Rhapsody of the Seas had come highly recommended from fellow cruisers, so we had been looking forward to this cruise. And we weren't let down. One of the nice things about Rhapsody is her size - she has just over 2,000 passengers - which means it is big enough for some level of anonymity but also small enough that you often bump into people you might have already met.

She reminded me quite a bit of our first-ever cruise, on Radiance of the Seas. Radiance is one class bigger but much of the layout is the same and it almost felt like being 'home'. Rhapsody is a couple of decks smaller than Radiance, so getting around was easier. It seemed that we were no more than a couple of decks from anywhere. Our cabin was on Deck 8, which is one deck below the Pool Deck, Windjammer Cafe, the Solarium and Vitality Spa. Then, heading downwards, Deck 6 is the start of the dining and entertainment areas.

We loved our Junior Suite. We had stayed in a Grand Suite on Voyager of the Seas and found there was a lot of unused space. There was space to move in the Junior Suite but everything was contained and had a place. It was also rear aft and, due to the design of many cruise ships, rear aft cabins have large balconies.Another thing we liked about being rear aft was that any wind generated by the ship or the ocean passed right over us. Early on there vibration, probably due to the fact we were above the engines/propellers, but that stopped after a couple of days (not sure why). We could only surmise it was because we had to step on it to get from our first port of call to our second and the engine room was going at 'full steam ahead'. Read more