Rhapsody Out of Haifa - Onboard Activities in English?

[land64shark]

I am contemplating booking Rhapsody out of Haifa and getting married at sea while onboard in June 2023. I have read that the Haifa cruises are over 90% Israelis. I understand that all signage, menus, instructions and announcements are in both English and Hebrew. But what about shipboard activities? How are they handled? Trivia, pool games, really anything that requires audience participation? Is it not what we Americans would consider "normal" ship activities?

[Biker19]

39 minutes ago, land64shark said:

I have read that the Haifa cruises are over 90% Israelis.

@dani negreanu might have some info.

[dani negreanu]

Thanks to @IgKh for reviewing this cruise. And thanks @Biker19 😉

 

I'm attaching a link to his review, along with relevant citations to the OP.

 

 

I agree with the OP -- more than 90% of the passengers will be Israeli, either Jewish or Arabs.

 

I can't find much sense travelling all the way from "America" in order to board an old ship in Haifa, unless you have family/friends here, or want to combine a visit to the Holy Land with a cruise of the neighboring islands.

 

OTOH, when Odyssey was due to sail from Haifa, I recommended every one to take the cruise...

 

.... "

I think that the vast majority of passengers were Israeli, but there were also a sizable number of Cypriots and British expats who boarded the ship in Limassol, and the odd Americans or other nationalities. There were of course a lot of children, since it is the summer vacation. While definitely busy, the ship didn’t feel overcrowded to me, especially after the first day once people found their flow. I didn’t have any problem finding a seat in a lounge or a deck chair in the Solarium anytime I wanted to. The main pool deck was very busy though, and the hot tubs in Solarium were busy too but usually not the Solarium pool (children were not allowed to use the pool in the Solarium, but they were allowed into the hot tubs and to eat at the Park Cafe). Thankfully chair hogging didn’t seem like something that was happening.

 

Royal Caribbean really made a big effort to adapt to this crowd. All signage and written material was in English and Hebrew. Announcements were made in English and Hebrew, and important announcements also in Greek. Israeli music was playing in the Centrum, and movies on the outdoor screen had Hebrew subtitles. The guest services staff was bolstered by Hebrew-speaking representatives from Sun-O-Rama, including an assistant cruise director. The dining staff was assisted by representatives from the Kosher supervision company (more on that later).

..."

 

 

 

[LXA350]

Depending on your rational for the trip, if the main purpose is traveling through Israel and you want to combine it by adding a cruise out of Haifa without having any expectations you can go for it. If you are not used to the local culture, especially the lower class crowds there you will get a big shock. One example, due to fighting between guests at the begining of the cruising season last year during dinner you will now have ship secruity staff patroling around the MDR.

The crowd is at times very tuff to handle resulting that many staff members are not motivated at their best and expect not to get the same service you would find on other cruises. This year will be the second season and RCL had the chance to learn a lot the hard way about that market last year, hence I am sure they will improve their protocols where possible but as the main issue are the crowds, there is only so much they can do.

If you are a loyal cruises of RCL and make yourself known to staff they will do their best to offer you the best possible experience they can. Also food is the usual RCL standard, although there might be no MTD as the dinning Room is split to Kosher and regular Food, but also here the staff will do best to accomadate you. Imagining you want to get married onboard taking all these factors + with Rhapsody being one of th oldest ships in the fleet this will not be the most romantic and memorable place for it.

Obviously there are also nice passengers onboard and English is widely spoken there, hence certain activities should be no issue to participate in. However if your particular cruise will not have a significant amount of non Israelis onboard the main language for activites will be Hebrew, shows I guess are more on the international side with local touch such as music in the dance venues also including local songs which of course is a nice thing to get a bit o a local touch.

[UnbridledEnthusiasm]

I know this is an older topic but how easy would it be for a 30something American woman traveling solo to meet people on a RC ship out of Haifa? I'm going to Europe and to Israel this summer and was between booking a NCL cruise out of Italy and a RC out of Haifa. I've been leaning towards NCL since I'm used to traveling with them and because there's a great package available at a big box store, however the menus on the Rhapsody look interesting (never seen gefiltafish on a cruise before lol) and because my parents would like to see me finally get a married to a NJB (you never know!).

[Norwich Cruiser]

1 hour ago, UnbridledEnthusiasm said:

I know this is an older topic but how easy would it be for a 30something American woman traveling solo to meet people on a RC ship out of Haifa? I'm going to Europe and to Israel this summer and was between booking a NCL cruise out of Italy and a RC out of Haifa. I've been leaning towards NCL since I'm used to traveling with them and because there's a great package available at a big box store, however the menus on the Rhapsody look interesting (never seen gefiltafish on a cruise before lol) and because my parents would like to see me finally get a married to a NJB (you never know!).

Having sailed from Haifa with Royal I’d choose NCL out of Italy.

[UnbridledEnthusiasm]

6 hours ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

Having sailed from Haifa with Royal I’d choose NCL out of Italy.

Hah hah noted. What did you like and dislike about RC out of Haifa?

[Norwich Cruiser]

3 hours ago, UnbridledEnthusiasm said:

Hah hah noted. What did you like and dislike about RC out of Haifa?

We all felt the ship had a completely different vibe re the entertainment passengers food announcements really everything to cruises that we’ve taken from all other European ports. Venice ( the real Venice not Ravenna ) and Barcelona in particular )

 

Definitely wouldn’t cruise from there again.

 

 

[IgKh]

On 5/3/2023 at 7:18 AM, UnbridledEnthusiasm said:

I know this is an older topic but how easy would it be for a 30something American woman traveling solo to meet people on a RC ship out of Haifa? I'm going to Europe and to Israel this summer and was between booking a NCL cruise out of Italy and a RC out of Haifa. I've been leaning towards NCL since I'm used to traveling with them and because there's a great package available at a big box store, however the menus on the Rhapsody look interesting (never seen gefiltafish on a cruise before lol) and because my parents would like to see me finally get a married to a NJB (you never know!).

If that's the consideration, I'd say go with NCL out of Italy.

The sailings from Haifa are *very* Israeli and the crowd in the Summer will be almost all families. While never say never, I don't think you'll have serious chance of meeting a romantic partner in that environment, relative to say a random bar in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

Food wise, note that this season Rhapsody will have a different Kosher dining setup. The MDR will serve the regular Royal Caribbean menu, but the area in deck 5 normally containing Chops and Giovanni's Table will be converted to a special Kosher dining room serving three meals a day for a $20 per day surcharge. The menu for that is unknown yet, but will probably differ from last year's special MDR menus. Rhapsody is currently underway on her Transatlatic, and once the first Haifa sailing of this season starts next week they'll probably be posted on the app and/or local social media.

[UnbridledEnthusiasm]

2 hours ago, IgKh said:

If that's the consideration, I'd say go with NCL out of Italy.

The sailings from Haifa are *very* Israeli and the crowd in the Summer will be almost all families. While never say never, I don't think you'll have serious chance of meeting a romantic partner in that environment, relative to say a random bar in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

Food wise, note that this season Rhapsody will have a different Kosher dining setup. The MDR will serve the regular Royal Caribbean menu, but the area in deck 5 normally containing Chops and Giovanni's Table will be converted to a special Kosher dining room serving three meals a day for a $20 per day surcharge. The menu for that is unknown yet, but will probably differ from last year's special MDR menus. Rhapsody is currently underway on her Transatlatic, and once the first Haifa sailing of this season starts next week they'll probably be posted on the app and/or local social media.

Thank you. I enjoyed your review. 

[IgKh]

On 5/5/2023 at 6:31 PM, IgKh said:

Rhapsody is currently underway on her Transatlatic, and once the first Haifa sailing of this season starts next week they'll probably be posted on the app and/or local social media.

 

Per what was posted to the app, Kosher menus are identical to last year. Including the Gefilte Fish on the Shabbar dinner menu.