Rhapsody of the Seas Review

3.5 / 5.0
1,503 reviews

Worst Cruise I Ever Had

Review for Asia Cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas

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Additional details

Sail Date: Apr 2008
Cabin: Grand Suite
Traveled with children

Background and Information: My Family, 6 adults & 2 child, has just arrived from a 5 night cruise on boardRoyal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas which sailed last April 18, 2008 from Shanghai, China. We took 2 suite rooms, 1 Owner's Suite No. 8004 & 1 Grand Suite No. 8006. When taking a cruise, we always take suite rooms. This is not our first time to have a cruise for I can say that I am a experienced cruiser having cruised on different cruise lines before but this was our 1st in Royal Caribbean. Below are the reasons why I consider my cruise Rhapsody of the Seas the worst cruise I ever had: 1.) No Butler / Concierge Service - In all cruise we tried, only this cruise that we did not have a Butler / Concierge. Since we are always on a suite room, we were given this and that Royal Caribbean did not have one for us. 2.) No Priority on Suite Room Guests - Suite rooms guests were not given priority. On lunch in your dining room, we have to take a line and wait for 20 to 30 minutes just to be given a table since it is open seating and that only half of the main dining room is open. On watching shows, other cruise line gives specific seats which are reserve only for suite room guests, your this cruise do not. On disembarking, we suite guests have the option to choose when we wish to depart the ship, what this cruise did was to include us with all other guests which naturally we will be waiting for a long time. 3.) No Special Attention on Suite Room Guests - in this cruise, we suite room guests were not given special attention and that we felt that the attention that have given us is just the same as the attention they give to all other guests. 4.) Food on Main Dining Room - the food in the Main Dining Room is not that impressive and if I could rate it, its just on the average. The taste, quality, presentation and menu is only average which we can eat or have it daily. We feel that we are only eating on a ordinary restaurant. 5.) Food on Windjammer Buffet - the food in the Windjammer Cafe is the worst food I ever had in a cruise ship. The taste, quality, presentation, menu, number of food that was offered in the buffet is very bad. Its like eating in a Las Vegas Buffet for $ 4.99. 6.) Windjammer Buffet - the windjammer is like a public market. Everything is in chaos. 7.) Wine Selection - the wine selection was not that wide and impressive. You only have limited wines to choose from. The variety and quality of wines are also not that intensive. 8.) Location of Suite Room - the location of the suite rooms is not the best location you could get. Directly above, 1 floor up, our suite room is the windjammer cafe. We could not sleep and take a rest since you could hear the noise and steps from the people above. The noise only stops around 2pm at night and will again start around 6pm. We did not have a great time to sleep in our room because of these noise. 9.) Smaller Suite Size - the suite is not that big compared to other cruise lines we tried. If you try to compare the biggest suite which is the Royal Suite versus the biggest suite of Celebrity or Princess Cruises, it is still small. 10.) Limited Menu Room Service for Suite Room - the room service menu is limited compared to the room service menu of other cruise line. Even Star Cruises, which is a asian cruise company has better suite room service menu than this cruise. 11.) Hot Water on Bath is not Constant - the hot water on our bathroom is not constant. The temperature drops after using it midway while taking a bath. So we have to readjust the setting or mixture of the hot water. 12.) Disorganized Disembarking - as I've said, we were not given priority and the option onwhen we will disembark so we have to be with other guests who have to wait for us to becalled. We were to disembark as scheduled on 9:05am but we were already called around9:30am. When its our time to disembark, we have to line up for around 20 minutes before we were off the ship. The time that we were off the ship, we were shocked since they told us to get our luggage first and board the shuttle bus which will take us from the pier to the cruise passenger terminal. This means that we have to carry our own bags and board a bus. The next problem is that there were no assigned bus for each and every group or passengers so we have to find our own bus and be the one to carry and put our luggage to the bus luggage compartment. The problem is that the bus luggage compartment is not that huge and could not accommodate all the luggage of the passengers, so we have to find another bus that would fit our luggage. It took us another 30 minutes before we boarded a bus. In all my cruise, our luggage is taken care of by the cruise line we we will just get it in the terminal. But in this cruise, we will be the one to transport and carry it to the cruise terminal. In other cruise lines, they help on luggage for suite room guests but in this cruise, you do not. 13.) No Transportation Available in the Cruise Terminal - Upon arrival in the passenger cruise terminal, we were just left there and no one helped us and facilitated us on how could we take transportation. There were not enough taxi and even no available other means of transportation. Conclusion: There are many other reasons on why I consider this as my worst cruise which i would no longer share to you. If asked if I would take a Royal Caribbean Cruise in the future - my answer is 20% YES and 80% NO. I am wondering what Royal Caribbean mean of the "Gold Anchor Service" since the service and experience that I and my family got from Royal Caribbean is the worst we had.

Cabin Review

Grand Suite

Cabin GS
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