rccl-rhapsody11

Note - this page contains multiple reviews.

Name: Anne Goyer
Email: aygoyer@one.net
Age: 43
Occupation: Convention Manager
NumberOfCruises: 10
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Rhapsody
SailingDate: 04/16/00
Itinerary: Ensenada to Honolulu
Cabin: 8092
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 80
CabinComfort: 92
FoodRoomService: 90
CruiseStaff: 85
CabinAmenities: 92
FoodLidoDeck: 85
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 75
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 90
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 80
DeckService: 88
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon: 90
CasinoStaff: 88
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 90
LoungeService: 95
TenderService:
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff: 94
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 95
BeautySalon: 90
EntertainmentPoolside: 88
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 85
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 88
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 90
ShopsOnBoard: 87
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 87
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 01 Nov 2000
Time: 21:53:37
Remote Name: port-cvx1-67.access.one.net
Remote User:

Comments

Rhapsody of the Seas April 16 – 27, 2000 Ensenada – Honolulu

On April 15, my husband, 13-year-old daughter and I left for San Diego, the day before our cruise was
to sail. This was my eleventh cruise; tenth for my husband and daughter. We have cruised with Royal
Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Norwegian. We traveled to San Diego a day early. Since nearly
missing a cruise several years ago, we always travel to our departure city a day early to allow for
possible delays. We stayed at Loews’s Coronado Bay Hotel and had a delightful night.

We got up early Sunday morning, drove to the cruise pier where we dropped our luggage and then
returned our rental car to the San Diego Airport. One of our biggest complaints with this cruise was we
could never get a straight answer from anyone as to what time the buses actually departed for
Ensenada. In fact, when we arrived at the terminal around 11:00 AM, the Rhapsody was docked (in
San Diego). We were quickly told that the ship was leaving for Ensenada (something about a U.S. law
that prohibits ships of foreign registry from going directly from one U.S. port to another without
stopping at another foreign port). What a hassle. Even upon checking in, no one was really willing to
tell us when the buses would load. Since we were among the first to arrive, we were fortunately on the
first bus. It also helped to be a Crown & Anchor member.

By the time they loaded the buses (around 1:00 PM) there were probably 15 bus loads ready to go.
Once on the road, our trip was pretty uneventful but several other buses had problems. Some broke
down and had to wait for help, others experienced troubles and took a much longer time to arrive. I’ve
spent a lot of time talking about this aspect because we had so much trouble getting any information
before we left. We were really glad to get to Ensenada and see the ship.

We picked this itinerary for two reasons. We thoroughly enjoy the days at sea and this cruise had five
in a row and we had never been to the Hawaiian Islands.

THE SHIP The ship was extremely similar to the Vision of the Seas we cruised last year so it was very
familiar. With five days at sea, we really had plenty of time to explore the ship. I loved the art work. We
probably looked at it more than on any previous ship. We liked our room (same cabin type and
location at the rear of the ship as we had on the Vision). We were disappointed in the condition of
much of the public furniture. Much of it was dirty and stained and this included all of the dining areas
and pool deck chairs. We were told that the ship was heading to dry dock for several weeks of
refurbishing. Good thing! It appeared that the Broadway Melodies Theater has recently undergone a
renovation and was beautiful.

The ship is easy to learn and navigate your way around. We learned on this cruise that some of the
places we really enjoyed on previous cruises (the piano lounge for instance – The Schooner Bar on
this ship) weren’t the same because the passengers were different. A rather rowdy travel agent took
over this lounge every night. But we found plenty of things to do. In fact, the time change from Mexico
to Hawaii took its toll and we were in bed early every night at sea.

There was one major problem that got increasingly worse as the week went on. There was a terrible
smell on the starboard side of the ship. It started on deck 5 and by the end of the cruise, you could
smell it all the way up on the pool deck. No announcement was ever made regarding the problem but
I’m sure it was addressed when it made it to dry dock.

PORTS OF CALL Other than St. John (U.S. Virgin Islands) and Tortola/Virgin Gorda (in the BVI’s), all
of the ports on this cruise were better than anywhere else we’ve been. Each was different and unique
and we’d go back to all of them to spend more time. I should note that we planned all of our shore
activities (including car rentals) before we left home. It is very relaxing to board the ship and not have
to figure out what we’re going to do for shore excursions. This was also the first time that we did not
take any of the ship’s excursions. We rented from National in San Diego and Honolulu and from Alamo
on all the other islands.

HILO, HAWAII This was our first stop. Alamo has shuttle vans at the cruise terminals to pick up
passengers. We got our car and headed off to Volcanoes National Park. Our first stop was at the
visitors’ center. We took a brief 30-minute hike with a park guide to get a general feel for the park. I
had printed out a lot of park information from the National Park Service website so we had a good idea
of what we wanted to do. We drove Crater Rim Drive to the end of Chain of Craters Road. This is the
spot where lava flowed across the road about five years ago. We parked here and walked out across
the lava about 100 yards. You could see the steam from the active lava flowing into the ocean from
here. But they warn that the hike to see actual lava is extremely dangerous. It was all an incredible site
to see. We felt like we were walking on the surface of the moon. We spent our day in the park.

As we sailed away that night, we went south and as we passed the southern tip of the island, our
entire dining room emptied onto the decks to watch the orange glow of lava flowing into the water.
Another incredible site!

KONA, HAWAII Another stop, another Alamo car rental. This was a beach day and also Easter
Sunday. We drove north and spent a couple of hours at Hapuna Beach. By lunch, we headed south to
look for a resort where we could get lunch. We ended up at the Hilton Waikoloa. A lovely spot where
we had a great lunch. We spent some time wandering around the resort (lots of pretty pools, gardens
and grounds). As we walked up to look at the golf course, we heard someone yell 'whales.' We looked
out at the ocean and just off shore were several whales playing. What a fabulous site. We were glad
we had our video camera. We just sat and watched them jump and play for about 30 minutes. As the
week went on, we realized we were very lucky. Most people never saw whales.

LAHAINA, MAUI

TOURS

Car Rentals: www.alamo.com NOTE: At each port, we rented a car from ALAMO except Honolulu
where we rented from National. There was a van to pick you up at the ship and take you to their
agency. The car rental company will also return you to the ship at no charge.

HILO Hawaii Volcanoes National Park www.nps.gov/havo

We printed out all of the applicable maps and tours provided by the National Park Service. It was
approximately 30 – 40 minutes from the car rental pick up to the park. A terrific day!

KONA We drove North and stopped at several beaches along the way to swim and relax. Around
noon, we headed back South looking for a place to eat. We stopped at the Hilton Waikola Village for
lunch. We had a great time walking around the grounds (everyone was very friendly). We enjoyed
lunch outdoors near one of the many pools. After lunch we continued our exploration. My husband
was dying to see the golf course. As we walked up to it, someone yelled 'WHALE'. Just off the golf
course there were several whales frolicking in the waves. We watched them (and videotaped them for
about an hour). As it turned out, this was one of the rare whale sitings on the trip.

MAUI Two days are spent here. On the first day, we ventured out on Trilogy, a catamaran that sails
from Kaanapali Beach. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TOUR! We’ve done a lot of ship excursions
over the years and this was better than most. We booked it ourselves (www.sailtrilogy.com). These
trips sell out early so I’d recommend booking prior to your trip. We did the Kaanapali Picnic Sail. We
visited two different (very good) snorkeling sites and had a terrific barbecue lunch on the boat. They
even served us ice cream sundaes for dessert. This was a first class excursion!

Our first night on Maui was spent at the Old Lahaina Luau. Like the Trilogy excursion, this luau fills up
quickly. We made our reservations before leaving home on-line at www.hawaiiguide.com If you do a
search on Old Lahaina Luau, you’ll also find the site. We had a great evening and it was well worth the
money. We choose to sit on the ground on mats and were very close to the show. The only down side
was that we were the last to go for food (the VERY last) and there wasn’t much left by the time we got
there. Always a downside of a buffet type meal. But the surroundings, the ceremonies and the people
were well worth the money. We had a spectacular sunset and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

For our second day on Maui, we hired a private guide from Guides of Maui (www.guidesofmaui.com)
Donna was our guide and did a FABULOUS job at showing us a side of Maui that most people never
see. While you might think it is a bit more expensive than a ship excursion (it was $220 for the day), an
8-hour trip from the ship’s excursion desk would cost more for far less attention. We picked Donna up
at her office and she was available to us all day long. We chose to let her show us her 'favorite' part of
the island since she was native to Maui. We ate at a wonderful place in the middle of the island that
most tourist never see. We saw private, out of the way waterfalls, and we saw the popular spots such
as the Ioa Needle. We’d highly recommend Donna! She was a delight! And don’t forget to ask her
about Sean Connery!

KAUAI Hands down, our favorite island. We would (will) go back here to spend an extended vacation.
We began with a helicopter tour with Island Helicopters (www.islandhelicopters.com). It wasn’t an easy
sell to get our 13-year-old to agree to this tour. We told her that she didn’t have to go if she really
didn’t want to once we got there. Upon arrival, she got to sit next to the pilot and the rest is history.
This was truly like going to heaven. It can’t be described in words. The sites, the music, the
feeling…..they are all indescribable. Be sure you check out IZ while you are there. He is a Hawaiian
legend who has the voice of an angel. Any Hawaiian will know who he is. His music filled our tour!
While this might be the most expensive thing you do, this IS the place to do it. Even more so than
Maui. We WILL go back to Kauai for vacation!

After the tour (it only lasts about 50 minutes) we ventured to Poipu Beach on the south side of the
island. This was a wonderful choice. We spent the rest of the day here and it was our favorite beach
of the entire trip. We ate lunch directly across from the beach and again, it was as if we were in a
painting. GO HERE. You will not regret it!

OAHU Our last stop, and we had a great time here. Upon disembarking from the ship, we rented our
car (had to take a cab to the National counter). We drove to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour
(my husband really wanted to visit here….so did the rest of us) where we got a number for our tour.
Since it was approximately three hours until our tour left (you take a boat to the memorial), we drove to
our hotel to check in. We stayed overnight at the Halekulani. If there is anyway to swing the cost of this
hotel, it is worth it. It is very expensive, but you know that old saying, you get what you pay for. It is
true here. The service was unbelievable (more on that later). After checking in, we drove back and did
the tour at Pearl Harbour. My dad was in WWII and it was really important that our daughter see the
memorial. It touched us all.

That night we had (without a doubt) the best meal of the trip at Roy’s Restaurant in Honolulu. Roy
Yamaguichi is one of Hawaii’s best known chefs (kind of like Emeril stateside). His Honolulu restaurant
is located beyond Diamond Head. The food and service was the best! We wish we could go to Roy’s
every week. If you have just one night in Honolulu, go to Roy’s!

On our second day, we were flying home late that evening (an 11:00 PM flight). We spoke to the front
desk at the Halekulani about storing our luggage and changing for our flight because we were dining
at their restaurant, Orchids, before leaving for the airport. The gracious staff offered us to stay in a
room if we were willing to move (our room was already reserved for the evening) at NO EXTRA
CHARGE!!!! Yes, the hotel is expensive, but offering a checkout at 10:00 PM certainly wasn’t
something they had to offer without additional charges. It was a delightful way to spend the last night
of our trip….and dinner at Orchids was superb, too!

Overall, we had a terrific time and will definitely return to Hawaii again.

Name: Julie Bates
Email: julieannb74@hotmail.com
Age: 26
Occupation: Accountant
NumberOfCruises: 2
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Rhapsody
SailingDate: October 8, 2000
Itinerary: Mexican Riviera
Cabin: 4054
FoodDiningRoom: 82
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 85
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 79
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 79
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 92
ShoreExcVariety: 75
FoodVariety: 85
DeckService: 92
ShoreExcValue: 70
GoodForHoneymoon: 95
CasinoStaff: 89
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService:
TenderService: 80
GoodForSeniors:
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges:
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities: 89
EntertShowLounge: 79
OverallPortsofCall: 70
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram: 69
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 90
EmbarkDisembark: 89
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 80
Stabilization: 85
ShopsOnBoard: 80
SpaceRatio: 89
OverallCruiseValue: 86
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 06 Nov 2000
Time: 14:48:22
Remote Name: ip25.cvd1.rb1.bel.nwlink.com
Remote User:

Comments

Our Mexican Riviera trip on Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas was the second cruise taken
with my husband and myself. We love to cruise! This ship did not disappoint and the weather made
the whole trip a treat for us. It was nice & sunny the whole time. The positives outweighed the
negative, but I will elaborate on both. The ship was beautiful. Both our cabin and the dining room were
located on the fourth level, which I found the most beautiful. The Champagne Lounge was a nice
atrium bar which I enjoyed walking through enroute to our cabin each night. Artwork decorated the
stairwells and other public areas. The dining room was pleasant and our server, Steve, was super.
The food wasn't spectacular, but it was good. The desserts were nothing special, but that was OK with
me because I was too full to ever eat dessert. Although, dining in the main dining room for breakfast
and lunch left something to be desired because of the service. The servers seemed to be very
frazzled especially at breakfast.

The casual dining room was buffet style which was nice to pop in and
out of when hungry for a snack. Believe it or not, we did find ourselves hungry at times when food was
not available. Let me clarify: room service is always available, but the room is so small that I wasn't
interested. Also, hamburgers, hotdogs, and pizza slices are available by one of the pools. I didn't like
eating there because I'm not into junk food so I was a little resentful when that was the only food we
could get. We took full advantage of the pool deck because the weather was so nice. We liked the
band that played out there and the deck always was full of people and seemed very festive.
Sometimes, entertainment was available in the form of passenger games/contests. We liked all
entertainment that included the passengers. The Newlywed game, Scavenger Hunt, etc. was great to
watch and participate in. The traditional entertainment was sometimes boring for us. The ventriloquist
was excellent. The singers & shows didn't appeal to us as much; there wasn't anything special about
them. I worked out in the gym a couple of times.

The gym was adequate. I wished I could have joined
an aerobics class, but never had the chance. It would have been nice if they offered more classes.
The beauty salon was just too expensive for us to enjoy, but we pretty much expected as much. The
staff as a whole was very good. Our dining room staff was excellent. Our cabin steward, although we
only met him on the first day, was good. We really liked the creatures he made out of our towels &
pillows. It made coming back to the cabin a treat! We really liked a bartender in the casino where we
spent a lot of time trying to watch the baseball playoffs to no avail. NBC wasn't coming in at all.
Speaking of TV, movies were constantly on TV, many of which we had never seen. Back to the
service, overall, it was good. Everyone was very friendly, much more so than at your average hotel or
restaurant & that is a big reason why we appreciate cruising. But, I will say, that the last cruise I took
had even better service. (The Norwegian Wind) Our only real disappointment was in the ports. Cabo
San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta all left something to be desired. We bought one shore
excursion in Cabo, and remained on our own in the other cities. In Cabo, we went kayaking and
snorkeling on Lover's Beach. It was fun, but exhausting. Not a lot of instruction was given for either the
kayaking or the snorkeling. We only had about 20 minutes of snorkeling, and after the strenuous
kayaking, we would have liked a couple hours to relax! I don't regret this excursion, but I would
recommend doing it on your own. Plenty of locals offer water sport rentals and water taxis to the
beach. Also, the fiesta boat looked really fun! In town, Mazatlan was nothing exciting at all. We took a
taxi to the nice beaches and hotels and spent the day at the beach. The beaches are beautiful, but
not very relaxing with all the locals constantly trying to sell you stuff. We went swimming in one hotel's
pool that was huge and virtually empty of other swimmers. That was fun, mostly because we were so
hot! We also went to one of the ship's recommended restaurants The Shrimp Bucket and had a huge
amount of shrimp. The service was very good there and so were the shrimp. We recommend it. Puerto
Vallarta was probably the nicest town from what we saw. While walking around town, we were
scammed by a time-share resort. Afterwards, we felt really stupid for falling for it, especially when we
knew to be wary of time-share situations in Mexico! We were so mad at ourselves that we didn't even
talk about it for a long time, but I'm here to warn you so here's what happened. We were walking along
the street & a guy selling tours started talking to us. We were interested in swimming at a hotel's pool
and relaxing on the beach, etc. and our ship staff had told us that a hotel in town accepts cruise
passengers at their resort. When the guy heard we were from the ship, he said we could swim at his
resort and get discounts on watersport rentals there. He charged us $5 each to take us there and
when we got there, we realized what had happened and we were irate. We answered some of their
questions, but soon we just demanded our money back & took a cab back to the ship! Looking back,
we feel stupid for falling for this, but the guy totally lied so we didn't see it coming. We salvaged the
day by going to a hotel & sunbathing and swimming there. I also went parasailing for $40. That was
fun and got my mind off of the start of the day! Overall, I recommend Rhapsody of the Seas. We had a
great vacation. One piece of advice: once you're on board forget the negative reviews you may have
read & judge for yourself. Otherwise, you'll end up walking around critiquing everything. Relax &
enjoy!

Name: Barry Chow
Email: bkcchow@mail.com
Age: 33
Occupation: Computer Consultant
NumberOfCruises: 8
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Rhapsody
SailingDate: Oct 29, 2000
Itinerary: Mexican Riveria
Cabin: 7059/?
FoodDiningRoom: 50
CruiseDirector: 0
CabinComfort: 70
FoodRoomService: 70
CruiseStaff: 30
CabinAmenities: 70
FoodLidoDeck: 20
DiningRoomService: 80
CabinQuietness: 80
FoodMidnightBuffets: 10
CabinSteward: 70
ShoreExcVariety: 10
FoodVariety: 0
DeckService: 70
ShoreExcValue: 50
GoodForHoneymoon: 0
CasinoStaff: 80
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 80
LoungeService: 80
TenderService: 80
GoodForSeniors: 80
BeautySalonStaff: 80
EntertainmentLounges: 0
WheelchairAccess: 80
ExerciseFacilities: 70
EntertShowLounge: 0
OverallPortsofCall: 20
BeautySalon: 80
EntertainmentPoolside: 70
CruiseActivities: 30
Casino: 70
AirSeaProgram: 70
MedicalFacilities: 70
ShipCleanliness: 10
EmbarkDisembark: 90
DiscoNightclubs: 70
DeckSpace: 70
Stabilization: 80
ShopsOnBoard: 70
SpaceRatio: 70
OverallCruiseValue: 10
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 13 Nov 2000
Time: 15:19:51
Remote Name: cantire.com
Remote User:

Comments

This cruise is undoubtly my worst cruise experience out of the 8 cruises I have taken. The Mexican
Riveria cruise was especially terrible since just took any RCL cruise on board Vision of the Sea to Alaska
in Aug. Both Vision and Rhapsody are sister ships with similar activities and identical dinner menus. The
differences were apparent. Food was simply lousy on Rhapsody while Vision was adequate (although not
great). One example, the lobster bisque was cooked using soup powder which I never tasted such cheap
soup in a cruise dinner before. For breakfast if you order smoke salmon on bagel, you only get one slice
of salmon for two halves of bagel. The steak, supposely medium rare, is not only dry, it is practically beef
jerky. The purser and excursion desk staff is rude and not helpful. I tried to get some advice on what to
do on port. The purser desk staff sent me to excursion desk, and the excursion staff told me he can't help
me unless I took an excursion because he had on information on what I can do on shore.

Talk about terrible entertainment, our cruise director (John Blair) had his own show on the last day of the
cruise. He was so bad that people started to leave after 5 mins of the show. My wife was so upset that
she stormed out of the theatre because she felt cheated on our last night of our cruise. I mean if the
cruise is cutting budget, it can at least do the passenger talent show in the evening. At least it would be
fun. We did have a good laugh on how bad those lounge singers were when my friends and I had drinks
at the lounges.

In terms of activities, this cruise is down right Boring. Unlike our Alaskan cruise with full of spectacule
scenery, this cruise should have more activities to compensate the lack of scenery. Cleaniness in the
public area is another major problem on board of Rhapsody. The toilets were probably only cleaned once
a day. The floor seemed to be always wet in the toilet. It was disgusting.

In my mind, there is a serious management problem. Morale was very low among cruise staff. It's the very
first time I kept hearing complaints about overwork by cruise staff. If I could assign a overall grade to my
cruise experience: Princess gets 8.5 out of 10; Celebrity gets 8 out of 10; Carnival gets 6 out of 10; RCL
(Vision of the Sea) gets 7 out of 10 and RCL (Rhapsody of the Sea) gets 2 out of 10.

I can only hope that Celebrity now under RCL management, would not deteriate to such low level of
quality as Rhapsody of the Sea.

Name: Larry Shapiro
Email: lshapiro@home.com
Age: 55
Occupation: School Psychologist
NumberOfCruises: 12
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Rhapsody
SailingDate: 11/5/00
Itinerary: Mexico
Cabin: deck 4
FoodDiningRoom: 80
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 85
CabinAmenities: 89
FoodLidoDeck: 65
DiningRoomService: 96
CabinQuietness: 91
FoodMidnightBuffets: 60
CabinSteward: 96
ShoreExcVariety:
FoodVariety: 75
DeckService:
ShoreExcValue:
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 75
LoungeService:
TenderService: 85
GoodForSeniors: 89
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess:
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 87
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 91
EmbarkDisembark: 92
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 94
Stabilization: 91
ShopsOnBoard: 90
SpaceRatio: 95
OverallCruiseValue: 81
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 22 Nov 2000
Time: 15:37:04
Remote Name: cc436389-a.union1.nj.home.com
Remote User:

Comments

This cruise was our twelfth cruise and the second on Royal Caribbean. With the abundance of new
cruise ships, this will, in all probability, be our last Royal Caribbean Cruise. We have been on all of the
major cruise lines and feel that Royal Caribbean leaves much to be desired. True there are some
positives, the check-in was easy, the ship was very nice but so are many, many others. The service was
good but not great except in the dining room.

There was truly nothing special about this cruise, except of course for the food.

So, since food was the main factor that made this cruise much less enjoyable than others, this review will
focus on food. I'm not ashamed to admit that the quality of food and food service are very important to
me. If it weren't for the food I most likely wouldn't even go on a cruise. If food is not very important to
you, then don't read my review. Go onto the next one where you'll read about the other parts a cruise
vacation.

Let's start with the dining room. There has been a great improvement since our last Royal Caribbean
Cruise, but it still is not on par with most of the cruise lines with whom we've traveled. The food was
adequate but lacked originality. It was often salty (especially in soups), but again adequate. I do feel,
however, that the dining room food should be more than just adequate it should be superior.

Now for the Windjammer buffet. My daughter's dormitory cafeteria was better. The food was bland and
the selection was minimal. The coffee was instant and the coffee creamer was non-dairy (no small thing
if you love a good cup of coffee). I won't go over each item on the buffet, but I saw the same platter of
smoked Mackerel on the breakfast buffet every morning. The afternoon snack was also abominable.
There was really no difference from day to day, tasteless and boring. The frozen yogurt was the worst
yogurt and I ever had the misfortune of tasting.

What was even worse was the hamburger hot dog and pizza station. The system they had there was
unbelievable. Nothing was ever ready, except the hot dogs. You had to place your order and wait for
somebody to walk around the room trying to find your table. Hot dogs weren't bad but the hamburgers
were dry and over cooked. I tried to order one rare but they told me they only make them well done.
What's with that? The pizza was some frozen stuff that you probably would return to the supermarket if
you made the mistake of buying it. I must say that the fries, however, were very good. (Royal Caribbean
should get the pizza recipe from Carnival. Carnival's 24hour Pizza and Caesar salad station was great).

All in all, it was nice to be on vacation and any cruise is better than no cruise at all. It was, however, very
disappointing to be on Royal Caribbean again. My advice would be try Carnival. The food is better the
service is equal and I think the prices are better. Don't be scared away by Carnival's fun ship reputation.
I'm not a young Party person but there was plenty to do and the young crowd did not interfere with my
pleasure. Maybe some of the Royal Caribbean executives should take a Carnival cruise and use their
experiences to improve Royal Caribbean.

Name: Lisa Cooper
Email: lisakcooper@hotmail.com
Age: 32
Occupation: Nurse Manager
NumberOfCruises: 7
TravelAgent: No
Ship: RoyalCaribbean-Rhapsody
SailingDate: 01/07/01
Itinerary: Mexican Riveria
Cabin: 7152/D
FoodDiningRoom: 100
CruiseDirector: 90
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 100
CruiseStaff: 90
CabinAmenities: 70
FoodLidoDeck:
DiningRoomService: 100
CabinQuietness: 80
FoodMidnightBuffets: 70
CabinSteward: 100
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 75
ShoreExcValue: 100
GoodForHoneymoon: 100
CasinoStaff: 100
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 80
LoungeService: 100
TenderService: 80
GoodForSeniors: 90
BeautySalonStaff: 80
EntertainmentLounges: 100
WheelchairAccess: 80
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 100
OverallPortsofCall: 75
BeautySalon: 90
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 85
Casino: 100
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 80
EmbarkDisembark: 75
DiscoNightclubs:
DeckSpace: 100
Stabilization: 75
ShopsOnBoard: 100
SpaceRatio: 100
OverallCruiseValue: 95
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 28 Jan 2001
Time: 22:02:45
Remote Name: ip42.egain.com
Remote User:

Comments

First, a little bit about ourselves: my husband and I have traveled on RCCL, NCL, Princess, and Celebrity.
This was an anniversary trip that we took my mother-in-law and brother-in-law on to celebrate with our two
young children (almost 3 yrs and 8 month old). I will focus on a couple things in this review as many reviews
have given detailed descriptions of ports and parts of the ship. I will focus on cabin choice as well as the
children's program.

Before I start, I have to say we had a wonderful time. I already have us booked on the New Orleans sailing to
the Caribbean on the same ship (a first for us as we have always liked trying something new). However, this
ship is big enough that I feel there is still much to discover and it is intimate enough that I look forward to
seeing perhaps some of the same staff and sitting in our favorite spots. That being said, here goes:

If you are interested in Cat. C or D, you MUST think about getting a room in the back of the ship, specifically
the ones on the end (Cat D - 7152 or 7652, Cat C - 8088 or 8588). These cabins have wrap around
balconies and are just wonderful. I can give you our secret as I already have cabin 8588 for our New Orleans
trip in 2002! Be forwarned - these cabins are usually the first to go so you must book early or get lucky with
someone else's cancellation. Only negative (not for us as we love the rocking) some believe it is much more
rocky in the back. So if you are prone to get sick, you might want to re-think.

I went and looked at the family suite (cat. AA); this would be perfect for a big family. The balcony is VERY
small, but you have floor-to-ceiling window for the length of the room. There is one bathroom right when you
walk in (with a shower). And there is a HUGE walk-in closet for storage. Then to the left is a pretty small room
(much smaller than my mother-in-law's inside cat. K) that has two twin beds and two upper berths. If I recall, I
think there is a TV in that room. Then there is a very nice size seating area. That is were the big window is.
Then in a separate room ( I believe it is separated with a curtain but the little inside room has a door so there
is privacy); the separate room has a nice queen size bed with full bath. That is where the balcony is. So
parents can enjoy a nice morning on the balcony to themselves while the kids still sleep in their separate room
(one can wish). Once are kids are older, this room is a must. The benefit that it has over two joining rooms is
in the sitting area. It would be really nice to have a big area for the family to hang out while waiting for dinner
or activities.

We also took a peek at Cat. B. Seemed pretty over-priced to me. Sure you get special soap and shampoo.
And you get the nice wood furnishings. But it's not all that much bigger than C in my opinion. Actually, C is not
that much bigger than D and if there is a big difference in the price I wouldn't do it. I think Cat. D is the best
value for your money. We have opted to upgrade to C next time simply b/c the price was good and b/c of the
bath (with two little ones, a bath would have been really nice).

So that is my cabin advice. Please feel free to email me if you have any more questions b/c I become quite a
snoop at the end and am able to check out a lot of the rooms.

The kids program. My oh my. What a headache. To remind you, we have an 8 month old and a one week shy
of 3 year old. First came the kids program for 3-12 year olds. Well I thought since my son was completely
toilet-trained and only one week shy there wouldn't be a problem. Wrong. They actually demand that you
show them the birth certificate. So then we were told that the in-house babysitter could take them to the
various activities if we'd like. So I signed up for a babysitter every evening (at their bed time) and a couple
afternoons. I was told by RCCL many times on the phone that my 8 months old son could participate in their
babysitting program. Wrong. I didn't find out until after the second time I went to the Pursur's desk that they no
longer babysit under 12 months old. I nearly had a coronory. This meant that EVERY night we'd have to be
back in the cabin by 8pm or else everyone else would have to hear a screaming baby. I was very upset. It
seemed to me that I was mislead and I would have NEVER choose RCCL for a family vacation if I had known
that. I made my feelings known and was told that the hotel manager was in a meeting. So I came back an hour
later and was told that they'd make an exception for me. I was VERY happy and relieved. All's well, right?
Wrong.

So we had a wonderful babysitter, Donna, and when the children's program had a special dinner for the kids,
we had Donna bring our older son. No problem we thought. Then we signed him up for the second night and
was told by the staff that they no longer allowed under 3 to participate in some events, specifically the special
dinners. I asked whether there had been a problem with my son and they said no. They (the indiviual staff on
the Rhapsody) decided at their last staff meeting to limit under 3 involvement and they just didn't have a
chance to tell us prior to the earlier event. How can an individual ship's staff make rules that other ships might
not abide by? I still am confused as to why they have certain restrictions. Also, the picture on the RCCL
web-site showed a much bigger children's area for the Rhapsody than what was there. We had been telling
our son for months that he'd have balls to jump in only to find out that they don't have that. We often were not
felt welcomed at the program. For example, when we were there prior to the talent show one child said that
our son didn't have a song to sing. And the manager said 'oh, I bet he won't even join us will you Owen?'
Then at the special dinner, she made him sit all by himself so he wouldn't be with the 3 years olds (he was
one week shy of 3). So he started to cry b/c what toddler would want to sit by himself while the other kids sat
together? The whole thing was ludicrious and I can only hope my written comments at the end aren't the only
ones they receive and they relook at the management and the program.

But despite their silly childrens issues for children under 3, we were very pleased with the Rhapsody. We were
very appreciated that they made an exception and allowed us to have a babysitter. It is always nice to see
management look outside the box and do what is right, even though it might not be what is written down.

The service was impeccible. We couldn't go anywhere without the staff paying attention to our children, trying
to make them laugh and play with them. Our cabin steward, Stephen, and waiters Jose and Robinson were
the best ever. The captain was very witty and we enjoyed the repeat passenger cocktail hour. Unlike other
cruises, RCCL didn't stop serving after the complimentary 2 drinks. They just let them keep coming!

Please feel free to email if you have any questions. Looking forward to our next cruise and HAPPY CRUISING
TO YOU!

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