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Rhapsody Of The Seas


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More questions about the ship. Travelling with hubby and three kids (9,7 and 2). Will there be a high chair available for 2 year old and do I need to pre book. Also Royal Caribbeans shore excursions are really expensive does anyone know of any cheaper methods of booking direct with the islands visited. Also for all you Texans could you help a Brit out and tell me how far Houston is from Galveston and is La Quinta Inn, Galveston okay for an overnight stay and is it close to the port. So many questions? Anybody got any queries on Europe feel free to ask. Have a good day. Julie.

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More questions about the ship. Travelling with hubby and three kids (9,7 and 2). Will there be a high chair available for 2 year old and do I need to pre book. Also Royal Caribbeans shore excursions are really expensive does anyone know of any cheaper methods of booking direct with the islands visited. Also for all you Texans could you help a Brit out and tell me how far Houston is from Galveston and is La Quinta Inn, Galveston okay for an overnight stay and is it close to the port. So many questions? Anybody got any queries on Europe feel free to ask. Have a good day. Julie.

 

Julie,

I can help with the high chair - they have them at all the restuarants and you don't need to reserve them - you might want to stop in the dining room before your first seating and just let you waiter know that you will need a HC that way he/she can have your table ready for you. You can book your excursions privately and it does save you a signifigant amount of money - I would say see what the ship offers and maybe narrow down what you want to do and then see if you can get the same tour through a private tour. Read under the ports postings to see what people have done and what might be recommended. There are some tours that you can only get through the ship - the downside of not booking with the ship is they won't wait for you if you are late returning - but from what I have read most tours have you back in plently of time. Hope this helps - I cannot help you with Texas hopefully somebody else will be able to.

 

Happy cruising - Andrea

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Hello Julie,

 

Glad to have you in Texas! :)

 

 

I assume that you will be flying to IAH Airport (a.k.a. Bush Airport) from London. I would say that it should take you just under two hours to get to Galveston.

 

 

La Quinta is on the opposite side of the island from the port. But is not very far from the port. The hotel is situated on the Seawall, so you can check out the Gulf and some of Galveston's seafood restaurants. :D

 

 

Royal Caribbean may provide you with a shuttle from your hotel to the ship. I would look into it.

 

 

We traveled on Rhapsody several times and absolutely love it. I wish for you to have a great time as well.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Chris

 

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I live in Texas and have sailed on the Rhapsody which was a great cruise ship, I loved that cruise! My kids loved the kids program and always fussed when we came to pick them up.:) From Houston to Galveston is 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours to drive depending on traffic. I would look at renting a car one way or try to find a cheap shuttle to take. I'm not much help there since we live about a 5 hour drive from Galveston and always drive there.

 

You might check out the Holiday Inn on Galveston Island, it's not far from the port and they offer free shuttle service to the pier for cruisers if you stay at their hotel. There are other good offers for cruisers and lots of Galveston info. at www.galveston.com. I can't remember exactly where the La Quinta is, but if you go to www.mapquest.com, you can enter in their address and it will show you exactly where the hotel is on a map. ;)

 

As for Grand Cayman, you have to do the stingray excursion, our 5 and 7 year old girls loved it!:) The stingrays are as gentle as puppies and rub all over you. They are very affectionate and docile. We went with a local tour operator that was fabulous, especially with our kids. They only charge $30 for adults, the kids were cheaper, I think $15 or $20 but I can't remember the kids price for sure. You meet them at the dock and they drive you around in a nice air conditioned van. Their web address is www.nativewaywatersports.com.

 

In Cozumel we went to Paradise beach which was really nice. The beach is free, but for $5 you get to use all of their beach toys for the whole day. The beach toys are floatie mats, a water trampoline, a large floating ice berg in the water that you climb up and then jump off of (it's man made and has handholds like a climbing wall), kayaks, and snorkel gear. It is 6 miles from the pier, it has a very nice restaurant that's reasonably priced, free lounge chairs, free beach umbrellas, free hammocks, changing rooms, large clean restrooms, and fresh water showers. Beach side food and beverages are available too. They use purified water and they accept credit cards. :D

 

Is your third port Montego Bay or Key West? The Rhapsody now rotates between these 2 ports every other week. I've been to both ports and can give you pointers if you let me know which one you're going to. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions and I'll try to answer them for you.

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Our favorite place in Montego Bay is Sunset Beach Resort. It can be seen from the ship and taxi's only charge $5 total (for the whole family) to take you there. The taxi's charge $4 per person to go anywhere else. Always use a gov't approved JUTA taxi with the red license plate. Sunset Beach Resort is an all-inclusive resort that has a day pass available to cruisers for $20 for adults and $10 for kids. Once you pay the fee, everything is paid for including sodas, all restaurants, alcoholic beverages, beach umbrellas, lounge chairs, I mean everything!:) Even the non-motorized water sports are free like the kayaks, paddleboats, snorkel gear, and volley ball. They have 3 nice pools (one has a swim up bar) and a large beach area (they are right on the beach.) You may have heard about the local people that are very pushy trying to get you to buy stuff. Well, they aren't allowed onto Sunset Beach property, so there will be no pushy vendors around to bother you. We spent the extra money to go into town and look around and shop. I wish we had just went back to the shopping area at the pier. The taxi ride would have only been $5 for all of us and the shops at the pier had the same type of stuff for about the same price. They came down on their prices and bargained well at the pier too.;)

 

The Rhapsody pulls into Key West a little late, I think it's 3:00 o'clock if I remember correctly. The butterfly farm as well as a few other places were closing at 5:00 p.m. so we didn't get to do some of the things we wanted to. We wouldn't be able to swim or do watersports for very long because nightfall would be coming soon. I just can't get rid of all of that sand without taking a real shower and going back to the cabin to clean up was not something I looked forward to. So we decided to stay away from the beach and watersports. We took the little train around town and enjoyed the tour immensely. It was very inexpensive and gave us a nice tour of the entire area. One of our tablemates took the trolley and said it was really nice too, and inexpensive. Key West is a port that you can just walk into and look around without using a taxi. We walked all over the place finding interesting items in the many, many shops. We found a nice restaurant and had a great meal. You have to try the Key Lime pie that Key West is famous for. I bought several inexpensive bottles of Key Lime juice as gifts for friends and they all loved it. If you're going without kids I would suggest checking out some of the nightlife that Key West is famous for. There are numerous bars and nightclubs that are really a lot of fun. :D I think this port is best for shopping, eating, and nightlife especially considering the late arrival.

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Julie,

 

As of now, Rhapsody is going to Ocho Rios, not Montego Bay. So, you may want to check the itinery just to be sure.

 

We were on the Rhapsody last Oct. and are going on it again this Nov. You can see pictures here:

 

http://community.webshots.com/album/212146923kurYua

 

Our kids were 9 yrs. old and almost 15 mos. at the time.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Lisa

 

Thanks for sharing your photos with me. I can hardly wait now to get on the ship-only a year to go. Also may I say what two beautiful children you have-they are obviously well loved. Have a great time in Alaska when you go. I spent 6 months there when I worked for Princess Cruises.

 

All the best

 

Julie

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  • 1 year later...

Hi Julie

 

We have stayed at Holiday Inn on Galveston Island everytime. Just like cruisinqt said, they transport you to the port and pick you up as well. Plus you can leave your vehicle in their parking lot (with out paying extra) till you get back. Have fun!!!:D

 

Harman

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More questions about the ship. Travelling with hubby and three kids (9,7 and 2). Will there be a high chair available for 2 year old and do I need to pre book. Also Royal Caribbeans shore excursions are really expensive does anyone know of any cheaper methods of booking direct with the islands visited. Also for all you Texans could you help a Brit out and tell me how far Houston is from Galveston and is La Quinta Inn, Galveston okay for an overnight stay and is it close to the port. So many questions? Anybody got any queries on Europe feel free to ask. Have a good day. Julie.

 

Stay away from the La Quinta Inn!;) We were there last year and it was trashed out form the Katrina Evacuees and drug use everywhere!Especially the one at 1400 Seawall Blvd! Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort is Perfect!;) Houston is about 40 miles give or take a few miles!:D You can turn right on one of the streets 25th. or 24th. streets once you come into town,and you will run right into the Seawall Blvd!The hotel is at 1702 Seawall Blvd! So you would turn left onto the Blvd! and the Hotel is on your Left!;) Heres their Number! 1-409-762-4141 or for the main office for reservations is 1-888-465-4329;) Hope this helps and not too late! Eat at Landrys Seafood House great food!

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