Cruise Ship Review: Rhapsody of the Seas

A Smaller Ship Perfect For Longer Itineraries

The first trip saw me traversing the Pacific from Vancouver to Hawaii and the second on a Mediterranean itinerary out of Rome.  Rhapsody is useful for these types of itineraries, because its small size (one of the smallest in the Royal Caribbean fleet) allows it to fit in ports to petite for larger ships. 

I loved climbing the rock wall on Rhapsody of the Seas.  Despite its small size, it offers a variety of routes.  Here I a warming up on the easiest route.

Lacking the pizazz of its larger compatriots, Rhapsody of the Seas is better suited to passengers who want to chill out and relax.  Even when endeavoring to pack our sea days with as many activities as we could, by the time dinner finished the ship was pretty much asleep.  Shows on Rhapsody are typical of smaller ships, consisting of singing and dancing of once popular songs and the odd magician.  My second cruise on Rhapsody did not even feature a comedian.  It seems the staff realize they can’t compete with other large ships’ ice and diving shows, so they offer some shows that required a lot of money to make in the form of almost daily new release movies in the theater.  On our most recent trip we watch Jurassic World, Magic Mike XXL, and Antman while onboard.  I appreciated the movies since it took up my abundant time and saved me a few dvd rentals at home. 

I loved these electricity spheres in the casino.  It's the type of sphere where the current is directed to wherever you touch the surface.

The one show unique to Rhapsody, which we saw on both our trips a little over a year apart was Baroque.  Baroque is a short aerial show that occurs in the centrum a couple of times per trip.  The multistory open space of the centrum fills with aerialists who dance suspended from a semi-stationary bar or execute a series of flips and poses as they bounce up and down on bungees.  While it is unique and different show, Baroque’s main drawback is in the lack of good viewing space.  Those not directly on the railing will only see a fraction of the event. 

Rhapsody’s size limits its active space.  A single pool flanked by four hot tubs occupies the top deck.  Rhapsody does not even have a mini golf course, a rarity in the fleet.  Thankfully Rhapsody does have a great rock wall that at least for me makes up for the lacking mini golf.  The rock wall has a multitude of routes, including four in the beginner-intermediate realm.  I spent a lot of time at the wall on our second cruise taking advantage of what costs ten dollars to do each day I go to the rock climbing gym at home. 

Who wouldn't like to watch TV from a hot tub on the deck of Rhapsody.

I will say some of the best food I have ever had on a cruise ship have been in the Rhapsody buffet.  Vegetable samosas, coconut cookies, a spring roll station, and Indian pickles were the highlights.  On our second trip, we ate in the buffet more often than the dinning room for dinner, the food was just so often different from the usual drab burger and fries (although there was often burger and fries also) that is so typical of a cruise ship buffet. 

Also some of the cheapest and most expensive drinks I've had on a Royal Caribbean ship were on Rhapsody.  On our cruise from Vancouver to Hawaii the ship was clearing out its Alaskan beer selection, since it was relocating from Alaska ternaries to Australia ones.  All Alaskan beers (which I love by the way) were three dollars on the pool deck pretty much every day.  It was great.  Our European trip on Rhapsody was the opposite.  It had the most expensive drinks I've seen.  While most cocktails were in the fourteen dollar range (already pretty high) I saw the daily specials that were supposed to be on sale as high as sixteen dollars.  I learned later that gratuity is already built into the price of the drink accounting somewhat for the high process, but still I don't think its unreasonable for the drinks to be a few dollars cheaper.

Along with the art decor decor around much of the ship, these statues decorate the hall outside the Shall We Dance Lounge.

I would say the biggest drawback to the Rhapsody was on our second trip, when our ocean view stateroom was under the dinning room kitchen.  We could hear dishes dropping and general noises of cleaning until well after midnight, and then again with breakfast preparations.  I would be shocked to find such poor sound insulation on any of the newer ships. 

The verdict, having sailed on her twice, I would take another spin on Rhapsody of the Seas, so long as she keeps up the awesome itineraries.  At lest the movies will change with time, faster than the fancy production shows of larger ships that don’t change for years at a time.