My first RCCL cruise 6/17--Rhapsody of the Seas Review

We went 6/17 on the Rhapsody out of Galveston. We had 11 family members with us. 5 kids, 6 adults.

We stayed at the Hilton Saturday night. I did not care for the A/C in the room it was extremely loud and made it hard to sleep. (they are window units) We ate at Landry's Seafood next to the Rainforest and it was very good food!! Sunday we caught a 11:00 shuttle to the pier. This was the fastest and most organized check in ever. We were on the boat eating by noon! It was as though we had the ship to ourselves.

SHIP: From the moment we boarded we were in awe. The Rhapsody is a beautiful ship. The atrium is stunning. We liked all the seating area's and the waterfall. We were able to tour the entire ship before our room's opened.

ROOM: We had a cabin on deck 8. Very close to everything. However, we did hear quite a bit of noise from deck chairs, music, and stomping/walking on our ceiling. If you are a light sleeper I might not stay on this deck. The room itself was a larger inside cabin and we had a connecting one for the kids. This was wonderful! It only cost a little more than a cabin for 4. There are no fridge's in the regular rooms, only suites, but we always had ice. Our attendant was Dean Henry, the most amazing man. Super friendly and Always around when you needed him! We never went w/o clean towels or ice or towel animals.

ROOM SERVICE: I felt the room service menu was lacking. We have been on other ships and it seemed to have much less available, so we only used it twice. Once it took over an hour to get our food and the next time just 15 minutes. Each time the food was good (burger/salad). We paid $2 for tip each time, too.

DINING ROOM: We ate 3 breakfasts , 1 lunch and all the dinners in the dining room. Our servers were Fidel and Roman with our head waiter being Rosario. They were perfect! I could have taken Roman home with me, he was so sweet and cute!! They always greeted us with smiles and even with 5 kids in tow they were excited to see us each night. As for the quality of the food, I have to say most meals were just a little above average. They always offered a fish, pasta, beef, chicken and vegetarian entree each evening. The steaks were good if you order your's medium or less done, the med-well and well were always thinner pieces of meat and dried out. I was disappointed in the fact that this ship did not offer Chateaubriand for one of the formal nights as another line does, but the filet was tasty too. We did have lobster and shrimp, though, and it was very yummy. The desserts were good, but they offer banana creme brulee which was not expected either. So overall I thought the food was good, but not as good as I was hoping for.

SHOWS: This is where I was the most disappointed. The comedians were funny but we had young kids (7 - 14) with us and they started getting raunchy. We had to walk out on both nights. The only act that really was spectacular was the Happy Days song writer. He was great. I know we are on a ship and all, but it seems they could hire some better acts. Surely they know kids will attend these shows and the vulgarness of the comedians was not funny.

PORTS OF CALL:

COZUMEL: Having been to Cozumel before and tendering, we loved just being able to walk off the ship. We decided to go to Chankanaab National Park. We had a good time snorkeling and they had a small pool. But if you didn't swim with the dolphins, not much else to do and very little shade. The food was good, and not too pricey. We only shopped at the Port stores which there were plenty of.

ROATAN: This was a beautiful island. We went on the Pirates, Birds & Monkeys of the Caribbeans (Gumbalimba Park), excursion, it was very hot this day, make sure you drink lots of water. The park itself was fairly close to the pier, but it is a very bumpy ride there. We got a tour of the park and saw the monkey's, which were very hyper and could even unzip purses and bags. They would steal waters/cokes right out of people's hands and drink them up! Be careful cause they really do bite, just not hard, if they don't get what they want. They didn't break the skin, buy my nephew was gnawed on twice and it scared him. At Gumbalimba Park we were able to pay extra for ZipLine Tour. It was the best thing we did!! It was so much fun! Even our tiny 1st grader was able to do this. It was $35 extra each, but not to be missed. There is snorkeling available as well but it is a way's off shore. The beach was tiny for kid's to swim in, and it is right near the boat paths, so be careful. (they have buoy's but I would still watch closely). Oh, the park only has hotdogs and what they call Hamburgers for $5 each nothing comes with them, so we were all quite hungry after a long day in the sun. This park has frequent shuttles back to the pier, so you can stay till about 3:30 pm (last shuttle time) Everyone was friendly and it was a fun place to go.

COSTA MAYA: The island itself was very raw. We had booked a Ruins tour through a private online company and The first road we took to meet our excursion was all dirt and slow moving. You take a big tour style bus to a flea market area where you walk several blocks to find a man holding a sign for your tour. It was a little hard to find and we had to say No Thank you many many times to vendors. When we finally reached our tour we were very disappointed. We had booked a private van tour only to find out they had added another family to our group. I would NOT have paid extra for this tour if I had known we wouldn't be alone. Anyway, the island itself was great and beautiful to visit.

PROGRESSO: This is where we had the most fun. We booked the Escape to Wildlife, Swim & Relax at Eco Reserve and it exceeded our expectations. You actually get to swim in Cenotes, or freshwater pools. They were refreshing and all in the shade. We didn't see many birds because it was the rainy season and we were told they migrate other places. However, the guide was hysterical and the kids had a super time. The meal they offered was chicken fajita's, black beans, rice and chips. They had all the soda and water for free and you could buy beer if you wanted. We had 3 hours of swimming. There is even a friendly raccoon that lives there and you can feed. This was booked through RCCL. Once again we shopped at the Pier stores as there this was almost the only option.

KID'S PROGRAM: This is the only negative aspect of our cruise. It was not well handled and sometimes their were not counselor's in the 13-15 areas at the planned activities! Plus, They didn't keep the older kids out and they bullied our kids alot! Our 9 - 12 were less disappointed, but still they need to really really do something in this area. They really fall far behind the other Major cruise lines.

DISEMBARKATION: This was the smoothest ever. We were off the ship and through customs in less than 20 minutes.

OVERALL: Being this our first RCCL, we found ourselves comparing alot, HOWEVER, the Rhapsody is a beautiful ship and the Ports of Call made the voyage the best! We will miss not being able to do this ship again before she heads off to other places. We enjoyed her as much as any other ship we have been on. A+++

Thanks for the thorough review.

Appreciate the info, especially the report about Roatan and Progresso.

LL

A really good well written review. But it points out that every review is very subjective. We were on the Rhapsody in 2004 and DW and I both though the Happy Days guy was not only the lamest act on the cruise but top three lamest on any cruise.

We were in a group that included a retired RCI CD. The ex CD helped the guy get his start with RCI and says he is one of the nicest people he had ever met, a true gnetleman. So I’m not flaming the guy, he just wasn’t our cup of tea.

This same cruise had the best act we’ve seen at sea, a Temptations cover band called Tribute. I’m sure there are lots of people that didn’t like them. To each their own.

The key is to remember that watching what you may consider a bad act on a cruise is still better than than just about anything else you'd be doing somewhere else.

A really good well written review. But it points out that every review is very subjective. We were on the Rhapsody in 2004 and DW and I both though the Happy Days guy was not only the lamest act on the cruise but top three lamest on any cruise.

 

We were in a group that included a retired RCI CD. The ex CD helped the guy get his start with RCI and says he is one of the nicest people he had ever met, a true gnetleman. So I’m not flaming the guy, he just wasn’t our cup of tea.

 

This same cruise had the best act we’ve seen at sea, a Temptations cover band called Tribute. I’m sure there are lots of people that didn’t like them. To each their own.

 

The key is to remember that watching what you may consider a bad act on a cruise is still better than than just about anything else you'd be doing somewhere else.

Yes, every review is subjective to the writer. I am not trying to make anybody feel the way I do, I am just stating how I felt for other's enjoyment to read.

I agree the guys was "goofy" but since the other two acts we had seen were comics that cursed and had vulgar comedy, this was good for the kids. I am paying quite a bit for a cruise and therefore I want some good shows. Yes, to each his own, that is why I said I enjoyed him. Even though I could tell he, himself thought he was "hot-stuff". I just wish the comdeians didnt find it necessary to use raunchy humor.

Have to agree with you on the comedians. I'm all for acts geared towards adults, but they should be cognizant of the younger members. Save the really blue stuff for the late show. I am as crass and crude as they come, but vulgarities in public are becoming offensive to me. I can only imagine how a parent must feel.

Boy, I must be getting old. Think I’ll go home and yell at the neighbor kids to stay off the lawn. Of course I'll drive home with my blinker on the whole way.

(with the quick reply can you tell its a slow week at the office?)

Thanks for taking the time to post your review!

Welcome to RCI!

Appreciate the info, especially the report about Roatan and Progresso.

We'll be going there on RH August 12th and those are new ports for us.

Would you mind posting who the managers were for your cruise, please? We know they are changing lots of the folks we are use to having so the curiosity is killing us to see who is still there.

Thanks again.

CD was Eric Dolis (sp?). A good ole boy from Arkansas.

ROOM: We had a cabin on deck 8. Very close to everything. However, we did hear quite a bit of noise from deck chairs, music, and stomping/walking on our ceiling. If you are a light sleeper I might not stay on this deck. The room itself was a larger inside cabin and we had a connecting one for the kids. This was wonderful!

would you mind sharing what cabin you were in? my group will have cabins 8013, 8017, 8019, and 8025 on the july 29 sailing...

thanks

would you mind sharing what cabin you were in? my group will have cabins 8013, 8017, 8019, and 8025 on the july 29 sailing...

 

thanks

Your cabins are under the windjammer outside area. You will probably not get too much chair dragging noises there late at night but you will enjoy the pool band music. The trick is enjoy yourself so much that when your head does hit the pillow you are already asleep. Nothing will wake you if you have a good time! :) Enjoy.

I too am hoping for some familiar staff. Howard and Chan(or Affoon) were the best bartenders we ever had. We had some of the funnest casino dealers - Roxanna and Livu, Kyra etc. I am hoping against hope they will still be onboard.

Were the heated jets working in the solarium pool? Last November they were out and the water was too cold to enjoy it.

Thanks too for info on Roatan and Progreso - also new ports and info is tough to get on these.

We have always stayed on deck 8 and agree that there is generally noise but not during most sleep hours. We got used to the pounding of running feet in the morning and in the afternoons if we snuck in the cabin for a nap though!

COSTA MAYA: The island itself was very raw.... the island itself was great and beautiful to visit.

would you mind sharing what cabin you were in? my group will have cabins 8013, 8017, 8019, and 8025 on the july 29 sailing...

 

thanks

we had 8523/8521 MY inlaws were in 8023 and SIL/BIL 8020

the one's in 8020 said they could hear the music from the pool dance area all the time and lots walking on their ceiling.

Your cabins are under the windjammer outside area. You will probably not get too much chair dragging noises there late at night but you will enjoy the pool band music. The trick is enjoy yourself so much that when your head does hit the pillow you are already asleep. Nothing will wake you if you have a good time! :) Enjoy.

we use earplugs when we travel and the noise never bothered us, try these you can get them cheap at Walmart.

We had Dean as our steward on our March 03 Rhapsody cruise. You are right, he is the best steward we've ever had. My kids were so impressed with him, they wanted to give him their extra $$ left over as a tip in addition to what I had for him. They pooled all their $1s, and then used my colored duct tape to hang them from the ceiling and hide them in various places (it was Easter week). They told him they had left him a special Easter hunt in the cabin. The look on his face when he opened the door was great! They had fun with him all week, hiding his cart in empty rooms, and he did things like make up dummy people. One night I came into the room, the lights were all dimmed, and the tv was on. I saw a figure sitting on the couch and yelled at my son for having the tv on so loud. Then I realized that it was a dummy wearing my sweatshirt, my son's cap and pants. It was so realistic. He took the girls sleep pants and sandals and made them look like someone was crawling under the bed. He made special trips around the ship to find a box for all the junk (presents) my daughter bought for her friends, and helped us tape it up. I'm glad to hear that he is still there, I wish I were going on a Rhapsody cruise soon just to have him!

Our attendant was Dean Henry, the most amazing man. Super friendly and Always around when you needed him! We never went w/o clean towels or ice or towel animals.

Had Dean Henry in April. Excellent service and most pleasant man.

Thanks for great info. Is Derek Lewis still on board??? I hear he is not to be missed. Is the Beatlemania show still there also?? Thanks

What room were you in on 8? we are sailing on her in June to Alaska and we are on 8 as well 8053. She sounds like a nice ship and t his makes me very excited to see her!

Thanks for great info. Is Derek Lewis still on board??? I hear he is not to be missed. Is the Beatlemania show still there also?? Thanks

Derrick Lewis is about the only thing that can make me stay up past my bed time.

Thanks for great info. Is Derek Lewis still on board??? I hear he is not to be missed. Is the Beatlemania show still there also?? Thanks

I was so hoping the Beatlesmania would still be around. We had a piano man show and they sang Barry Manilow at the end, UGH.

Also the Los Pompo's something or other band was on....just not my taste.

What does Derek do?

Hey, don't knock Barry :) He was the opening act when my parents took me to see the Beach Boys in 2nd grade - ha. If they would have had Beatlesmania then I might have gone to a show.....Derek is still in the Schooner Bar and say hi to my waiter Levi from Nicaragua.

I was so hoping the Beatlesmania would still be around. We had a piano man show and they sang Barry Manilow at the end, UGH.

Also the Los Pompo's something or other band was on....just not my taste.

 

What does Derek do?

Hey, don't knock Barry :) He was the opening act when my parents took me to see the Beach Boys in 2nd grade - ha. If they would have had Beatlesmania then I might have gone to a show.....Derek is still in the Schooner Bar and say hi to my waiter Levi from Nicaragua.

I actually do like Barry Manillow, have a cd in my car, HOWEVER, there are so many other singer's they could have done that's all. It was too mellow for me at the time. and what was up with the Alien style dresses the girls had on?

He he. I honestly didn't go to ANY shows this trip.......my parents and grandma didn't really want to go. I will go in March when I am by myself w/ the kids and have no one to hang out with :( I know, poor me.

I actually do like Barry Manillow, have a cd in my car, HOWEVER, there are so many other singer's they could have done that's all. It was too mellow for me at the time. and what was up with the Alien style dresses the girls had on?

Thanks for your comments on your recent cruises.