Just off the Rhapsody

[lampskies]

We are sailing this ship April 1st....thanks for the input.....we have sailed Disney each of the last 5 years, our DDs are 16 and 14 and we are worried that we will be dissappointed due to the GREAT service we are use to.

[bayou cruiser]

The bartender I do remember doing the cocktail seminar was named Casanova and I can't remember the other but he was from Jamica if that helps.

[BonNYTX]

DH and I are sailing on the Rhapsody on 1/14 and now I am very, very concerned with the seasick issue for that time of year. Only time we had bad seas was going to Bermuda in July and I was fine. Our cabin is low, deck 4 midship so I hope that helps. We'll be sure to take Bonine a day before the cruise and take it daily for the duration of the cruise even if we feel good.

You mentioned taking meds. Did you start taking them the day before or just as soon as you got on the ship? How was the weather after that one day/night of bad seas? I read if you can keep anything down, ginger snaps (cookies) are good to help seasickness.

Now my husband firmly believes it was a mistake to book a Jan. cruise. He is such a pessimist. :p Of course if we have rough seas it will be my fault since I talked him into taking this cruise and if we have good seas he will take the credit for having us go on the cruise! :eek:

[jwachs]

DH and I are sailing on the Rhapsody on 1/14 and now I am very, very concerned with the seasick issue for that time of year. Did you start taking them the day before or just as soon as you got on the ship? How was the weather after that one day/night of bad seas? I read if you can keep anything down, ginger snaps (cookies) are good to help seasickness.

 

I am certainly not an expert in sailing from Galveston during the winter. I do know the Captain referenced a few times in his announcements that during the winter these types of things happen because of cold fronts.

 

My husband started taking the meclizine the day before the cruise and every day during it. Going forward, my husband will call his doctor and see about getting the patch. Many that I saw up and around had the patch. I was OK with the meclizine only. There were moments I felt like I was on a roller coaster but nothing that made me totally sick like so many of the others.

 

As far as weather, reading this thread it sounds like the week of 11/19-11/26 was bad weather, 11/26-12/3 was great weather, and 12/3-12/10 was a mixture of bad and good...

[odiesam]

I was the one curious about the one way rentals with Enteprise - if it is not a lot of trouble to look up how much you paid - that would be helpful and appreciated!

 

Also, did you make those reservations far in advance for the car rentals? We do not cruise until April 1st but I am starting to think this one way car rental business may be ahrder to get than I originally thought.

 

Thanks.

[jeffw47]

My wife and I were on this sailing also. We were in 7652 Aft corner balcony. You talk about rocking and rolling. We have stayed in this cabin 3 times before, but hardly used it this time. After the first day I went out and everything was covered in salt from the spray. Obviously, this was the roughest cruise for an extended period of time. My wife got seasick and this was the first time after 11 cruises she had been sick. Luckily, I am not prone to sea sickness, so I didn't take anything.

What was nice was Key West was sunny and Grand Cayman was fairly sunny. That was about all the sun we saw for the week. We rented a car in Grand Cayman and drove to Rum Point. What a beautiful place this was. 100% better than 7 mile beach. We snorkled in Cozumel or at least tried to. The swells were running about 2-3 feet. Obviously, you didn't have to kick very much, you just went with the flow. The front hit earlier than someone mentioned before, because when we came back from snorkeling around 1 o'clock, the winds were already blowing around 35 knots from the north and they seemed to be blowing that fast while we were snorkling. Actually our snorkeling was cut short due to the winds.

Overall, it was still a good trip. Sure going to miss Rhapsody when it leaves next year.

[DJTexas]

DH and I were also on this cruise. We felt the same about the food this time. It was not bad, it was just not as tasty as our last 2 RC cruises.

 

I was one of those in bed most of the day Monday, so sea sick. Here's how bad it was...I was laying in bed, my TV was flung off and onto the floor. I left it there for about an hour (with the sound of static) before I even could get up and look at it! I then heard somebody outside. I got them to call maintenance. They took at and it was broke. They replaced it with another TV. I put a patch on at about 10:30 am that morning and was ok by about 4:30. I regret not putting one on before, so regret! I will use a patch from now on when I cruise. That was one awful day. All of the OTC meds make me really sleepy. The patch just made me thirsty. I also tried just taking ginger...no workie in those seas.

 

I was on Kristin's (JWachs) Quest team. Guess what we two women contributed to the team...?? haha -- what fun!

 

We were in an inside cabin (8051). We did not have a plug in the bathroom.

 

All of our service was great. The favorite part of the cruise for us was watching/participating in Kamakazee Karoakee with Derek Lewis. It was so fun and funny! We can't sing a lick.

 

I really do wish I would have been able to make it for Meet & Mingle. It really does personalize the cruise. I recommend it.

 

Caribsun-the sail away was windy and cold!

 

All and all, I had a wonderful time and met some really great people! I am ready to go again! :D

 

Donna

[vickiw0318]

We have sailed out of Galveston during the first week in February and all was well. Last January (end of the month), things were a bit rocky on our journey to Cozumel. We did encounter a front on the way. Coming back was fine. I did notice it was about 10 degrees cooler in Cozumel that it was during the February trip - again, I attributed this to the light rain we happened to hit last year. Nothing was bad enough to stop us from re-booking this coming January. Not being a meteorologist, I guess there's an element of luck involved during that time of the year.

[Cruising50's]

We were also sailing on Rhapsody on Dec. 3. This was our fourth Rhapsody cruise. We have never been on the ship when the waves were this bad. Luckily, I always bring plenty of medicine for any event, so I had plenty of motion sickness meds. The second day was the absolute worst day I have ever sailed ( in 20 plus cruises ), therefore, I was pretty happy that I brought the medicine even though we have never had reason to use it before this. We sailed out on Dec. 4 a couple of years ago and the waters were pretty calm.

 

After the first two days, the cruise was normal. Our dining room experience was just fine. The food on Royal Caribbean ( in our opinion ) exceeds what we experienced on Carnival. Everyone has their own particular tastes when it comes to food, so what is average to some may well be spectacular to others. It also depends on what you order.....the chef on that cruise.....etc.

We have never had a bad food experience on Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. The bottom line is that for one week, I didn't have to cook or clean up !!

I think that Royal Caribbean does an exceptional job in cooking and serving food for so many people week after week.

 

I agree totally with the comment about the mattresses. Those mattresses need to all be thrown overboard ! They are horrible. I was so happy to hear that RCCL was changing them out. It is very much needed.

 

Tendering in Cozumel was a nightmare...........and a first for us. On our other cruises, we have been able to dock. If we ever have to tender into Cozumel again, I will not get off the ship to go ashore. We were on the 3:30 tender to go back to the ship and it took about 40 minutes to get back. The workers not only filled the whole tender up, but proceeded to put people on that had to stand. The water was rough ( due to a storm coming in ) and the tender was rocking. Some people were getting seasick from that ! It was awful.

 

I know that most of this sounds negative, but actually, we had a great time.

Rhapsody is a great ship with a great crew. This will probably be our last time on Rhapsody, but have already booked Voyager for her first Galveston sailings. We have really had over 10 really good experiences with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

[jeffw47]

DJTEXAS,

It's funny you mention your TV flying out. The same thing happened to us, but it happened in the middle of the night. Scared the heck out of me. I thought someone was breaking into our cabin. I had forgot all about that until you mentioned it. :) You talk about jumping up in the middle of the night and running into just about everything in the cabin until I could find the light switch. If I would have had a video camera going, I could have entered it into America's Funniest Videos.

[caribsun]

 

Tendering in Cozumel was a nightmare...........and a first for us. On our other cruises, we have been able to dock. If we ever have to tender into Cozumel again, I will not get off the ship to go ashore. We were on the 3:30 tender to go back to the ship and it took about 40 minutes to get back. The workers not only filled the whole tender up, but proceeded to put people on that had to stand. The water was rough ( due to a storm coming in ) and the tender was rocking. Some people were getting seasick from that ! It was awful.

 

 

Glad you made it back to the ship safely. Having people stand on the way back to the ship in rough water seems like a safety issue to me. It sounds like the tender was overloaded with passengers without concern of weight limits. Please be careful folks, regulations in other parts of the world could be lacking.

[BonNYTX]

I really am sorry that those on the 12/3 Rhapsody cruise got so sick! At least it seems those that had a bad time of it were able to enjoy the rest of their cruise. It's awful to get so sick on a cruise and having to stay in bed :(

How did you dress in Key West? Long pants or was it warm enough for capris, short sleeves and sandals? I am so confused about what clothing to bring since it can be warm OR cold depending on a cold front. Here in Plano it's mid 70s and last week it was in the 30s. Super unpredictable weather. Is it always warm in Key West year round?

For those that wore the patch, is it prescription or over the counter and can it be worn in conjunction with taking bonine just in case or is that overkill??

Is there a website one can go on the day before the cruise to see how the seas will be in any particular region/location?

Sorry for all the qustions but I am getting really anxious and concerned.

[DJTexas]

Bonnie, I wore jeans in Key West. It was hard to decided how to dress! I wore the same pair of jean several days in a row. I only took one pair! It was warmer at Cayman and Cozumel. Check the 7 or 10 day forecast for more info.

 

The patch is prescription. You can usually just call your doc and get them to send out a prescription. Don't wait until the last minute. Some pharmacies do not carry them or have to order them. They are a little pricey but well worth it. I think they are $10 each which is cheaper than wasting a day in bed like I did. I would ask pharmacist about combining with other drugs.

 

I know my hubby checked the wave height before we left and knew they would be high. He check on the National weather site, noaa.gov. I am not sure where he checked. He is off deer hunting right now or I would have more specifics. There is bouy data out in the gulf. They predict wave heights for a few day in advance.

 

Don't worry about asking too many questions...it's good to know these things.

[TexCruise371]

Great reviews everyone! We were also on this cruise, aft balcony cabin 7156.

 

I have to agree about Mosaic...outstanding. I thought the Rhapsody singers and dancers were a little weak compared to other RCI cruises but I wonder how the rough seas may have effected them also. The violinist (can't remember his name) is fantastic. Also, the music in the Centrum every night was really great.

 

We had a great cruise other than the rough seas an cooler than normal weather. We have sailed out of Florida in Dec and Jan and have stayed in Cozumel several times during this time of year and this was by far the coolest weather we have had.

 

Key West: Margaritaville....by far the best Key Lime Pie I have ever eaten. We also hit the Hard Rock Cafe for the T-Shirt collection.

 

Grand Cayman: Had a wonderful scuba dive with Seasports, great folks. They only take 8 divers so it's sooooo much better than the cattle drive dive boats that we have experienced in the past. Great visbility, several turtles, lobsters and fish

 

Cozumel: Tender to the dock took over 45 minutes and the same coming back to the ship. WE checked out the hotel we will be staying at in the near future, did some shopping and ate at Pepe's Grill, one of our Coz favorites. Do not pass up the coconut ice cream!

 

There is an electric outlet in the bathroom but it is above your head and to the right . As far as the beds, ask to have an eggcrate put on it. Makes all the difference in the world.

[BonNYTX]

Bonnie, I wore jeans in Key West. It was hard to decided how to dress! I wore the same pair of jean several days in a row. I only took one pair! It was warmer at Cayman and Cozumel. Check the 7 or 10 day forecast for more info.

 

The patch is prescription. You can usually just call your doc and get them to send out a prescription. Don't wait until the last minute. Some pharmacies do not carry them or have to order them. They are a little pricey but well worth it. I think they are $10 each which is cheaper than wasting a day in bed like I did. I would ask pharmacist about combining with other drugs.

 

I know my hubby checked the wave height before we left and knew they would be high. He check on the National weather site, noaa.gov. I am not sure where he checked. He is off deer hunting right now or I would have more specifics. There is bouy data out in the gulf. They predict wave heights for a few day in advance.

 

Don't worry about asking too many questions...it's good to know these things.

 

DJ Thanks so much for the info. I'll be sure to call my doc tomorrow but I hope he doesn't insist I come in for an office visit. I have no co-pay and a high deductible which I hope I never meet!

No worries with one pair of jeans. I have 4 pairs but I only wear one all the time. I'll take my embellished jeans also for the western night. I hope they have that again. Was loads of fun.

Can't wait for the Quest which I never played before. DH saw the Quest on our cruise dvd and wants no part of it! LOL What a wimp!

[blyle]

We sailed 11/26 and the week before us they said it was very rough. It is always a bit rocky the first day and a half but it seems you had pretty rough seas. I always book deck 2 or 3 dead center in the winter because of the seas. I hate it when they try to tell you that higher is better, not if you get seasick! We also found the average age a bit older than usual but who else can cruise on the off weeks? We loved our cruise and actually thought the food was better than what we had in March. I takes a few hours for meds to work and based on our experience I would take them before bed on the first night because when you get up the ship will be moving for sure.

One other observation, the last time we cruised we were on the Key West week and crossing the gulf in that direction could be the reason it was pretty

rough. As for the glass and windows , we were told that originally the Rhapsody was built for Alaska so they wanted lots of viewing areas.

For wave heights you can check Metrosail for the heights and directions.

After our Nov. cruise we have decided to stick to fall and spring when the waves are lower and the weather is warmer!

[jwachs]

HI to all of those other 12/3 cruisers on the Rhapsody. Too bad so many of us were so seasick during the Meet and Mingle.

 

I will look up the one way to Galveston and one way back prices from Enterprise this weekend. I have the receipts stuffed somewhere. If you are renting from Enterrprise, please be aware that when you disembark, Enterprise is in CRUISE TERMINAL 1, not Cruise Terminal 2 (where Rhapsody was docked). It took my husband about 5-10 minutes to walk to the other terminal. He was back with the car in about 30-40 minutes. Only because some people skipped him in line at the Enterprise desk. We were off the ship by 8:20.

 

For those booked on the Rhapsody, please do not worry about the rough seas. As you can see from posts, this was worse than normal. We all still had a great time-even with TV's coming out of their stands. Yes, the weather and waves were an inconvenience but it didn't ruin our trip. It was nice and sunny in Key West, Grand Cayman, and part of the day in Cozumel. I wish the weather would have been nicer but ANY DAY ON VACATION is better than being as work :)

[wolfganghowell]

FYI - it is the luck of the draw. The passengers are on our cruise were younger than we have seen - many couples from 20s to 70s, a few families, not a whole lot of kids. We cruised the exact same week in 2005 and the passengers could not have been more different - in MANY ways.

 

I'm still shocked at the bed - we must have gotten the only decent one onboard!!

[austinlw]

For what it's worth... I have a coworker who was on the Norwegian Dream out of Houston (to Belize, Cozumel, and Progreso) with her husband the same week 12/2 -12/9. This was their first cruise and her husband was very reluctant, because he is susceptible to seasickness. Well they also had very rough seas and there was a lot of seasickness aboard, but neither one of them got sick at all. They had a wonderful time and can't wait to book another cruise.

[samtig]

We've cruised 4 times in Dec. & high seas have never lasted more than a day until this trip. Just happened to be a cold front coming through so seas lasted longer. Dec. is still our favorite time to cruise. I'm prone to seasickness but didn't get sick. The bonine worked!

[BonNYTX]

FYI - it is the luck of the draw. The passengers are on our cruise were younger than we have seen - many couples from 20s to 70s, a few families, not a whole lot of kids. We cruised the exact same week in 2005 and the passengers could not have been more different - in MANY ways.

 

I'm still shocked at the bed - we must have gotten the only decent one onboard!!

 

Wolfie I read your fabulous cruise review and no wonder you slept well. You guys were hopping all week long. I bet you would have slept well even in the lifeboats! :D

OK, I think I calmed down a bit and will take my Bonine a day before our cruise and hope for the best.

[NjNew2Cruise]

A couple highlights to share from our trip. Our group consisted of my husband (45), myself (36), and daughter (9) in Room 7572. My mother and her friend (both 60) in Room 7578.

 

This was our first time on Royal Caribbean, previously we have sailed on Carnival. I thought I would share our observations and personal opinions.

 

We loved the ship. The size was perfect for us. By the end of the first day we had a good understanding of the layout of the ship, unlike our previous Carnival cruises where we were still confused by the middle of the cruise. I believe the ease in us learning the layout had to do with how the ship was designed. In addition, we loved the area of the ship where are room was-almost in the middle. My mom's room was only a few doors down from the Centrum and the Library. There was never any noise from these areas.

 

We had read a lot about how uncomfortable the beds were on the Rhapsody. I understand they are getting new beds/mattresses when the ship goes into dry dock. We did not have any problems falling asleep or resting in the beds. They were comfortable! The one minor thing was that our sheets kept pulling off in one corner every night, exposing the mattress. I don't know what was up with that.

 

The service on this cruise was better than on Carnival. Our room steward did a nice job in keeping our room clean. Our head waiter was phenomonal. We have never experienced a head waiter coming to the table every night. The head waiter knew each of our names by the 2nd night. Our waiter did a great job, along with the Assistant Waiter. One thing that was quite noticeable is that our waiters spoke English very clearly and very well. On our Carnival cruises, we've had waitstaff that was very hard to understand. While Thomas, our waiter, was not 'flashy' like previous waiters, we felt he was much more attentive. He ALWAYS had our orders right and took notice of the small things!

 

Both my husband and I felt that the food on Carnival is better. Carnival seems to have more alternatives. Also, the quality of food was better. It's not like the food on the ship is bad, it's just that we felt Carnival's was better. I certainly ate enough! I gained 4 pounds on a 7 day cruise!

 

My daughter felt both children's programs were equal. She did not prefer one over the other. Although, I feel as though the area for the children was much better designed and laid out on this ship than on Carnival. In addition, I feel as though the staff seemed more qualified on Royal Caribbean. With that said, my daughter loved both cruises and their kids programs the same.

 

The bathroom was very small on the Rhapsody. On our Carnival cruise, it was larger, with an actual glass door vs. a plastic shower curtain that seems to want to follow you everywhere.

 

I loved the offerings on the Rhapsody much more than our Carnival cruises. I enjoyed going to the daily Arts and Crafts at 11 am. I enjoyed Quest tremendously (our team came in 3rd). The entertainment was by far better than Carnival. We had a vocal group out of Vegas called Mosaic. They did a GREAT JOB! They played 'music' with only using their voices (as in one man's voice was the bass guitar, another man's voice was the drum). We also watched a great comedian and juggler on the last evening. I laughed so hard I was crying! DEFINITELY the biggest difference between the two was the entertainment. Royal Caribbean is many notches above Carnival! Yes, Derek Lewis got me totally off guard with the Kamikaze Karaoke!!!! AND I SING HORRIBLY!!!

 

The weather on this cruise was pretty dismal. On Monday (1st day at sea) my husband and daughter never made it out of bed until after 8 pm. From Sunday evening until around 7 pm the ship was rocking. I've been on 5 cruises and this was way worse than I've ever experienced. They had 'puke bags' on each of the landings on the stairwells for people to use. The captain stated that we had 12-14 foot waves. He stated that this was fairly normal for this time of year coming out of Galveston. With that being said, I would not go on a cruise out of Galveston at this time of year again. I guess it has to do with winter and cold fronts. But, only God controls the weather so we just accepted it and still found lots to do.

 

The other exciting thing from our week was that my mom's friend fell on Tuesday night and dislocated her shoulder. From what I understand, the doctor took good care of her. She did see a Dr. here at home yesterday. It looks like she will be having surgery. She was wearing heels and it went into a hole where the doors shut (the threshhold of the door where a set pin woudl go to lock the door into place) in the hallway. She proceeded to get her heel stuck in the hole and fall forward from her momentum, thus dislocating her shoulder. I'm surprised more women have not had their heel go into this hole. It is in many of the threshholds throughout the ship! Trust me, I noticed them once I heard what happened to Judy! She was such a good sport with being in so much pain all week.

 

Embarkation and Disembarkation went smoothly. The Meet and Mingle was great (food was good, gift was nice)-too bad soooo many of those that signed up were in bed sick with motion sickness (our Meet and Mingle was on Monday-the BAD sea day!).

 

Yes, the ship was decorated for Christmas. By the end of the week, it looked so beautiful.

 

The ports of call were great-Key West (we went kayaking), Grand Cayman (swimming with the stingrays), and Cozumel (Paradise Beach).

 

Any questions, please post and I'll try to respond as soon as possible.

 

I did not read you entire post ( don't want to ruin any "surprises" :o ), so forgive me if I am asking something you addressed/cannot address.

Anyway, we are flying into Houston (IAH) and are looking for the safest & least expensive way to transfer to the cruise ship.

We called RCCL and feel their rate is not unfair, just maybe a little high for us.

Can you (or anyone) recommend the best transportation service, and/or the best estimated price for two passengers?

I apologize in advance if I am asking this in the wrong forum.

Thank you!

-Robert

[Sassy Chassis]

We cruised the exact same week in 2005 and the passengers could not have been more different - in MANY ways.

 

We were better!!! Hahahaha :D

[traveler/]

I did not read you entire post ( don't want to ruin any "surprises" :o ), so forgive me if I am asking something you addressed/cannot address.

Anyway, we are flying into Houston (IAH) and are looking for the safest & least expensive way to transfer to the cruise ship.

We called RCCL and feel their rate is not unfair, just maybe a little high for us.

Can you (or anyone) recommend the best transportation service, and/or the best estimated price for two passengers?

I apologize in advance if I am asking this in the wrong forum.

Thank you!

-Robert

Coach USA or rent a car from Enterprise or Hertz. Try your ship name and date under roll calls

[NjNew2Cruise]

I am so looking forward to our Rhapsody cruise. You answered some of my questions. I have only cruised on Carnival myself and I was really wondering about the difference in the service. My husband was skeptical about going with rccl since he really enjoyed the Carnival line. He also does not see why spend more for rccl. I am kind of dissapointed that the food is not better with rccl. I was really looking forward to the food. We live in a small town in Oklahoma, so we don't have very much variety to choose from here. : (

Our first time cruising was on the Grandeur of the Seas (same family as Rhapsody).

Food is great. I think the best tip I read, though I tend to slightly disagree, was "do not expect gourmet"...

We ate in the formal dining room two nights and found the food to be terrific, just lacking in choices.

For the remainder of the cruise we ate at the buffet and found the food quite tasty.

With food 'reviews' try to keep in mind, every individual has different tastes (ie: "...my lobster was bland...") as well as different expectations.

After reading (before going on our first cruise) the tip "do not expect gourmet" in one of the forums here, we were pleasanly surprised to find the food more than satisfying!

And do not forget, FREE room service!!

We are going on Rhapsody in January. Looking forward to it. Please pray that we have calm seas!!!