Rhapsody of the seas Alaska cruise

[mommabean]

We did have a great time on Rhapsody. We were with friends so we didn't do specialty restaurants like we normally do but we've done them all on this ship in the past. What I've found is that they are all usually very good but it can depend on which chef is there and when they joined. There can be off nights but usually you can count on them to outshine the MDR. I have no problem with the MDR in most cases.

 

Tracy's Crab Shack is in Juneau. We did eat there meeting up with friends from Radiance since we were in port together. When Radiance is doing it's southbound cruise, you will be in port together in Juneau and Skagway.

 

Capt. Rob is so very funny. When he speaks, everyone becomes quiet and listens. His announcements are not to be missed.

 

We had great weather on our cruise. We also saw many whales directly from the ship while cruising. All you need to do is hang out near windows and if you don't see them, someone will and everyone will be standing there looking in no time. Even in the dining room during breakfast or lunch, whales or dolphins (porpoises) might be spotted.

 

We went to Dawes Glacier in Tracy Arm Fjords. Apparently there is another option depending on conditions. We've been to Hubbard Glacier twice on Radiance since completing this cruise on Rhapsody. They say Hubbard is much nicer. Maybe so because of size. But the cruise into Dawes is far superior, as you've seen by the posted photos, so it's worth is to get up and enjoy the scenery.

 

If you have concierge access, either concierge is terrific. The crew is definitely on! Maria, the hostess of My Time Dining is a sweetheart and always upbeat. We never had anything but excellent service. On of our favorite bartenders is on this ship but his contract ended the day we disembarked.

 

We drove directly to Radiance in Vancouver and boarded the same day we left Rhapsody, so it's all becoming a big blur to me now. We spent a week in Vancouver after getting off Radiance and got on her again a week later disembarking again today. So, talk about a lot to remember. It seems like forever since we were on Rhapsody. But I remember we loved it and had a wonderful time. I do love Radiance class ships more. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy Vision class ships.

 

I do remember that boarding in Seattle is one of the worst places ever. But you get over it once on board the ship. I did make a point of commenting about the disorganized boarding process on my comment card. Hopefully if enough comments are made they'll do something to fix the problems.

 

If there is anything specific I can answer, I'll do my best.

 

One little side note, my favorite place to eat breakfast is Park Cafe. We have eaten in all the specialty restaurants on Rhapsody, just not this cruise. We did eat in Izumi which I always love.

 

One more thing. We loved Graham even if his welcome aboard speech at the show was way too long. He's quite funny and friendly otherwise.

 

Gina

Edited June 21, 2014 by mommabean

[Clarea]

...We went to Dawes Glacier in Tracy Arm Fjords. Apparently there is another option depending on conditions. ...

Gina, I believe it's Dawes Glacier in Endicott Arm, and Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm.

 

We did that cruise two years ago and Captain Rob decided there was too much ice in Tracy Arm, so he took us to Endicott Arm instead.

 

I agree about Captain Rob, we really enjoyed his announcements.

[deej696]

Thank you Thank you!! I'm on Rhapsody in a few short weeks. So excited! I have a few questions.

We are doing the same thing in Juneau. Was the $20 pp round trip or one way?

Where is Tracy's Crab Shack? Port?

Thanks for the cards/book suggestion. I was just telling my kids we are heading to a used book store to get some reading material. I didn't have cards on my list though!

My youngest was bummed we aren't doing a whale tour. Your sightings from the cruise has made him excited again. I hope we are as lucky as you :)

 

thanks again!

 

The shuttle was $20 round trip. Naturally all of their signs say $10 but supposedly that is each way. There are like 8 booths offering tours all next to one another (probably the same company, truth be told) and they were all quoting the same price.

 

Tracy's Crab Shack is in Juneau. A little pricey, but a one of a kind experience. We made it our dinner that day;)

 

Hi D.J. and thank you for sharing an amazing summary of your cruise! We're going on July 11th and one thing I just can't get is an itinerary of the onboard entertainment. I called RCCL and they couldn't (wouldn't?) give any specifics. Any chance you brought a Compass home? :)

 

The most I've been able to get is:

Entertainment:

Don Barnhart, Comedian - Derek Lewis, Guitarist - Ronn Lucas, Ventriloquist - Patrick McMahon, Impressionist - Sideshow Bert, Juggler.

Theater Shows:

Piano Man II - Pure Country - Ballroom Fever III

 

I don't know if they're any good :D or what time they're on, so it makes it hard to plan meals and spa, etc. Either way (Compass or not) thank you again for a great summary of your cruise!

 

Sadly, I didn't bring home any of the Compass and have no clue on the entertainment. Thanks to the 4-5am sunrise, we found ourselves worn out by 9pm each night. A good thing because the mornings were so nice when we were sailing, but the downside was we didn't experience any of the nightlife. I take that back, the one night we stayed up past dark (oh my!) we went to the adult sing-a-long which was fun for about 10 minutes, and then hit the Michael Jackson tribute up in Viking which was a blast.

 

 

Someone else mentioned binoculars...they are a must for whale watching. I'll never forget both my wife and I exclaiming "They're Orcas!" when we spotted the one pod after Tracy Arm.

[johndeere]

My wife and I are on this cruise 7/25. I have really enjoyed this thread, thanks for the info everyone.

 

 

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[PegB87]

Hi D.J. and thank you for sharing an amazing summary of your cruise! We're going on July 11th and one thing I just can't get is an itinerary of the onboard entertainment. I called RCCL and they couldn't (wouldn't?) give any specifics. Any chance you brought a Compass home? :)

 

The most I've been able to get is:

Entertainment:

Don Barnhart, Comedian - Derek Lewis, Guitarist - Ronn Lucas, Ventriloquist - Patrick McMahon, Impressionist - Sideshow Bert, Juggler.

Theater Shows:

Piano Man II - Pure Country - Ballroom Fever III

 

I don't know if they're any good :D or what time they're on, so it makes it hard to plan meals and spa, etc. Either way (Compass or not) thank you again for a great summary of your cruise!

 

I didn't save my Compasses either, sorry. But I remember some of the entertainment options. :D

-The 1st night there is just 1 show, a comedian I think, but we didn't make to that one. Idr the time!

Most of the other nights the shows are at 6:30 or 8:30.

-Night 2 was a pianist--not my cup of tea, and when he started playing "My Heart Will Go On" we walked out (as did many others!)

-Graham Seymour did the late night adult comedy (I think night 3, but it may have been 4). He was very funny. Idr if there was something on earlier.

-Night 4 (maybe 3?) was the show "Pure Country". I don't even know HOW to describe this one, other than bizarre!:eek: I don't think it was supposed to be funny, but it made me LOL several times! It was just weird.

-Night 5 was the musical comedy duo Joseph & Johnny B (or something like that) They were very good & I really enjoyed that show!

-Night 6 was the farewell show. It was your typical farewell, but I enjoyed it. I especially liked when Graham did a little something special!!

 

In the Centrum--I think 9:45, maybe??-- they have the aerial show once on night 1, then again on the last night. I think night 2 was the Captain's welcome/toast. On the 3 nights in the middle, Graham hosts dance parties: '70s Night, Dancing Under the Stairs (yes, stairs, not stars! Too cold under the stars!), and Dance Britannica. Those were all really fun!

 

The Love & Marriage Show is in the middle of the day on one of the sea days, & there was no Quest on this sailing.

Other nighttime entertainment options were karaoke in the Shall We Dance lounge, or Adult Sing-a-Long in the Schooner. The adult sing-a-long was fun for a while, but his schtick is repetitive, so it gets old.

There is also late night disco in the VCL hosted by DJ Dan.

 

IMO, you could plan your spa visits for daytime (LOTS of downtime during sea days!) & meals for typical evening time span without having to worry about missing anything. We'd usually go to the 6:30 show, go to MTD around 7:30-8, and make it to the Centrum activities w time to spare. If you like to eat earlier, you could do that first, catch the 8:30 show, then head to the Centrum.

 

Hope this helps!

[deej696]

After pondering it more, two things I remembered entertainment wise...

 

First, the music in the Centrum each night was great. Granted, they played the same set every other day, but we still enjoyed it.

 

The other is the cake making challenge. Captain Rob is a pretty funny dude, and the cake decorating contest was a fun show. It was better on the Oasis (they need to mic the Captain) but it was worth setting aside a few minutes to do.

[cruisnpat]

Do you think any of this entertainment will still be there when I sail the Rhapsody on Sept. 5?

[lisa010]

I saved the Cruise Compass from the June 13th trip so if anyone has questions, I can answer.

 

Day 1 was Comedian Kelly Monteith. They also had the ballroom dance team George and Petra who were very good but when paired with the Royal Caribbean dancers the difference in experience was pretty evident. We missed this show so no comment on how it went.

 

Day 2 was John Joseph and Johnny B. Didnt see the show.

 

Day 3 was Ballroom Fever. Personally, I was bored to death. It was lots of older standards and that sort of thing. It wasn't bad per say, just not my thing.

 

Day 4 they showed movies. Robo Cop and Divergent. No show.

 

Day 5 was Pure Country. I thought it was much better than the first show.

Late night comedy was Graham Seymour. Its adult themed and people seemed to either love it or hate it. There was a group behind me the last night complaining about the show. They didnt care for it at all. He is pretty funny when he is ad libbing...some of the prepared stuff fell a bit flat though.

 

Day 6 was Patrick McMahon. Loved him. He apparently drinks 75 Red Bulls a day (just a guess) or has a caffeine drip going at all times. Tons of energy. Did several Neil Diamond songs, Johnny Cash and some other stuff. I would have gone twice if we didnt have other stuff planned. We were all singing right along with him.

 

Day 7 was the farewell show with Don Friesen. He was great. We could relate to a lot of his material and did a little diddy about student loans to the music of Cats in the Cradle. We enjoyed him a lot. There was more from George and Petra (they are very talented) and some singing from the Royal cast. They did the standard cruise in review hawking the video and the officers and representatives from the different departments filed in and took the stage. You had a chance to meet Captain Rob and other officers on your way out of the theater.

 

As an FYI....the reserved suites section (gold cards) was upstairs in the balcony. I never really saw anyone monitoring it.

[PegB87]

I saved the Cruise Compass from the June 13th trip so if anyone has questions, I can answer.

 

<snip>

 

Day 2 was John Joseph and Johnny B. Didnt see the show. This was later in the week on my sailing.

 

Day 3 was Ballroom Fever. Personally, I was bored to death. It was lots of older standards and that sort of thing. It wasn't bad per say, just not my thing. We didn't have this one.

 

Day 4 they showed movies. Robo Cop and Divergent. No show. Forgot about movie night! We had LEGO movie & Monument Men

 

Day 5 was Pure Country. I thought it was much better than the first show.

Late night comedy was Graham Seymour. Its adult themed and people seemed to either love it or hate it. There was a group behind me the last night complaining about the show. They didnt care for it at all. He is pretty funny when he is ad libbing...some of the prepared stuff fell a bit flat though.

That's why I couldn't remember which was which night! It was the same night! :D

 

Day 6 was Patrick McMahon.

We didn't get him either!

<snip>

 

Thanks for refreshing my memory on a few things! Forgot all about the movie night! :)

Seems they change it up a bit week-to-week, even on the same itinerary! That could be a good thing.

Hopefully the OP will now have a good idea of what to expect.

[lisa010]

Thanks for refreshing my memory on a few things! Forgot all about the movie night! :)

 

Seems they change it up a bit week-to-week, even on the same itinerary! That could be a good thing.

 

Hopefully the OP will now have a good idea of what to expect.

 

 

 

We loved the music in the Centrum at night as well, especially Britannica. We danced all night. When it was over, we headed up to the Viking Crown Lounge where they played a lot of 80s music during disco time.

 

I also KWYM about Pure Country. It really was better than the Ballroom Fever thing, but that isn't saying a whole lot. The music was ok....the costumes were just...bad. The performers just looked *uncomfortable to me overall, like they didn't like the moves or the outfits. It was an ok way to spend an hour though, so not a big deal.

 

We watched the Baroque aerial thing from the 8th floor. It would probably be more impressive from the ground floor, so I would recommend viewing from somewhere other than the upper floors.

 

 

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