Just home from Rhapsody's first Alaska cruise this season. Ask away!!

[wrp96]

Hi, we leave on 6/26/09 on the Rhapsody - it does leave on Pier 91, right? We have arranged for a limo to get us to the pier from the airport as our flight arrives @12:50pm. Called RCCL when I learned that we should be on board no later than 2:30pm and told that we should be just fine as we are only 20 min. later than the last transfer and we might even beat them to the pier.

Yes, Rhapsody sails from Pier 91. When you get your luggage grab it fast and head out to ground transportation. Hopefully your bags will come as fast as mine did last year (5 minutes) and not my best friend's (30 minutes).

 

Question - is hot chocolate available? If so, is it free? packets? sugar-free?

 

Yes, hot chocolates is available in packets at the drink stations.

[engineer24]

Duh I meant pre cruise hotel. I guess I am excited. Has anyone used a good downtown pre cruise hotel?

[wrp96]

Duh I meant pre cruise hotel. I guess I am excited. Has anyone used a good downtown pre cruise hotel?

 

 

I stayed at both the Marriott Waterfront and the Seattle Sheraton, both were nice hotels. The Marriott was extremely convenient for exploring the waterfront and Pike Place, but the Sheraton was great for access to downtown as well. Typically the Sheraton is less expensive.

[constantcruiser]

What was the weather like in early May? Considering the first cruise of the season next year.

[denamo]

If anyone is traveling with us please come to our thread at.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=19632430#post19632430

 

The prices on this cruise are great and the Rhapsody is fantastic. Come join us.

 

 

PudgiPoo

We're having the same situtation as your roll call. We still don't have the number necessary for a M&M.

 

Any other cruisers going to Alaska on June 12 on the Rhapsody? Join our June 12 Meet and Mingle sign up over at the Roll Call board! Our Meet and Mingle is lacking only 3 more to become official!

 

We love the Rhapsody. It was the first ship we ever cruised, so come join us for the June 12 sailing.

[mscg2000]

constantcruiser,

 

The weather was excellent on our May 8th Alaska cruise. I really expected it to be colder. In Juneau, it was warm enough that we were walking around in just a long sleeved heavy shirt and jeans. The coolest port was Skagway because it was the only place we docked that did not have sunny skies all day. I'd say the temps in the ports were about 58-60. I did need to bundle up to sit on the balcony while the ship was moving, however. So, you'd need either a heavy jacket or a couple of extra blankets to stay on the balcony for very long.

[LuckiePuris]

Hi Mscg2000,

 

Thank you for an informative review. I have a few questions if its ok?

 

Do you know what time generally the early and late dinner sittings are? Are there 2x shows each night to allow for this? If so, what times generally were the two shows and how long did they go for?

 

Is there a 24 hour buffet available at night?

 

What are the inclusions available at the Solarium? Are they free?

 

Would you have an online photo album of your cruise? If so, would love to see the ship!

 

Thank you for your help, hope you had a fantastic cruise! :)

[estebofarr]

How casual was the dining room? This will be my 3rd time to Alaska, first on RCI and each time they relaxed the dress code, considerably. Can we expect that here, too?

[JudeeJim]

If anyone is traveling with us please come to our thread at.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=19632430#post19632430

We still don't have the number necessary for a M&M. The prices on this cruise are great and the Rhapsody is fantastic. Come join us.

I second the request of Pudgi Poo and encourage those sailing on The Rhapsody of the Seas on July 10 to sign up for the Meet and Mingle. Nothing like a nice party as we embark on an exciting cruise to Alaska. Even nicer is getting to know others sailing with us.:)

 

Judee

[mscg2000]

Luckipuris,

 

The early dinner seating is at 6:00. Except for the first night, there are 2 shows each night: the first show, at 7:00 is for those eating at the late seating. They go to the show before dinner. The second how is at 9:00 and this is for those eating at the early seating. All the shows lasted exactly 1 hour. The first night there was only one show, at 7:30, for both seatings. On our cruise, it was the show I liked the best, a ventriloquist. He is really entertaining. Another word about the theater: it gets very crowded on some nights (at least for the 9:00 show, which is when we attended). You need to arrive 20 minutes early to get a decent seat, except for the first night which was less crowded.

 

There isn't a 24-hour buffet (or even a midnight buffet), and I'm not sure how late food is available but you can order from room service any time (although there is a small charge for very late night orders).The Solarium was open differing hours depending on the day and whether or not we were at sea or in a port. On sea days I think it opened at 11:00, but on other days it wasn't open until 4:30. Their schedule for the week is posted right next to their grill. By the way, the hamburgers aren't too good....but hot dogs are ok. There is a soft ice cream machine (self serve) there also. Everything at the the Solarium is included in your cruise.

 

I don't have pictures of the ship, but I'll answer any other questions yoiu may have!

[mscg2000]

estebofarr,

 

The dress code was more relaxed than last summer when we traveled on Celebrity, but I saw no t-shirts and jeans at dinner except for the first night. Casual and smart casual dress seemed to result in the same type of clothing: pants that aren't blue jeans and a nice top. On formal night I saw fewer people in gowns and tuxes. Most men wore a jacket and tie (not necessarily a suit), women wore a dress or nice pants outfit, not super fancy but a bit dressy.

 

As for us, we both hate getting dressed up on vacation so on the first formal night we ate in the WJ (our worst meal in the WJ, by the way)and on the second we ordered our meal via room service. They allowed us to order anything from the MDR menu for room service, although we were initally told that the entire menu was not available to be delivered. We called back at dinner time and ordered everything with no problem. FYI... the lobster tails were lousy!

[mscg2000]

I've read a couple of posts from those of you trying to get others to sign up for the M&M. If you're thinking about signing up, it's really worth it. We each received a lanyard/ID holder/note pad, and they served very nice cold hors d"oeuvres (shrimp toast, etc). There was raffle for a computer mouse. I'm not too social when it comes to talking with people I don't know, but I truly enjoyed it.

[teri2lyn]

I want to know about wine tasting I have read about on othrt posts is it available on this ship and if it is how much is the cost also is the cabins equiped with coffee makers and what kind are they?Do they check all your bags for carry on wine?

[engineer24]

We are going on the August 7 Rhapsody cruise. I have a post on the meet and mingle but no one answered yet. We have had so much fun meeting people on past cruises. Any suggestions for exursions at our stops. We are soooo excited and can hardly wait.

[ByeBye1]

 

Question - is hot chocolate available? If so, is it free? packets? sugar-free?

 

There is only sugared hot chocolate none that is sugar free. It is included in your cruise fare at no additional charge. The beverage stations are outside of the windjammer cafe and have teas and coffee too.

[mscg2000]

teri2lyn,

 

I attended the wine tasting on Rhapsody. They offered three white and three red wines. I am a platinum member of C&A, so my coupon booklet included a free coupon for the tasting. It was very nice, included cheese, fruit and crackers to cleanse the palate and a waiter who discussed the wines and answered question. I'm not positive about the price if you have to actually pay for it, but I think it's about $15.

 

We stayed in a JS and their was a hot pot type of coffee maker. It's nothing fancy, that's for sure. I didn't use it. They included coffee (I think Seattle

s best), liquid creamer and tea.

[mscg2000]

For those who don't approve....just close your eyes and don't read this reply to a question! We used 4 rum runners that were placed in our 2 checked bags. We put them in shoes and they were not detected. But, remember that our cruise departed from Vancouver, not Seattle (a repositioning cruise). It seems that detection depends on the time of year (spring break times they really search) and port.

 

To the poster who asked, I don't recall what the drink of the day was because I never ordered one. The drink of the day is significantly less expensive than comparable cocktails, but when I'm not having a drink in my cabin I stick to my favorite in the bars (malibu and diet coke)! I wish they would post the ingredients on the Compass so you'd have an idea what was in it.

[LuckiePuris]

Luckipuris,

 

The early dinner seating is at 6:00. Except for the first night, there are 2 shows each night: the first show, at 7:00 is for those eating at the late seating. They go to the show before dinner. The second how is at 9:00 and this is for those eating at the early seating. All the shows lasted exactly 1 hour. The first night there was only one show, at 7:30, for both seatings. On our cruise, it was the show I liked the best, a ventriloquist. He is really entertaining. Another word about the theater: it gets very crowded on some nights (at least for the 9:00 show, which is when we attended). You need to arrive 20 minutes early to get a decent seat, except for the first night which was less crowded.

 

There isn't a 24-hour buffet (or even a midnight buffet), and I'm not sure how late food is available but you can order from room service any time (although there is a small charge for very late night orders).The Solarium was open differing hours depending on the day and whether or not we were at sea or in a port. On sea days I think it opened at 11:00, but on other days it wasn't open until 4:30. Their schedule for the week is posted right next to their grill. By the way, the hamburgers aren't too good....but hot dogs are ok. There is a soft ice cream machine (self serve) there also. Everything at the the Solarium is included in your cruise.

 

I don't have pictures of the ship, but I'll answer any other questions yoiu may have!

 

 

Thanks Mscg2000 for your helpful answers!

 

Glad to hear that there is a show time for both the early and late dinner sittings.

 

Not that you could ever go hungry on a cruise, but like to know all the food options!

 

Your review sounded like you had a great cruise. Will keep an eye out for the ventriloquist show!

 

Thanks again for your help, Luckie Puris :)

[clearwater10]

We cruise with our 2 daughters 16,13 on the Rhapsody next May 14th.

 

How was the quality of the Food?

 

How was the Teen Programs? Or Were there kids on board?

 

Did you enjoy the entertainment?

 

Did you do Shore Excursions? Which ones do you recomend for Juneau and Skagway.

 

Since we live in Victoria we will stay on the ship and do Spa day. What if any treatments did you do and recomend?

 

 

my sister and i are about be book this cruise as well. what a coincidence. have lots of questions too.

[clearwater10]

ok, i have been on rccl 6 times and i am a avid cruiser this will be my first alaska cruise. i am use to the caribean and on sea days i layout at the pool most of the day as this is what i enjoyed. a couple of cruises the weather was bad and had to stay in. i was a little bored. i am concerned about the sea days on this boat and being bored. i don't do art i like the casino but not all day. do they offer more to do on sea days in alaska compared to a caribean cruise. do you have a compass for sea day that you can share

[mscg2000]

Hi clearwater10,

 

I was never bored on the sea days. Some people did sit out by the pool, as it was sunny most of our cruise. Usually they were just wearing their regular clothing, because it was too cool for a swimsuit (unless you keep jumping in the hot tubs.) Many people used the hot tubs, but they never seemed overcrowded.

 

Yes, there are more activities on sea days. I didn't keep my Compasses, but what I can recall were: cake decorating demonstration and instruction, wine tasting, napkin folding, towel folding (how to make the little animals the room stewards make each evening), destination lectures (about different aspects and areas of Alaska), the art auctions ( I sometimes went just to watch people buy what I consider to be bad art at high prices!), champagne offerings at the shops (mid afternoon, used as a way to get you to look at the jewelry), bingo, spa specials (although these were mostly offered on port days), bean bag toss game, meet the crew (an informal get together with some crew members to answer questions, etc), exercise (our captain sponsored a charity 1 mile walk in the mornings), casino tournaments, crafts (mostly scrapbooking), digital camera instruction (pretty good), accupuncture lecture, port shopping presentation (on the first sea day, info about shops, but mostly an effort to get you to purchase a coupon book), solo cruisers get together, table tennis tournament, and of course...EATING!

 

But, remember that one of the best parts of an Alaskan cruise is the amazing scenery. The sea days are mostly in open water so there's not much landscape to see, but you can watch for whales. We saw several on both sea days. I spent hours just watching the shore on the days when it was visible. It's just so incredibly beautiful. This was our fourth Alaskan cruise and I never tire of watching the beauty go by.

[NovemberJoseph]

The shuttles and buses are lined up in a long line perpendicular to the circle area. You walk down the line, and again, there are many helpful employees to direct you. After all my worrying about Pier 91, it was probably the easiest disembarkation I've ever had! The traffic to the airport was moderate, nothing super heavy (but then, I'm comparing it to Miami, where it can truly be a disaster!). We disembarked at about 9:00 am and we were inside the airport by 9:45. We used Shuttle Express for our transportation to the airport, and they were right there when we disembarked and the bus departed for the airport about 3 minutes after we boarded. It was about 3/4 full. excellent. We were so early, we flew stand by on an earlier flight!!

 

Is the Shuttle Express free or is there a fee?

 

Joseph

[mscg2000]

NovemberJoseph,

We paid $32 for the two of us. You can pay in advance or just pay the driver. But, you do need to make a reservation.

[ByeBye1]

(our captain sponsored a charity 1 mile walk in the mornings), !

.

 

I'm glad you brought that up. I was really shocked that they had the usual walk a mile but with a new twist. Instead of vitality token WE had to pay $10 to go to the captains charity. I wonder how most folks would feel about that, I think I'll ask on a new thread.

[mscg2000]

This was the first cruise I've been on where there was a charity involved in the "walk a mile". I didn't do the walk, but I'd like to know what charity is involved. I think it's a great way of getting exercise, mingling with the captain, and donating to charity. It's pretty easy to forget about those in need while we're relaxing, eating, etc. In the scheme of things, $10 isn't much to those of us fortunate enough to be able to go on cruises.