We were a group of 9 from Wisconsin & Illinois who have cruised before but never to Alaska. We arrived in Seattle the day before departure and stayed at The Mayflower Park Hotel which is downtown and about 3-4 blocks from the Pikes Place Market. The hotel has a cruise package that is $47 total for two people. This includes a huge breakfast the next morning and transportation to the pier.
I highly recommend this hotel not only because of location but also because of the service, food, and comfort. From the airport we took advantage of the train that costs $2.75 a person and if you go to the last stop (Westlake Station), the hotel is only a block away. This certainly beats paying $35-45 for a taxi.
Rhapsody of the Seas is newly refurbished since it is one of the older ships in RC's fleet. It is somewhat smaller than other ships I have been on, but I did not find this a problem. In fact, it allows passengers to get more quickly acclimated to the ship's layout.
We all had junior suites so having a balcony was great. Because Rhapsody is a smaller ship, the closet was smaller than Freedom of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas. On those ships, we actually had a walk-in closet.The location was great with regard to the Windjammer. We were only only deck below and not far from the stairs or elevator.