in Seattle. We had a late flight, so we took this tour that included a bus ride through downtown Seattle and quite a bit of time out on Lakes Union and Lake Washington. The boat ride portion was through Argosy Tours. It was a beautiful day, we had good guides on both the bus and the boat, and saw some beautiful homes, a strange helicopter landing pad boat that Paul Allen had built, bridges, scenery and more. I would do this again.

 

 

Very Good: White Pass and Yukon train in Skagway. I had done this before, but DH had not. The scenery and the ride are outstanding.

 

Good: Liarsville Gold Panning, Show and Salmon Bake in Skagway. Ended up going by myself since DH was sick, so maybe that took some of the luster off. The show was cute, the salmon good (the sides not so much) and the gold panning fun.

 

Somewhat Ugly: Mendenhall Glacier Float Trip. This was uglier for DH than for me and I have to say it was downright ugly for him. It was a typical day in Juneau, so that means rainy and cool/cold. We got to the put-in site and changed into even more rain gear including boots than we already had on. We were told to put our shoes in a tub that would taken back to the place that the tour ended, but there was nothing really to cover the shoes. Mine were very wet when I put them back on and I was more than ready for dry footwear. I have been on two whitewater rafting trips before and have been down the Guadalupe River in Texas numerous times. So, when the head guide asked who wanted to paddle and who did not, I wasn’t sure what she was getting at. I said that I would prefer not to - not much upper body strength, but would if she couldn’t find enough people. I think I thought she was looking for people to sit on the outsides of the rafts. Turns out, there were two boatloads of people who didn’t want to paddle that were rowed across the lake and down the river by one poor soul with one set of paddles. (No extras in the raft.) We were shown to raft #7 and noticed immediately that it was already full of water. We asked the guide and he said all was fine. After crowding 10 adults in the raft, we took off. Or rather, the poor guide strained as he rowed us across the lake. There were too many people assigned to the raft. Poor DH ended up being the last one to sit in his row and he didn’t have enough room on the seat. I had room up front and should have switched with him, but couldn’t figure out how to accomplish this since there wasn’t room to side step during the process. He ended up numb from trying to hold on and into the raft.

 

Then, remember the water in the boat? One poor woman was given shorter boots and her feet were immediately submerged. (She was numb by the end too.) By the end of the trip, all our feet were. The boat took on more water as it went through the rapids and since it was already overloaded, got stuck in a major way. If we’d had more paddles, we could have done some pushing off, but instead our guide braced himself against the rocks to push us off. He lost his shoes in the river and almost fell in himself (I pulled him back into the boat twice). It took 30-45 minutes for another raft to kinda tow us out of there. Finally, our guide told the head guide he couldn’t row the raft any more because he had so many pounds of extra water and she yelled at him that there was nothing he could do then because there was no place to take out.

 

It was a mess. Too many people, bad equipment, lots of water and a poorly trained (but nice) guide. The river and lake were beautiful. I had the space to look at them. Poor DH!

 

Sawyer Glacier Cruising: Amazing views. Loved sailing through the fjord. Can I go back tomorrow?

 

Casino: Slots were nice to me the first couple of nights to sucker me in. Then, they ran true to form.

 

Bars/Nightlife: I was only out one night and enjoyed the Karaoke/Idol type competition in the Shall We Dance Lounge. Stopped by to see Derek Lewis on the way and saw that the crowd was enjoying his Adult Daycare as usual.

 

Shopping: No shopping for us in Juneau. We were too wet. We did enjoy going up and down the main drag in Skagway. I bought some fudge. DD called while we at sea on Saturday to say that her tires were bald and she couldn’t pass the state inspection. I bought her four new tires instead of jewelry for me in Skagway.

 

Meet and Mingle: Very well run. DH won the mouse!

 

General Comments: I was disappointed that we didn’t spend more time near the coastline. On the Celebrity cruise, we stayed in the Inside Passage the whole time. On the Vision cruise, only the first day - from Seattle to Juneau - was spent out at sea. On this one, it seemed we headed out to open water a lot. I missed the continuous view of the coastline. This was a cruise with an older demographic, but then it was Alaska - not as family oriented as a Caribbean cruise and school had already started. I think I’d had better weather on my earlier in the season trips, but then again, we kept hearing that this was the rainiest season in a long time. I loved getting to meet txchelle and Karshrimp. We’d been online together for so many months. The crew was very friendly and very helpful. All in all a good cruise, but not the best ever.

[didiaust]

Thanks Vicki. I am getting excited- first cruise on any RCCL on Nov 1 on Rhapsody from Sydney - have always cruised on much smaller ships.

[StevenW]

Yes, thanks Vicki. I'm sailing on Rhapsody out of Sydney on Oct19, and am reading everything I can about the ship. Thanks again for a great read.