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

[budaman]

Well good morning Ernie! You're so right about kids and computers. Course if you gave one of them a slide rule, they probably wouldn't know what it was. At least we know what a computer is :D

[budaman]

At least I can do this, maybe I can get Anjie to hepl with the album :rolleyes:

[ernie16]

Thanks Mike cool pics..That looks like a really neat wedding! Wish them a lifetime of happiness!! That sunset shot is another great shot!!

Hope you guys all have a great weekend. We will be spending it with family in Disneyland!! Heck that place is more expensive than a week at sea!!!!:D

[budaman]

Thanks Ernie! Actually, that is a sunrise shot taken the 2nd morning heading to Key West. I actually got up most mornings prior to hurting my ankle and did some excersize on deck.

[ernie16]

I got most of my exercise at Nachi Cocum...lifting those Rum Punch glasses:D :eek:

 

We just really enjoyed that beach,,a very cool place!!!

[camreesmom]

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

 

Hi Bayou Babies....I am officially addicted to cruising (and to Cruise Critic) and I just noticed that you're from the same area as me. Do you mind me asking who you are? I feel pretty certain that we have to know at least who the other person is since this is such a small town. I have kids in school here too so it is totally possible that the kids also know each other. We have a BIG group cruising on the Ecstasy in July (31 of us!) and then DH and I will be going on our 2nd Rhapsody cruise in September. Let me know if you feel like chatting. I would love to talk to a fellow cruiser in this area! :)

[CruzinJo]

and everyone else too!!!

 

HELLO GUYS!!!!! I finally made it here and it's GREAT! I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS! :) i think they're shipshape! i had such a great time with you guys and the ship, is just beautiful, espeically for being 8 years old. Here are some suggestions from my perspective:

 

Key West - take the trolley/train 1 hr excursion for $22, you get to see the whole 5 miles by 2 miles of Key West and decide what you want to do that day. DO NOT MISS having a frozen key lime pie dipped in chocoloate on a stick (got it at Kermit's Key Lime shop) and it is to die for! Ate at Kelly's (Kelly McGilli's restaurant from Top Gun and Witness) and it was yummy! we didn't want to go back to the ship so we splurged.

 

Grand Cayman - if you're a beach person, take a $3 taxi to any beach area instead of spending bigger $$ on a shore excursion. you can rent chairs or umbrellas ($5 ea.) at the Royal Palms and anywhere is just beautiful. There is still major hurricane damage (sooooo sad) after 7 months from Ivan, my gosh. I've been there 6 times and it is just sad...but they're recovering and it's still magnificent. great liquor prices (better than the ship on many things too). you order it and they deliver to the ship and you receive it last night of cruise.

 

Cozumel - NACHI COCUM BABY! ernieeeeeeeeeeeeee, i need another rum punch!!!!! oh man, great place, we booked it off the internet $32 for the day. fresh water pool, with swim up bar (oh man!), major big hot tub, reserved beach hut, 2 hr lunch buffet, and OPEN BAR all day and they were free with their liquor (ask for double shots if you like) and we had a blast! cab is a max of $15 (not per person, per cab) to and from. seaweed on the bottom of the water but oh well. i had a FANTASTIC time. do NOT miss having a $35 massage for 30 minutes on the beach in a hut with sheer curtains and zen music! that was the best massage i've ever had and so decadent! and how lucky for ernie/bev kathy and i to have mike and his troops stop at nachi between dives, toooooo cool! how's the foot mike???? have a rum punch, it'll be fine!

 

ENJOY THE SHIP, it was just soooo much fun! :D The Schooner Bar was just a riot, casino took my $$$, solarium pool is amazing (with a cold water jacuzzi right in the pool) and great food!

 

mike, you entered the ship on deck 1???? WHAT????? deck 1 doesn't even exist, it's crew level. we exited the ship on deck 2 for tenders and stuff, huh??? i've done 10 cruises and never heard of such a thing - we entered into the centrum deck 4 when we boarded at 12:10 pm, PLEASE explain!???!!!!

 

to answer some ??s: internet was 50 cents per minute, just FYI. we boarded in 10 minutes (my best ever boarding on a ship) and our room (Junior Suite upgrade from RC-we booked balcony) was ready and we went right to it. i've never had a problem boarding after 11 am and having a ready room (maybe just luck??) and the food is PLENTIIFUL IMMEDIATELY. drop your stuff and GO GO GO! I would assume even if your room isn't ready, your cabin steward will let you place your stuff and GO, no need to carry it or worry about it, believe me.

 

only read to bottom of page 2, will catch up later, wanted to post this.

 

and NOOOOO, we are not gonna let this thread die, it's just gonna sail on forever!

 

i'm so glad we met mike/connie and ernie/bev, great people and so much fun, definitely plan on hanging with you peeps for life!

jody:)

Holiday (Caribbean) – Carnival 6/13/1987

Celebration (Caribbean) – Carnival 6/25/1988

Sovereign of the Seas (Caribbean) – Royal Caribbean – 10/21/1989

Festivale (Caribbean) – Carnival – 6/3/1990

Imagination (Caribbean) – Carnival – 1995

Celebration (Caribbean) – Carnival – 1997

Carnival Destiny (Caribbean) – Carnival – 1998

Sensation (Caribbean) – Carnival – 3/17/2002

Island Princess (Alaska) – Princess – 7/19/2003

Rhapsody of the Seas (Caribbean) – Royal Caribbean – 4/24/2005

HOPEFULLY PRIDE OF AMERICA – NCL 6/18/05 with REGIS & KELLY!

Pride of America (Hawaii) – NCL – 10/1/2005

[budaman]

Was it Deck 2? Could have sworn we went down to 1 when we got off the ship. I guess thats what bringing 5 btls of champagne, 2 btls of wine & 2 btls of margaritas & 2 shots of tequila will do. No wonder I fell off the dive boat:D .

 

As far as boarding, we didn't come in to the Centrum. Guess because we were kind of late getting there. Where we entered was even with the height of the dock.

 

Guess I just need to go again and take better notes!:rolleyes:

 

Mike

[ernie16]

Hey Jody, Mike may have entered thru deck 1 after he fell overboard and the crew pulled him back in!!!

 

Nice review Jody. Damn I missed that key lime dipped in chocolate:mad: That must have been the only chocolate I missed.

 

The thing that I hate the most about cruising is once i get back home most of my clothes have shrank just hanging in the closet for a week:confused: :D I hope everyone has a great weekend.

[budaman]

Ernie.....was that YOU running around the deck naked all week!!!!

[CruzinJo]

hey mike

i just got out the RC brochure and it was deck 1 we tendered and exited/entered from on the ship, sorry about that. we took the elevator to deck 2 and walked to deck 1 several times for some silly reason so i had to look it up. i just can't imagine why a 2:45 pm they would move the entrance to the ship to that level, it's still early and that is so weird. :confused:

ernie was nekked and i missed it? darnnnnnn. i know he was topless! lol. :D

oh man, that key lime pie dipped in belgium chocolate was amazing and welllll worth the $3.50! they have a website (www.keylimeshop.com) that i will definitely order from. shipping is free over $30 - i spent that muc in the shop and lugged it around - heavily - for too long!;)

i gained 2 lbs on the cruise but lost 4 when i got home (got a tummy thing) so i'm not complaining. i am so much more active on cruises that i usually lose 2 lbs but eat twice as much. so i guess i really ate too much this cruise or did less? nahhhh!

ok cutting this off now, my posts have been long lately, chatty cathy - lol, not me, noooooo way!

jody :)

[mechcc]

Great reviews! We just booked our 2nd cruise on the Rhapsody today for next April. Glad to hear the staff is just as friendly as before.

[susanNjay]

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.

 

Just had to throw in a suggestion here...we got our "stingray city" snorkel excursion through the bestofcaribbean website. Our group was small--had individual attention and plenty of time with stingrays--noticed the larger excursions seemed rather chaotic and it looked like quite a lot of the people in other groups may not have ever gotten close to the stingrays, let alone getting to touch, feed, and be photographed with them.

[BonnieNYTX]

Just had to throw in a suggestion here...we got our "stingray city" snorkel excursion through the bestofcaribbean website. Our group was small--had individual attention and plenty of time with stingrays--noticed the larger excursions seemed rather chaotic and it looked like quite a lot of the people in other groups may not have ever gotten close to the stingrays, let alone getting to touch, feed, and be photographed with them.

 

 

SusanNjay: Thanks for the info. I'll look into bestofcaribbean after i get my hourly fix of reading the boards. LOL OK, I might be embellishing a bit but where else would I get great advice? If we don't get to touch, feed the stingrays, the whole trip for us would be a waste. It's why we are going. Time and time on the boards I have read that if we only do one excursion it MUST be stingray city.

[budaman]

Let's see if we can access my pictures now.

 

//homepage.mac.com/csealove/photoalbum1.html

[budaman]

//www.homepage.mac.com/csealove/

[budaman]

http://www.homepage.mac.com/csealove/

 

It's amazing what happens when you read directions. Now all I need to do is get the page to look like I want and add captions. Maybe tonight!

[ernie16]

Morning Friends & Neighbors,

 

Mike that looks like it is going to be a fantastic album, will check it out when I ge t home from work. Got in late last night from fantastic and EXPENSIVE trip to Disneyland. The 50 th anniversary fireworks show is to die for.

 

I wasn't running around naked it's called streaking!!! Who remembers that past fad???

[Stircrzy]

Thanks for taking the time to post those photos, Buda!

[CruzinJo]

hey mike

 

just viewed your pix and they are AWESOME! love the flags on your balcony, too cool, should be the NEW JERSEY state flag though, lol!!!! The weclome to cozumel pic of you and connie is adorable, never saw that before and the colors in your SCUBA pix are GREAT! love the picture of the ship in the "fog" in grand cayman. how did you get the boat to come out clear, or was that just the way it was when you took the picture? amazing! thanks so much for sharing, they rock!

[pjinaz]

Great reviews and pictures.

 

Does anyone know if you can order room service for breakfast on debarkation day? I have been on several cruises and normally they do not allow it, but the last cruise we went on you could order room service and then wait in your room until your color was called. That was so nice because I have two little girls and sometimes it can get very congested with everyone waiting in the public areas to get off the ship at the same time.

 

Also does anyone know the hours of Adventure Ocean kids club the day the ship docks in Key West? Normally its open 9-12 and then 2-5 and 7-10 but on port days 1/2 hour before 1st shore excursion. Is it open earlier in the day since we don't get to Key West until late afternoon? Also does it close from 5 -7 since we are in port?

 

I appreciate any help.

 

Thanks.

[budaman]

pjinez....don't know off the top of my head, but I have all the Compasses from the cruise, so I can check when I get home tonight if no one else can answer. I doubt they will do Room Service that last morning because I believe the dining room is closed and only the Windjammer is serving. I know they wanted us out of the cabins by 8.

[susanNjay]

When we were on the Rhapsody, we ate breakfast in the diningroom on the last morning and we even were told by the wait staff to take our time. They didn't rush us at all--we sat at a table with two other couples and we stayed in the diningroom until about 8:45. The waiters were so helpful and kept refilling our coffee even though they were working on getting the diningroom ready for later.

 

I will also check my compasses for the adventure ocean times for Key West...

 

--Susan

[budaman]

See there! That's what's so great about these boards. Everyone gets to see the cruise from a different perspective and one person might see something the other doesn't. We were so concerned about getting all our stuff out, we missed the chance at having a great breakfast in the Dining Room....and if that's the case, it's very possible you could get Room Service. Now that would have been fantastic! I'll have to file that in the memory banks for the next cruise:)

[CruzinJo]

yah mike, we did have breakfast on disembarkation day in the dining room also. our waiter/busboy told us the last dinner night that it was available as well as the windjammer. it was open seating on the lower level of the DR. bummer you missed that. of course i overate on the ship for the last time. i actually wanted to go to the windjammer, how was it? it's all good the way i look at it! and darn, i have all my compass's here at work with me but i'm missing only one - guess which one? yup, key west, day #3. i guess it's in key west somewhere or i would check the kid thing for you. great thing about these boards, someone will let you know! enjoy, bring on chili's!!!