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Royal Caribbean's
Rhapsody of the Seas
August 29 - September 5, 2004
Cruise Review
by
Rebecca Mullin

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Date: Mon, 13 Sep 2004 16:45:52 -0400
From: rebecca.mullin@mclanefs.com (Rebecca Mullin)
Subject: Review - Rhapsody of the Seas - August 29 - September 5, 2004

Well, this was mine and my husband's first cruise. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but we knew we wanted to relax and that's exactly what we did. This was our 5 year wedding anniversary, so we wanted to do something special. We left out of Galveston and traveled to Key West, Cayman Islands and Cozumel.

Since this was our first cruise, we could not compare to other cruises, but our dining partners were very complimentary about everything they experienced on the boat. I can't possibly mention everything about the trip, but here are a few things:

The food was really good. There were a few times that what we ordered wasn't to our liking, but all you had to do was ask for something else and they would always bring it. There are so many items to choose from both throughout the day on the buffets and during your evening dinner. If you end up not eating, then you may be too finicky about your food. But my husband loves to eat, and he enjoyed it all!

The entertainment in the evening was good and if you missed it, you could always catch it on the television later that nite or the next day. You should definitely catch the Love and Marriage Game show, The Quest, which is closer to the end of the cruise, and the last night's entertainment with the cruise line dancers and singers.

Docking at the port's seemed to be a smooth process while getting off the boat, we only had to 'tender' in Grand Cayman, and that was a breeze.

If you have excursions scheduled, you are one of the first ones off the boat. I would suggest you book your excursions on the boat or before your cruise, on the computer. It may be a little more $, but we were comparing notes with some of the people who did the same things on "their own", but the experience was not the same or as thorough as the same excursions you schedule with the cruise line. Also, if you do the excursions on your own, you may not find the right time slots in order to get you back to the boat on time. I highly recommend the StingRay city excursion in Grand Cayman. Definitely worth the $ to spend time with these creatures.

If you are a drinker and are interested in drinking on the Islands, it is quite expensive in Cayman, so do your beer drinking in Key West or Cozumel!

In Key West, there is an excursion called the Pub Crawl. This is alot of fun and a good way to walk through the town at nite and visit some of the bars that the "locals" visit. I think it's worth the $ and the people we walked with were alot of fun!

There is a daily auction on the boat, which is interesting and it's kinda neat to see the different art out there. They serve Champagne while you are there (at least 2 hours) and they have drawing for free prints too!

Overall, the experience of the cruise is a good one.

You are issued a card/sea pass when you get on the boat. That card is used like a credit card for all the things you purchase on the boat. Their daily drink special are $6 and the beer, you can buy a bucket of 6 for $15. There is a coke pass you can buy and you use the same "bottle" for refills. I believe it is $40, but if your not a huge soda drinker, it may not be worth the money. We bought a coke one nite at the theatre. T price was $1.86 each. So, you can do the math to see if it would be worth it.

The boat rooms are kinda small, but you are not in there very much, so it's not that bad. Remember to take the basics and try to coordinate your clothes and shoes for the evening dining so you won't have so many shoes and too many clothes. It's really very casual on the boat, don't let the "formal dinner nite" scare you. You can wear your Sunday best on those nites if you do not have a formal or do not want to spare the expense of buying one. Just hanging out in shorts and t-shirts during the day seemed to be the norm. Of course, this boat leaves out of Galveston, and the majority on the boat were Texans, so you can imagine the relaxed atmosphere.

I could go on and on....the trip was great and we did not have one day of bad weather! Enjoy your vacation. We will definitely do another cruise!

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