My husband and I sailed on the 1 December 2009 departure of "Rhapsody of the Seas" from Sydney to Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas, and Brisbane. We are in our 50s and have done a number of cruises on various cruise lines including 2 previous Caribbean cruises with RCI, however this was our first cruise with RCI from Australia. We spent the night before the cruise at Quay West, an apartment hotel situated in the historic Rocks district of Sydney, within walking distance of the Overseas Passenger Terminal (although not with luggage). We obtained a very good rate through Wotif.com and much to our surprise, were upgraded to a spacious partial harbour view room. The property is very comfortable with panoramic views over Sydney harbour from some apartments.

"Rhapsody" made a wonderful sight next morning berthed at Circular Quay, between the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. We walked down to the dock to have a closer look at the ship and noticed people embarking as early as 11.00am. (Hint - ignore what RCI says in the brochures about not embarking until 3.00pm). We dropped our luggage off at the dock and were on board in less than 10 minutes.

THE SHIP - first impressions of the Centrum on Deck 4/5 were quite magical, with lovely Christmas gingerbread house decorations, a huge Christmas tree and pots of red poinsettias up the stairways. Although access to the staterooms was not available until 1.00pm, we were free to wander around the ship and enjoy an excellent buffet lunch in the Windjammer restaurant. Read more