Hoppe44

The 10 drink cards were sold starting on day 4 St Maarten day for $79 plus the 18% gratuity

 

 

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Thank you! Trying to decide if the drink package is worth it for this sailing. Puerto Rico is almost like a sea day since you leave at 2pm. Were on it Oct 8th!!

Couldn't find it in the compasses. Did they sell any drink cards on this cruise or just packages?

Thanks in advance!

We did this on our first cruise on RCCL. We went on the Rhapsody of the Seas and really enjoyed the smaller boat and all of the ports above.

Roatan was a lovely beach day with around a five minute boat ride over to Maya Key through the cruise ship. This small island is build for cruisers with a small zoo and lovely beach all around. It had fake ruins and our lunch was included. It is run by the same group who owns Anthony Keys dive resort (one of the best dive resorts in Honduras). So everything was very high quality. Pretty sure you could dive for the day from the cruise ship here as well. That group got on the boat the trip before us, our trips was mostly at our own leisure.

We really enjoyed the tender in Belize, we thought that it added to the experience of our first cruise. Nothing like packing onto a catamaran and watching the ocean breeze by at 8am in the morning. It sure wakes you up! We went cave tubing there and I'm not exactly sure we will ever cave tube again.. just one of those things we check marked off and were done with. It was quite a long ride to the caves, about an hour, which we were told was half way across the whole country! The port had nice shopping and cheap beer and food once we were back.

In Costa Maya we did the Maya Chan resort which is cruiser only resort. A lot of people above us posted about it and it is, or was, the number 1 rated thing to do in the Costa Maya area on trip advisor. We loved the area, it is a 100% natural beach, so don't expect it to be the amazing picture like beach you may find other parts of Mexico. It is family owned and operated. You will absolutely love the entire time you spend their. If Bruno still works their, tell him we said hi! This is an all inclusive day.

In Cozumel we did nachi cocom, another all inclusive beach resort like Costa Maya, however, we got food poisoning or something here. We ended up leaving at 2:00pm to go back to the ship and both of us had to use the restroom. Great resort with great reviews. Something just didn't sit well that day. We would like to try Cozumel again, and would like to spend more time in port with the lovely shops. We quickly grabbed what we wanted on the way back to the ship, but would love to look around more!

We loved this Itinerary. Cozumel is a huge port with many other ships there with you. In the other three stops, we were one of two ships in port each day. Made everything else like taxi's and getting around very simple.

Enjoy your cruise!

Additionally, after the 2 main show sittings, does there tend to be other entertainment later in the evenings ? Comedians etc ?

There was a late night comedian two nights that had adult only shows. Normally started about 11:00pm. They also have a "marriage gameshow" where they put four couples on stage and asked them adult only questions to see how much they knew about each other and other situations they had been in. We missed it but heard it was hilarious.

You also don't want to miss the "Quest" game show. It's an adult only scavenger hunt. Also hilarious and fun and it happens after the shows. It was on the last night on our 7 day cruise.

Really all the game shows are super funny because RCCL doesn't have control of what the passengers say. They just control the questions.. and it goes from there.

Thanks for this.

 

We anticipate that there would be fewer kids and youngsters at the later dining, hence our choice this way around. Is that a reasonable assumption to make ?

When we were on the ship there MIGHT have been 30-50 kids total, you got to remember this is a ship on the small side, it doesn't have as much for the kids to do as the Oasis class and way bigger ships. The crowd was a lot older as we went while school was in session. During breaks, I have no idea. And when we did eat dinner, at 5:30, there was a table next to us with children and we really didn't notice them. The waiters kept them entertained and laughing so it wasn't bad at all.

One other thing, your destination likely won't have as many kids since it's Europe and families that cruise typically look for good deals (I assume) and Europe is a little more expensive than say the Caribbean. Also I see you have only don't carnival before, and another assumption, since I've only done RCCL... LOT more kids on carnival than RCCL. They cater towards that crowd..

We are two retired couples, so on the other end of the spectrum than you! Were the cabins and beds comfortable? Was the food good? That's basically the negatives I'm seeing. We are Canadian, so on the polite side (lol), and aren't fussy high society types. We are looking for comfort and decent food, basically. Thank you for responding!

There we actually a lot of Canadians on our trip. I think they announced something like 160+! We sat with a couple at dinner from Canada and they were fantastic.

I felt the beds were fine. Nothing spectacular, but nothing wrong with them. We had an inside cabin on deck 4. 4007 to be specific if you look up a deck plan. I would recommend finding a room in the middle of the ship and low if you can (unless you want a balcony). Rhapsody is a small ship so being in the front or back of the ship and in rough seas = a lot of bobbing. Think of the ship as a teeter totter. It doesn't move as much in the middle.

We also aren't too fussy and actually kind of felt awkward at times with all the dinning being so formal (normal for cruises). The food was great and if you didn't like something, just send it back and they will bring you something back quickly. I promise you, they have read the bad reviews. They even mentioned them to us. They are working hard to get better and I really think it was fantastic. However we aren't up right and anything like what they provided would have felt great to us to be honest.

Four of us are looking to book an October cruise to the Greek Islands. It seems that the only lines that do this are RCI, MSC and Costa at that time (that are in our budget). The two itineraries that we are looking at leave from Venice and that means the Rhapsody of the Seas. The reviews I have been reading are not great and I don't want to book something that will be a poor experience. I have only been on one cruise (with HAL) to Alaska. Our friends have never been. I would like this to be a good experience. Will we be disappointed, or should we just ignore all the negative reviews and forge ahead to book? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much.

Hi,

super quick response but I'm on here because Im defending the ship it seems. I just got off my first cruise ever and it was on the Rhapsody of the Seas, Jan 21-28. I enjoyed the trip and really enjoyed the ship. The ship is on the smaller size, so you will have to decide if thats okay.

What kind of questions do you have? Ask away and I will answer them. We really enjoyed it and would go again. Don't listen to the negative reviews. People who have a bad time always post about it, its American culture. We like to complain about bad things and never really talk about the good. Its who we are.

Feel free to ask away and I will give my opinion. Im a 22 year old first time cruiser. So take that into account :)

Hey Guys that's brilliant !:)

 

I guessed we wouldn't be disadvantaged but just wanted to make sure

 

Thanks again

This is up to you, just off Rhapsody, but if you want the full crowd, try to switch to the 5:30 dining. The bigger crowd goes to the 8:30 show. We went to one 6:30 when we decided to eat in Winjammer for dinner one night and the atmosphere just wasn't the same as the full crowd late show.

Just my two cents. Enjoy your trip.

I will be going on my first Royal Caribbean cruise in March. It seems that there is little here about the older ships, and we are booked on the Rhapsody of the Seas. Has anyone sailed her lately who can talk about condition of the ship?

 

Since she's a smaller ship, do I need to worry at all about making reservations for shows? I would guess not, but am not sure.

 

We are going on the cheap, 3 women in a verandah cabin on Deck 7. I fear it will be really cozy, but for a week we should survive.

 

I am looking forward to trying a new cruise line. DH and I have done one Celebrity cruise back in 2006. The rest have all been on HAL. I am not a megaship person, as I'm more interested in the destinations than shipboard activities. I am just wanting some idea of what I can expect.

Hello!

We just got off the beautiful Rhapsody of the Seas from the Jan 21-28 cruise. This was our first cruise and I truly believe it was a great choice to pick a smaller cruise ship for our first one. We never felt overwhelmed we were able see basically everything that we wanted to on a daily basis. We are young, 21 and 22 and found the crowd on board to be a little bit older. However, they were very active and the ship had events, gameshows and nightly shows in the Broadway Melodies theatre that everyone can enjoy. Being that this was our first cruise, we may be quite bias, but we loved it. The staff was great and friendly, willing to answer all our questions and help us through all our needs. The entertainment on board is amazing. We missed the marriage game show and regret it. From what we heard it was the funniest show all week.

Each night they have a production show and we attended every one aside from the opening night when we were stuck in the dining room a little late (first night, seating issues). We enjoyed every show and would get there early (7:50 for an 8:30) showing to make sure we got our seats where we liked them as it is first come first serve seating. The ship has great games shows. Make sure to find Max and the young Brazilian gal. They are SO funny together. They had us rolling laughing every single night.

Last but not least, go into the cruise with an open mind. Know that you are on a little bit of an older ship and it isn't going to have the bells and whistles of the Oasis Class big guys RCCL has these days. If you are willing to have fun and keep a great attitude, it will be an awesome time.

Also, one last tip. Show up to Tampa Cruise terminal around 10:30am. They start boarding the ship at 10:30 and the terminal gets REALLY busy starting about 11:00-11:15. We got there and through security and on board by 11:15, 45 min in line. But the line sure filled up behind us quick.

Enjoy your trip and if you have waiter Alex at table 226, tell him HI!

-Josh

Yes we went to Nachi Cocom in 2015 and going again tomorrow. They are similar as the beaches are a bit rough in both places.

Nachi has a bigger choice for food but you will not got hungry at either.

 

Maya Chan has a bigger variety of places to sit, you can be more private if you like.

 

The price is higher for Maya Chan but it also covers transportation round trip.

 

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We are doing both next week! Cannot wait.

You have to get your own cab to Nachi Cocom, correct?

Thanks for the review. Will be following all the way as we will be boarding on Saturday once you all dock!!

Enjoy the trip!!