Here's a new review of the Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas from Carrie Stalbow - KVI's agent 'Down Under'...
Here is a brief outline of our trip on Royal Caribbean - Rhapsody of the Seas - 27 Nov 2010 - 7 days South Pacific cruise from Sydney – Highly recommended!
• I WON this cruise, so we had nothing to lose and everything to gain, thus said, I don't know exactly how much it would have been. I do know that it was completely full as we tried to get other family members cabins, but they wouldn't even waitlist them.
• I do not believe this cruise ever came up with an interline rate.
• After having just returned from travelling overseas for 2.5 months, and so much flying around the world, it was heaven to just get a cab to Circular Quay, Sydney.
• Our first impression was that she (the ship) was pretty old and tired, and certainly not to the same standard as the Westerdam, Holland America, that we had just spent a month on board in the Med. She certainly wasn't "in the same class". But please keep reading as our first impressions were very soon turned completely around.
• Our Ocean View cabin was, however, very nice - very comparable to Holland America.
• We were very impressed with the way the "Windjammer" or buffet restaurant was laid out. It was much easier to find what you wanted and we didn't have to queue up for anything. The quality and selection of food was excellent.
• We had got used to the 4 course menus in the dining room on HAL, and on RCC, there were only 3 courses. But actually this is great, and helps to prevent overeating!! The food quality was very good.
• We truly believe that this ship had the friendliest and most committed international staff of any we've been on. The conversations with staff were genuine (you didn't get the impression that they were "just doing their job".)
• This ship has an amazing Canadian Captain - Rick Sullivan, who is so interesting and down to earth. He is captivating to listen to, and just seems such a lovely man.
• The standard of entertainment and on board activities and was far superior to that of Holland America. It was just so much fun, and I think this had a lot to do with the Cruise Director and her staff. Activities were very well organised, plenty of variety and some of the cruise staff were just hilarious to listen to! We also noticed that the kids on board were having a great time, and kept very busy by the staff and cleverly out of OUR way!!
• These last few statements completely overrode any misgivings we had about the age or condition of the ship.
• This short cruise only went to Noumea and Isle of Pines. Noumea was not particularly interesting in our opinion but some people who went on tours enjoyed it more than us, so if we had done a tour, we might have had a better opinion. The Isle of Pines was just beautiful; white sand, swimming and sunning, snorkelling haven and we had a gorgeous day there. However, if you had bad weather, there would be nothing to do.
• In summary, our memory of this cruise is very good indeed. It was everything a holiday should be – relaxing, fun, warm and sunny, with great food!
Would we go on Royal Caribbean again? Absolutely!
*** Highly recommended! ***
Carrie Stalbow
carrieoncruising@kvi.travel
+61 419 682231
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