Home from the Rhapsody

[lamwnfa]

We are just back from the Rhapsody of the Seas and we had a wonderful time! We left Galveston on Sunday, Oct 24 went to Key West, Costa Maya and Cozumel with lots of time at sea! So here are some of my observations and thoughts just off the top of my head:

 

The Good:

 

* Our cabin steward (Cecil) was great. Our room was taken care of quickly every morning and turned down every evening while we were at dinner. We had towel animals almost every night while not necessary, they are fun.

 

* Our wait staff was excellent. Edmund our waiter was great and catered to any request (i.e. putting that lobster tail on the plate with the prime rib even though they were separate entrees) Jan our assistant waiter was brand new...this was his first cruise. He floundered a bit the first night but hit a stride right away. By the end of the 7 days he was an "old pro". One night the waiter at the adjacent station was sick and Edmund had to take care of his tables along with ours. He worked really hard that night and did a great job.

 

* While the food may not be 5 star...it certainly is "more stars" then I can make at home. Some things were OK and some were delicious. The Rib eye we had on the 1st night was wonderful, the prime rib and lobster were delicious. Favorite desserts: Banana Crunchy Nut Parfait, Warm Chocolate Cake, Bananas Foster and the Flourless Chocolate cake (to die for if you are a chocolate lover). I don't do cherries but my traveling companions all loved it too.

 

 

 

* We were 4 ladies traveling together so we booked a Family Stateroom on Deck 4. We were pleasantly surprised at how large it was. We would definately consider doing a family room again with a group of 4.

 

* The weather was beautiful...mostly sunny and hot. We won't see that much sun for a LONG time here in Michigan.

 

* Whoever came up with the idea of putting the stateroom number on the life vest should get a gold star. It's so much easier then calling out each stateroom number individually and makes Muster much shorter.

 

* The ship is beautiful and I'm sure will shine even brighter when it is out of dry dock later next month.

 

* Captain Charles was out and about quite often...maybe I just missed the captains on the other ships but it seemed like I saw him more often on the Rhapsody.

 

The Not So Good:

 

* The plastic menus for breakfast and lunch in the Edelweiss seemed a bit tacky. While I missed lunch menus that changed every day there was a decent number of choices on the lunch menu...I didn't have to "repeat" anything.

 

* We thought the service during Open seating a breakfast and lunch was a bit lax compared with our other cruises. Maybe they are just more laid back or maybe they are all ready for the dry dock break. It certainly wasn't "bad" just not up to past experiences.

 

* We really like Trivia and Karaoke and there weren't very many opportunities. When we were on an NCL cruise they did what they called the Trivia Smackdown and it was a Trivia Competition...double elimination. It was a lot of fun and draw a big spectator crowd as well.

 

* We missed the lemonade and ice tea during the day rather then just at meal times.

 

* Costa Maya - I know some people love it there but to me it's just a "fake" port. I did the ruins tour on my last visit there so there wasn't much left to do this time.

 

As you can see, there wasn't anything really bad and these "not so goods" didn't effect the overall cruise...we still had a wonderful time.

 

The Odd:

 

* A huge majority of the passengers were from Texas and many on their first cruise, although we met a number of people who have been on the Rhapsody multiple times. The odd part was that when asked where we were from (Michigan) it seemed that they were all amazed at how far we had traveled to go on the cruise. I found it odd and yet funny because if you are from Michigan and you want to cruise (unless you do a Great Lakes cruise) you HAVE to travel to get to a port.

 

* Key West was in the middle of Fantasy Fest while we were there. Lots of drunk, naked people...it was really odd.

 

* The luggage. It's probably because 90% of the passengers drive to the port (at least according to Capt. Charles) but I've never seen so much luggage and such HUGE bags!

 

* The Solarium pool (which is the adult only pool) is a current pool. While I thought it was great for exercise, I saw many more then one little, "more mature" lady just about drown trying to get into the pool.

 

I completely missed the Meet and Mingle and I don't have any excuse...just completely forgot. Hope it was good. Guess that's it for now. Any questions?

 

Lori

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sophie]

I'm happy to hear you had a great time! I know how far you have to travel to go on a cruise from Michigan! We used to live there. I noticed you said you missed the iced tea and lemonade during the day. I thought it was available anytime in the windjammer and at meals in the dinning room. Just curious. I like both and was planning to drink quite a bit!

[lamwnfa]

At least on the Rhapsody lemonade and Ice Tea were available only at meal times. There was coffee, hot water (tea bags and hot chocolate) and ice water available outside the Windjammer all the time.

[sailor moon]

Thanks for the review. We will be back on the Rhapsody over Thanksgiving. Being from Texas, we are always amazed that people outside of Texas travel "all the way" to Galveston! It is not as well known as the Florida ports, but it has its own charm!

[Tybug]

Great review!! We love the Rhapsody and are looking forward to our upcoming January sailing.

 

 

One question, what 2 nights were formal? I know what they were a couple of weeks ago on the Mariner but I'd just like to see if they are the same.

 

Thanks!!

[lamwnfa]

Our two formal nights were the first full day (Monday on our cruise) and we were at sea all day. The second was the day we were at Costa Maya (Thursday). The second formal night was the Prime Rib and Lobster Tail and it was also the night of the Gala Buffet.

[TXSailor]

Hi Lori:

 

What was your favorite show? Mine was The Magic and Grand Illusions of LaRaf.

 

Did you all play jackpot bingo on Saturday? If so, what was the jackpot?

 

Can you tell us who the other entertainment was in the Broadway Melodies Theater, besides the Royal Caribbean shows? Did you go to the Viking Crown Lounge on any of the nights? Was the reggae band "Courage" still playing at poolside everyday?

 

Glad to hear you all had a good time.

 

Fausto

[BarbaraD]

Hi Lori

I too just got off the Rhapsody, that sailed Oct 24. It was me, sister and 10 yr old niece. We had a wonderful time. I didn't care that much for costa maya, but we did go to mahahual beach there and had a wonderful massage on the beach for $20 for 30 min, it was great.

I will be cruising on the Rhapsody again, to go to Cayman, I sure hated to miss it, but will hopefully catch it on the next cruise

[starq1]

Did either of you hear what they plan to do when the Rhapsody will be in dry dock? I sail on her in Jan. and have been quite curious as to what she will have done.

[lamwnfa]

Fausto,

 

None of the entertainment really wowed us. There were a couple of comedians (one of them was Ralph Harris, I don't remember the other one's name), LaRaf, the guy who wrote the theme song from Happy Days...he does musical impressions. We saw him on the Legend so we skipped that show. The farewell show was with juggler Dario Vasquez.

 

The singers in the lounges were just OK nothing super exciting. The Caribbean band...I think the name was Courage...was the best of the acts. We didn't care the the husband and wife who played the guitar and the violin. They played every night during dinner and quite often in the Centrum.

 

The jackpot for Bingo was just a little over $7800. Three women got bingo at the same time and split the pot.

 

Didn't hit the Viking Crown at night and the only evening I heard about was the 70's night. Heard it was wall to wall people for the "Village People" but then cleared out quickly.

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Barbara,

 

I wonder if we had lunch together one day. I think I remember talking with someone who was traveling with her niece and sister. Did you do lunch in the Edelweiss? I had been to Costa Maya before so I knew what to expect, I'm just not impressed. I was looking forward to Grand Cayman since I haven't been there yet. Cruising even to Costa Maya is better then not cruising at all though!

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Starq1,

 

I believe they are adding a coffee bar and maybe a speciality resturant and changing some of the carpet. Our waiter said he was staying on the ship during dry dock and that they will work hard doing the "deep" cleaning that they usually don't have the time to do. They'll do all the work on the hull and equipment (propellers, etc) that is usually under the water line when the ship is afloat. They'll be in dry dock for 9 days in Mobile, Alabama. No airconditioning, no power to the elevators and lots of sweat according to our waiter who has stayed through dry dock before.

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Lori

[reggierail]

Did either of you hear what they plan to do when the Rhapsody will be in dry dock? I sail on her in Jan. and have been quite curious as to what she will have done.

I sailed 10-17 and was told that the cabins will be refurbed and Seattle's Best Coffee and Ben & Jerry's will be added.

 

Reggie:D

[BarbaraD]

Lori

No we never did lunch in the Edlewiss. I won a good amount on the last night in the casino on the wheel of fortune slot machine, so I was very excited. Can't wait to go again

[GottaLuvCruising]

Thanks for the review! Did you book your air through Royal Caribbean? Were there transfers from the airport? I appreciate your assistance!

[lamwnfa]

Thanks for the review! Did you book your air through Royal Caribbean? Were there transfers from the airport? I appreciate your assistance!

We did our own air as we enough Frequent Flier miles to get our tickets. If you do book air through Royal Caribbean, I believe that the transfers are included. You can purchase transfers if you book our own air, there are a number of independent shuttle and car services. Since we had a group of 4 it was cheaper and easier to rent a car. We had a pre-cruise day in Galveston (IMHO always a good idea if you are booking your own air) so the car was helpful for sightseeing too. Hertz rents one way from Houston to Galveston. They will shuttle you to/from the port too. It worked great for us.

 

Lori