We prefer the smaller ships and like sailing out of Tampa or Port Canaveral. The crew on the smaller ships are more like family and are always so pleasant and helpful. We had My Time dining and had a super wait staff. Plus we got such great service. The embarkation went very smooth and fast. The food in the dining room and in the Windjammer were both excellent. It was nice to see familiar faces because we had just been on the ship the first of March. Hopefully we will be back on board again soon. Love the noon time updates by the Captain and his little "did you know" items. The food in the Diamond lounge was by far superior to many of the other ships. It was great to see Sexy Maria and Isabel. We have had such great experiences with them and our Head Waiter Ionut was great this time. Read Less

This was the first cruise for our family (mom, dad, and kids ages 12, 15, and 17). It exceeded our expectations in every way and we are looking forward to cruising again with RC. Rhapsody is apparently an older and smaller ship that lacks most of the amenities of the newer and larger ships in the RC fleet. However, there was plenty to do on board with the shows, pool, and games/activities. The food in the main dining room and buffet was excellent. My wife has a severe wheat allergy and she had no problems finding gluten free food on board. Our waiter went out of his way to accommodate her and there were many good gluten free options at the buffet too. One concern at the buffet was cross-contamination, but this did not turn out to be an issue. Overall, the service was outstanding and the waiters, servers, and staff aboard the ship were friendly and met our every need. Our kids did not like the teen activities aboard the ship, but they did participate in most of the games, trivia, and shows and (of course) swimming and rock climbing. We did not drink alcohol or gamble so I can't comment on that aspect of the cruise. Shore excursions: Kohunlich and Dzibanche Mayan ruins is an excursion from Costa Maya. This is a combined excursion in which you see both sites, not just the Kohunlich site. Our family (including the kids) loved this excursion. The bus ride to the pyramids is about 2 hours, but in the process you get to see a lot of the region including many non-touristy Mexican villages. The guide also provides you with a lot on information about the region and Mayan history and culture. The best part about this trip was that there were so many ruins to explore and so few people at the sites. In most cases, our group of about 20 people were the only people at the sites. I think this is because we did not go on the shorter (Kohunlich only) excursion and the sites were far from the cruise port. We also liked the fact that you can climb the ruins and take awesome pictures. The two sites (which are about a 15 min drive part) are awesome. The tour gives you snacks, a sandwich, and plenty of bottled water which is also nice. Overall, this day long excursion is outstanding and is much better than staying in Costa Maya which seems to be a tourist trap. Barrier reef snorkeling is an excursion from Belize City. You take a tender boat from the ship to a private island about 30 mins away. The island is very small and beautiful. They provide you with snorkeling equipment, split you into groups about about 20-25 and then lead your around the reef. If you are inexperienced (like us), you can use a life vest to float. More experienced snorkelers were separated into a different group. Our group consisted of two guides who pointed out fish, coral, and other sea creatures (e.g., barracuda, sting ray) and sometimes picked them up so we could touch them (e.g., star fish). There are also several people in kayaks watching over us to make sure everyone is safe. Overall, it was a lot of fun. After snorkeling, you can swim, relax on the beach, or drink Belize bottled Cokes. The trip home on the tender as awesome too because everybody got some rum punch. Yes, I do mean everybody! Beach horseback ride and swim is an excursion out of Roatan. You take a small van on a 30 minute ride to the beach on the other side of the island. In the process, you get to see some pretty impoverished areas of Roatan. The private beach itself is absolutely beautiful. Be aware that you will need to bring some money with you to rent a locker ($10) and water shoes ($3) if needed. You may also want money for food and drinks. We spent 1 hour swimming and looking at crabs, fish, and other sea creatures after our horse ride. The horse ride itself is about 45 minutes long and a lot of fun - especially when the horses wade in the water. None of us are expert riders and we had no problem. The guide will walk with you and provide you with any help you need. They offer pictures for $100 (54 pictures total), which is a lot, but the pictures themselves were outstanding. My wife and I agree that this location (and pictures) were the prettiest of the entire trip. The amazing secret river is an excursion offered out of Cozumel. You take a ferry from Cozumel to the mainland (Playa del Carmen) and then a short bus ride to the secret river. The total trip to the Secret River is approximately 45-55 mins. The secret river itself is absolutely beautiful - perhaps the highlight of our trip. We were split into small groups of about 10 people with 1 guide. They provide helmets, wet suits, life vests, water shoes, towels, lockers - everything you need at no additional charge. The views inside the cave are incredible. You can walk on dry land or wade through 1-2 feet of water in most of the cave, but there are portions that you must swim too. You do not have to to be athletic to participate, but you cannot be scared of water or claustrophobic. I am not a good swimmer and I had no problem floating with the life vest. After the hike, they give some Mayan liquor to drink and an excellent Mexican meal at no additional charge. Then, they take you back to Playa del Carmen to shop for about 1 hour and take the ferry back to Cozumel and the ship. Overall, the experience was excellent and the company that ran the secret river tour was second to none. Read Less

We sailed Rhapsody to the Western Caribbean in January and liked it so much we did it again in March. Had another happy experience. This was Spring Break but saw only some more families with college age kids who were well mannered. We moved up from a balcony cabin to a Jr. Suite to get additional space. It was nice to enjoy the added space. Bigger balcony much nicer. Jose kept our place very clean. We are Diamond Plus. When we shopped for restaurants when we arrived to learn that we were offered a buy one/get one free offer. So we signed up for Chops, Giovanni's and the Chef's table for half price. We liked Chops again and found Giovanni's not so attractive. The Chef's table was great. We met interesting people and enjoyed the food and wine. MDR was offering very good food and excellent service. We did not like a meal and the Head Waiter responded immediately. He sent a bottle of wine to our room. We enjoyed the wine on our balcony later on our sea day. Nice. Embarkation was easy due to our Plus status and the fact that we were in a Jr. Suite. Disembarking was just as easy. We collected our luggage and were on the bus in no time. Travel from Boston to Tampa is easy on Jet Blue. However, since Rhapsody leaves port at 4:30 PM we were required to take a very early flight (5:45 AM) to get there on time. With a long wait for our cabin to be ready we packed bathing suits and sandals in our carry on bags and changed in the rest rooms. We had lunch at the small pool instead of the lines at Windjammer. Much nicer. In Key West we took the Fury Catamaran. It was great. Found lots of small fish as we snorkeled on a reef. Also found a Bull shark and 3 barracudas. Belize saw us being taken directly off the ship and taken to our snorkeling. Then we went to a small island where we bought burgers and beers. Then back to the ship. Cozumel was a blow out. Our snorkeling was booked for 7:30 AM. We got a note the night before saying the time was moved to 11:30 AM. Hooray we thought. When we got to the peer side place we learned the trip was cancelled due to choppy waters. We went to Margaritaville for lunch and did some shopping. Costa Maya saw us sign up for a beach Break at La Bamba. Our wrist bracelet gave us access to free drinks and a ride back to the ship via taxi. Diamond Lounge was very nice. Free drinks and a view of the wake Rhapsody was leaving was very pleasant. We also headed over to the Schooner Bar for Trivia. We met a very nice family who got their two kids together for the cruise. They joined our Trivia Team. We won a plastic key chain. We all had a great time. Entertainment was just ok. No big theater stuff but lots of shows that we enjoyed. Read Less

First let me say the cruise was 5 stars BUT. I don't like to comment about fellow passengers. We all have our own quirks and habits. This time I have to point out a few of nasty things I saw. Don't sample the buffet with your fingers and worse don't keep licking your fingers while handling food and the utensils used to serve the food. Geez how do you spell norovirus? Use the hand cleaners offered. There were many people who ignored the staffs attempts to give them hand cleaner or would flat out refuse to use the hand cleaner. Not washing your hands is nasty. Last observation. Would you want a house guest to sit at your kitchen table and put their feet, especially their bare feet, on your kitchen table? No? then why would you put your feet on tables used by others? Wow. Having been on more than 60 cruises I can honestly say I've seen this behavior before, but never as much as this past cruise. One has to ask what is happening to common sense and manors. Ok enough negative. The cruise was great. We don't dwell on the negatives, we are on a vacation. We make our own good time, our goal is to have fun not complain. The embarkation was quick and smooth. Only one caution about debarkation. I see the same thing every time RC uses terminal 6. The terminal is too small to handle all the luggage at once. Passengers are assigned numbers for departure and asked to wait on the ship until their number is called. If you leave the ship before your number is called you'll just end up waiting for your luggage. The luggage area is so small they can only put out a few luggage numbers at a time. So unless you don't mind standing around, waiting for your luggage, it's best to wait on the ship and have an extra cup of coffee until your number is called. The ship is old but very well maintained. The crew is constantly cleaning and trying to keep up with the normal maintenance. The crew is friendly and always willing to help with any issue. The Rhapsody is scheduled for some refurbishing this fall, but it really doesn't need much. We dined at the Windjammer buffet. The food was plentiful and varied from good to excellent. Each day some items were always available, burgers, fries, salad, ECT the rest of the buffet changed daily. The Windjammer was clean and the staff was great. If you go on a cruise just to relax or you want to be entertained, the Rhapsody has it all. There are activities all day long, music/dancing, shows and game shows at night. You should find something for all ages. it doesn't have some of the entertainment found on the larger ships, like wave riders, zip lines but still enough to do. I can't say enough about the crew. Maybe because it's a smaller ship, but the crew/staff is about the friendliest we ever encountered. Read Less

This was my first cruise. Very surprised how they handled the crowds. The food was killer! Anything you could imagine. The staff was fantastic. The tours were good. Enjoyed Costa Maya the best. Special thanks to our Steward, Gloria. Such a great personality and a joy to talk to. Our server at the Edelweiss restaurant, Imade was the best. He could not do enough for us! He really took good care of us for dinner. Our assistant server, Geronelli was really great and a pleasure to know. All of the tour guides did a great job with the tours and were entertaining. Exploring all of the different areas as well as the Island of Cozumel were very informative. The food in the different locations was also very good. I would like to offer a suggestion about the entertainment. Maybe you try using the DJ a little bit more. He seemed to play some great music. If he mixed up the music and played longer, I think more people would get on the dance floor. This idea is from going to different clubs where they kept the dance floor busy! My thanks to all of the crew members on the Rhapsody of the Seas. Read Less

First of all I would like to start by commending the staff. They were great and provided excellent service for us. Our destinations were great. We really enjoyed the white sand and clear water. The food in the main dining room was also great! This was our second cruise on Rhapsody and our third cruise on a vision class boat. Every year they are becoming less entertaining for our kids as the activities list for them seems to keep shrinking. We also kept getting a bad stench of a sewer like smell in our room throughout the week. I had the “ Voom” internet service that was super slow. To slow to send or receive emails and or text messages. This was our last trip on Rhapsody or any vision class boat from Royal Caribbean. We have been very loyal to Royal thus far as this made our fifth year in a row cruising with them. Again the staff aboard the boat was great and very helpful to us for the entire length of the cruise. Read Less

We decided to go on this cruise, this ship - because we went with a group of friends, about 40 of us altogether. We have been on 15 cruises as of now. The previous 4 were on " mega-ships." We also prefer to go eastern Caribbean - but, in order to be with our friends, we decided to go on this smaller, somewhat older ship, on this route.We had low expectations, thinking the better staff, service - is usually on the flagship boats. So this ship - the crew, the food, the entertainment - they hit it out-of-the-ballpark ! I don't recall ever seeing such a focused, dedicated staff as this one. The entertainment was excellent - people were friendly - and the crew couldn't do enough to accommodate us. The ship was also very clean - cheery - a lot of interesting artwork around the ship too- something we are seeing less and less of that. I want to re-visit the food. The food in the main dining room was quite above average. We did the premium dining 2 nights as well, the Italian one night, the steak house the other night. We got the 2-for-1 deal, had to do the meals the first 2 nights. The meals were rich, and a bit much for my " mature " digestive system. ( Eyes bigger than my stomach these days !!! ) Great food, classic Northern Italian. And of course,great aged steaks, like any premium steak house in any major city !! Worth every penny, even at full-price !!! . The food servers went way above and beyond the requirements of their job. And they were entertaining and engaging. Maybe the " rah-rah-cheering " sessions at the end of every meal got a little carried away, but they DID deserve to be acknowledged and recognized for all their efforts. Both by applause AND by appropriate gratuities at the end of the cruise. The people worked HARD to make our trip the best it could be. We ( wife and I ) don't do excursions anymore -been there, done that. We WISH some policies were a little different, like being able to get a pitcher of water without having to pay $7.95 for a service charge. We wish the cost of on-board communications / internet was more reasonable. We traveled on a budget, so we skipped that. Didn't NEED to be in touch with anyone back home. Read Less

This was our first cruise on a non-Oasis class ship, and it did not disappoint! Ship: The ship is beautifully maintained despite how old she is. You can see some rust on the outside but the inside is pretty updated! Obviously the technology isn’t up to par with her larger sisters, but that’s totally fine! Rooms were nice, pillows and mattresses were comfortable. Cabin: The cabins were smaller than we expected, but we got used to them by the next day. We weren't in them very often anyway. Nicely maintained and our room steward was great! Embarkation/Disembarkation: Super smooth and easy. Seapass cards were given to us at check-in, so they have not updated the process yet like on the larger ships. We self-disembarked as well so getting off the ship was easy too. Food/Bars: Windjammer was decent, MDR was great as always. Bars and bartenders were quick to serve and were personable as well. After day 2, they practically knew you by name and orders! VOOM: My only complaint is how bad the wifi connection was. We were constantly disconnected from it, so much that I had our access code memorized by day 3. We got VOOM to stay in touch on board and with family back at home...made it quite a struggle when we separated and tried to text each other where we were...to get the text 3hrs later when we had already found each other Read Less

Chacchoben Mayan Ruins Excursion Was worth every penny! Daniel the Jaguar was a wonderful guide. My husband and I learned so much and Daniel was super fun and knowledgeable. The ruins were beautiful! We took beautiful pictures. The busses to get to and from were georgeous and clean with perfect air conditioning. Salvatore was a great driver. This excursion was very safe and secure. This was the highlight of our honeymoon! The crew on rhapsody was very friendly and accommodating. Shoutout to Max and John the baristas! Also to Adriana, the dining room hostess on the 5th floor, and the servers Dominic and Paul Dan. The ship is smaller, but it’s wonderful for just relaxing, and a little older without all the bells and whistles of the bigger ships. However it’s elegant and charming. I had sinus problems on this cruise probably from something blooming in the jungle in spring, but the medical staff gave me something that really helped. Roatan port is extremely small, but we still had fun. Cozumel was a total blast! Hubby scuba dived in Belize, but I stayed on the ship that day. Read Less

Before going on this ship it is important to know that it is an older ship and one of Royal Caribbean's smallest. Therefore, it lacks many of the amenities and activities that you will find on a larger ship (which is more of a problem if you are bringing children). However, smaller doesn't mean that it was bad. Some benefits of a smaller ship means less crowded, so you should have no problems finding a chair by the pool, a table at the buffet, etc. It also has a good passenger to employee ratio which means that the employees can provide better service and get to know you. Embarkation was a very easy and quick process, and as soon as you get on board you can get lunch while you wait for the room to be ready, which did not take long at all. Starting out with the room, it was nothing special, pretty small for four people but that is expected on a cruise ship. We had a king sized bed and a pull out couch (which wasn't very comfortable). The problem with this is that when the bed was out it was nearly impossible to get from one side of the room to the other. If I were to go again with 4 people I would make sure to get 2 rooms. Our steward, Ash, was excellent at making sure our room was clean. He was always there if we needed anything and willing to help and answer any questions that we had. The food on the ship was excellent. There are two places you can go that are included with what you already paid, the Windjammer, which is a buffet, and the main dining room, where you sit down and are waited on. The other places you can go for dinner and you pay extra for. For breakfast we went to the Windjammer everyday. It is your typical breakfast buffet with everything you would expect. For lunch most days we weren't on the ship for but when we were it was very good. A lot of options and everything tasted good. For dinner, the Windjammer is a great choice with plenty of variety and everything tasted great and freshly prepared. The main restaurant was great too, though portions were on the small side. Just a heads up, many of the entrees on the main restaurants menu could also be found at the Windjammer that same night, you would just be getting the fancier version of it at the restaurant. For snacks you could go to the Park Cafe. They have great roast beef sandwiches in the afternoon. As said before, the activities on the ship probably aren't as plentiful as bigger ships, but they still try to have things going on throughout the entire day by the pool and in the lounge. They show fairly new movies outside on the screen by the pool every night. There is a show in the Showcase theater every night, usually either singing/dancing, comedy, magician, etc. The shows were very good and I would recommend going to them. The casino is a good inclusion on the ship to give you something to do at night, but being one of the only areas on the ship you can smoke, it does get very smoky in there so it's hard to spend a lot of time in it (maybe that's a good thing) The service from all the employees was really good. Everyone was always attentive and looking for ways to help you and answer any questions you had. Disembarkation was just a easy as embarking, the line was long to go through customs but it went fast. This was my first cruise ever going on and overall it was a great experience. I would definitely do it again, but would probably choose a ship a little larger with some more features and entertainment. But for the size of this ship, I couldn't ask for much more and I never had any problems with employees, great service and all of them very helpful. Read Less