Rhapsody of the Seas Review

Older ship = older crowd

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas
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jeditden
10+ Cruises • Age 40s

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Value for Money
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Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Feb 2017
Cabin: Interior Stateroom

After spotting a great deal on interior cabins, I decided to book this Valentine’s week cruise for my wife and I. We went solo this time, as it’s been 2 years since it was just us on a vacation. After 7 days of relaxation on board, we determined we had a great time, but prefer ships with a tad more to do on-board.

Embarkation:

We chose to park off site with The Parking Doctors just down the road from the port. Aside from parking on grass, with no overhead cover, there’s no complaints. They are fenced in if you are concerned about security. I don’t drive a Ferrari, so I have no qualm leaving my car parked outside for a week. The price was half what the port charges and had free shuttle service which took less than 5 minutes to get there. We arrived at the port at 11:30AM, and they were already pretty busy. Things flow pretty smoothly though, as they direct you from one area to the next. We probably waited a total of 25 minutes to get the the desks. Check in was quick and we boarded immediately. Cruising thru the channel in Tampa was real fun to watch. We had the Brilliance of the Seas in port at the same time, so we followed her lead out to the great blue sea.

Cabin Review

Interior Stateroom

Cabin N

Had booked an interior room at a really good price for a 7 night cruise. Figured I’d keep an eye on pricing and get something better if it enticed me. Unfortunately the price kept rising and rising. Oh well, Cabin 7613 it is! We’ve always had some type of window or balcony before, so this was a first. The room itself wasn’t too small. It was cozy. We slept really well for sure though, with no light coming in. Ample storage space with a large closet and a smaller stand up closet, as well as a decent amount of drawers. A few things needed to be addressed though. The phone has clearly been replaced with one that shouldn’t be where it is on the wall. If it’s on the wall, it blocks the closet from opening completely, as one of the mirrored cabinets from opening at all. There was also an issue with the bathroom door latch being stuck inside, so the first night the door kept opening and closing slightly loud. I ended up fixing it myself with a nail clipper, MacGyver style! The walls were a little thin, and we could hear music from the Centrum. It wasn’t too loud though, but keep it in mind if you sleep light. We had an issue with them doing repairs at 7:30 in the morning on Day 4. Loud banging and sawing. I saw a worker in the hall, and he said they be quiet on the hammering. Then they started on the saw, and it was over. I stopped by Guest Services and mentioned it to them, which I have never done before. They were very apologetic and immediately called maintenance to cut it out. For me it was too late, as I was already awake and dressed, but I hope I helped someone else. I said maybe wait till 8:30-9am for that kind of work.

Port Reviews

Belize City

We’ve been here a few times, so there’s not much that intrigued us. We opted to stay on-board most of the day, and ventured to the port in the early afternoon for an hour or so to grab a drink, use some free wi-fi, and pick up a souvenir.

Cozumel

Another place we’ve been almost too many times to count. There were a bunch of ships in port for the day, so we stayed on board most of the day and ventured off to take a walk down the main strip for a few hours. We actually booked downtown which I’d never done with Royal Caribbean before. They usually dock at the International Pier. Too bad, I wanted to dock nest to Harmony of the Seas…

Tampa

We chose to park off site with The Parking Doctors just down the road from the port. Aside from parking on grass, with no overhead cover, there’s no complaints. They are fenced in if you are concerned about security. I don’t drive a Ferrari, so I have no qualm leaving my car parked outside for a week. The price was half what the port charges and had free shuttle service which took less than 5 minutes to get there. We arrived at the port at 11:30AM, and they were already pretty busy. Things flow pretty smoothly though, as they direct you from one area to the next. We probably waited a total of 25 minutes to get the the desks. Check in was quick and we boarded immediately. Cruising thru the channel in Tampa was real fun to watch. We had the Brilliance of the Seas in port at the same time, so we followed her lead out to the great blue sea.

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