We four good friends decided to take an Alaskan Cruise and eventually booked a round trip out of Seattle on Rhapsody of the Seas. We did a lot of comparison shopping and decided that even though Royal Caribbean was more expensive we all wanted to experience "the difference" we'd read about on RCI. We all have cruised several times out of Galveston, TX and had always sailed on Carnival. We had never been displeased with Carnival and had high expectations for this new adventure. Another reason for choosing RCI is that I am a stockholder and wanted to enjoy my stockholder benefits as well as support the company in which I had invested.

We traveled into Seattle several days in advance to enjoy the local area and had a great time enjoying the cool weather and beautiful scenery. Getting from the airport to the hotel and then later to the cruise terminal was very efficient and economical. The hotel had booked a town car to pick us up at the airport, and the four of us and our luggage were charged $40 (the bus was more expensive); the same driver picked us up and took us to the cruise terminal for $32.00. We had booked rooms in the Sixth Avenue Inn in downtown Seattle.  This hotel turned out to be a pleasant surprise and we had a great location, inexpensive prices, clean rooms, and an excellent staff.  After several days of enjoying the scenery and cool weather of Seattle we made our way to Pier 91 and embarkation. 

Pier 91 is the newest terminal in Seattle and embarkation was handled efficiently and quickly. From the time we were dropped at the terminal until we were cleared to board was less than thirty minutes. Then things hit a snag. The new motorized gangplank would not extend properly and after standing in line for almost an hour we were told to take our bags and walk down two sets of stairs and we boarded through the crew entrance. Fortunately, we were all able bodied as the steps were steep especially when you are carrying a couple of bags. Read more