Truly Enjoyable Cruise to the Caribbean & Mexico
Written: Sep 05 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Enjoyable Onboard Entertainment and the most creative cabin stewards.
Cons: Small dinner portions. Soda packages for adults is too expensive.
The Bottom Line: I would suggest this cruise as the staff went overboard to accomodate our wants and needs.
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| teddford's Full Review: Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas |
Well, we decided to book our twentieth anniversary cruise aboard a Royal Caribbean ship after having experienced Norwegian and Carnival cruises.
We sailed out Sunday morning, August 21, 2005 from the Galveston, Texas Cruise Terminal. We used EZ Cruise parking in Galveston and the entire week's parking only cost $45 by booking with them online at www.ezcruiseparking.com. They delivered passengers and all luggage to the terminal and pickup all passengers and their luggage at the completion of the voyage. We were very pleased with them.
Check-in was a breeze at the terminal and we even managed to sneak in a couple bottles of spirits in our luggage with no problems. We were on the ship by 12:30 pm and I even had our luggage in our cabin before leaving port at 5:00 pm. We reserved a cabin on level 7 that had a balcony and we were very pleased with the cabin. Our bath however, always had a musty odor during the week. That was only a minor annoyance however.
I've got to give major kudos to the ship's staff. Very professional in all aspects. We were on a schedule that would have us at sea for the first two days and our first port of call would be in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on Tuesday. Monday afternoon at approximately 3:00 pm, the ships' captain, Anders Ingebrigtsen made a shipwide announcement that due to a medical emergency, we were steaming on a direct course for Cozumel, Mexico. There, offshore on Monday morning at around 4 am, we would meet another ship to evacuate the patient and therefore, he expected we would be arriving two hours late at our first scheduled port of call Tuesday morning in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. (We later discovered that an elderly passenger had fallen down a flight of stairs and suffered a hip fracture). To Captain Ingebrigtsen's credit, the evacuation went very well and we ended up on time in Ocho Rios.
Dan Whitney was our Cruise Director. He did a terrific job and has one heck of a schedule. At every event on the ship, he was there to either emcee the event or introduce. In many cases, he participated in it. He might be John Travolta's brother at disco night or even Elvis Presley at another rock-n-roll event. Very entertaining! The entertainment on the ship was very first-rate. One comedian in particular, Jeff Wayne, was particularly funny. Later in the cruise, a comedy act by the name of Mario & Daniel was the highlight of all the shows. They are Las Vegas entertainers and very, very funny. I would check their website to see if they might be on a future cruise since they perform often on Royal's ships. You can find them at www.twofunnyguys.com.
Other acts included the Grand Illusions of Haines Magic, starring David Haines and we also had an enjoyable evening of comedy and entertainment with the golden voice of Hal Frazier.
Broadcast Television available onboard offers CNN International, CNNFN, CNN Espanol, ESPN International and TNT International. Aside from the networks, they have their own "Retro TV" channel available that shows old tv shows like the Partridge Family. They also show recently released movies in english and in several different languages.
The ship has several onboard shops like any cruise ship and a "Seattle's Best Coffee" coupled with a "Ben & Jerry's" Ice Cream.
Restaurants...Well, you came on board for the food too! Not a very wide array of selections. For casual dining with a buffet style selection, it's the Windjammer Cafe on Deck 9. During breakfast, you can have your omelets prepared by a chef.
For more formal dining, on both decks 4 & 5, it's the Edelweiss Dining Room. For dinners, you will be assigned a table for the duration of the cruise with either a Main Seating (early) or a Second Seating (late) seating. For both breakfast or dinner, you can seat anywhere and dress very informally. Just no tank tops or hats in the Edelweiss dining room. At dinner, they ask that no shorts be worn.
Another area in which to eat is at the Solarium Cafe by the atrium covered pool. There, they mainly offer pizza, hamburgers and hot dogs. Beverages...water or cool tea. It was annoying that at this cafe, they had no ice for your beverages.
On a typical cruise day, here are your choices for food:
BREAKFAST:
6:30 am Early Bird Coffee, Windjammer Cafe
7:00 am - 10:00 am Breakfast, available in you stateroom
7:00 am - 11:00 am Buffet Breakfast, Windjammer Cafe
7:30 am - 9:30 am, All Guests, Edelweiss Dining Room
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LUNCH:
11:30 am - 1:30 pm All Guests, Edelweiss Dining Room
Noon - 2:30 pm Buffet Lunch, Windjammer Cafe
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DINNER:
6:00 pm Main Seating, Edelweiss Dining Room
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Casual Dining, Windjammer Cafe
8:30 pm Second Seating, Edelweiss Dining Room
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SNACKS:
7:00 am - 11:00 pm Seattle's Best Coffee, Cafe Latte-tudes
and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, in the
Centrum on Deck 6
11:00 am - 6:30 pm Pizza, hamburgers & hot dogs at the
Solarium Cafe
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm Afternoon snacks, Windjammer Cafe
9:00 pm - 2:00 am Pizza, hamburgers & hot dogs at the
Solarium Cafe
Soda Packages - Unlimited fountain sodas for the entire cruise are available for $28.00 for guests 17 yrs. old and under. For those 18 yrs. of age and over, it escalates to $42.00 per person.
On the very top deck at the aft of the boat, they do have a 30-foot Rock Wall for those daring enough to scale. When you reach the top of the wall, you are 200 feet above the sea!
Another indulgence you may seek out is a full tissue massage at the Rhapsody Day Spa & Salon. Seaweed wraps, facials & manicures are available as well. You must be 18 years of age or older to use the spa. Also, on deck 10, they have a ShipShape Fitness Center and a running track around the very top of the ship. Several ping-pong tables are available on decks 9 & 10.
The Broadway Melodies Theatre is a very comfortable venue to watch the many shows, musical performances and comedy acts.
The ship has a little bit of everything to offer for those of all ages. They have a reading library, mid-ship on Deck 7 and they host a Cigar Aficionados every evening. An internet area is also available for those wanting to saty in touch. Cost is $0.50 per minute.
Music Venues and bars include the Champagne Terrace on Deck 4, a poolside music area and dance deck on Deck 9, a piano bar on Deck 6 at the Schooner Bar, the Viking Crown Lounge on Deck 11 with a dance floor and the Shall We Dance Lounge.
For the kiddos, they have structured activities at the Club Fantaseas, located on Deck 10.
And, of course, as with every cruise ship, they have a casino, photo gallery, and silent art auctions.
For your ports of call, there are numerous excursions and activities you can schedule through the ship or you can just wing it. One note, at Ocho Rios, you will be constantly accosted by taxi drivers that just do not understand the meaning of the word "no", and if you employ their services, be sure you negotiate the full round-trip fare. These cabbies have their favorite places they will try to take you to and you should understand they receive payment from the merchants they deliver you to. Be forewarned! A hurricane did hit this country early this summer, but little damage was to be seen as this island is very mountainous. Most enjoyable is Dunn River Falls, a national park that will cost you $15.00 to enter. We got a round trip taxi cab to and from the ship for $20.00. You can rent a locker there for $8.00 and will be refunded $3.00 upon turning back in the lock and key. Avoid the park guides as they are a rip-off, acting as though you need to go in a group. They will want to hold your camera and expect to be tipped if you follow them in a group.
Georgetown, Grand Cayman was a bit disappointing. Their island was hit very hard by a hurricane and the highest point on the island is 60 feet in elevation. They have a turtle farm that is not worth the price of admission and they have a little tourist trap called Hell. It is a limestone rock formation that is very jagged, bur it is like a swamp of dirty, filty water with trash in between the rocks. For Grand Cayman, if you have a lot of money, they have seemingly no end of jewelry shops. Otherwise, not much to do here.
Cozumel, Mexico was the most enjoyable port of call. It was hit hard as well by the same hurricane, but they have recovered well. Four cruise ships were in port during our brief stay. Excursions abound. We rented a little car and made our own time.
All in all, the cruise was very good. We had a very rough time at sea on the last Saturday in the western Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Katrina was churning and the crew was prepared with barf bags placed throughout the ship.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
teddford
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Location: Austin, Texas
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 7 members
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