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Review Rhapsody of the Seas to Alaska May 23, 2008


wrp96

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Ship: Rhapsody of the Seas

Sail Date: May 23, 2008

Port of Embarkation: Seattle, Washington

Destination: Alaska – Juneau, Skagway, Tracy Arm Fjord, Prince Rupert, BC

Stateroom: Owner’s Suite 8000

 

 

I have to say this was one of my best cruises yet, if not the best. The scenery was breathtaking and non-stop and the ship and crew wonderful.

 

I posted my photos here

 

I posted the Compasses, Menus, Spa Pricing, and other info here

 

 

Booking and planning: Friends chose this cruise for a reason and I didn’t think I would get to go. But I was looking at prices last fall on RCCL’s website and noticed a grand suite guarantee (which I’d never seen before) and thought I’d book it because I could always cancel later. A few weeks later I opened up my reservation and noticed I’d been upgraded to an Owner’s Suite. So that decided it right there – I was going on this cruise. I then transferred the reservation to my wonderful travel agent. And set about researching the ports on this cruise. This was like a homecoming for me as I grew up in Alaska and after I upgraded my mother decided to join me for the return. Best friend decided to join us as well, but actually stayed in an inside stateroom with a friend from CC.

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Pre-cruise: We all were booked on different flights because we needed to come and go at different times. We came in a day early to Seattle. I was upgraded to first class on my flights on AA and we landed really early, then settled in to wait on my best friend – didn’t have long to wait as she also landed very early. Mom’s flight much later in the day also landed early.

We caught a cab (this was a laugh as they first tried to stick us in an economy car and as I am a member of overpackers anonymous that was not going to work) to the Marriott Waterfront (our pre-cruise hotel). Wow, what a welcome to a hotel. As we got out of the cab, the bellmen offered us ice cold water bottles – and they did so every time we entered or left the hotel. The lobby itself was beautiful as well with a gorgeous glass sculpture.

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We were given a room with a view of the bay even though I’d booked a city view room (bay view was more expensive).

In the morning we had a view from our balcony of HAL Amsterdam and Rhapsody of the Seas sailing into Terminal 30.

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The hotel was directly across the street from Pier 66 where Celebrity Infinity was docked on Friday but we could not see her from our room. We did see Celebrity Millenium at Pier 66 on Thursday when we arrived in Seattle.

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The beds in the room were extremely comfortable and we were pleased with room service and the bar service.

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Best friend and I spent Thursday afternoon exploring the waterfront and Pike Place Market. Seattle really showed her beautiful colors and gave us a bright sunny afternoon for exploring. We started out by grabbing lunch at Ivar’s – wonderful clam chowder, fish and chips, and other seafood.

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We stopped at Ye Olde Curiousity Shoppe (very fun)

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and then climbed the stairs to Pike Place.

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We had fun just going in and out of the little shops and stalls. We were amazed at the beautiful flowers on display and the really big fish.

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Dinner was at Anthony’s Pier 66 where we had a beautiful view of the sunset and wonderful seafood.

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Boarding day - Woke up extremely early and saw HAL Amsterdam come into sight around 5:45am, then a few minutes later our ship, Rhapsody of the Seas!!! What a beautiful sight.

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It was a little drizzly but nothing was going to ruin my mood.

The bellmen arranged for a private van to drive the 3 of us and all our luggage to the pier and we left the hotel around 9:45. We were pulling up to the pier around 10am – and we were not the first people there. People were still leaving the terminal from the previous cruise. They opened the doors to the area where we could drop off luggage about 5 minutes later and we handed over our luggage to be scanned and went off to check in. They were not supposed to let us in until 10:30 but somebody must not have known that so we were allowed in and caught seats at the front of the line. They opened the lines at 10:30 and we headed to Priority Check-In. They were very specific about who could use the priority line - only Platinum, Diamond, Diamond Plus and Grand Suite or higher – they were very specific about no junior suites. None of the credit card scanners were working so they had to enter all our info by hand. After we’d checked in they sent us back to the chairs to wait, except there weren’t many chairs. About 10:40 they let us into another area (the area where we retrieved luggage at the end of the cruise). They told us to grab what chairs were available (there were very few but they kept bringing more chairs out for everybody). When they got ready to board the ship (shortly after 11am), they asked for all Platinum, Diamond, Diamond Plus, and suite guests to step forward first. Since that was us we immediately stepped forward. After the walk up the long, long, long windy gangplank, we were the first people to step onboard the ship and hear the Ding of our cards being scanned.

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Nothing was supposed to open on the ship until after 12:00, so we parked ourselves in lounge chairs in the Solarium and best friend and I set out to take pictures of the entire ship. We found the ship to be well maintained and shiny, in fact she looked better this time than when I first sailed her in 2005.

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They opened up the spa doors around 11:50 so we were the first in line to make appointments for the week – relaxation is key for our group so we had many, many appointments to make, including some for that day!!

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We then headed to the Windjammer which by the time we got there was PACKED!!! No tables were available so we took one of the tables out by the main pool – a little cool but a sweatshirt made it comfortable.

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Had to search for the honey stung chicken but finally found it!! Friends sailing with us called around 12:30ish to say they were boarding the ship!!!

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Stateroom: At 1pm they announced that staterooms were ready so we headed down one deck to our suite OS 8000 and my best friend to her inside stateroom. Our first impression of the suite was WOW!!! Tons of room, light and airy and well laid out.

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There are 2 TVs one facing the bed, and then a large flat screen in the living area with a DVD player and a sound system. There is a water kettle and French press on the vanity for making coffee and tea.

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They provided a large bottle of Evian and a fruit basket. The new bedding was super comfy.

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We also liked the fact that there was a curtain that could be drawn around the bed to separate it from the rest of the suite so that one of us could sleep while the other one still played. We did occasionally hear noises from above – sort of like distant noises. They did not disturb either of us but were noticeable. The bathroom was huge as well; mom really appreciated the separate glass shower in addition to the Jacuzzi tub. On her previous cruise, the closed in shower made her motion sickness worse, but the shower in the OS didn’t make her feel closed in. One of the things we loved is our balcony was right next to the port side bridge wing so we would have conversations with the bridge crew throughout the cruise.

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Also, on the day we were in Tracy Arm Fjord the Captain pointed out wildlife to us. The balcony was very large with one lounge chair, 2 regular chairs, and a table.

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All 8 of the ladies in our group were at the railing for most of the Tracy Arm day to see the beautiful things sailing past. Our suite attendant is Kemuel Anderson. He is friendly yet unobtrusive. Also he is very observant. We were in the suite one afternoon and maintenance knocked – he had reported that one of our closet doors was loose, we hadn’t even noticed it yet. He also got the shower door fixed – before we could say anything.

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Muster drill was the fastest I’ve ever seen. We were through in less than 10 minutes and on our way to the spa for various appointments. In our group we basically tried out almost all of the services offered. We kept trying to figure out a way to take Kerry (the assistant spa manager who did manicures and pedicures), Vi (who did facials) and Chrystina (who did the seaweed wraps) home with us but unfortunately couldn’t it them in our suitcases. I have used the spa products at home previously and they have worked for me so I told them in advance what products I wanted. They did suggest some slightly different products for my face but did not give me a hard sale on any of them. My mother did get a hard sale on the Ionithermie products but they got the hint and quickly left her alone (don’t mess with my mom!).

Dining: We were at table 019 on deck 5 in the dining room. We had 2nd seating, this was the view one night as we ate dessert

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Our headwaiter was Yasa from Bali,

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our waiter Pedro Lopez from the Philippines,

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and our assistant waiter was Yun Hue from China.

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These 3 made this one of my best cruises ever. They laughed with us, and we had fun pulling tricks back and forth.

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Yasa even hand fed a few of us during the week. They introduced new menus during our cruise and we were very impressed with the offerings – and the quality of the food. There were many nights it was an extremely hard decision over what to order, and some nights they even brought us some items not on the menu, like the night they went searching for orange sherbet for one of our tablemates. The food in the Windjammer was also good but it was not the same as the items being served in the dining room. The solarium café was good, best friend liked the pizza, we all liked the grilled sandwiches, and especially loved the coconut ranger cookies! The only food issue during the week came at breakfast, when some days the bacon was undercooked both in the Windjammer and the dining room – but when people brought it to their attention it was immediately fixed. I usually preorder soy milk for breakfast but did not this cruise based on CC posts that told me it was always available. They had troubles finding it on the ship and about halfway through the cruise couldn’t find any at all. My own mistake and I will preorder in the future.

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Activities: CD is Keith Williams, there are always activities just different ones than on warm weather cruises, and not as jam packed – partially because the scenery really keeps you focused. There was daily trivia just not as frequent and usually at the same time as 2nd seating dinner. They have had daily dance classes and enrichment lectures on things like handwriting analysis. Plus there was a college professor giving lectures on Alaska and the ports we were visiting. Games like Love and Marriage and Quest were still offered – and were extremely fun, especially Quest where the CD changed it up a little.

Crew: Captain of this ship is Bjorn Broch Johansen.

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Loyalty Ambassador is Lynn Ngo. Enough can’t be said about how wonderful, friendly and helpful the crew on the Rhapsody is. The Captain woke us up every morning with a “Good Morning Sunshine, Wakey Wakey.” But it was the smiles of everyone else on the crew that kept lighting you up throughout the day.

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All were helpful and friendly.

 

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Ports:

Juneau – we followed HAL Amsterdam and Celebrity Millenium into Juneau on a beautiful, warm, sunny, clear day.

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We docked at the AJ dock which is the farthest from town. The AJ dock has a very steep gangway depending on the time of day and the tides. If you are not on a cruise line excursion, you can either walk into town or take the shuttle for $3 for all day. The shuttle drops you off outside the Mt. Roberts Tram. If you don’t want to pre-book an excursion there are tons of kiosks around the Mt. Roberts Tram where you can book an excursion or pick up a shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier.

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We were supposed to dock in Juneau around 11am but did not dock and get cleared by the local authorities until after 11:30. This was worrying because we had booked an independent whale watch excursion through Captain Larry’s (http://www.orcaenterprises.com/) and were supposed to meet at their office across from the Mt. Roberts Tram at 11:30. As soon as we got off the ship around 11:45 I called them to let them know that our ship was delayed – and they said not to worry they would wait for us. When we finally got to their office we checked in paid, and then walked across the street to board their shuttle out to Auke Bay. There were about 20 of us on the whale watch tour and almost as soon as we left Auke Bay we saw a humpback whale. Then it was quiet for a while – and they had to keep explaining to one family that wildlife doesn’t perform on command. But the wait was worth it as we eventually were surrounded by Orca Whales that just kept coming up all around us. We also saw sea lions and sea otters. We were very impressed with Captain Larry and his naturalist Tony. Captain Larry’s offers a combo tour that also takes you to Mendenhall Glacier which you need to book in advance. We didn’t know about it so went back to Juneau.

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Back downtown we did a little shopping, and then caught the $7 each way shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier (buy your tickets for one of 2 companies at the kiosks). If you want to use these shuttles do this first as the last shuttle runs to Mendenhall at 4pm and returns at 5pm (might be earlier so check). Mendenhall was beautiful and we wished we had more time out there. But we still got to see a glacier and see some icebergs. We then headed back to Juneau – the drive was very fun for me as my mother kept pointing out the places she knew from when she lived in Juneau previously.

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We still had plenty of time so best friend headed off for more shopping while mom and I tackled the Mt. Roberts Tram (cost is around $25 for an adult). It is a very quick ride to the top and well worth it for the view from the top. Juneau had over 200 inches of snow over the winter so there was still a lot of snow up top and the trails were still closed. Still it gave me a chance to put my hands in the snow. Mom and I had some fish and chowder at the Alaskan Brewing Company restaurant up there – and the food was very good. After we were finished at the Mt. Roberts Tram we took the shuttle back to the ship and then sat on our balcony to talk with the bridge crew and watch the late comers arrive.

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Wonderful write up! Thank you!

 

Thanks also for posting the photos, especially the one of the tug boat Crowley.

 

 

Thanks. I took tons of photos - and wrote a long review to go with it. There was such a lack of info especially about Rhapsody of the Seas so I tried to cover as much as possible.

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Skagway

Another warm beautiful sunny day in Alaska.

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Rhapsody was at the Railroad Dock, and again had a steep gangway (not quite as bad as Juneau).

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Mom was off the ship early for the first White Pass Railroad excursion of the day (booked through the ship).

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I went and picked up our rental car from Avis, and then explored Skagway.

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Mom and best friend returned from the Railroad with grins on their faces, describing beautiful scenery and the wildlife they’d seen (bears!!).

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Mom and I then set off to the Yukon using Murray’s Guide to the Klondike Highway (http://www.*****/) which was so helpful and worthwhile. It tells you what you’ll find all along the way with mileposts (kilometer posts in Canada) and pictures. It was great to know what was coming up and the stories. The Klondike Highway follows the same route as the White Pass Railroad into Canada (opposite side of the valley) and then heads up from BC into the Yukon Territory. We were stopping constantly for the gorgeous views and pictures.

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One note, bathrooms are scarce so go when there are facilities. Also remember to take your passport with you, we even got ours stamped when we reentered the US.

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Wonderful review!

We're sailing on Rhapsody July 18 - can hardly wait.

We've been busy booking our shore excursions in each port (mostly independent) and after reading your review we are chomping at the bit to get going!

Thanks for sharing and also for the great pictures.

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