Rhapsody of the Seas - South Pacific

Hi Everyone,

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

Transatlantic on the new Queen Elizabeth

KVI's agent in the UK, Russell Forgham, and his wife Sheila were on the maiden crossing to New York of Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth and he wrote this report for The Mail on Sunday, Britain's second biggest-selling Sunday newspaper. It was published on March 6, 2011

All around me hundreds of pairs of eyes stared through the early-morning darkness, straining to catch their first glimpse of her. Then suddenly, her crown and torch silhouetted by the lights on the shoreline behind her, there she was - Lady Liberty. Like the millions of travellers who sailed the North Atlantic before us, we knew we had arrived in the most famous city on Earth: New York.

Unlike the penniless migrants who endured pitiful conditions as they journeyed in search of a new life in the New World, we had travelled in style on board Cunard’s gleaming new Queen Elizabeth.

She is a ship designed to impress and a fitting tribute to the woman after whom she is named.

Push the boat out: The Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth

Forming the centrepiece of the spectacular three deck-high Grand Lobby is an 18ft marquetry panel depicting the original Queen Elizabeth ship, and designed by the Monarch’s nephew, Viscount Linley. On the other side of the Lobby is a large portrait of the Queen by acclaimed artist Isobel Peachey.

Our voyage had begun eight days previously at a cold Southampton with a magnificent display of fireworks fit for a queen. Well two queens actually, as Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship, Queen Victoria, eased their way out of the port for their first Atlantic crossing together.

My wife Sheila and I were in the modern-day equivalent of steerage, which meant we had dinner in the Britannia restaurant, while those in the vastly more expensive suites - the equivalent of the old first-class - dined in the Queens or Princess Grills.

But while the migrants of old were kept below decks for up to 22 hours a day and often had to sleep in huge dormitories, we had a spacious balcony cabin on Deck 8.

Mind you, we weren’t exactly slumming it in the Art Deco-themed Britannia, which has a huge staircase in the centre - perfect for women to make a grand entrance in all their finery. All eight of us on our table agreed the food was out of this world.

For dinner, who could resist appetisers such as smoked salmon terrine or vegetable and mango spring rolls; entrees that included pan-seared lemon sole, Gloucester Old Spot rack of pork or beef Wellington; and delicious desserts such as white chocolate and raspberry parfait or Amaretto creme brule?

Earlier in the day, a traditional high tea - sandwiches, cakes and scones - is served by white-gloved waiters to the sound of a string quartet in the Queens Room.

Then there is the endless buffet in the Lido restaurant, British pub food in the Golden Lion and light snacks in the Carinthia Cafe. Oh, and there’s a serve-yourself ice-cream machine and free 24-hour room service. Still peckish?

Executive chef Nicholas Oldroyd, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, reckons that his team of 141 chefs produce almost 12,000 meals a day for the 2,068 passengers and 1,005 crew - ‘including the ones who have two breakfasts’.

Good company: Russell, second from right standing and his wife Sheila, second from left seated, joined by fellow diners, waiters and sommellier

Not that it’s all about food. There’s a show in the Royal Court Theatre featuring different acts twice a night every night, including a brilliant singer called Lorraine Brown and Adrian Walsh, a razor-sharp comedian from Northern Ireland.

The Queen Elizabeth has its own theatre company featuring 29 actors, singers and dancers who perform a variety of shows, including musicals, Shakespeare and a Neil Simon triple-bill.

During a special behind-the-scenes tour, we discovered that things backstage aren’t quite as glamorous as they are front-of-house. With the sets for the shows and racks of costumes taking up virtually every inch of space, there’s little room for the performers to do their hair and make-up. Several of the shows, we were told, require incredibly quick costume changes - the record being just 41 seconds. Thank heavens for Velcro.

While you are on board, you can improve your mind, too. Cunard runs a series of excellent lectures by experts in different fields.

The undoubted star on our voyage was Terry Waite – there was standing room only in the theatre for each of his three talks about hostage-taking, especially his own experiences as a Hezbollah captive in Beirut. And he found time afterwards to chat to anyone who wanted to meet him. The other lecturers - maritime historian Bill Miller, Sky News’s intelligence analyst Glenmore Trenear-Harvey, Glasgow University history professor Simon Newman and American travel writer Ted Scull - were also well-received.

You can hone your body in the well-equipped gym, though it did tend to get a bit crowded at times, or relax - at a price - with a beauty treatment in the Royal Spa. In addition to formal balls in the Queens Room, guests can have lessons in ballroom, latin or salsa. There’s a casino on board, too.

Before we left home, friends said to us: ‘Eight days at sea - you’ll be so bored.’ But the truth is there’s so much to do that the time just flew by. It seemed as if we’d been on board for only a day or so before we reached the Statue of Liberty.

Sadly, liners always seem to dock early in the morning, and as we passed the Statue of Liberty at about 5am it was too dark to get any decent photos of her. But she looked magnificent, as did the skyline of Manhattan.

It was the perfect end to the perfect voyage. The US Immigration man inspecting our passports even smiled and wished us a pleasant stay in New York.

As anyone who’s ever flown to the US knows, that would never happen at an airport.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1363504/Living-high-life-Queen-Elizabeth-Art-Deco-cruise-Baltic-Mediterranean-Norweigan-fjords.html#ixzz1Fq25mvfN