Back today from Rhapsody!

[sqnut]

We had a fabulous time on our ROS cruise!!! Two families travelling, and we all had a blast. First cruise and the most relaxing vacation ever. We were surprised by the food which we expected to be just ok, but we were very, very happy with not only the food, but the service and oh, the music was just perfect. We had a junior suite which was fine for us and we were oh so happy to have paid the $$ for the balcony. It added a special something and was well worth the $$$. Our 14 yo son had a great time though he didn't mingle much. I would suggest booking any excursions through RC as our excursion in Grand Cayman (Rays and Reef Combo) could have been a disaster if we had booked privately. The boat that took us out to snorkel broke down out on the reefs and they had to radio another boat to pick us up. Rhapsody had to wait for us so we were thrilled that this fun excursion didn't turn out to be a disaster :) We can't wait to go again!!!

[mledet]

Hi Everyone.

 

I have been reading your posts and Elaine's review of her sailing on the Rhapsody. One thing I have to add is that I found the crew on the ship to be exceptional. I'm a single mom. My son and I sailed her last summer, and couldn't get over how much they made us feel right at home. This trip for us was so relaxing and fun!

 

Elaine is absolutely accurate in her descriptions. I will do this sailing again and again as long as I can afford it. :) We were talking to one of the crew members one night, and he enlightened us on why ROS won friendliest/best crew in the fleet. They set a goal to go above and beyond their required tasks. And Wow! they succeeded. The crew is very close, and they just worked together toward a common goal......and from what I understood, they don't want that award to go to any other crew......ever!

 

Hmmm! Can't wait to see them again.

Happy Sailing.

Mae Ann

[susanNjay]

Hi Everyone.

 

I have been reading your posts and Elaine's review of her sailing on the Rhapsody. One thing I have to add is that I found the crew on the ship to be exceptional. I'm a single mom. My son and I sailed her last summer, and couldn't get over how much they made us feel right at home. This trip for us was so relaxing and fun!

 

Elaine is absolutely accurate in her descriptions. I will do this sailing again and again as long as I can afford it. :) We were talking to one of the crew members one night, and he enlightened us on why ROS won friendliest/best crew in the fleet. They set a goal to go above and beyond their required tasks. And Wow! they succeeded. The crew is very close, and they just worked together toward a common goal......and from what I understood, they don't want that award to go to any other crew......ever!

 

Hmmm! Can't wait to see them again.

Happy Sailing.

Mae Ann

 

I couldn't help but notice that you are from Leesville, LA....I am from Anacoco, LA! We are sailing on the Rhapsody tomorrow. We are sooooo excited! We just started cruising last year, and plan to make at least one cruise every year!

Thanks so much for your information about the crew. Any other pointers or comments are welcomed....I will check the boards again at least a few times today and one more time before we leave in the morning...

--Susan

[Alphawave]

In answer to the bigger ships out of Galveston, NO. Can't have them because of the oil rigs. Captain says they get rid of the rigs and they can sail larger ships into Galveston.

Saturday, always a sad day, last day of cruise. We packed most of our stuff after breakfast, to get it out of the way. Took it easy and ordered room service. I particularly like the caesar salads and the cheese plates that the service sends. DH liked the turkey sandwiches, made on Italian bread. We kinda moped around and discussed the things we didn't do. We were too tired on the Gala buffet night and missed it altogether, even to take a peek. We probably wasted a block of time shopping in Cozumel (won't do that again), and I don't think I would play bingo again, as it takes up a good portion of time and costs a minimum of $35 a session. Many people LOVE the bingo, however, but I NEVER win.....Finally we decided to take a nap, but nothing cheered us up until we walked down the hallway to the Crown and Anchor future cruise booking. Yes, we did it. Booked next year April on the Rhapsody and chose the 8088 (apparently famous wrap-around balcony Jr Suite). That is the port side wrap-around. They gave us a choice, and for some reason I think I remembered that port-side wrap-around was more popular. Hopefully, someone like TXsailor will know the answer to that question....are you out there, TXsailor? Hope I made the right decision! Anyway, that cheered us up considerably, and we enjoyed the last night dinner - a great NY strip steak and escargot for appetizer. We opted for the karaoke instead of the 9pm show , and really enjoyed ourselves. We then went to see the "Adult" comedian , which was ok.

Sunday am, we ate our only breakfast in the dining room, which some frequent cruiser said keeps you away from the frantic last morning crowds. We were a Rose colored disembark ticket and we waited until only 9am to receive our call, and poof, we were off and located our baggage without a problem. We caught the shuttle to EZ-park, and were in our car on the road by 9:30 and home by 11:00 AM.

This was my husband's first cruise (my second since 1978), and guess what.........he LOVES IT!!!!! Yea, another cruise addict!!!!! Now my home page on the computer is the picture of the Rhapsody he took while we were in Grand Caymen!

I couldn't imagine a better ship, easier port, and better service people on board. Also, I can tell you that the cruisers were a broad range of ages and all but a few very nice. (Lots of cranky people last year on the Splendour that I sailed with fellow nurses). So that was a nice surprise!!! The entertainment was fantastic, the casino paying out and the food was very, very good! We recommend this ship to everyone!

 

Elaine

[Cruise Cat]

I guess I don't understand about the oil rigs and the larger ships. Is the problem right there at the peir where they have to turn around?

[Alphawave]

yes, I believe that is what he said. Oh, well.

 

 

Elaine

[carla dawn]

We leave tomorrow and are so excited. We are also in a jr suite and was wondering if you used the "suite" check-in at boarding or if oyu just used the regular check-in line?? I think that jr. suites get special boarding???Right??

 

Thanks. Carla

[Alphawave]

You can you the priority boarding with any kind of suite or if you are a diamond c&a.

[mledet]

hi you guys! gosh....wish I'd known.....I'd have given you all a couple of things from the ship to get you ahead. Don't miss anything! And, if Derrick Lewis is still in the schooner bar at night, tell him I said hello. look at my user name here......hehe....look in your phone book. call if you like. I'll answer questions. Will be home tonight, too.

I'm sooooo jealous......I'm going back on her ASAP....looks like June.....after the dance recital.

Mae Ann

[mledet]

depends on the sailing and how many are there. jr. suites get some priority, but not all. Oh....get to the pier early. it's worth it.....you can board....chances are your cabin won't be ready, but it's worth going on and enjoying the lunch buffet while everyone else waits in line to board. :)

[susanNjay]

We are leaving right after church in the morning (and our church is early) so we will hopefully be in Galveston at 1:00. We hope to board early and have the buffet....the only problem for us is that there is a big "beach party" weekend event that -- according to the Galveston/Houston area information -- is expected to draw at least 100,000 people. We always go to Galveston on the Bolivar Ferry, so we are hoping that our route will not be as congested as I-45.

Can you believe that I have not finished putting all of our stuff in our suitcases?! :eek:

I had better get busy!

--Susan

[sqnut]

We were on this cruise and we had a blast!! Two families with 4 kids, 11-15, and all had a great time. Kids did not participate in youth activities. DARN. But they had fun relaxing and having some independence. Weather was great, food was very good, service was excellent. We had no complaints at all except that the trip had to end. Pack lightly. Duffle bags come in handy as you can stuff them under the beds and save space. We had a jr suite with balcony which was plenty big!!

[ernie16]

Thank you Elaine and to the others who contributed there thoughts s well. I can only hope our cruise on the 24th will be as nice as yours.