Rhapsody of the Seas Review

18 nights & 10 ports starting at Fremantle, WA.

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas
User Avatar
mwe152
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

Rating by category

Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service
Cabin

Additional details

Sail Date: Mar 2010
Cabin: Junior Suite

Remember 2009? How can we forget! ...It wasn't just redundancies & short time working that stopped us cruising: the Grim Reaper went into overdrive meaning we were too busy going to (or arranging) funerals, except for several thousand people who were the unwilling 'star' of these funerals! Britain's top TV soap, Coronation Street said it was losing A THOUSAND viewers a week in 2009: nothing to do with bad acting or dodgy characters or stories, 'Corrie' is UK's oldest TV soap & consequently has the oldest viewers. The fact is the world is rapidly running out of old people who keep cruise ships profitable as they have the time for world cruises & trips of over 3 weeks. Cruise lines are acutely aware their core customers are increasingly dead, in homes, or too old to travel. They HAVE to attract 'baby-boomers' and younger people born in the 1940s, '50s & '60s to replace those 1000 Corrie fans per week who were also core cruise clients! ...Unfortunately RC seem to have no idea how to attract these younger people. If they think having loud pop music round the main swimming pool 24-7 & a reggae band for 5 hours a day on sea days will do it they are deluded fools. The fact the deck 9 pool area has very few people using it & most beds are still untouched at the end of the day, whereas deck 10 is crowded with lots of sunbathers ought to tell them something. ...If people want a noisy holiday they'll go to Ibiza, Magalluf, or a downmarket cruise like Ocean Village.

Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas sounds like an upmarket ship from an upmarket brand: THIS IS NOT SO! My alleged Junior Suite was more like a superior balcony cabin & definitely inferior to Balcony Cabins on Fred.Olsen's Boudicca. I originally paid £9656.30 for this cruise thinking I'd get luxury like I'd never experienced. However, before the balance was due I wanted to change departure airports & RC had said an extra charge had come up & they didn't know why. At this point they'd introduced guaranteed (cut price) suites, so I cancelled at a lost deposit of £150 & rebooked at £7595! ...I'm glad I did this as there was no way it was worth £9656.30 & even £7595 was a rip-off for what I got. A lot of seasoned RC cruisers said they'd cut down on waiters, pool attendants, etc.. ...Yet there seemed to be far too much going on on the ship, even on port days when most people weren't on board. Why don't RC axe some daytime activities & musical acts to make their overpriced cruises cheaper?

The best thing about Rhapsody was the Windjammer (self-service) breakfasts, however service was poor: I'd been getting my own tea & orange juice for 5 days before I realised waiters did this for you: often they preferred talking to each other & looking out the windows! However, service improved later in the cruise when a no-nonsense Head Waiter was drafted in from the main restaurant (Edelweiss).

Cabin Review

Junior Suite

Cabin JS
previous reviewnext review

Find a Rhapsody of the Seas Cruise from $376

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.