Chose to go with 2 couples. Never cruised with Royal Caribbean, they had. Overall the cruise experience was good. Food can be hit or miss. Service is very good, everyone is friendly and helpful. I would chose RC again. We were in a balcony cabin. Plenty of closet space, cannot say the same for shower space, just adequate. Take your own soap and shampoo. The one push container in shower didn’t suds up. Only provided one towel set per person. One of the older, smaller ships but clean and maintained. Drinks were interesting to order. Each bar tender had his own version of Mai Tai. All were good, though. Still can’t decide if deluxe beverage package was worth it. If the red wine is over $ 12, you are charged the difference. Better wines were over $12. No package will cost you $2 for water when leaving for excursion. Two excursions were cancelled due to rough water(snorkeling) or high water (cave tubing). They don’t tell you until off the ship and down the pier (long walk) but good alternatives offered. However, it is not taken off your credit card, given as shipboard credit. My friend didn’t keep up with her onboard account and lost $44 when not spent. Read Less

My cruise was booked before and taken during the crazy cruise industry panic. This was my 14th cruise. Various lines. Arrival at the Tampa Cruise Terminal...couldn't say more positive things enough about it. I was at the sidewalk at 10:40 am with luggage handlers and onboard by 11:20 am. having my first drink on my Deluxe Beverage Package. The week was wonderful. All staff was wonderful, I met so many friendly people, and as a solo traverler, this really touched me. Music entertainment Top Notch. I usually book a balcony cabin, but all those where taken when I booked. I had an oceanview outside cabin (3554) , and I loved the large window with space for me to pillow up and watch the sky and water spray from deck Three. Thank you Aman for your amazing cabin service. Cruise line food has changed over the years, but I had no complaints. Our staff at Table 30 was wonderful and did everything to ensure a great experience every night The Windjammer dining experience for breakfast and lunch was especially good. You can sit there enjoying an ocean view and the wait staff will bring you whatever beverage you want. Smiles, smiles all around. I feel so bad for the cruise industry right now with so many being cancelled. When you do cruise again, tip your staff generously. They deserve it. Read Less

ROS was nice ship but a bit laid back. Cruise had lots of retired folks Crew was good. The food was average. Casino ok but way too long to wait for servers. Tendering was a nightmare. Some of it was the weather and the waves. But it was frustrating. The cabin was fine. Could use a bit of refresh. I think entertainment was average not really impressed with on board activities. I think they could do better there. The ports were fine. However I did not go ashore at two of them. One because I had been there a lot and the other because of tendering. I did think that shopper on board was nice and helpful. If you are looking to purchase something go see him. Average is how I would describe the cruise. Nothing really exceeded expectations. Overall I would cruise RC again but maybe not this ship in particular. Read Less

Decided to try a cruise out of Tampa since we just moved close by. It was a smaller ship than we’re used to but we had a really nice cruise. We traveled with some good friends from out of town and it was their first cruise. The itinerary was really nice, Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Costa Maya. Key West was beautiful sight seeing but pricey shopping. Grand Cayman was just ok for us. We shopped and ate at a really nice seaside restaurant, Paradise Bar & Grill. Great fish tacos! Next was Cozumel. A nightmare! We were supposed to dock but due to the large number of ships, 11, we were forced to tender and it was horrible! From the time we got our tender tickets til we go ashore was 2 irritating hours. Then we decided to take the ferry over to Playa del Carmen. Huge mistake! The extremely windy, rough seas going and returning proved to be sick inducing. We will never take the ferry again. We’ll just visit Playa like we normally do via a resort. Upon returning to Cozumel we shopped but the vendors weren’t dealing due to the high volume of cruise ships in port. Oh well, maybe next time. Next port of call was Costa Maya which is pretty but basically a big tourist trap with high prices. On board the Rhapsody the food was delicious, the entertainers, 2 comedians, were really funny and the production shows entertaining. Our main focus as always was dancing. There were two bands, one not so good and the other, Music Motion, flat out excellent. Super talented with all members being excellent singers and musicians. We cha-cha-ed, swing danced, bolero-ed, and free styled. Music Motion is one of the best bands we have ever had on our 19 cruises! Because of them we’ll probably cruise Rhapsody again. Now for my complaint, the so called Adults Only area. What a joke! First of all the sign on the door says “Adults Only, must be 16 years of age and older. Sixteen is not an adult. They can’t vote, can’t serve in the military and can’t drink alcohol. But it doesn’t stop there. There were small children in there about 8yrs old! When I complained I was told children are allowed in to sit and eat if they behave. How in the world is that Adults Only??? Read Less

We live in St. Petersburg so going on a cruise out of Tampa is easy for us. It's been a few years since we left from Tampa so thought it would be fun seeing the new lights on the Skyway Bridge while going under it. The lights did not turn on till we were near the bridge but the sunset was beautiful to see. We were on the Harmony of the Seas in December so I must admit going from a huge ship with fantastic entertainment to one of the smallest ships in the fleet is quite different. The Rhapsody is a well seasoned ship that needs some attention. Our cabin was 2582 and after the ship started sailing at full speed we noticed a loud noise by the window that sounded like someone was banging a metal ladder against the outside of the ship-metal to metal sound. We called and someone came to check it out. They agreed the noise was very loud and they moved us into an inside cabin for the night and, hopefully, they could have it fixed the next day. The noise was still there the next day but actually stopped later in the day. They said it came from the engine room 2 floors down and there wasn't anything they could do. We actually slept in room 2582 that night and there was no noise. Then the next day the noise started back up and seemed even louder. Again, someone came to check it out and they offered us another room so we packed up all our things and moved to another room. Other people were also complaining about the noise but they didn't have any other rooms available for them to move into. We signed up for the Cruise Critic's Meet and Greet party but did not receive our invitation until after the party had already happened. We also got a congratulations notice with a pin that said we were now Platinum level but actually, we are Emerald. A few other things we noticed were: ice cream machine wasn't working correctly and the ice was always soupy. You could not make an ice cream cone as the ice cream just ran out the cone. You needed to put it in a cup but it was more like ice cream soup, the casino was too smokey for non smokers. You could even smell smoke down the hallway and on other floors near it. We hope someday they will have non smoking rooms rather than a few slots marked non smoking (but they have them in the same room right next to smoking areas ???) When we docked in Cozumel, they docked in the water and boat tendered us into the downtown pier. There were 7 boats in Cozumel (usually only 6 boats are docked there). We purchased the Key package (LOVE IT) and got escorted to the boat tender right away...then we waited 45 minutes until the tender left. Most people were late for their excursions but most of them waited till everyone arrived. They did extend our stay in Cozumel a little longer. We purchased the 3 specialty dinner package and really enjoyed it. It was our first time in Izumi Sushi. We did the hot rock where you cook your meal on the sizzling hot rock. What a great way to relax and watch the sunset on our last night on the ship. The comedy shows were funny along with the adult comedy shows. We tried to watch a movie outside by the pool deck but it was so windy and cold most people came inside. I was amazed that we kept getting notices from Royal before we cruised that the captain would come on the announcements 2x a day with update on the carnivorous and people would be going around cleaning the common areas during the day. We never saw or heard any of these. Other than the attendant giving a hand sanitizer squirt in your hands like they have always done when you go into the Windjammer nothing special was done. They did ask us questions about our past travel when we checked in. No one was checking passports, taking temperatures, etc. Rhapsody of the Seas is a quaint old ship that has rust dripping down from the outside windows and other cosmetic issues that can be fixed. There aren't too many smaller ships left that will fit under the skyway bridge so it's important to keep her around. We wanted a relaxing get-away which is exactly what we got. Read Less

We choose the cruise as we were keen to revisit one of Royal Caribbean's smaller ships and wanted to visit Key West and being just the 2 of us wanted to cruise out of peak holiday season. Embarkation was the best we've ever experienced, 10 minutes after arrival we were on board, fantastic, no queues getting to the port or at check in. Being a smaller ship it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the larger RC ships but that suited us just fine. Plenty of activities if you wanted, plenty of sunbeds if you didn't. We enjoyed the daily quizzes in the Schooner Bar (though why the changed the times later in cruise no one could understand), the shows were mostly good (weren't to keen on the dance show). The bars were never crowded and service was excellent everywhere. We ate in the Windjammer for breakfast, Park Cafe for lunch where the beef rolls were superb and the main dinning room for dinner, as always food was good. We also ate in Chops Grille and Giovanni's, great food and attentive service. We also loved the fact being a smaller ship everything was within easy walking distance, no need for a lift. The only real negatives were docking at Cozumel, we were due to dock, however due to another RC ship changing it's itinerary we we forced to use Tenders, not ideal in high winds, took nearly 3 hours for everyone to get off. We also struggled with the Cruise director he reminded us of a typical cheesy game show host, complete with inane grin!! The only excursion we took was the hop on trolley in Key West, was a good way to see the island and allowed us to get on and off whenever and wherever we wanted. Not much to complain about, would recommend the ship for those looking for good service and a more relaxed cruise than some of the newer and bigger RC ships. Read Less

My husband and I (64 and 63 years young) traveled to Tampa Friday night, stayed at the Hampton Inn Avion Park. The hotel was nice and offered free breakfast. Request a room on the side opposite the airport and highway. We used Lyft to get to port and requested a stop at Target on Dale Mabry Hwy to buy wine and Pepsi. Note the Target in on the second level above Whole Foods. We arrived at port about 11 AM. We had purchased The Key so we're able to skip ahead of the line but it was not yet very busy. We dropped the carryon with the wine in the Edelweiss Dining Room and set off to explore a bit and then went back for lunch. About 1:15 PM they announced that our cabins were ready. We found our luggage quickly as well. I chose this cruise mainly for Key West and it did not disappoint me. Grand Cayman was fantastic, the beach was beautiful. Costa Mayas port area was Claustrophbic with 4 ships in port so we took the trolley to Majahaul to shop and after a couple of hours headed back to the ship for lunch and Sun at the pool. The only real fail for me was the tendering into Cozumel which was required as we were not given a spot to dock on a pier as there were 7 ships in port. They should have only loaded the tenders for 25 minutes and then departed with those that could make it on in that amount of time instead of loading for an hour and making everyone late for their excursions. There were 2-3 tenders waiting all the time to load and IMO this would have been more efficient. Cozumel itself was a huge disappointment with the traffic and commercialized Mall they forced everyone to walk through and Dolphin Experience at Chaukanab (sp) the only thing that saved the day was petting the manatees. The food was good, but I wouldn't call it amazing and one night there was a hold up in the kitchen where we did not get our entrees in a timely manner and our Maitre D had to come to our table and explain the hold up. The other thing that was strange is the app on my phone quit displaying the menus after the first day but my husband had them the entire cruise. We had fun and enjoyed the shows, games, movies, dance parties and casino. I found it easy to get around the ship and only got on an elevator when taken there by Men at Work during the 70s Disco Dance party and I may or may not have ridden the Indian like a horse. Read Less

All our other Royal cruises have been on voyager, freedom, and oasis class ships; so we knew going in that this would be a "fun sized" experience. Not caring for any of the Western Caribbean ports, we booked this cruise to spend time with family and relax, relax, relax. Mission Accomplished! Parking at the open air lot directly across from the ship, we were onboard in a matter of minutes. The walk-in eating areas are both located on deck 9. Plenty of seating and each of them have a coffee/juice/water station conveniently located away from the general seating. Loved spending time in the solarium, it has a retractable glass roof for those cool or rainy moments and is flanked by the park cafe (not like the one on Oasis) and a bar. With both a pool and a hot tub, we were set for the cruise. Had most breakfasts and sea day lunches in the main dining room. Very nice and relaxing, you can choose to be served or do a quick turn thru the buffet line. Other times we went to the windjammer, food was good (especially the build you own naco platter) and there were always seats available. We had 2 dinners in the MDR early seating and 2 much later on my time seating(to be with our late eating family). Food, selection, and service were all good. The remaining 3 nights were spent specialty dining with family. One night at each restaurant, the company was great, the value was not. The food and the ambience were ok, just not worth paying the extra money for. The shops were smaller, but still fun to walk through. The shows in the theater were entertaining and there were always seats available. The schooner bar seemed larger than on the larger ships. Be sure and spend some time in the R bar/Centrum area on deck 4. There always seemed to be something going on there, and it could be viewed from the upper decks. A great use of minimal space. The cruise director was uninspiring. Our room was an ocean view with a large (maybe 3'x3') window. Very small, but nicely laid out. HATED the shower curtain! By some science experiment gone wrong, it would always billow into the already tiny shower(the same size as the bigger ships) and cling to my back. I felt like Zorro with his cape. I never thought that I would miss the bigger ship showers with their non-intrusive doors! This fabric curtain is making me want to cancel our 10 day cruise next January on this same ship. Read Less

I last sailed on this ship about 2 years ago. Embarkation and leaving the ship was easy and without long lines. Many guests now do the 'self assist' and carry their own luggage off. This is a smaller ship than I usually sail on. It is compact, well decorated and comfortable. My cabin (junior suite) was excellent, my stateroom attendant even more so. Not having a Coastal Kitchen, I ate in the main dining room each evening. Here and indeed in the Wind Jammer (for lunch) I found the food to be bland, unseasoned and not served as hot as it should be. The soup was watery and without taste. There was no French mustard offered for the steaks and no freshly ground black pepper. Although some of dishes were served correctly, I have to say that most were not. My servers though, on both weeks, were excellent as was the Head Waiter; who came to chat with me nightly. The entertainment was very good. The musicians were excellent as were the singers and dancers. The ship was cleaned and disinfected often. Hand sanitizer was everywhere. Washy! Washy! I traveled alone and felt completely at ease onboard, not only with the crew/staff/guests but also with the hygiene and anti-virus protections that were in place. There is a great variety of shore excursions available and on two days where the weather was not good, the Activities staff held extra games, trivia and film shows. Although I would travel on this ship again, I have to admit that it would not be my first choice. Read Less

I wanted to get a cruise since my mom recommended it, we purchased thru our OH travel agent a 8 day cruise thru Western Caribbean. Embarkation was disappointing (we were left outside the terminal without a place to sit, with cold weather. Once we entered it was all better. The stateroom was okay, extremely clean and good though, our stateroom attendant was amazing he took great care of our room and of us during the entire cruise. The shore excursions were good, not the extraordinary I was expecting but good. We visited the ports of Cozumel, Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya and Florida. The ship crew was amazing, our room attendant always keep our room extra clean, sometimes three times a day, people from guest services were always very helpful, our main dining servers, extraordinary, the bartenders amazing and very accommodating to our every need, want or requests...It was the best vacation ever!!!! Read Less

RC once was the premier in cruise lines, from food quality to ship excellence. Rhapsody was without proper maintenance, rust throughout, banisters sadly worn and chipped, paint sloppily administered with many many paint drips on stairways, jogging track and walkways. Lounge areas have many many upholstered chairs worn down to the wood. Embarrassing. 2 star old hotel appearance. Dining room (Edelweiss) was excellent food each night. Open cafe (Windjammer) was a range of very good to embarrassing. Cold and dried out sausages, pancakes that were flattened and flavorless and desserts that seemed made of consistently low quality or limitrd flavor ingredients. A few ok desserts, but generally low quality. Not the food one came to expect from RC in years past. Service was excellent throughout the ship, but no better than every other cruise line with the exception of Costa, which is horrible. Entertainment: Bands and musicians were very good. Shows were hit and miss. First routine of RC dancers (western night) came off as a gay Broadway /cowboy mishmash. From then on we avoided. "A Night with Adele " was well done performance by guest singer (Mary Jo as I recall). Inroom movies were frustrating. Only 2 movies all day, 3 hrs apart. Next day, 2 new movies. No ability to choose (only one channel for movies) so cruise days were disappointing. Large deck screen is nice, but often only showed the same movies all day long. Ping pong tables (2) needed repair. Exercise room is good, but dated. Deck areas had plenty of lounges. Stateroom interior, of which we purchased the largest option in the class, was the smallest stateroom we have seen on Any cruise line (Holland, NCL, Celebrity, Costa, Previous RC). And it was worn out and very unimpressive with exposed wood and large rust issues in the bathroom. Read Less

We sailed recently with two other couples. We've never been on this size of RC ship and after being on the Anthem and Harmony, were worried we would be disappointed. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a cozy, older ship with lots of character and probably the best staff we've met. Yes you will find some rust and there are areas that need to be updated but none of those things affected our experience. We ate most dinners in the main dining room and the food was very good. We also ate in Chops and Giovanni's Table. Chops was the winner for us. We had dinner on the first night in the Windjammer as we couldn't get a table for over an hour in the dining room. Not a huge deal but we were hungry. I really wish they could fine tune the "My Time Dining" to be more flexible. Even with a reservation, there were nights we had to wait. Our stateroom, 7650, is a good hike to the elevators but well taken care of and our stateroom attendance, Sagar, was wonderful. I'm surprised how much storage a small cabin has. There were cabinets we didn't even use. We aren't "show" people but did enjoy playing trivia, gambling and just hanging out with our friends. I would gladly sail on this ship again. Read Less

This was our first time on the Rhapsody although it was our tenth cruise on Royal. We were on a B2B from February 1-15 and the weather was somewhat cool the first week but it improved a lot by the second week. The service onboard was good overall with no major complaints although sometimes a little hit and miss in the main dining room for breakfast and lunch. The only time we thought the food needed improving was the dinner menu in the main dining room. We booked all of our shore excursions through the ship and they were all very good with excellent guides on each and everyone. The evening shows were all quite good, especially the Pure Country show. Also lots of very good musical groups playing around the ship. Also plenty of daytime activities to take part in on sea days although we did miss the indoor movie theatre that we had on our last cruise aboard the Serenade. Read Less

Did that get your attention? Well In a Nut Shell, a Bohemian is a person living an unconventional lifestyle. This however has no significance in the title of this review although i figured it might get some attention, so please read on. With a bit of skepticism we made our reservations on board Rhapsody of the Seas. For the record our skepticism was on the Ship Size and really nothing more so i broke this review down in detail. I am covering everything from the Port Boarding to Disembarking so I Hope you enjoy the read Cruise Experience 15 Cruises with Royal Caribbean 115 Cruise Days Details 7 Day Cruise from Tampa - Key West - Gran Cayman - Cozumel - Costa Maya Feb 1st through Feb 8th. State Room 7042 Balcony Starboard Side Port of Tampa and Cruise Terminal (8 out of 10) I think this could have gone better than it did, the Port itself is very uniformed and did not see many if any traffic jams. The Local LEO's did a spectacular job moving traffic along. However, getting your documentation - sea pass card ect. from the Desk Clerks seemed a little disorganized and delayed. We (3 of us) were at the counter for almost 25 Minutes and all we were waiting for was a Sea Pass Card and Picture, seems a little longer than any of the other ports. Rhapsody has only one entrance that is used for Embarking and Disembarking so it bottle necks pretty fast. I am not quite sure why they don't use Deck 5 as an option for this as it would make more sense than trying to fit 2500 passengers into a less than modest size welcome area. Rhapsody of the Seas Ship Overview (10 out of 10) For those of you who are use to a Royal Promenade deck Rhapsody of the seas does not have a Royal Promenade as this is a Vision Class Ship. Royal Promenades are available on Voyager - Freedom - Quantum and Oasis Class Ships only, Any others have a Centrium which is basically a Ship Center where the entertainment is performed. It is a bit congested but Rhapsody proved to be a good ship to enjoy the festivities. The shops and stores are located on Deck 6 interior and are pretty spacious. I suggest rooms above deck 6 Center or Aft to limit the music and activities during the evening hours. The nice thing about this size ship is there are wide areas behind the elevators for movement and access to other areas of the ship so elevator areas don't get crowded. Further, due to the positioning of the elevators - staterooms and the ship size you are always within striking distance of your stateroom, which prove to be very nice as you come and go. Deck 5 has access to the outside walking area on the Port and Starboard sides of the ships which is very relaxing if you like quite and nice breeze. Smoking is allowed on Port Side of Ship only on Decks 5 and 9. Lattitudes Coffee is available on deck 6. Pool is on Deck 9. Disembarking for Island Stops is on Deck 2. Remember only one Entry and Exit on this ship so bottle neck lines will occur when disembarking. Rhapsody of the Seas condition (8 out of 10) Fellow cruisers - Rhapsody is aged a bit and you can see some wear on her, but overall she is a great ship - I have heard rumors that RCCL may be selling these ships soon so they may be just fixing that absolute NEED to's until the sale is completed. But overall we honestly had no complaints about the ship. Customer Service Area (10 out of 10) All i can say is throughout the 7 Day trip we never seen more than 3 people waiting in line, this was a huge surprise to us as we traveled on the other class ships and this area is constantly jammed with Passengers so Rhapsody is doing something right. They should share their success with the other ships. Genre (10 out of 10) The ship was made up of Families and Couples ranging from late 30's and up. There were some younger passengers but for the most part it was 80% over 30 and up. Which made it very relaxing and not having to worry about disorderly young adults discovering alcohol. Service (10 out of 10) Extraordinary - unlike the bigger ships the service was top notch, there was a wait staff within 5 feet of us the whole trip. It was very refreshing knowing the ratio from Employees to passengers was more balanced on this ship then others we have been on . Restaurants (9 out of 10) The Windjammer set up is spectacular - the main food is Laid out in a Circle with tables on the outside which we called the bull pen. The access was fantastic and we never had to wait for a table to dine. The only draw back was the special cooking request caused a slight - slight bottle neck but it really never interfered with the guests - just a bit more wait time. We went to Chops Grill and although it was good Steak is Steak and we realized you can pretty much get that at the Main Dining Room for free if wanted. Giovanni's was fabulous great service and great food. Izumi was also on our list, although the food and service was good - the Menu is limited so if your not at least 85% into Japanese cuisine i wouldn't recommend going. Main dining room was busy but seemed a bit under staffed during the time we were there but still nice overall. Entertainment (8 out of 10) The live entertainment in the Centrium was great, the movie's at the pool on Deck 9 were a bit over played - this was a perfect opportunity to sit back and watch a movie under the stars but the ship showed 3 Movies the whole week and it was the same movie day after day so it got rather boring after a while, and just an observation for RCCL - maybe serve popcorn during the movies. The only shows that were available were a couple headliner shows and couple performances by the Ships employees but no complaints about either - it was pretty great overall. Ports of call (7 out of 10) KEY WEST - Was great and the ship ports close to downtown on Deval Street GRAN CAYMAN - Ships do not dock at this port so you have to tender - which is generally a 15 minute wait coming and going. Reminder, there is only one entry and exit so this does bottle neck. COZUMEL MEXICO - Ship ports outside of Senior Frogs and Margaritaville, near downtown Cozumel. Lots of vendors and stores to walk through as you get out of the interior population vendor zone. COSTA MAYA - CANCELLED We had to abort docking at Costa Maya because of high winds and safety precautions, I get it. However i think RCCL could have done more for their passengers rather than saying "Sorry we have extra events Planned" - In my opinion maybe they should consider dropping Beverage Prices / Casino Table Minimums and Dining to half cost for the duration of the time we would have spent at the port I think it would have made some great PR for RCCL. Casino (8 out of 10) Machines are Really Tight and the Employees seemed a little distant. We are generally greeted with Smiles and some conversations regardless if its a few words or not. Although not all the employees were like this - i would say better than half were and it made for a somber time at the tables or the machines. Disembarking (9 out of 10) As much as i have written about disembarking i am beginning to see that regardless of where your at or what ship your on - this seems to be a huge bottle neck and definitely room for improvement - i am scoring this as i seen it it but it could use improvement. Customs and Border Patrol (8 out of 10) After leaving the ship you will enter the main tunnel to the CBP area, Caution if you have two bags in hand the Person at the escalator will not let you use the escalator unless you have one had free - so the alternative is to stand in line to your right for the one and only available elevator to take you down one level - Once you get past there it moved pretty fast. Overall I would rate the Ship and this Cruise from Start to Finish (9 out of 10) 94% overall satisfaction Read Less

We're long-time RCL cruisers (Diamond Plus). Our favorite class of ship is Radiance Class, but we've been on a couple of Voyager class ships, plus a couple from other lines. This was our second cruise on the Vision class. We chose this itinerary because it included Belize and Roatan, and we hadn't been to either. We flew to Tampa the day before the cruise (we got burned once by a flight delay that caused us to miss embarkation) and went from our hotel to Ybor City for dinner. The boarding process was among the easiest we've experienced (we got there around noon). It would be helpful if RCL would indicate the port terminal on the reservation, though - we initially went to the wrong terminal, and got stuck in traffic going to the correct one, which was much closer to our hotel and away from the traffic. Took us a half-hour to go what should have been just a few blocks. My mistake for indicating the wrong port to our Lyft driver, but again it would be nice to know it in advance. The ship itself is nice but in need of some updating. We had an aft Junior Suite on the starboard corner with a huge balcony that had two lounge chairs plus two regular chairs and a table, and we used that on sea days to avoid the crowds on the pool and sky decks. However, when we did visit those decks we were always able to find lounge chairs in the sun or shade, whichever we preferred that day. We ate twice at Izumi (very good - the sushi rolls were excellent and the hot rocks steak was very tender), once at Giovanni's Table (good, but we miss Portofino) and once at Chops. Usually we eat a couple of times at Chops, and I've never had a bad steak there. However, the filet I had was the worst cut of beef I've ever had in my life (and we Kansas Citians eat a lot of steak). In fact, the first one they brought was bad, and it was undercooked, so they brought me a completely different steak, and it was equally bad, though cooked more. After a couple of bites I gave up and finished my wife's filet (fortunately she ordered the large one). The ones I was served didn't look like filets, the texture was unlike any other steak I've had, and they tasted awful. (My wife tried it and concurred.) We took our other meals in the Windjammer, and it was good, with a lot of variety. However, I'm not sure why they had Indian food offerings every day - it would be nice to mix it up a bit and offer other cuisines. We've done enough cruises that we don't eat in the dining room any more, mainly because we don't go on vacation to get dressed up. We love sea days, and those were great. Our ports were Belize, Cozumel, Roatan and Costa Maya. We've been to Costa Maya twice before and Cozumel many times, but the others were new to us. Belize was fine - very friendly people. We're not into the jungle tours, and we've done the Mayan ruins before, so we just walked to the "BELIZE" sign and the lighthouse, then walked around the port and had lunch before going back to the ship, where we pretty much had the pool deck to ourselves. A word of warning: we bought souvenirs at the Jungle Shop, and ate lunch at the Wet Lizard, which was pretty good. At both establishments I used a different credit card than I usually use (neither place takes Amex so I used a Visa). At the end of the cruise I looked at my credit card app, and saw an unrecognized charge. I initiated a dispute with the issuer. After the payment posted and I had more information, I investigated, and it turned out that someone had used my card info and name to reserve a room at a hotel in Belize for the weekend after the cruise. So it had to be an employee of either the Jungle Shop or the Wet Lizard. I won't go back to Belize, and from now on when I visit ports, I'm using cash only. Cozumel: we used day passes at the Iberostar resort that included buffet lunch, all drinks, beach chairs and towels, and the pool. We purchased them from resortforaday.com. Decent property, but the water just off the beach is too rocky to walk on, and the building where lunch is served doesn't have enough seating, so we ate outside with our plates on our laps. The drinks were just okay also. Some fellow passengers went to the Nachi Cocom beach club and it looks much nicer, for less money, so next time (2022!) we'll go there. Roatan: again, we didn't book excursions, so we just walked around the port area and got back on the ship. Costa Maya: there were five ships in port and we didn't want to go to an overcrowded beach, plus we've done excursions to the ruins near there before, so once again we walked around the port area and shopped. It was extremely crowded with that many ships in port, and is much more developed than it used to be. We also had lunch there and it was good. All in all we had a great, low-key, relaxing vacation, but we booked our next cruise on Radiance class again. However, I'd cruise on this ship or one of its sisters again. Read Less

This was my family's 1st cruise. I can honestly say it was the first time that I can remember that I have taken a vacation and actually felt like I had one! We had two rooms - a balcony for my husband and I and an interior room across the hall for our sons. Angelica was an amazing attendant. Room was cleaned and towels refreshed twice per day. We ate in the dining room the first night but chose the Windjammer for the rest of the cruise. Food was great - lots of options. It was hard not to find something you liked. We chose the Rhapsody for the ports. We went to Belize, Roatan, Cozumel and Costa Maya. In Belize we did a cave tubing and ATV adventure with Butts Up tubing. It was amazing. Would highly recommend this tour group. In Roatan we split up with one son and husband going to golf and myself and another son went to a sloth and monkey sanctuary and then a beach resort. The sloths and monkey were so much fun. It wasn't crowded and we got to spend alot of time with them. Cozumel brought us dolphins and manatees - another amazing experience. Costa Maya was a bit more relaxing at the water park (it had elevators to get to the slides!) and then a beach resort for lunch and drinks. There were alot of vendors that came up to you but as soon as you said no thank you not interested they left. Our family thoroughly enjoyed each port. We will definitely cruise again. Read Less

We picked this cruise because we had never been on RCCL. It turned out pretty good.. Mostly seniors over 50. Hardly any kids on board. Music and games were mostly for people growing up in the 50's and 60's. Cabin was small, but all we did was sleep there. Cabin steward was excellent. Asked to change beds to 2 singles and done promptly. Food in main dining room was OK....we have had better on Princess and Norwegian. Biggest disappointment was the New York Strip. Never seen a steak that was 1/4 inch thick. How can you cook it the way a person wants it when it was basically a strip of jerky. Excellent waiter and assistant waiter. The buffet was barely OK.....pretty much all of it was barely warm. Some even cold. Scrambled eggs were instant.....so watery. The only way to eat them was as a freshly made omelet.They really need burners under hot food. Or you better be standing there when they bring it out from the kitchen. Excursions were fine. We took the one to Chichen Itza Long bus ride but worth it. They provided a brown bag lunch and a cold bottle of water or coke at the end. Temps in the 90's so really needed it. Entertainment was good. The guys from Argentina were awesome. Loved the Elton John impersonator. No problem getting on or off. Or through customs. All in all it was good even with the so-so food. Already booked the Vision Of the Seas..... sister ship of the Rhapsody next Jan. Read Less

My wife and I have cruised before with Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and NCL, but this is our last time cruising with Royal Caribbean. Here’s why: (1) SMOKING: Too many times we had to put up with the smell from people smoking on the ship. Other cruise lines/ships do a better job limiting where smoking is allowed. (2) THE FOOD: The quality of the food and number of selections offered did not measure up. For example, chicken and meats at the lunch buffet were often dried out and tough (sitting under very hot heat lamps). The same type of fish was typically served each day (in contrast to other cruises we’ve been on that featured a different fish each night at dinner). NCL did a much better job preparing vegetarian/vegan options for my wife. The breakfast buffet in the Windjammer was especially poor. The home fries—the same each day—were a big disappointment. Throughout most of the cruise the tomatoes were more yellow and green than red. Cooked-to-order eggs/omelets and toast often came out incorrect, undercooked, or overcooked. (3) THE ENTERTAINMENT: While there were some real bright spots with the entertainment, several things have convinced us not to return to a Royal Caribbean ship. We came one evening to listen to “Piano Bar Entertainment with Anselmo Boles,” and the guy kept telling dirty jokes in between songs. We weren’t the only ones who walked out quite surprised and disgusted. At the “World Sexiest Men Competition” held at Poolside on the final afternoon at sea, one of the participants mooned the female judges and spoke of popping cherries. Unfortunately, this passenger was egged on by the risqué tone of the event set by the cruise staff. Finally, we were very offended that one of the evening shows included singing Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young.” No passenger on a ship should ever feel that they are being ridiculed because of their religion and their religious beliefs. That’s exactly how we felt, so we won’t be cruising with Royal Caribbean anymore. Read Less

We sailed Rhapsody of the Seas in January and had a great time. Rhapsody is older and smaller than most other RCI ships, but that’s part of why I enjoyed it. Being smaller means everything is closer and the service is more personal. This comes at a price, of course. A smaller ship has less to do and moves around much more than the larger ships. We had 6-10 waves and you really felt it in several parts of the ship. The solarium pool acted like a wave pool. It was great fun! The cabin stewards were great. They made several towel animals during the trip and always greeted us with a smile. Our assistant waiter, Ladylin, was outstanding. Even at the buffet, she’d see us and give us extra special service. The attention to detail was impressive. Guest services worked hard to keep us happy. During peak times, they had someone with a tablet helping out and keeping the line short. Tampa We arrived in Tampa the night before and stayed at the Embassy Suites Downtown/Convention Center. The hotel was great and the area around it felt safe and inviting. They had a stay and park deal, which worked out just fine. We could have taken the trolley to the port, or even walked, but we overpacked and took a LYFT instead. Worked out great! We left Tampa just as the rain cleared and had a beautiful view of the Sunshine Skyway as we went out to open sea. Key West Arrival in Key West was on time, but we were delayed getting off the ship due to a medical emergency. Sadly, this was the second medical emergency as someone was removed from the ship in Tampa as well. The sky was clear and the temperature was in the mid 70s. Our parasailing excursion was cancelled due to high winds, so we walked the town and went to Fort Zackary Taylor. Very cool place! I recommend it both for the beach and the historic fort. One shout out to RCI on the Parasailing. The winds were 20+ mph. This is higher than the recommended speed for parasailing. However, the excursion company was still taking people out. Personally, I really appreciate RCI being careful and cancelling. Grand Cayman I’ve never been to Grand Cayman before and really liked it. The island was cleaner and better kept than any I’ve seen in the Caribbean before. We did a Snorkel and Stingray City excursion which everyone enjoyed. Cozumel Cozumel is Cozumel. Been there. Done that. Walked around the pier shopping for a few minutes and went back to the ship. Costa Maya Cancelled due to high winds. Rhapsody of the Seas does not have Azipods and was not able to overcome the wind to dock. Read Less

We have written 14, 4 and 5 star reviews about Royal and this should have been another. But it turned out quite differently. The internet has many of stories about passengers being removed from cruise ships. But what if the incident was caused by a crew member? Can you ask for and receive help? Can you defend yourself? The answer we soon found out is.....NO. What happened to us on the Rhapsody put so much fear into us, that after 90+ cruises we'll never cruise again. As a Vietnam vet I can honestly say I haven't feared for my life, like this, since Vietnam. You can't make this stuff up. We never thought much about this. But when you board a ship, it's like being in a country run by a dictatorship. You have few, if any rights. What ultimately happened to us, could happen to anyone. It could happen to you. Age doesn't matter either. There is a story on line about a 90 yr old and his 86 yr old wife being removed for missing the muster drill. We are seniors, age 70 and 68 and were removed from the ship in Cozumel Mexico. Many diamond and diamond plus members will know us as the dancers, who sit across from the diamond lounge and dance from 4:30 to 8 PM. We were removed from the ship, for, quietly playing dance music, and dancing on an empty dance floor. Also for calling out a ship's officer for his behavior towards us. We were approached by a senior ships officer. He acted in an unprofessional demanding manner. Because of his behavior and his obsession with us, we wondered, is there something wrong with him? The officer told us, passengers are not allowed to play their own music anywhere on the ship. Not even on an unused dance floor. That is a lie. We asked why this is an issue now, since it never was on any prior cruise? In fact, we were on the same ship just last month. I told him, for years we have brought our music on ships to play. The officer insisted we comply to his demand stating ” I'm the boss and I make the rules”. Shocked by his statements and demand, we had no recourse except to comply. This should have been the end of this issue. But it wasn't. The officer relentlessly hunted us down every evening to harass us. He went so far as to tell us what kind of music we could dance to, for how long, where and when. We were tossed off the ship for calling out his behavior, after getting no help from anyone. Yikes! For 4 nights, while we were trying to enjoy our evenings, at the diamond club, we were harassed and intimidated. Different crew members would walk past us. They looked under our table and around our area. They would stand near the dance floor and watch us. It's obvious, they were making sure we were complying with the officer's demand, not to play our music.The officer was relentless. Every night the officer hunted us down. Always harassing us, even though we had complied to his demand. He demanded our room number. We refused to give it to him. He said he would get it anyway. This was extremely frightening, since, he could gain access to any room he wanted. He kept demanding we tell, him what kind of music we liked. He ignored our repeated requests to leave us alone. My wife developed chest pain and had to take nito to relieve it. In the hopes of getting rid of him, we told him we liked country music. He said he would play country music for us to dance to on the ship's system, he finally left. When we returned to our cabin. There was a message on our phone from the cruise director. He told us if we wanted to listen to country music, we need to go the country music show, sit there and listen to it. We are now being told what to do by the crew? During the 4 days of harassment, we sent 2 emails to corporate asking for help. We got no reply. The morning after our first encounter with the officer, we went to customer service, for help. I was told, I could not speak to the officer's superior and there was nothing customer service could do for us. While there, we were told the officer was going to have country music played in the shall we dance, dance area for us. It would be from 6-6:30 PM and that would be our dance time. That evening, country music played from 6-6:30 PM. During that time, there were crew members near the dance floor watching us. We did not dance. We were enjoying the conversation with other guests. During the evening the officer arrived. He seemed very annoyed. He asked why we didn't dance. I told him we dance when we want, not when we are told to. Every attempt to end the conversation with him seemed to make him more angry and aggressive. He finally left. Like every other evening, it ended the same. My wife developed chest pain and we had to return to our cabin so my wife could take nitro for chest pain and relax. The fourth evening was the same. The officer hunted us down and harassed us. He kept repeating, all he wanted to do was make our vacation more enjoyable. We told him, again, to leave us alone. After a while he left. While returning to our cabin the officer and another young officer were in the hall leading from the diamond club. They were there looking at us. At this point we have had it. Both of us told the officer off. We used no foul language and made no threats against him. I did however call him out for his behavior. WrWhy? Because he was ordering us around, demanded our cabin number, demanded to know the kind of music we liked to dance to. He told us when and for how long we could dance. He told us HE would choose the music we could to dance to. He was relentless with his attacks against us, his obsession, hunting us down every night, having other crew members making sure we complied with his demand not to play our music. The next morning as we docked in Cozumel Mexico. We were paged to the customer service desk. We thought, finally, we are getting a meeting and can resolve this issue. As we arrived we were told by security that we are being put off the ship. I was told it was because I called the officer a name. They refused my request to speak the captain about this. They said, the decision was already made. The reality is, we were so relieved at the thought of getting away from the officer, we both agreed, that they just made this the best day of the cruise. We packed, the ship gave us assistance finding a flight home, helped with Mexican customs and transportation to the airport, ALL AT OUR EXPENSE! We returned to Tampa at about midnight. Since our car was locked in the port parking lot, we took a cab home. When we arrived home, we opened a bottle of wine and relaxed. For the first time in 5 days, we were happy. We did everything we could to resolve this situation: we complied with the officer's demand not to play our dance music we asked for help from customer service we asked to speak to the captain and were told no we sent emails to corporate asking for help we avoided the officer even by skipping the captains reception and hid from him at the upper tier repeaters party We avoided verbal confrontations until we had enough and told him off Why did the officer, stalk, harasses and attack us? He was recently promoted to his position. Did the power go to his head? He is man of short stature and I am tall. Does he have a short man's syndrome? He's from Eastern Europe. Is he anti-Semitic? I have a Jewish sounding name. Why did the officer have other crew members checking on us? No on believes every passenger on a cruise ship is a nice person and can be trusted completely. I'm sure Royal is aware that crew members could also have issues. Why didn't customer service help? Why didn't corporate answer my emails. Why weren't we allowed to meet with someone superior to the officer? If this happened in a US company, HR would be asking, what else has this person been involved with? Has he done this before? How does he treat the people that work under him? How does he treat customers? Was what he did reasonable and correct? Did he follow procedures? Could the issue have been handled differently with a better outcome? As for personal music devises. Royal Caribbean's site does not list personal music devises as prohibited. They suggest to use ear buds, while in public areas. They also suggest not to play the music so loud as to disturb other guests. The officer lied about that rule. We did not receive the survey at the end of the cruise. I found my name was removed from the email list. This was a deliberate attempt to keep corporate from receiving our comments. The officer knows we did nothing wrong. He tried to keep it from corporate. FYI there is an online site where anyone can fill out a review, and we used it. We have filed a formal complaint. Royal's response was to cancel 6 cruises we had booked this year and told us we can't return to Royal until next year. Really? Keep in mind, this could happen to anyone. It cost us more than 1000.00 to return home. Think what could happen, if you, couldn't afford the expense to return home. You would be stranded in a foreign country. Good luck with that. We have been fortunate to have traveled much of our great and FREE country, in the past We now plan to return to traveling in the US. Along the way we have met many wonderful people. There is still much to see and we'll be spending our money at home. Not giving it to a dictatorship. Read Less

This is one of the smaller ships offered by Royal Caribbean. I would definitely go again. I've seen some reviews about cleanliness and norovirus and I could not disagree more. It's almost like you'd have to *try* to get sick on this ship. Our cabin was cleaned TWICE a day, there were hand sanitizers everywhere, there were people holding and offering you hand sanitizer as you entered and left each restaurant, as you entered and left the ship in ports, etc. We embarked and debarked from Tampa and had no issues at all. We did do the self-assist and it was literally 30 min from leaving our cabin to catching a taxi (we live in Tampa). As I said, this is a smaller ship, so if you get motion sickness, bring Dramamine just in case of a rough night. We only had one and two Dramamine pills took care of it for me. On this ship, there's only 3 restaurants. Edelweiss is the nice dining room (no shorts, t-shirts, tanks allowed), Windjammer is the buffet, and Park Café is the grab n go. We really only ate at Edelweiss and Windjammer and both were good. Again - not sure about the 'cold food' comments re Windjammer, we found it to be just fine. The food that was supposed to be hot was hot and the food that was supposed to be cold was cold. The bars and theater were great. The weather was rough on our first day so the port at Key West was closed. The team at Rhapsody added multiple activities and I soon found myself going from super sad to super happy. My teen and I did the Scavenger Hunt which was so much fun, then I got to watch my Saints play the Titans in the theater! I'm a die hard Saints fan and figured I would miss the game and, instead, got to watch Michael Thomas break a record. Very happy! The shows in the theater were very good. I especially enjoyed Anselmo Boles in the Schooner Bar (a.k.a. the 'piano bar' at night) each night. He played great sing-a-long music for everyone. The Schooner bar also offers trivia during the day that is fun. The Shall We Dance lounge offers karaoke, bingo, etc and karaoke is for both family and adults at different times. Be aware that bingo is ridiculously expensive ($29 minimum for 3 games), but the prize money and prizes are gigantic. This isn't your regular charity bingo that you play for your kid's school. The Centrum is great for everyone and they offer just about everything. We were on a Christmas cruise and Santa came for all the kids, they had a Christmas tree lighting, massive gingerbread display, bands, Christmas music, etc. Other days were towel animal making sessions, family team egg drop competitions, dance classes, etc Above all, I would say that I loved this ship because the staff were beyond friendly (even to clearly rude people). On a smaller boat, you get to know the staff well as well as some of your fellow passengers and I found that the staff made an effort to remember my name which I thought was so cool. I visited Guest Services, the Internet Desk, and another desk (can't remember - not excursions), and my service was super fast each time. There are a couple ATMs on the ship. My card did not work in the casino ATM, however, it did work in the Atrium ATM outside of the casino (next to Guest Services). I will say that if you're going ashore and on any excursions, the ATM on the ship - even though the service fee will seem ridiculous - is still cheaper to use than any ATM on your excursion. We went into Cozumel and took a taxi and I had to go to *6* ATMs to even find one that worked and it cost me $7.95 in fees PLUS 7% of my transaction. Get your cash before you get on this ship or while you're on the ship. Much cheaper. Probably a lot of people know this, but I did not. On the Pool deck (9), there is a bar and a big screen where movies are shown. I found myself watching some movies I had wanted to see in the theater as well as a documentary one night. 10 has a ton of deck chairs and that is where I read my book and hung out in the sunshine each morning. There is also a walking/jogging track and a gym on 10 if that is what you want to do. I did visit the spa for a massage. The hot stone massage was FANTASTIC and I bought what I feel are some very good products. I've been sold products on cruises before at the spa, but these, I actually have already used them and I like them tremendously. My only complaint on the spa was that the spa seemed to be directly under the teen/kids space and I heard a bunch of 'thump thump thumping' while I was getting my massage which is a little disconcerting. I traveled with my teenager. I think my teen would prefer a bigger ship with the ziplines, 42 restaurants, etc, however, I am 49 and I loved it loved it loved it. I would say this ship more caters to the 40-80 year olds even though my teenager did have a very good time overall. Also, my teen is LGBTQ and I saw meet-ups for adults, but none for teens even though I met other passengers with LGBTQ youth. Read Less

Destinations we wanted to return to and new ones! Smaller ship easier access, but inside cabin tight with a scooter! Need to provide more excursions that are handicap accessible! Told us could not bring a scooter on tender in Grand Cayman but then saw people with them! Not having a scooter for use really affected my husband enjoyment! The food was delicious and staff so kind and helpful! So much to do! Enjoy spa services this cruise with massage and my husband had acupuncture! It worked great for my husband! Also learned about CAMILLA’s laser treatments for thinning hair and bought a system! Older ship and noticed air conditioning system was a little under powered! Liked all our destinations, Cozumel the least but Key West, Grand Cayman and Costa Maya terrific! The entertainment was good, something for everyone! Very easy to access cruise from Tampa downtown hotels, transfer on Super Shuttle worked great! Read Less

The cruise was taken last minute as the one we where about to take the itinerary was changed so much that we cancelled and had to book another very quickly to fall in with our holiday dates As it was a late booking we paid full price for an outside cabin The checking in was quick and painless. Surprisingly the cabins were ready by 12.30 which was great. That's where things went decidedly wrong. Getting to our cabin, when opening the door, we could not believe our eyes. They say, first impressions make the biggest impact. Shock horror, what we saw was torn curtain, rust on bathroom door, chipped washbasin, worn out woodwork. After seeing this we decide that as the cabin looked like "the land that time forgot" we should check other things . On checking the bedding, we found stained sheets including the mattress protector had urine stains, pillow protectors and pillows and marked sheets. Deciding we were not willing to stay there, proceeded to reception who told us there were no other available cabins, (in other words take it or leave it) . stressing that there was no way we would be occupying that cabin. After trailing backwards and forwards to reception, always being told the ship was full. We hadn't and indeed decided we would not unpack. (We did wonder if the manager was thinking we were trying to get an upgrade but that we hadn't even thought of ) At 8pm advised to go for dinner then come back, which we did, only to be told there was nothing they could do, but come back in the morning. We did present ourselves at 8am and insisted that the hotel manager and reception manager come see the conditions we were expected stay in . I did remark that had it been a hotel we would have checked out. After they saw the cabin, low and behold, a cabin became available but asked if we would wait for and hour for this new cabin to be cleaned. What we then, after 24 hours, found a lovely clean place with complete new bedding . It wasn't an upgrade just a room at the other side of the ship. That was all we asked for and as it should have been on our arrival , that was all we wanted and expected. We were turned away at breakfast in the dining room as we didn't want to share a large table but asked for a table for 2. This was 8.50am and we could see there were quite a few tables for 2 available. Asked to come back in 30 mins, not good idea as the dining room closed at 9.30 am Dining 2nd seating asked for a table for 2 and given a table for 10. On speaking to the manager we were asked if we would mind having a different table each night, which agreed to . The reward for complaining was a bottle of wine, which in no way compensates for our stressed out holiday! We came to the conclusion waste of prescious time waste of money. Read Less

We were on the wrong ship! This was an "oldies" cruise! Most of the entertainment was designed for an OLDER crowd! Lots of "oldies" and Oldie Trivia, Bingo and Ballroom type dancing. But that was probably because there were mostly ODER passengers. There were so many walkers, wheelchairs, scooters, and canes in use on this ship. I really wish my travel agent had told me about that! Embarkation and Disembarkation went more smoothly than any cruise I've been on! Ship was small but really showing signs of age. The fake ficus trees in the "Solarium" area were missing lots of leaves and very faded. The awnings at pool deck were ripped and some were missing. Some of the elevator buttons were not illuminated any longer. Mis-information #1- We wanted to watch the SEC Championship football game (GA and LSU) the first evening and since there was no Sports Bar, we inquired at the guest services desk about where we could see the game. We were told they do not offer CBS (the station carrying the game). However, the next day, they played the Chiefs and Patriots game LIVE from CBS, on the big screen TV at the pool deck! Mis-information # 2 and #3- We wanted to attend the casino gaming lessons early in the cruise so we changed our dinner plans in order to attend. However, Rhapsody's daily schedule of events (called Compass) had the wrong time published We missed dinner for this and the casino host was rude about it. Then, they published the wrong time for gaming lessons and casino opening again on the 6th day of the cruise! And again, rude response. Food needs improvement! The same breakfast menu was served every day! The lunch and dinner had a good variety of items. On 2 evenings, the dinner was great. Others meals were mediocre at best. We bought the soda pkg and found there were ONLY 3 soda machines on the whole ship. There were 2 in the Windjammer (buffet) available when the Windjammer was open. The other was on deck 6. Our preferred (Coke Zero) beverage was "unavailable" from the machine several times. When I let the staff know, I was always told to "try the machine on the other side". Once, I was directed to "try the machine on deck 6". Also, a limited assortment of sodas were available at the bars, served over a little ice from hot soda cans. Yuck! Cabin was as expected. The steward was great. Excursions were good but overpriced. At the piers in Cozumel and Costa Maya, passengers are literally funneled through the stores and restaurants (obviously owned by the cruise lines). Even the people outside the ship offering tours or excursions were probably owned by the cruise lines. They made sure to know which ship you were traveling on before they would quote the prices for the excursion. This was my 2nd Royal Caribbean Cruise. It is my last on the Rhapsody! Read Less

I will start by saying this was my 6th cruise overall but my first with Royal Caribbean. I have cruised 3 times with Carnival and twice on Disney. My cruise on Royal Caribbean was gifted to me by a wonderful organization. Let’s start with the refreshment package. They charge $29.89 a day (after gratuity) for use of 3 soda dispensing machines, bottled water at the bar or specialty coffee. That is right 3 lousy machines for an entire ship and 2 of them get locked up behind doors between meals and after 9pm leaving 1 machine for the entire ship. If you do not buy a soda or a refreshment package (alcohol not included in either) do not order a soda at a meal without expecting to hand over your sea pass card for a close to $5.00 charge for each..no free refills here. There is no place that offers food 24 hours except for room service. There is no 24 hr pizza or burgers. Room service- They charge $9.38 to deliver a very limited selection of foods to your room. Isn’t room service supposed to be one of the perks of cruising? Food- Only 2 dinners and 1 lunch were very good. The rest was just nasty. Breakfast was always the same. They would rope off areas and you would have to stand in line like cattle so a cruise employee could serve you in a buffet for certain desserts and food such as shrimp, mousse in a glass, ice cream or fondue. ER- yes the ship has an emergency room and unfortunately I had the wonderful opportunity to visit it after I stubbed my foot on the corner of a metal base in their very small and limited shop. I dislocated and fractured 2 toes at 1020 am. By the time I could let my group know what happened and get down to the medical station it was 1045am. The ER closes at 11am and reopens at 4pm. The gentleman checking me in was very nice and the Dr was very nice as well but he informed me that the X-ray machine was down so he could not take xrays but he could reset the toes and I would have to get X-rays when I got back to the US. He very painfully reset my toes and buddy wrapped them. I was quickly ushered out via wheelchair and told to return at 4pm for recheck. Pools - all close at 9pm so even think about enjoying an evening swim Shops- very small and limited merchandise Overcharging- Three out of 6 people in our group were double charged! The cruise lines did soft holds on small amounts and then billed the total amount again at the end without releasing the soft holds making them all go through. Cabin- tiny, tiny did I say tiny. Mattresses are like rocks. Rust around base of bathroom floor. We could not hear any announcements in our room. Smokers- if you are a smoker you will love this cruise! Those of us non- smokers have to walk through the thick smoke on deck 5 to get to the main areas when the locked the outside walkway doors Norovirus- Three of the 6 of us came down with Norovirus upon returning to states. Dr’s have said it usually hits 48 hours after exposure which put me at finishing up breakfast on Friday and I came down with Norovirus at 10am Sunday. It is now 6pm on Tuesday evening and I still feel like death. I think that about covers it! I will never cruise Royal Caribbean again after this horrible experience. I will stick to Carnival and Disney! Read Less