Review Rhapsody of the Seas 13th - 23rd Dec

[luckiestmitw]

Well it is a week since we returned from our cruise on Rhapsody, and it feels like a life time ago....needless to say my review was put on the back-burner for a while with Christmas being two days after we returned and of course the seemingly endless washing...

I hope you enjoy my review and I apologise now for any spelling mistakes, typo's and for rambling on....which I’m known to do. I’ve decided to give an overview of all the different aspects of the cruise in general, rather than a day to day account.

Just a little bit of background info about our family, my DH Ian and I have four boys aged 16, 14, 10 and 8yrs old.

We were also joined on the cruise by a couple which are friends of ours and he is also a former work colleague of Ian's.

Can I just start by saying that our cruise on Rhapsody was by far the best holiday our family has ever had. It was a real holiday even for me, I loved not having to think about meals, cleaning, making beds etc it was heaven!!

EMBARKMENT

I still can't believe how quick and effortless our embarkment was .We arrived at the OPT terminal and immediately we got out of the taxi there was a porter waiting to take our bags, great start......we took a few photo's of Rhapsody in all her glory and she was just dwarfing everything around her....amazing...the looks on the kids faces was priceless!

We then decided to go and see if boarding had started and sure enough it had and we were pointed in the right direction.

We didn't see one queue....actually we hardly saw anyone other than customs and straight to the check in counter which was a breeze (we had checked in at home on-line) after receiving our sea pass cards we were wished a lovely holiday from the check in girls and proceeded to have our mandatory boarding photo...then straight onto the beautiful Rhapsody...yay.

Embarkment was so painless I couldn't believe it, I'd say the whole boarding process took no longer than 20min max!!

It was around 11.30am when we got onboard which was great, plenty of time to explore the ship before sail away!!

SHIP

We thought the Rhapsody was in excellent condition,

the public areas are very modern with very little wear and tear, the thing that really stood out to me about Rhapsody is all the natural light she lets in, apparently this class of ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet are called "ships of light" and I can see why, lots of large walls of glass and big floor to ceiling windows I can see why she is sent to Alaska during the American summer she has lots of great spots to just sit and look out a window, all over the ship.

The hub of Rhapsody is the Atrium lots of marble, gold, and glass, very stylish and sleek without it being too over done, the glass elevator's also gave it an extra bit of class.

It was lovely in the Atrium in the afternoon and evenings with the music from the Champagne Terrace floating up the different levels, a great atmosphere.

We also thought the Rhapsody never felt crowded, even though she was near compacity at 2,214 passengers approx....

No problem finding a deck chair although the sort after chairs around the pool would usually be gone fairly early in the day.

I also thought the Windjammer (the ships buffet) was very well layed out with easy access to all the different food areas,

we did however find it difficult on some of the port days to find a table, but what do you expect when 2,000 passengers are all trying to get off the ship early.

The Solarium (enclosed pool with retractable ceiling, spas, bar and cafe) was another great place to hang out on the ship, it could be more difficult to find a free lounge in here but it tendered to get a bit hot and stuffy during the day, so we only went in a few times.

We did however go in on a couple of evenings and have a midnight swim, very nice and relaxing and hardly any one there.....bliss...we would then grab a piece of choccy cake each, make ourselves a hot chocolate (yes...I'm addicted to chocolate) and enjoy the solarium...oh the memories.

I must also mention the Broadway Melodies Theatre...it is beautiful, really classy and elegant, viewing was excellent from every different seat and area we sat in during the cruise.

We also spent a bit of time in the library, it was also lovely with a good selection of books for passengers to enjoy.

Overall we found the Rhapsody to be easy to navigate....once I worked out which way was the front and which way was the back...

She is layed out really well and once you get your bearings she is a breeze to get around...so in a nut shell we thought she was a beautiful ship.

CABIN

We arrived at our cabins at about 1pm and they were ready and waiting for us, our luggage arrived about an hour later.

We booked two "large interior staterooms" 3013 and 3015 on deck three forward, we found this location to be great, we had easy access to the Windjammer and also to the kids club...also we didn't notice many people working past because we were so far forward.

We did however notice a bit more rocking in our cabin than anywhere else on the ship on the couple of days it got a bit rough, but nothing major, thankfully only two of the boys felt a bit off one afternoon and I was a bit dodgey the first full sea day, but other than that everyone handled it well and we returned home with most of our pills un-used...

The first impression of our cabin was "it's pretty small" but it was just fine, I think it seemed a little bit smaller than our outside room on the Pacific Sun last year.

We had heaps of draws and hanging space for our clothes..plenty of coat hangers and a few great little shelves at the side of the mirror to store all our bits and pieces.

The beds were really comfortable and the pillows just fine, we had an excellent sleep every night.

The bathroom was small but really functional the vanity mirror opened up and you could store all your toiletries etc.

Now about the shower....all I'll say is I REALLY enjoyed my shower when we got home....

The TV in our stateroom had movies running all through the day some of the titles were Get Smart, Mamma Mia, Hancock, The Dark Knight, Fred Clauss there was also a pretty good selection of shows for all ages cartoon's for kids etc.

The thing I enjoyed most on the TV was the "Report from the bridge" which included updates on the ships speed, weather conditions and forecasts, wind speed and a picture of the ship showing which way the wind was coming in (very handy when your heading up on deck to find a deck chair) sunrise and sunset times, distance travelled and distance to travel etc I really enjoyed checking it out.

Now I have purposely left the best till last....our cabin stewards name was Ronnie and he was the FANTASTIC!!

Nothing was too much trouble for Ronnie and the kids absolutely adored him especially our youngest son James who Ronnie nick named James Bond after the first formal night.....he thought James looked like James Bond when he was all dressed up in his suit.

Ronnie called us all by name from the very first day and he was always so efficent and happy doing his job....we could hear his singing as we approached him working in cabins....he was just great.

Every single night of the cruise Ronnie made towel animals for our cabins, we joked with him that he'd run out of ideas before the end of the cruise but of course he never did.

On the second night James made Ronnie a smiley face out of towels and he left a note for Ronnie saying it was for him....Ronnie thought it was great.

One night Ronnie even made a man out of towels and put him on one of the bottom bunks.He had a towel head with sunnies of course life jacket body and legs made from rolled up bed spreads he had Tom's shoes on the ends of the legs and he was lying back on the bed reading the daily compass...with the lights dimmed Tom came down to the cabin and it scared the living daylights out of him he thought some stranger was in his bed!!Very funny!

Ronnie was so wonderful it was sad to say goodbye, but he appreciated our tip which he deserved every bit of.

FOOD

Well what can I say we thought the food all over the ship was wonderful, some things better than others but on a whole excellent!

I will break the food up into Windjammer, Edelweiss Dining room and Room Service.

Windjammer Cafe (Buffet)

The Windjammer overall we thought was great, plenty of variety to choose from, excellent service with plates being cleared non-stop and waiters going around with trolleys offering everyone tea/coffee juices/water in the morning and lemonade(cordial)/water and some alcoholic drinks at lunch time.

We ate most of our brekkies and lunches in the Windjammer.

The thing that I loved the most about the Windjammer was the beautiful fresh fruit...especially the huge dishes of the most beautiful and sweet strawberries....unbelievable...I've never seen so many strawberries in my life...I couldn't stop eating them I'd see them every breakfast some lunches and even some afternoon teas...to me that is being spoilt rotten unlimited strawberries (yes I am having servere strawberry withdrawals)

Sorry about that...but I did warn you at the start of the review that I'm prone to rambling...so no more strawberry talk for now...what else can I tell you about...oh yeah for all you oatmeal/porridge lovers soon to board Rhapsody you are in for a treat I had it every single morning it is really creamy and soft yum...don't miss it.

The Windjammer breakfast really had every concievable thing you could think of to have for breakfast, I'll just mention a few things available for breakfast at the Windjammer there was all types of cereals, oatmeal/porridge, grits,(only noticed this the first morning or so then didn't see it again)waffles, french toast, pancakes, (2 types) maple syrup and fresh strawberry sauce, eggs done everyway from scrambled to boiled, sausages, 2 types of bacon, hot ham carved fresh off the bone, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, smoked salmon, beautiful pasteries, fresh fruit, tinned fruit, fresh muesli with yogurt, the ship also has an omelet station which is a great idea...you just go up to one of the chef's and they will cook your omelet fresh with whatever ingredients you ask for...yum.

I even noticed on one morning they had banana smoothies...delicious.

Lunch at the Windjammer was the same again plenty of variety, and something new every day.The salads were nice and the roasted meats very tender and cooked very well, I tried the grilled fish one day but I found it to be a bit dry so I gave the fish a miss from then on.

Again the desserts in the Windjammer I thought were delicious, I was a bit wary at first as I found on the Pacific Sun last year all the desserts looked yummy but some of them didn't taste as good as they looked, I can honestly say each dessert I tried it tasted as good as it looked.

Some of the desserts to look out for at the Windjammer are "the boston cream pie" "mango sticky rice" and the "key lime pie"...all yummy.

We didn't have dinner at all in the Windjammer but we did go in on the second last night to have a look what was offered and it looked great...the omelet station had turned into a stir fry station and it smelt divine...we also spotted some sushi and we tried some of that and it was also good.

Afternoon tea is available in the Windjammer from 3pm straight after lunch is finished....I didn't find afternoon tea until half way into the cruise but after I found it I didn't miss it once...they had these beautiful hot scones...which I thought was more like a cross between a scone and a rock cake they had this sugary top...but that's not it they had the yummy fresh strawberry sauce and fresh cream to go with them...Geoff if your reading this don't miss trying them.

Also at afternoon tea they had a few different crumbles, banana and butterscotch, apple, etc, lamingtons, little tea cakes, cookies, strawberry cream puffs you name it something different everyday...you could also have hot food as well.

O.K I don’t know about you, but I've had enough of talking about food...but I will return tomorrow and finish my review....till then bye for now

Regards Sandie

[Pacific Sandy]

Hi Sandie - Don't you wish we were still on board.

 

Glad you and your gang had fun. It was great meeting you.

 

Sandra

[PASSIONATE ABOUT CRUISING]

I enjoyed reading your thorough review Sandie, thanks for sharing your fabulous holiday memories with us!

 

Cheers,

PAC:)

[suexxx]

Hi Sandie and family. You have had a great time . Thanks for your review so far. Waiting for the next bit. Hope you have some photos to share? Suexxx

[rugbypopsie]

Thanks for your review I put on weight just reading it! How were the costs on board for drinks etc.

[Guest012]

Great review Sandie...look forward to reading more....... cheers Shiona

[nluck2]

Thankyou for your great review, I hope they still have all those strawberries in April!! We are travelling with 2 children 10 and 8, so we are glad you enjoyed your trip so much. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of your review.:o

[Topaz_M]

Hi Sandie,

 

I loved reading your review so far. All those positive vibes are flowing through!

 

Will read the next instalment if I get time in between washing and packing to leave early on Saturday.

 

Thanks for your time,

Moira

[arxcards]

Thanks Sandie,

Yes - we will keep an eye out for those cakes. Can't wait till you get to the Edelweiss dining room and room service. I am glad you stopped for now though, as I am definately full from this sitting.

 

There was mention on an earlier review about allowing passengers to leave the ship after embarking. Do you know if they still allow this? We are meeting up with another CCer for a pre-sailaway drink, and it would be nice to spend an hour or two onboard before this if they will let us.

[surfoz]

Great review Sandie... Geoff no worries about getting off after embarkation.... We boarded early, had lunch then went to the Rocks and a walk around the Opera House to take some pics of Rhapsody.

[raringtogo]

Loved every word..

:D

[luckiestmitw]

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for the positive feed back, I will try to condense it a bit from now on.....:D:p:rolleyes:

 

Sandra it was great to finally meet you and Gordon, I hope your puppies survived ok without you and that your mum is well.

 

PAC, SUEXXX, RUGBYPOPSIE, glad you are enjoying my review, I will try to post a few photo's later today.

 

Shiona, thanks for the tip in Luganville with the taxi and million dollar point we really enjoyed our afternoon and it was lovely to meet you and John....look after that wrist of yours....:)

 

NLUCK2 you lucky things....you'll love Rhapsody...and so will the kids I will fill you in on the kids clubs later in the review.

 

Moira....happy packing...enjoy your cruise on Diamond Princess...I'm sure it will be wonderful....:D

 

Geoff - As Jeff said you could board and then go back ashore if you wanted...If your planning on doing this I'd get to the OPT pretty early so you have time to have a look around then go back ashore.

 

As I said we boarded early and it was no problem.

 

Raringtogo...you will be onboard in no time....you'll love it all.

 

More soon....Sandie

[luckiestmitw]

Edelweiss- Breakfast

A couple of times we went for brekkie but really we preferred the windjammer for breakfast...which surprised me because last year on the Sun we loved the dining room for brekkie, not that there was anything wrong with it but we preferred just getting our own and taking our time plus I didn't want to miss my strawberry fix...

We did enjoy the Eggs Benedict in the dining room, but I think that's about the only thing different to the Windjammer.

We did meet some great people at our dining room brekkies so that was a plus as well.

Edelweiss- Lunch

Again we only went to the restaurant twice for lunch....and that was mainly for the great salad bar, it was delicious...your own salad made up in front of you with whatever ingredients you want...but I wouldn't go to have the set menu for lunch we didn't think it was that great.

But it's definitely worth it to try the salad bar.

Edelweiss Restaurant- Dinner

We were second seating for dinner (8.30pm) we decided it would probably work out better...so we weren't so rushed on port days.

We were on table 176 Deck 4 with Jerome (head waiter) Maruti (waiter) and Noel (assistant waiter) we had a round table of 8...our family and our two friends.

The Edelweiss is a two storey restaurant with a big chandelier as a centrepiece...we had every evening meal here..mainly because of our great waiters.

Again Maruti and Noel remembered our names after day one and they really went out of there way to please us...every night Maruti would give us his recommendations and on the first night he saw us tossing up between two mains and he bought them both...

He continued to do this every night.

Noel would fill our water after two sips and and he was constantly asking if we would like another bun...excellent service.

Jerome would come over to our table every night and perform a magic trick for James and even the waiter who was looking after the table next to ours made him a origami Kangaroo ( is there anything they can't do ).

The boys ate every meal off the main menu and enjoyed everything, they even tried the escargo.

The food in the dining room I'd say was very good, the head chef is an Aussie and I think they do a fine job in the kitchen, considering they put out something like 7,000 meals per day.

Some of the dishes in the dining room that I thought were great was the Duck, Thai Chicken Salad, Lamb Shanks, cold fruit soups (thanks Jarrod) Kahlua Creme Brulee, Apple pie just to name a few...but the best dessert was the Warm Chocolate Cake...it was like a little round pudding with a gooey chocolate centre.....delicious!!

I think the Italian night in the restaurant was my favourite...lovely food and the waiters all sang a song....really fun.

ENTERTAINMENT & ACTIVITIES

Every night we were delivered our cruise compass with all the following days activities etc...each of the boys also received a card with all the activities for their clubs as well.

The bands were very good they mainly played easy listening and dance music, in the lounges etc.

The bands on board were

Rosario Strings - classical guitar

Hot Spices - Caribbean Sounds - mainly played around the pool during the day and on island night.

Martin Jarosek - Piano Melodies

Rock Steady Trio - Dance and Pop music..Pretty good but preferred the next band.

New Version Quartet - Rock, Pop, Dance music...they were great they played easy listening dance music.

Andrew Sauer- Piano and vocals...very good

Rhapsody Musicians - Live Jazz

Rhapsody Ochestra -

DJ Alex - Nightclub Disco

The show's in the Theatre were all different except for the couple of ballroom dancing shows...we had...

Danny Elliott - Multi-instrumentalist and singer - fantastic - he recieved a standing ovation

Los Pampas Gauchos - Great fluresent puppet show plus drums and whips and a variety of different things-very good

Extreme Vegas-Fast paced variety show

Illutionist John Taylor - If he is onboard...don't miss his show, this one was our favourite.

Soul Mystique - from "Australia's Got Talent" Dancing and quick change artists....really good don't miss it.

I thought the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers were great and all the production shows very professional.

The cruise director was a great Pommie guy called Matt Sole..he was pretty visible around the ship and he kept reminding us we..."aren't here for a long time..we're here for a good time".

During the cruise we had an island night..which was fun...i'd say not as big as P&O but most people got into it...I did think the band finished a bit early...just when everyone was warming up.

They had a late night buffet at the island night as well...lots of fruit skewers, strawberries (of course) little cakes etc and the yummiest icecream I think it was Macadamia?

Anyway a fun night was had that night!!

They also had a Country Night, 70's night ABBAlicious show...not alot of people dressed up for these two nights but I think all the activities centred around them was well supported.

As far as activities through the day there was something for everyone from The Rock Climbing Wall, Fitness classes, Bridge Play, Ring Toss, Baggo Tournament?, Ribbon's to Roses (hey Jo that might be one for you) Afternoon Movie, Adult wii tennis tournament, Walk a Mile, Family Karaoke, Ornament Making, Horse Racing, Napkin Folding, Pool Games, Belly Flop Competion, Shuffle Golf Tournament, Singles lunches, Art Auctions, Dance classes, towel folding, Trivia, Pocket Rockets? and much much more.

Something for everyone....and I must admit Ian and I hardly did anything...we just lazed around...read..and relaxed....very boring but just what we both needed.

KIDS CLUBS

Well having four kids we just about had all the different kids clubs covered.

We had one in the 6-8, 9-11, 12-14 and 15-17

The kids clubs were pretty busy the entire cruise with so many kids on board...I'm not sure how many but believe me there was alot!!

The boys all made some good friends and the older boys have exchanged face book address etc with the kids they formed frienships with.

15-17

The 15-17 age group was pretty flexible they would come and go to the different activities and what impressed me was our 16yr old said on the first night they had a Disco up on deck and security was checking everyones sea passes to make sure they were the correct age...he said some kids not in that age bracket were trying to join in but they made them leave.

So that was reassuring.

12-14

This age was pretty flexible as well...Tom participated in quite a few activities, his team won the scavenger hunt and he came second in the ping pong tournament.

The activities started for the Teen's at 10am-5pm, 8pm-Late

The teens had a curfew of 12am if they were not participating in a Teen Hosted event, but I saw alot of kids around the ship unsupervised after this time so I don't think they were very strict with this.

9-11

This age group required a parent to sign the kids in,but then if you wanted, the kids could sign themselves out.

Charles is 10 and we said he could sign himself out but only at a specific time so he knew where we were.

The opening hours for this age groups was 9am-12pm, 2.00pm-5pm, 6.45pm-10pm

After 10pm you pay $5.00 US per hour,per child and this is available till 2am.

We let the boys go a couple of nights after dinner, so we could go out for a while.

6-8

This age group is parents must sign in and out as well...altough on the second day I was asked if I wanted James to sign himself out...so it must be available to the 8yr olds.

The opening hours are the same as the 9-11 yr olds.

Overall the boys enjoyed the clubs but sometimes (the two youngest) got a bit bored of it, and they only went some days and only for a couple of hours...the staff were fantastic very friendly and professional.

MEET & MINGLE

Hi to all the CCer's who attended the meet and mingle, it was great to meet some of you, I didn't get to meet everyone but the room was buzzing and everyone seemed to be having a good time catching up.

If your reading this Lynn, thanks for helping me out with my name tag(you now what I mean).

Our meet and mingle was very well attended...I'd say maybe 30 odd people turned up...Matt Sole the cruise director came in and had a bit of a chat to us, we had a couple of lucky door prizes and some fancy little appertisers were served... and some non alcoholic drinks(damm) and we were left to mingle.

These are great events and it really is worthwhile to take the time to go and meet in person.

Again..great to meet you all...happy travels and you never know we may meet again!!

PORTS

Luganville

We didn't book any shore tours through the ship we just decided to do our own thing...the ships tours were way too expensive...mainly due to the conversion rate.

So here we go...Luganville...hot ...hot....hot...we walked into town to check it out first thing in the morning, and being our first port and never stepping foot out of Australia the boys didn't know which way to look..it was all so very different to anything they had seen before...20 people crammed into the back of utes, "interesting shops", unbareable heat,

yummy smell of fresh bread, people talking in a language they didn't understand, it was all happening.

Before we arrived we thought we would go out to the Blue Hole but every taxi driver we asked said no the road is too washed away and the number of taxis capable of taking the six of us was limited.

So we walked back to the ship had a quick shower and a bite to eat and headed out again to try again to get a taxi.

We decided to try to get a taxi to million dollar point, we negotiated with one guy and we were off...only problem was our taxi was about a four seater and we had seven counting the driver.

My leg is still numb from nursing Charlie our 10yr old...we were crammed in.

We had a very interesting drive in the taxi, I think our average speed was about 1km an hour because of all the pot holes but we got there eventually and the taxi driver was a very nice man and he took great pride in his car.

He had a towel placed on his dashboard to protect it from the sun and the whole way there he kept on ajusting it...every 10 seconds he'd be fiddling with it...in the end I found myself doing it for him...I was worse than him....it's things like this that you really remember!!

We had a lovely swim and snorkel at Million Dollar point...just beautiful and the local kids were so friendly...James and Charles had a bit of a play in the water with them.

We really enjoyed our day at Luganville despite the heat...one day we'll return and get to the Blue Hole.

Vila

On this stop we decided to see if we could get a taxi to take us to the Ekasup Village...no problem at all...we had about a 10 seater airconditioned bus with a driver who gave us a bit of a tour around Vila, took us to the Village, waited for us then took us into town to go shopping..waited again till we had finished..then took us back to the ship for $130AU...really good value considering what we would have had to pay on the ship.

The village tour was great very interesting...who would have thougt you could eat a mashed banana that's been sitting in a hole for 5yrs.

The older boys especially...enjoyed this tour.

As far as duty free shopping, we went straight to Fung Kwei (sp) but can you believe it didn't buy a thing....the alcohol seemed alot more expensive than last year and they had hardly any perfume, so we headed up the street..to...I think it's called Down Town Duty Free...purchased our drinks and headed back to the ship after having a bit more of a look around.

All in all a great day as usual in Vila.

Noumea

Noumea...we made the most of it....we booked a sight seeing tour from inside the tourist centre at $20AU for us and $10 for the kids...it was ok..took us to a couple of look outs and around the beaches...I give Noumea one thing it really turned on a perfect day for us weather wise...not a cloud in the sky.

Isle of Pines

What a lovely island this is...when we arrived ashore we were greeted with a floral head band that had been weaven with vine leaves and fresh flowers threaded through it...a really nice touch...we made our way to the sacred rock and snorkelled for ages, lots of fish..a little bit of colourful coral.

After we were all snorkelled out we decided to return to the ship just as a tropical down pour hit and we were soaked...when we got back on the ship and for the first time the whole cruise I didn't enjoy that burst of cold air I'd longed for in Luganville.

HIGHLIGHTS

*seeing the kids reaction when they saw Rhapsody for the first time

*just standing at the railing on deck 10 looking out over the sea

*the great people we met

*the quest

*seeing Rhapsody all decorated beautifully for Christmas

*driving in our taxi in Luganville

*the service all over the ship

*Charlie whispering in my ear one night..thanks so much for taking us on this cruise mum!!

LOWLIGHTS

*the ship being in US currency

*drink prices and wine selection

*not long enough!

Well that's all from me, I hope I haven't bored you too much...but I"ve really enjoyed writing this review of our holiday and of the beautiful Rhapsody of the Seas.

Regards and Happy New Year to you all!!!

Sandie x

P.S I'm still waiting to organise some photo's..I'll post them on here as soon as I can.

[MargnGrah]

Hi Sandie,

 

Really loved reading your review. Sounds like you had a ball. Cruising is the best holiday by far, for all mums, as they don't have to worry about cooking, cleaning, making beds etc.....:D It's just the best holiday.

 

Looking forward to reading your next instalment. :)

 

Looks like we posted about the same time so I will now read part two!!!

[raringtogo]

Sandi....thank you so much for your great effort..I think you covered absolutely everything anyone could possibly need to know about the ports, the food and the ship, the kids club, the entertainment- so, thank you again:o

 

You're right- we will be onboard before we know it, and I know from experience how fast those 11 days will fly by. To say we are all excited is an understatement and reading your reviews has been brilliant.

[Brossy]

Hi Sandie

Well done on a fantastic informative review...I read it several times because I enjoyed it so much :).

Rhapsody sounds amazing! I only wish I was going on her longer than 1 night (We had already booked a July cruise on the Pacific Dawn) so I really hope she is eventually based here permanently.

Did you find any chocolate to dip your yummy strawberries in? (would have been the best of both worlds :D).

Wow what are the odds of all 4 boys being split up in the different kids clubs. Did they enjoy their activites as much as on the Sun?

Were your inside cabins interconnecting?

Thanks for posting such a great review and I can't wait to see the photos.

[Koolkrewser]

Sandie

Thankyou for lifting my mood this morning from the doldrums:( to one of happy anticipation. I start a weeks holiday today after working flat chat over Christmas, and April seems sooooo far away. Now I will review my packing lists, go back to ports of call research etc with renewed anticipation Thanks.:D You have covered the Rhapsody experience so well that I cannot think of anything to ask at this stage.

Cheers

Jane

[luckiestmitw]

Hi Sandie

Well done on a fantastic informative review...I read it several times because I enjoyed it so much

Rhapsody sounds amazing! I only wish I was going on her longer than 1 night (We had already booked a July cruise on the Pacific Dawn) so I really hope she is eventually based here permanently.

Did you find any chocolate to dip your yummy strawberries in? (would have been the best of both worlds :D).

Wow what are the odds of all 4 boys being split up in the different kids clubs. Did they enjoy their activites as much as on the Sun?

Were your inside cabins interconnecting?

Thanks for posting such a great review and I can't wait to see the photos.

 

Hi Rose,

Glad you enjoyed my review, it was good to get it all down before I forgot most of it....:p:rolleyes::D

I had grand plans to jot a few notes down everynight but surprise, surprise...it did not happen.

 

We did have some chocolate coated strawberries come to think of it....in the lounges late at night some waiters would walk around offering people little bite size cakes, truffles and you guessed it choc coated strawberries!!

 

Rose when I booked I tried to get an interconnecting room but they were all booked out.I did email them again a week or so before we left to see if there was any changes...but unfortunately they were all taken.

Our rooms were right next door and it worked out just fine.We got extra cards so Ian and I could get into both.

 

The boys didn't come with us last year on the Sun so we can't compare...but they do offer alot of great activities and I think it would have been better if James was a bit older and in the same club as Charles.

 

I to hope eventually she stays in Aus...if this happens I think the P&O-Carnival exec's should have alot to worry about.

 

Rose you'll love your night onboard...it will give you a good chance to check it all out anyway...:)

 

 

Bye Sandie

[luckiestmitw]

Sandie

Thankyou for lifting my mood this morning from the doldrums:( to one of happy anticipation. I start a weeks holiday today after working flat chat over Christmas, and April seems sooooo far away. Now I will review my packing lists, go back to ports of call research etc with renewed anticipation Thanks.:D You have covered the Rhapsody experience so well that I cannot think of anything to ask at this stage.

Cheers

Jane

Hi Jane thank's for that..it really is a busy time isn't it ..and...glad I could help..:)

Enjoy all the preparation and build up to your cruise and I'm sure you'll absolutely love it!!!

 

Regards Sandie :)

[arxcards]

We did have some chocolate coated strawberries come to think of it....in the lounges late at night some waiters would walk around offering people little bite size cakes, truffles and you guessed it choc coated strawberries!!

 

Bye Sandie

Free treats - nice touch.

 

We enjoyed choc dipped suited strawberries on Sun Princess - definately were not free though!!

[angellegs]

Hi Sandie, Thanks for the great review, we're new to cruising, this website and everything about it. Saw the first page, was disappointed I couldn't find anymore, then started working out this website found the rest. Not long for us before we go now and probably will go too fast. Thank you again. Angie

[luckiestmitw]

Hi Sandie, Thanks for the great review, we're new to cruising, this website and everything about it. Saw the first page, was disappointed I couldn't find anymore, then started working out this website found the rest. Not long for us before we go now and probably will go too fast. Thank you again. Angie

 

Glad you enjoyed my review Angie and I'm sure you will love Rhapsody as much as we did...;):)

 

Also welcome to cc...it does take a while to get used to it all, you'll be an expert in no time...:D

 

I bet the excitement is building...so enjoy the next month...it is sure to fly by...and I'll be thinking of you on the 24th...it will be our 19th wedding anniversary on that day...so I'll have a nice glass of champers to bid you farewell!!

 

Take care..

Regards Sandie :)

[SunnyCoastCruiser]

Sandie

Everyone mentions the expensive drinks on Rhapsody of the Seas. I'm not a huge drinker but you always feel you should have something in front of you when you sit at a bar. So can you recommend a drink that I could order that isn't going to break the bank. My hubby will probably drink beer. Also, did you notice whether they have self serve water jugs/glasses at any of the bars?

Thanks

Kath

[NSWP]

Sandie

Everyone mentions the expensive drinks on Rhapsody of the Seas. I'm not a huge drinker but you always feel you should have something in front of you when you sit at a bar. So can you recommend a drink that I could order that isn't going to break the bank. My hubby will probably drink beer. Also, did you notice whether they have self serve water jugs/glasses at any of the bars?

Thanks

Kath

Kath..drinks are only expensive because the ROS is on USD like Princess out of Australia.

Bit scary playing USD$5 = AUD$9 for a lager. Glad we can BYO a bit of vino on our B2B.

Who said a bit of vino - more like a couple of bottles at every Port, all 19 of them!

 

I really think the 'American ships like ROS, Volndam etc, visiting OZ could reduce their drink prices a bit to ease the pressure on OZ/KIWI paz, I mean we would drink more would we not? If Sun Princess can charge AUD round OZ, so could the other lines on visiting us.

[luckiestmitw]

Sandie

Everyone mentions the expensive drinks on Rhapsody of the Seas. I'm not a huge drinker but you always feel you should have something in front of you when you sit at a bar. So can you recommend a drink that I could order that isn't going to break the bank. My hubby will probably drink beer. Also, did you notice whether they have self serve water jugs/glasses at any of the bars?

Thanks

Kath

Hi Kath,

Les is right, it's not that the drinks themselves are too over-priced, it's when it is converted to US dollars that makes them that bit more expensive.

 

In regards to what drinks are on offer, if you enjoy a cocktail, they have 2 for 1 offers pretty much every night, which were about 7-8 dollars US for the two, or they also had a cocktail of the day which was about $6-7 US..but I can't say I loved some of the cocktails I tried, they were very strong...they didn't skimp on the alcohol...:eek:

 

I did try a Mai Tai it was quite nice...and a Champagne Cocktail..it was good as well....;)

Your DH will be happy to hear they also have 2 for 1 beers at certain bars during the cruise as well...;):D

Didn't notice any self service water at the bars but I'm sure the bar tenders wouldn't hesitate to give you some.

Near the bar at the pool is a ice/water station to help yourself to...:)

 

Hope this helps...enjoy your cruise

 

Regards Sandie :)