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Royal Caribbean International

MV Rhapsody of the Seas

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Reviewed by: Bernard and Lois De Roo
# previous cruises: 10+
Date of Trip: October 27, 2002
Itinerary: Caribbean - Western

We made a 7 day Western Caribbean of this ship sailing from Galveston, TX. Visited Key West, Belize and Cozumel with 3 days at sea. Royal has an excellent bus service from Dallas to Galveston. Cost is $80 per person with pick up at a Walmart parking lot by DFW South entrance. No hassle with airport check in or transfer from Houston to Galveston. Travel time is about same as flying. Drop off and pick up is right at ship dock entrance.

Ship is beautiful When built considered large size at 74,000 tons, but docked next to Voyager of Seas in cozumel and that ship is 140,00 tons. Rhapsody carries 2100 passengers and was fully booked. Plenty of space to be with people or quiet private spaces. 9 story atrium is spectacular. Entire ship is bright and airy. Decor is tasteful without being glitzy. 2 story dining room has 2 side walls of glass. Ship is full of contemporary tasteful art.

Ship as 2 good pools with 1 under retractable roof. Plenty of deck space and separate jogging track. Plenty of lounges. Library had good selection of books. Main lounge has comfortable seating with excellent sight lines and acoustics. Never had problem to find seats. Entertainment was good and varied. Even passenger talent show had good performers. Casino was well laid out.

Found breakfast and lunch had excellent selection in Windjammer on top deck at front of ship with windows all around. Food in dining room was good, but felt that Princess Cruise Line had more selection and finer presentation. Service was excellent.

Cabins are well designed with plenty of closet and storage drawers, with good soundproofing. Bathroom well designed, but shower is small. There are 2 decks of private balconies. Service was excellent. Our room steward was always just a call away and always made us feel at home even to the little touches with the towels and pillow designs that he made every evening and morning.

As I said before the entertainment was good and varied. The main lounge had comfortable seating with excellent sight lines and acoustics.

We visited Key West, Cozumel and Belize. We have been to Key West and Cozumel before so just walked around here ourselves. Belize had a tropical storm the day before and on our arrival. Did take a tour here, which should have been cancelled, due to the heavy rain. We had a 3 hour bus ride to see the city and country side, when we arrived at the ruins, it was raining so hard we couldn't even get off the bus. We did however get a full refund from the Cruise Line for this tour, which we thought was very nice as they certainly can't control the weather.

We have made a good number of cruises trying many different cruise lines. We rate Royal caribbean as one of the best and recommend them to first time or seasoned cruisers. There is something for everyone. This cruise had families of all ages, from babes in arms to Grandmas and Grandpas in wheelchairs. They all seemed to enjoy it.