Rhapsody Questions!

[FWCruiser]

Hi! I have lurked quite a while at cruisecritic - but have booked our first cruise on RC and have searched for answers to our families MOST PRESSING questions and haven't had success. I hope you previous Rhapsody cruisers can help!

 

Our Spring Break cruise on Celebrity (Panama Canal - what a cruise!!) had FREE daily ice cream! Does the Rhapsody have this available?? My daughter will be so sad if they don't!

 

I read the pools are saltwater - I don't suppose that will change!:) My son would much prefer freshwater. Are the hot tubs freshwater and can children use them? (they only use them for a very short time so please no comments on children and hot tubs!!;)

 

I believe there is a rock climbing wall - is there a size/age limit? DS is 6 but is TALL and is hoping to enjoy this feature. Also, is there miniature golf??

 

ANY recommendations on excursions in Key West?

 

FINALLY - on our Panama Canal cruise we were bumped from Grand Cayman and are DESPERATELY hoping to get to go to StingRay City. Does Royal Caribbean change this port as much as the Galaxy seemed to in recent months??

 

TIA for any help!!

[Cruise Cat]

FWC - They now have a rock climbing wall, but no miniture golf. It has an outdoor pool area with hot tubs and an indoor pool area with hot tubs. The indoor area (solarium) is adults only, but is where they have the burgers and fries. The outdoor pool area is for everyone.

 

Ice cream in the Windjammer (buffet dining room), but many say the machine is broke most the time. They have added a Ben and Jerry's in the shop area though.

 

I don't know about excursions in Key West as we always spend our time bar hopping.

 

Grand Caymen is hard to tell at this point. They still have a lot of repairing and rebuilding to do since last years hurricane and all the ships tender here (no dock). Sometimes it gets cancelled and sometimes they stop the tenders because of the wind and may even try to get everyone back on ship. I think they play it by ear.

 

Chuck

[supernaturalblonde]

As far as excursions in Key West, my family and I took the city tour because it seems that we got to the port later in the day, and didn't have much daylight time. That tour took us all over the island and we got to see the sights and hear the history. Most people hang out right in the docking area to see the sunset; however, if you've ever seen a sunset in the Texas panhandle, this one isn't much different except for the added water reflection.

 

If you do get to dock in Grand Cayman, then I'd highly recommend using Captain Marvin for your Stingray City/snorkeling tour. We've used him twice and love that we were on a small boat instead of the larger ones. Two years ago, the ship's tour to SC was cancelled because of rough seas, but we still went and had a great time. The people who booked the ship one were sorely disappointed. We even had Captain Marvin pilot our boat. (He's one of the creators of Stingray City. He doesn't like it much if you tend to scream when the rays touch your legs though. Trust me on that one.)

 

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[FWCruiser]

Thank you both for your VERY helpful replies! I am starting to get excited - we will hope for operational ice cream machines and calm seas in Grand Cayman!:)

[susanNjay]

I would highly recommend the Rhapsody. We were on the April 17-24th sailing and we loved it.

 

The ship is clean, well maintained, dining room food is excellent, wait staff very attentive in Edelweiss dining room and Windjammer. Our shows in the evenings were very enjoyable. People we spoke to about the kids' program all raved about it. There were 160 kids aboard on our cruise, but I really hardly saw them!

 

In Key West, we did the Western Union sunset sail. (we docked at 3:30, so there was time to walk around and see the area first) I believe they have a website, so you could look there for more information. We met at the dock at 5:15, we walked a short distance to catch a shuttle, and we boarded the "last wooden sailing vessel" made in Key West. It was a beautiful ship. There was live harp music and I believe a bag pipe, free drinks, and conch chowder. I don't even like sea food, but it was delicious! The crew was very friendly and knowledgeable and Capt. Len taught us all about the history of the ship. Passengers are encouraged to help raise the sails and later to help steer. My husband and I loved this excursion. I would add, however, that there are many things to see and do in Key West without even taking an excursion. I have also heard the butterfly conservatory is awesome, so that might be an option....

 

We received our stingray city tour for free through best of caribbean--we booked our cruise online and somehow they offered us a free excursion. I loved our tour because our group was small. Our guides were a husband, wife, and daughter team and they were very educational. We brought our own snorkel equipment, but they offered snorkels and masks.

We were also concerned about not being able to tender in Grand Cayman, so we got off the ship on one of the first tenders. I have heard that if the early tenders look calm, go then, because they sometimes later stop the tendering(if the sea is rough), and the later people are not able to leave the ship. Word of warning: be extremely careful getting on and off at the ship--the tender boat moves a lot and a woman getting off the tender on our cruise had her foot pinned between the tender boat and the Rhapsody and when she finally was able to remove it, it looked like it could have been broken.:eek:

The dollar is widely accepted in Grand Cayman--although we had been told our change would be british, it was dollars--but I did ask for American dollars.

[BonnieNYTX]

I would highly recommend the Rhapsody. We were on the April 17-24th sailing and we loved it.

 

 

We were also concerned about not being able to tender in Grand Cayman, so we got off the ship on one of the first tenders. I have heard that if the early tenders look calm, go then, because they sometimes later stop the tendering(if the sea is rough), and the later people are not able to leave the ship. .

 

My concern would be not being able to get back to the ship due to rough water AFTER I was tendered in Grand Cayman. What about people not booked with RCI tours? I imagine once tendered they would go to their respective excursions without any further information about returning to their ships before all tendering stops. Has that even been a problem?

I read so many positive posts about Capt. Marvin and Nativeways to Stingray City that it's what we were thinking of doing. Now I am wondering if it wouldn't be better to go directly with the ship's excursion.

[bosteph]

I agree with Susan - stand in line for those early tender tickets!! On our 3/13 Rhapsody sailing we were on the last tender that was allowed to leave from the ship (about 10 a.m.). I almost wish that we had just stayed on board. The trip over was very scary - our tender was being slammed up against the ship and we actually had to pull away and then the ship's safety officer examined the damage to our tender and determined that it was seaworthy :eek:. We shopped and reported to the pier around 12:45 p.m. for our 1 p.m. snorkel excursion - cancelled due to wind :(. Then we were ushered directly onto a waiting tender because they were trying to get everyone back to the ship - a storm was headed in. The trip back was far scarier than the trip to shore. There were waves crashing over our tender (the open top was closed). I was so happy to re-board the Rhapsody and go get a drink (or three :D). The crew had a really hard time loading the tenders back onto the ship and the captain actually had to make a 360 degree turn to deflect the wind and get the final tenders on board. We left about an hour ahead of schedule as did many of the ships in port.

 

All that said - the water looked amazing and the shopping was great. Seven mile beach is beautiful and I'm sure that the stingrays will be worth it. I believe that Cayman is more reliable during the summer months.

[jwlane]

the captain actually had to make a 360 degree turn to deflect the wind

 

That would've put the ship exactly back where it was.

[susanNjay]

My concern would be not being able to get back to the ship due to rough water AFTER I was tendered in Grand Cayman. What about people not booked with RCI tours? I imagine once tendered they would go to their respective excursions without any further information about returning to their ships before all tendering stops. Has that even been a problem?

 

I read so many positive posts about Capt. Marvin and Nativeways to Stingray City that it's what we were thinking of doing. Now I am wondering if it wouldn't be better to go directly with the ship's excursion.

 

I have spoken to several people who were on the Rhapsody this year and they encountered the tendering problem in Grand Cayman...tendering was stopped early in the morning, and RCCL personnel were at the pier waiting for return passengers...the ship waited until the stated departure time for all of them--some were on RCCL excursions and didn't even know there was a tendering issue...I would think that the only issue with taking an excursion that is not sponsored by the cruise line is in case of returning late--later than the sail away time. From what I hear, they only wait for the late ones who are on a RCCL sponsored excursion. They have waited for all passengers when the tendering has been a problem.

 

I did note in Cozumel last month that the all aboard time was 5:30, but we didn't sail until 6:00. There were at least 10 people who were late--several got on at 5:50.

 

--Susan

[wolfganghowell]

For the OP - The solarium pool and hot tubs are adult only. I think the outdoor hot tubs are also adult only. Your kids should be fine on the rock climbing wall - they have harnesses for all weights and sizes.

 

Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are different types of lines and you will find some things you like better on each. We go back and forth between the two! Just have a great time!!

 

We did the ship sponsored Stingray City before and had a nice time. I think next time we will do the Buccaneer on our own - we have also heard that if you can't make it off the ship into port the legitimate excursion operators do not charge you.

[bosteph]

oops - I did mean 180 degrees. That would be the same as my temp today which is why I am home and unable to think clearly :p.

[jwlane]

oops - I did mean 180 degrees. :p.

 

Reminds me of the pilot entering severe weather that said "Let's make a 360 and get the hell out of here!"