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We did the 2/16 and 2/23/19 cruises on the Rhapsody. Smaller ship, but still had a great time! First week with 8 friends and the second week with 11 family members and 1 friend. (Children 4,3,2 year olds and a 9 months old) We stayed in #8558 Jr. Suite accessible for both weeks. Plenty of room, storage and could have my husband’s scooter charging out of the way with plenty of room still. Only 2 outlets. I brought a plug in that I could charge 3 Apple devices at once. My husband used the scooter at all ports with no issues. We didn’t eat at any of the specialty restaurants, main dining room for all dinners and a mix of Windjammer and MDR for breakfast and lunch. MTD the first week-ended up with a standing 7:30 time which we wanted for the 10 of us. The second week we were set for early dinner at 5:30, but everyone else was coming from the West Coast and changed to the late dinner at 8:00. Worked out great. Kids were served a fruit cup and their dinner from the kids menu came before ours. They had ice cream for dessert. I enjoyed all my meals- fish, chicken and turkey, my husband liked the lamb and beef dishes. (Maybe because he doesn’t get them at home) Both weeks we would go to the Diamond Lounge for pre dinner drinks. We did more show the first week, but really enjoyed Harry playing the piano and singing and the 3 girls and a guy group. We have been to all the ports before. We did Paradise Beach the first week and Ocean Beach the second. Taxi ride was $30 both ways to Paradise....second week they wanted $40 to get there.....Then they charged us $45 to get back from Ocean Beach!!! Would not do Ocean again Read Less

The ship was clean and well maintained, however, the style was outdated. The food looked a lot better than it tasted. The food tasted bland, but was edible. The saving grace was the service. Wonderful service across the board. Everyone was pleasant, friendly, professional and smiling at all times. The main dining room staff were stars. Our server and assistant waiter were wonderful, Socorro and Fernando. Maria in the main dining room was wonderful as well as Isabella. The week I traveled had mostly seniors and a few families with small children. My son's ages 10 and 8 chose not to go to kids club since it was geared towards smaller children. MSC cruises had a better children's program in my opinion. Although I had a wonderful trip, I wish the ship was more modern and had more entertainment such as movie theatre, game room for kids with board games, pool table, etc...however, the service more than made up for it. Read Less

We chose the cruise because of the itinerary and the fact that it was a smaller ship. We had sailed Oasis last April so we wanted to try something new. Our room was great and the room attendant was very friendly and helpful. We had lots more storage than we had in our cabin on Oasis, so this was a nice surprise. We enjoyed the food at the Windjammer over the Main Dining Room. There was much more variety and the staff were helpful and very nice. The wait staff in the MDR seemed very overwhelmed which did not make for a relaxing experience. We enjoyed visiting the ports of Key West and Cozumel. The weather couldn't have been better. We took a trolley tour in Key West and went to Playa Mia in Cozumel. We also shopped in both ports and had a great time. The ocean got really choppy when we were approaching the port of Belize. The waves and winds were high and the ship was ROCKING and ROLLING for what seemed like three solid days. Vomit bags could be found throughout the ship for 'just in case'. The ship captain kept us up to date on the weather conditions so much so that several cruisers were scared off from attending their excursions. Many canceled. Once we arrived in Belize, we took a tender to Starfish Island and experienced a laid back beach day in Paradise. We had lunch and floated in the water for almost five hours, but could not do much else due to the high winds. It turned out OK, but I was ready to go back to the ship after 3 hours. The next day, we were supposed to dock at Costa Maya, but could not due to adverse weather conditions. We had an unexpected day at sea followed by an expected one. The cruise Director and staff did an excellent job at keeping passengers entertained with trivia games,bingo, game shows, live music, comedians, dance lessons, and more. It was the most entertaining ship we've ever been on. I can't forget to mention how wonderful the cruise staff were. You could tell that everyone liked one another and they all went above and beyond guest expectations to ensure that we all had a great vacation. Since the ship was so small, it felt like you really got to 'know' the other cruisers and staff because it you kept seeing them again and again. They all worked so incredibly hard and engaged with their guests. We tried to thank them as often as possible. We attended the cruise with our two children who both loved going to Adventure Ocean. I will say that the ship could really use more family friendly activities. Most of the entertainment content was geared toward singles, empty nesters, and retirees. Overall, we had a great experience, and would sail with Rhapsody again! We booked another cruise for February of 2020. This time on Adventure. Read Less

As Diamond Plus members, we were looking forward to sailing for the first time on Rhapsody of the Seas. We are fans of the smaller ships and have been on Grandeur of the Seas numerous times. We flew down to Tampa same day as cruise with no problems, aside from having to be at the airport by 4:30 in the morning! Took an Uber, which we highly recommend, from airport. Only $8.50 for the two of us but could have accommodated 4 people for the same rate. Taxi's there run $28.00. Pier check in was not as smooth as Baltimore or Cape Liberty, seemed crowded, lines all over the place, but organized, I guess. First impression when boarding ship was that it is well worn. Same age as Grandeur but just not as up to par. Don't want to say it was not clean, just worn out. Attempted to go into buffet, but was so over-run with people, that we had to settle for a hot dog! This ship along with the location and the people from this region love the buffet, never saw a time when it was not bursting at the seams with passengers, with the exception of early morning. My wife is glad they are still offering room service for breakfast at no additional charge, hot oatmeal, toast, bagels, fruit and coffee, a well appreciated service on this particular cruise. One piece of advice that we can offer regarding room service is that as long as you tip from day one, they will never make a mistake on your order and it will get there when requested! Had dinner in the MDR every night, waiter and assistant were good, but overworked. They definitely had more tables than they could handle efficiently, not their fault. Food overall was what we expected, good. Lunch was always just a snack at one of the cafes or if lucky, the Windjammer. Cabin steward, as usual, was great. Kept everything clean, worked very hard, worth the extra tip at the end. Entertainment was the usual, could have had better guest entertainers, but satisfied overall. Walked our own luggage off ship, Uber waiting to take us for an early flight home. Read Less

To start with we have a great time with just 2 minor issues Normally lunch is ready in the Windjammer at 11:00 and Park Cafe at 12:00. But the Coast Guard was doing an inspection that delayed lunch by 1 hour causing huge lines. As you can guess some passages complained. I say it's best to have the inspection and know the food service areas are up to code. Waiting an extra hour to eat if far better than spending your cruise hugging to porcelain goddess due to food poisoning. The only other issue was the coffee. i have been sailing with RC for years and yet to have a decent cup of coffee. Either too strong or too weak and never tasting like coffee. Hey RC how about buying a brand with less wood chips in it. Ok enough about the coffee at least it woke me up. Embarkation and debarkation were smooth and fast. Just one reminder. If RC is using terminal 6 don't try to get off the ship until your luggage number is called. The terminal is so small that they don't have enough room to put all the luggage out at the same time. Consequently people who leave the ship before their number is called end up standing and waiting in the terminal until their luggage is ready. The ship is older but in very good shape. The crew keeps public areas clean and work hard to to keep up with the cleaning. The Rhapsody is small but not crowded. Very easy to find your way around. lots of places to relax, away from the passengers. You'll find all kinds of activities all day long to keep you busy. There were a couple of live bands that played mostly in the atrium area at night.The atrium is a centrally located area used for entertainment and some games. There is also a dance floor on the 6th floor that is used occasionally for dancing and almost nightly for karaoke. We decided to dine in the windjammer rather than tie up a couple of hours dining in the main dining room. The windjammer was clean, there was a good selection of food and most was very good. The service was excellent. Every crew member we encounted was friendly. The cruise is what you make it but it really helps when there is a great staff/crew. So that's it. We are booked on the Rhapsody again in few weeks from now and are really looking forward to having another fun trip. Read Less

We were looking for an easy getaway cruise for a birthday celebration and living close to Tampa this fit our needs. Did not know what to expect because we know that Tampa does not get ships from the cream of the crop. The ship was a little dated but very clean and the condition exceeded my expectations. I thought the main dining room was only average and the specialty restaurants were good but not great. The exception was the Chef's Table which was fantastic. It was well worth the price with great food, plenty of wine, and a brief description of each of the 5 courses by the Chef. It was the perfect birthday dinner. Entertainment was ok and the production shows also exceeded my expectations. We had been to all the ports before with the exception of Costa Maya. This port was a tourist trap designed by the cruise industry and simply a place to stop in my opinion. On our port visit there were 2 of the mega ships so a total of 12,000 cruise passengers which totally overpowered the place. No room to walk much less spend anytime in the shops. We got back to the ship as quickly as possible and would never spend a minute in the place again. The only recommendation is to plan ahead and take a taxi to another part of the port and get away from the pier area. Read Less

As Diamond Plus passengers, were looking forward to the experience of the Rhapsody of the seas. Yes, we got a great deal on an inside cabin but do prefer a window or above. First, the port of Tampa was a breeze to get to from the airport. We chose to use an Uber both ways and were extremely impressed with the whole process, first time using them, highly recommend. Upon getting to the port, another first, was not too impressed. Long lines, not orderly, just different as compared to other ports. Got on ship and noticed immediately that it is well worn. Never saw a buffet so crowded on the first day and every day after that. They actually had to stop people from entering at different times during the cruise because it was so packed. Never experienced that on ships of the same class in the RCCL fleet. Food was good overall. Believe it or not, got better toward the end! Cabin was kept clean, happy with size and room Stewart. Ate most nights in MDR and poor waiter had too many tables, it was crowded. Food & service was as expected, didn't wait too long with the exception of a couple of nights. Could have used Concierge lounge but decided on Diamond Lounge after first night, was faster and more relaxed. Entertainment was good, RCCL shows were impressive and guest entertainers OK. Carried our own luggage off for an early flight, no problem, was one of the first off ship. Uber was there and waiting. Would we go out of Tampa again? Maybe, but prefer NY, Baltimore and Port Canaveral. Better ships and experience overall. Read Less

Our cruise on the RCCL Rhapsody was full of relaxation, tequila, and cerveza. Our embarkation was quick and easy thanks to being able to do a lot of the check in on line. Our oceanview cabin was clean and spacious enough for two people. Our cabin steward kept it clean and tidy and we never saw him. A variety of activities were offered by the ship but none really excited us so we opted (for the first time on a cruise) to just kick back and do some bar hopping in port~ thanks to Cozumel Bar Hop ~ and beach relaxing at Krazy Lobster in Costa Maya. The evening meals in the main dining room had less options than we were used to on other ships but they were still adequate enough to please us. Our servers were wonderful and made sure we had everything we wanted ~ including the night I wanted 2 bowls of Lobster Bisque. (Well they actually only brought me one but it was a HUGE salad bowl full and it was delicious). We ate breakfast in the Windjammer buffet each morning and definitely had adequate offerings except for the pastries but judge them for yourself because I am a pastryaholic. If we were onboard at lunch time, we also ate in the Windjammer which had a good selection. We did attend a couple shows in the Hollywood Theater which were entertaining as well as relaxing. My son actually won money in the casino and that is a first for cruise ship casinos. Disembarkation was equally smooth and we made a swift get away via taxi to our early flight. Overall this was a relaxing, stress free cruise from TAMPA and I would totally recommend it if relaxation is your primary goal. Read Less

The ship itself is very confusing. Theater aft, dining forward. I was always lost. Our interior cabin was comfortable and we had plenty of room. Lots of closet space and drawers. Entree choices were blah. Starters and desserts were fabulous. I had the refreshment package. Premium bottled water was no name purified via reverse osmosis. Yuck. No Starbucks. Coffee stand with very limited choices but their cookies and donuts were very good. I had a hard time getting a “mocktail” at first. Ronaldo brought me luscious virgin mojitos. The entertainment was top notch. The Productions shows were very nice. New looking costumes. The comedians were hilarious!!! We didn’t like the Celine Dion tribute, she hardly sang any Celine songs? She was a good singer though. The Adult Quest game was an absolute riot! I haven’t laughed that hard in a lot no, love no time. I think I’ll stick to larger ships. Read Less