Rhapsody of the Seas - Alaska - June 2011

Hello all!

We just finished uploading/refining our travel log from our Alaska cruise aboard the Rhapsody. I'm hoping this may help anyone looking into going to Alaska, or booking on the Rhapsody.

We were very pleased with the service, but not impressed with the ship or entertainment (or lack of). The destination was amazing though!

http://071810.blogspot.com/search/label/Alaskan%20Cruise%20June%20%2711

Please let us know if we left anything out, or if you had any questions :) We LOVE talking about our cruise!

Hey there; we are going to Alaksa on the Rhapsody this June 2012; our previous three cruises were to the Caribbean; so, I have probably a very stupid question, but I will ask anyway; since we were in the warm Caribbean previously, on formal nights the dresses I wore were short sleeve or with straps and I was fine; I know the dining room will be (somewhat) heated (I get cold everywhere) but is there any need for your formal dresses to have sleeves since you are in the cold of Alaska? Something I am pondering on; I have very few formal dresses with sleeves; and I noticed you said you had three formal nights; was your cruise more than 7 nights? On 7 night cruises you usually have only 2 formal nights; thanks for your post and any info you have!

is there any need for your formal dresses to have sleeves since you are in the cold of Alaska?

It isn't that cold during the summer in Alaska ~70F I think, but we found since it was the rainy season when we were there (August) that's when it was cold. The days it stopped raining, everybody hit the pool.

Best part of Rhapsody is Derek's Adult Daycare at Night. Wish we had found it from day 1.

Hey there; we are going to Alaksa on the Rhapsody this June 2012; our previous three cruises were to the Caribbean; so, I have probably a very stupid question, but I will ask anyway; since we were in the warm Caribbean previously, on formal nights the dresses I wore were short sleeve or with straps and I was fine; I know the dining room will be (somewhat) heated (I get cold everywhere) but is there any need for your formal dresses to have sleeves since you are in the cold of Alaska? Something I am pondering on; I have very few formal dresses with sleeves; and I noticed you said you had three formal nights; was your cruise more than 7 nights? On 7 night cruises you usually have only 2 formal nights; thanks for your post and any info you have!

It was warm inside the ship, including the dining room. It was very cold on deck when we were sailing through Alaska, but still stayed a good temp inside. You will be find wearing short sleeve dresses. :) We had 2 formal and 1 was close to formal, can't remember what they called it. You would be fine with 2 formal dresses and maybe an outfit with black pants or khakis. When we were docked in Alaska the weather was pleasant; I hope it's the same for you!

Thanks for sharing the pictures. We are doing this cruise in June.

What about Rhapsody did you not like? The reason I ask is we will be on Rhapsody for a Sidney to Honollulu cruise and then plan on an Alaska cruise the following year so I was thinking Rhapsody for that also.

Love the pictures, thank you for sharing. :)

My pleasure! It sounds like the Rhapsody is going into dry dock this year, so hopefully they are adding more entertainment/food choices.

We LOVED the room service, it was the best thing on the ship. However, we hated eating it in our room because we had no window. I would suggest getting a window/balcony room... especially for Alaska because it's too cold to do anything on the top deck (where all the good stuff is - pool, rock climbing wall), so you do spend more time in your room. That one was our bad.

Our other gripe about the Rhapsody was the lack of good entertainment. During the at sea days they played 1 showing of a movie in the the theater and had a lot of shows where they were trying to sell jewelry. The inside pool is really small and was swarmed with kids. I think if it were a warm destination we wouldn't have felt so limited in our activities.

Going into the Tracy Arm Fjord was AMAZING and the ports we stopped at were gorgeous, so we loved the trip overall. We just weren't impressed with the entertainment on board. It's a small ship, much smaller than their other ships from what I gather.

It sounds like they may be adding restaurants and a video screen by the pool in the retrofit. But like I said, you can't do much on the top deck sailing in Alaska.

http://www.*****.com/2011/07/11/royal-caribbean-planning-major-cruise-fleet-upgrade

Thanks for sharing the pictures. We are doing this cruise in June.

Not a problem! Did you enjoy sailing on the Glory? We will be embarking in June.

I know the dining room will be (somewhat) heated (I get cold everywhere) but is there any need for your formal dresses to have sleeves since you are in the cold of Alaska?

When we landed in Fairbanks three years ago it was 90 degrees. :eek:

The temp didn't go below 75.

My DH wore shorts the whole 2 weeks we were there.

Except when we stood on a glacier and he wore jeans.:D

Not a problem! Did you enjoy sailing on the Glory? We will be embarking in June.

We just got back from a Carnival cruise (Glory, Western Caribbean). Not sure if you have been on one. Well, I am bias to Royal Carribean. After THE Carnival experience we vow never to take Carnival again. We appricate the service that Royal has offered in the past. Carnival lack service; we ended up feeling bad for the staff because if seemed like the were miserable. In regards to things to do on board, Carnival was lacking in that. The days on board we BAD. If you didn't like kids running around then Carnival is not the way to go.

My husband and I are heading to Alaska on Rhapsody in September. We have never been on a small Royal Caribbean ship before (smallest was Brilliance). I think we will enjoy our time. They have not let us down...yet (this will be our 4th time with them).

I hope you have a better experience than ours. Cruise ON!

We are from Montana and taking our first on Rhapsody of the Seas September 7, 2012! Looking forward to it!

We are from Montana and taking our first on Rhapsody of the Seas September 7, 2012! Looking forward to it!

Welcome! Only 2 more WEEKS! See you then.

Our blog address changed.. wanted to make sure everyone could still see the review:

http://twofrugalteachers.blogspot.com/search/label/Alaskan%20Cruise%20June%20%2711

Thanks!

Our blog address changed.. wanted to make sure everyone could still see the review:

http://twofrugalteachers.blogspot.com/search/label/Alaskan%20Cruise%20June%20%2711

 

Thanks!

Great review!!! Thank you! :)

I read something about a Tracy Arm excursion. Was there anything offered on this cruise?

I read something about a Tracy Arm excursion. Was there anything offered on this cruise?

We were on the May 24 sailing. Tracy Arm is a sea day, where you sail into Tracy Arm early in the morning and the ship rotates using the bow and stern thrusters so you get a 360° view of the Sawyer glacier.