Just another Rhapsody review 4/24-5/01, 2005

[BonnieNYTX]

Budaman, I wish I were in a JS. I'm in a steerage cabin.. inside. LOL I picked up that term on a previous thread and thought it to be so funny. Don't get me wrong. I am thrilled to be going at all!! Thanks for clearing up the mattress issue. I'll ask for a pad the first day just in case.

 

I have a general Grand Cayman question. We want to do Stingray City but we don't snorkel. We will be happy to stay on the boat when everyone goes to their snorkeling stop after Stingray City. Do you think that is doable? Ok here is where I need help. Do we go on the Rhapsody excursion and be herded on the boat like cattle but have the insurance of not missing the ship, or.. do we go with Nativeway, Captain Marvin or any other excursion company. Thanks for your input. I emailed both companies a few days ago and still have not received a reply.

[wolfganghowell]

We went through the ship several years ago and had a great time. Also, unless the hurricane changed the sandbar, most of Stingray City is fairly shallow. Depending on your height, it can be anywhere from thigh deep to just below shoulders. so you can stand in the water if you want to interact with the stingrays.

[budaman]

Evening Bonnie....

 

That's a tough one to answer. We dove while we were in Grand Cayman and because of the short Port time and tendering we went with RCI's dive excursion rather than going with more recommended operators. The dive was enjoyable, but would rather have dove different sights. If the roads to the other side of the islands have been repaired, I would rent a car and go to Stingray on my own, but I've been to GC before as we have a condo there and I feel comfortable driving. If you set up with another vendor, remember that Cayman time will be 1 hr later than Rhapsody time. If the ship is on time, the first tender should hit the dock just past 8 which is the early bird tender and is 1st come, 1st served. After that, Rhapsody excursions take priority and then tender tickets for non Rhapsody excursions. Everyone I have talked to that has been to Stingray City has raved about it. I know several of our M&M group went there so hopefully they'll chime in and give you some more useful info than I can.

 

One question for you....do you not want to snorkle because you've never done it or do you just not like it?

 

Mike

[ernie16]

Good Evening Rhapsody fans,

 

Yep even if you pick up your phone when you wake up and order room service it comes very very quickly, still hot, pretty much as you requested and we even noticed on ours they always thru in something we didn't order like a couple danish or something sweet. We were impressed with the fast responsive room service. Never did fill out the Breakfast card..heck by the time we stumbled back to the room was unable to write!! LOL

[BonnieNYTX]

Evening Bonnie....

 

 

One question for you....do you not want to snorkle because you've never done it or do you just not like it?

 

Mike

 

OK OK Mike, you found me out. I never snorkled (is that a word?) and am apprehensive. I swim in deep water in a pool but.. not sure I could snorkle out in the open. I really am not sure what my comfort zone would be and how secure I would feel. I will be happy enough with Stingray City. So would DH. I doubt DH would want to rent a car and do it ourselves so we have to think of a planned excursion. I will take into consideration the time difference. I looked at one (Capt. Marvin) that is 10:45AM-1:30PM which would be 9:45AM to 12:30PM ship time. Think we will have a prob getting a tender on time??

Wolf, thanks for your post. I was able to look at some pictures of Stingray City and or course we want to interact with the Rays.

Sorry to take the thread away from the Rhapsody. At least I will be on it. LOL

[brn2crz]

I think I will go back to my original plan on getting there around 12:30 or 1, that way by the time we check in we can drop our stuff off in the cabin. And we wouldn't have to leave home very early. We only live about 3 hours away. The only problem with that is...I'll have to feed my two teen sons something before we get there!!!! No way they can wait that long to eat!! Boys seem to get empty every few hours. Especially the 16 year old. I'm sure we will all have a great time. We are coming with family...my parents 50th anniversary. There will be 12 of us...lots of kids and lots of fun for all. :D

 

FYI...There is a Fuddruckers within doable walking distance for two teen boys.Facing the dock..

[budaman]

Lets do a little catchup now that Amazing race is over! Had to tape it cause I worked till 9. Hooray for Uchena & Joyce.

 

1) snorkeling in salt water is very easy because you are much more bouyant(float easier) and I would recommend getting your own mask & snorkel before you go from a dive shop. The new dry snorkels are so easy to use and you can get prescrition masks on the spot if you need them(which I do) As I mentioned earlier, so many people fail to see the most amazing part of these islands because they are hesitant. Trust me (can't take the car guy out of me :D ) I'm no physical speciman and I can do it!

 

2) You can go to the Windjammer and eat as soon as you get on board and boy what a spread. Just stop on the way out @ MD or Whataburger and the human disposals should be fine till you reach the ship ;)

 

3) Ernie has lots of info so milk him for all he's worth. He needs it right now cause he had to finally go back to work yesterday!

 

4) No one wants to think about disembarkment even before the cruise, but....as soon as you get to the customs/baggage claim warehouse, find the line for porter/bagcart and one of you get in it while your companions search for bags(which are arranged in groups by tag color) We were able to get 6 peoples bags including dive gear on 1 cart. The few $ you spend on tips are well worth it. We tied bandanas on our bags to make them more visible.

 

If you have several different tag colors in your group, just let the Purser know and they will let you get the same color tags so you can all depart at the same time.

 

Finally, they have what they call Express Departure if you want to carry all your bags off. If you elect this, you can deboard at 7:30, but unless you are in a severe time crunch, it's so much nicer to end your cruise with one last fantastic breakfast at the Windjammer.

 

I know there is more that will come to me, but that short term memory loss is murder so keep asking and we'll try to answer!

 

Rhapsody of the Seas at anchor Georgetown, Grand Cayman

April 28,2005

[ernie16]

A quick word about customs area..after you claim your baggage it is a little difficult to figure out where the customs folks are stationed at:confused: . Because it is hard to see over a sea of people.

 

Not to mention the signage is verk week and once you get in a so called line it is not very well defined i,e markings etc..It turned out what we thought were multiple lines turned out to be everyone funneling into TWO lines:mad: So it takes a little while to exit to say the least. This of course is not RCCL's fault..just our federal Gov't at work!! This is no way your normal run of the mil customs facility basically a few card table set up and agents checking your declaration and passports. I did not see them look into anyones bags as I did'nt see anywhere to even set them..but I am sure if they so desired to look they would and could. I heard that the luggage is all gone over by drug sniffing dogs prior to you claiming it. So be careful, and I might add the dogs know the difference between your dirty undies and dope..LOL becareful

[mikefast]

We just got back from a different cruise on Monday, (Hawaii) and now are looking forward to being on the Rhapsody Sept. 25. We have been on her twice before and are really anxious to get on her again. This time it is a small family reunion. I'm glad to hear she is just as good as she was when we were on her before. Thanx to everybody for their comments.

[budaman]

From one Mike to another, you'll have a blast. I imagine the Hawaii cruise was one to remember!

 

Was hoping we could keep this going until I got my homepage pictures ready and thought I had it last night. Went to preview it and...POOF...they went to that big picture graveyard in the sky. Won't hit preview again, that's for sure.

[tiggy]

Budaman-

 

Would you recommend Dive with Martin? We're eyeing them for our October cruise since they're right at the dock. I've seen other good reviews of them over at scubaboard, but would like a cruiser's prospective. Also, did you use their rental gear, and if so, how was it?

 

Thanks!

[budaman]

Dive w/Martin fit our bill perfectly. We had 5 in our group and arranged a private charter with them. Being right on the Intl. Pier made it super easy. Cost was $370 for the 5 of us plus we got an additional 5% discount for paying cash. The use ScubaWaco in Tx to handle the transactions here in the US. Martin's English is not so great, so emails back and forth are confusing sometimes, but everything worked out great! We used a 27' Fast Boat and were able to pass up the majority of dive boats getting to the sights. I was the only one in our group that needed BC & reg and Martin threw that in. It was nice using a BC with the weight pockets and not having to use a seperate belt. The boat leaves right from the pier and as soon as we got on, Miguel(dive master) & Jose(boat Capt) asked us if we had any particular dive profile we wanted to do. since we hadn't been to Cozumel in quite a few years and not familiar with the current conditions we asked Miguel to use his judgement. He felt Santa Rosa and Tormentos were the best fit for us so thats where we went. We did our break between dives @ Nachi Cocum.

 

PS... Got some great pictures using our dinosaur Nikonos...hope to get them posted in the next couple of days!

 

Mike

 

One last thing, we were held on the Rhapsody for about 45 minutes after docking because of some issue with Port Authorities, but it caused no problems with Dive w/Martin and they were great to dive with. We will use them again.

[cruisin' scrapper]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a great review! This will be my first time on the Rhapsody & like all first-timers, I read everything I can about her.

[budaman]

Go with an open mind and take everything you read on a forum with a grain of salt and you'll have a great time!:D

 

Mike

[tiggy]

Thanks for the quick reply. Dive with Martin's sounds perfect for us. We're new to diving, so good rental gear is a requirement for us. And not having to deal with another weight belt makes my day!

 

Thanks again!

[mgcoiso]

I think I may have a dumb question but I have never cruised before so you will have to excuse me...Is room service free?:rolleyes:

[budaman]

Glad I could give you some helpful info. This was our first cruise and we had concerns about the diving also. Red Sail(RCI uses them on excursions) in GC was good and used them because we were concerned about time there, but wish now, we would have done a private charter there also. It's definetely the way to go. The rest of our group took all their own gear and afterwards wished they would have just rented like I did. Hauling around a Scuba Gear Bag on a cruise ship is not a lot of fun if your only going to get to dive one day in each Port! Only getting one day in each location is the biggest drawback of Cruise diving. There's just too many good dive sites, especially in Cozumel!

 

Mike

[wolfganghowell]

Room service is free but like anything with service, you should probably tip them a buck or two. some people probably don't but I would.

[budaman]

Mgcoiso.....we did room service the first morning(had to wear sunglasses in the cabin:D ) It was very good, and if you want to tip, you need to give the server cash because they don't bring a receipt or anything that you can charge it to. Believe me, it was worth the few bucks to not have to be seen in public that first morning!

 

Mike

[mgcoiso]

The tip goes without saying...thank you very much!;)

[jwlane]

we did room service the first morning....and if you want to tip, you need to give the server cash ...

 

Not "if you want", but when you tip.

 

That's one of my favorite things on Rhapsody, the warning phone call, then the rap on the door signaling the arrival of my coffee! A helpful tip for newbies, bring along 30-40 one-dollar bills for these occurances.

[budaman]

jwlane....I like the way you put it better than I did! On the Rhapsody, I didn't run into a single crew member the entire week that didn't have a smile on their face and a helping hand ( and not one with with the arm outstetched and palm up) when we needed it. In fact, the gentleman that brought our breakfast tried to scurry out of our cabim so quick, I had to grab him to tip him!

 

Mike

[Coconut Monkey]

I had the same problem with trying to catch the man who brought us our roomservice last year on the AOS. In fact, at first he said "that's okay" with a big smile on his face and tried to scurry out as well. I'll be ready for them when I go on the Rhapsody in September.

 

CM

[budaman]

That's one thing about having an Intl. crew. Here in the states, the person working the cash register at a buffet, who won't even look at you let alone smile, EXPECTS a tip. We're so spoiled!

 

Mike

[ernie16]

Hey Mike buddy we will keep the thread going till you figure out the pic glich.. Hey go find some elementary school kid they can make these computers hum:D They start on em young now. I know the pics will be awsome when done. Hey throw one in of Brandy and Derek's wedding.