|
Rhapsody Of The Seas Cruise Review October 10, 2004 |
Day
1
Woke up early and had
an almost uneventful drive to Galveston. I got confused in Houston and
almost had an accident. After several minutes our hearts were back to the
normal rate! Except for a little rain and the almost accident, the drive
was nice and passed quickly. As usual the traffic at the cruise terminal
was almost unbearable. We hit the traffic at about 11:10 AM. Once we were
in cue to get into the terminal, we waited about an hour. Getting on the
ship as a new Platinum member of the Crown and Anchor club was a dream! I
highly recommend it! I also highly
recommend a suite. This was our first time to experience the pleasures of
having a suite ... although a junior
suite. The extra space was incredible. I always love
exploring the ship and marveling at the incredible artwork that abounds.
This one especially caught my eye and it was by our cabin so it became a
point of reference for the duration of the cruise. We dubbed it …. “Man
Peeing”! After settling into
our cabin we headed for the Windjammer. I had a Greek salad (excellent),
roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, and a nice rare slice of the carved
beef. All were very good. For
dessert I had a chocolate brownie, a cream jellyroll and a sort of fluffy
strawberry pie. All were good. The service was excellent. Dinner was just as
good. For an appetizer I had the Vidalia onion tart. It was scrumptious.
Several at the table had the filet of sole and said it was delicious. I
had prime rib ... very rare and flavorful. The meal was perfect ... great
food and excellent service. The welcome aboard
show seemed longer than the ones we've attended in the past. The RC
dancers were ... as always ... very talented. The band was good. The
comedian ... Aquilies was very funny. It was a great show. Afterwards we enjoyed
the sounds of the Liza Hendrix band on the pool deck. The band was
excellent and Liza reminded me of Pat Benetar.
|
Day
2
We generally prefer
eating at the Windjammer for breakfast. We had the smoked salmon with
bagels, cream cheese and capers ... quite good. The pre-M&M was poorly
attended ... probably because of my lack of planning. We did enjoy
spending a few minutes visiting with Randy
and Sherry before they headed off to a ping-pong tournament and we
went to the Internet cafe to check email. Having had a late breakfast we
weren't hungry for lunch and decided instead to relax in the cabin with a
good book and a cold drink! I visited the liquor store and bought a bottle
of scotch for our cabin. RCI’s ever changing policy regarding purchasing
liquor for your cabin is a bit frustrating. Every cruise seems to have
it’s own set of rules. In the past we’ve only had to pay one $9.50 fee
per ‘special’. This cruise the rule was $9.50 per bottle, period!
Still not a bad deal, but I sure wish they would set one policy and stick
to it! The wine tasting was a
little different this time. We didn't get the wine tasters on a chain, but
rather sipped the samples from wine glasses. This was much more enjoyable.
The portions were quite generous and, of course, the wines we tasted were
quite delicious. Thankfully we got out of the wine tasting a bit early
because we only had thirty minutes to get ready for the Captains
cocktail party. It was lively and fun. Mom
and Ken looked wonderful all dressed up. The drinks were plentiful.
Dinner was outstanding again. Our table for eight ended up being a table
for six. This was fine with us, because we enjoyed a week of dining with a
lovely couple from Houston, Mike
& Barb. I had the beef filet. I requested two and the waiter
brought me another as I was finishing up my first. Both were cooked just
right and were very tender and delicious. The cherries jubilee, prepared
by our headwaiter, was scrumptious. The only thing that was a bit off was
the lobster bisque. It wasn't bad, just not as good as I'd hoped it would
be.
|
Day
3
This is the first
cruise that we’ve ordered room service and it was WONDERFUL eating our
breakfast in our suite! The food arrived on time and was hot and
delicious. After a leisurely breakfast we strolled up to Moonlight
Bay Lounge to sit and enjoy the view while playing cribbage.
Unfortunately we forgot about the reception for Platinum and Diamond
members of the Crown and Anchor Club ... oh well ... we'll surely remember
next time. Bonnie, Mom,
Ken and I had a late
lunch at the Windjammer
while watching the ship
come into port. It was quite delicious as usual. Key West was fun. We
strolled up and down Duval
Street stopping at a few bars and shops. Of course we stopped at the Hogs
Breath Saloon and had a few drinks. You can tell we had ‘enough’
by these two photos! Photo
1 Photo
2 After returning to the
ship, we watched an extraordinary
sunset. We then had cocktails
in our cabin before dinner at the Windjammer. This is the first time
we've had dinner in the Windjammer and although the food was good ... I
much prefer eating in the dining room for dinner. The show was a new
production with the RC singers and dancers that we hadn't seen before and
was very enjoyable. It was called "Mardi Gras Dumonde". The
dancing, singing and costuming was as always fantastic. We then went to
the poolside sail away party, but were quite tired and soon went to bed.
|
Day
4
Aha ... another day at
sea ... I do love the days at sea! We had breakfast by the pool. Then we
went to the Moonlight Bay lounge to play cribbage until time for the
Cocktail Seminar! I highly recommend attending this seminar if you are
sailing on the Rhapsody. It is most entertaining and you are served
several drinks. The drinks weren't as plentiful as they were last year at
this seminar, but they were adequate. Also, last year we were given
souvenir glasses as we left ... this year no glass! We met our tablemates,
Mike & Barbara at the seminar and then we all had lunch at the
Windjammer. Several of us had the Mahi Mahi and found it to be flavorless
and dry. Other than that the food was good. The rain forest mousse cake is
to die for! We all agreed! The peach crumble and cherry crumble was lack
luster at best. After a cocktail and a
rest up in the room, we headed to the Viking Crown for the Cruise Critic
Meet & Mingle. It was great to meet every one. We chatted with the
delightfully funny McGraw’s,
Gary and Sandy, Marie
and Steve and Randy
and Sherry. I never got an exact count, but I estimate that we had
between 40 and 45. We
received nice holders for our sea pass cards to wear around our necks. RCI
set up a table with fancy and delicious Hors d'Oeuvres. Our funny and warm
Cruise Director, Goose
(Gustav Newman), spoke as did the loyalty ambassador, Jennifer. It was a
fun gathering that was far too short.
|
Day
5
Costa Maya was
delightful! It is probably one of our favorite ports of all time. We found
it to be unspoiled by the sometimes-ugly face of tourism … well except
for the area around the pier. It had sort of a “Disney” atmosphere,
but it was well done and quite enjoyable. The Rhapsody
looked beautiful from the Costa Maya beach. After shopping a bit in this
area we watched an outstanding show at an outdoor amphitheater. The show
consisted of several men and women dancers
who were costumed in Aztec, Mayan and Mexican attire for the several
segments of the show. It was free and the dancers were outstanding. There
was a salt-water
pool free to use. The pool had a swim
up bar. I must say that the greenish water was not very inviting. We
did not enter this pool. We found the prices for tourist trinkets to be
very reasonable. After exploring the shopping area at the dock, we took a
taxi into Mahahual.
There we found a beautiful primitive Mexican beach town with dirt streets.
The Hotel
Mahahual was the largest structure in town. The Rhapsody
in the distance made quite a beautiful picture. We sat in a nice thatched
roof bar and had several beers for only $10. We were offered the biggest
lobster tails I have ever seen for $11 each. We weren’t hungry, but
several patrons told us that they were delicious! The beaches
were white sand
and just beautiful.
It wasn’t crowded at all. The ocean breeze blew seductively through the
hut and kept us cool while we sipped our cerveza. I can’t remember ever
being in a more tranquill setting. Formal night was
excellent. We had lobster, shrimp and prime rib. I'm glad we had the early
seating because RCI ran out of lobster and many of the late seating
passengers did not get lobster. The show this
evening was the Royal Caribbean dancers. Of course the Royal Caribbean
Band accompanied them and the show was fantastic. The theme was Broadway.
They danced and sang songs from several musicals … Rent, Chess, Jesus
Christ Superstar, Grease, Smoky Joe’s Café, Tommy … I think that’s
all of the shows they depicted in this production. We enjoyed it very
much. These young people are so talented.
|
Day
6
Cozumel was
... well Cozumel. It was fun, but very hot and humid. It rained off
and on, but just light rain. After a little shopping and a few drinks, we
boarded the ship and had lunch. I caught the party boat leaving and
snapped a picture. The real point of this picture is the unfinished building
in the background just above the party boat. This building was in the
same state the first time we visited Cozumel almost two years ago. The
afternoon was relaxing. Dinner was wonderful as usual, but the big event
of the day was the show. We were delighted to be entertained by Bill
Pinkney’s Original Drifters. Well … they were billed as the
original Drifters, but if you follow the link you will see that several of
them have died. It was interesting to learn that Clyde
McPhatter’s son, Ron McPhatter, is now singing with the
group. He sang a few of the songs and he was very good. He is someone to
watch. Click on the link to see a picture of him and the older Drifters.
|
Day
|
|
Day
8
|
