Scotty Arnold

Age: 40
Occupation: Retired
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship: The Rhapsody of the Seas
Sailing Date: January 25th, 2004
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Grand Suite Cabin: 8516

Hmm, the air is salty and the frozen drinks are circulating the pool area as I sit on the top deck writing the beginning of my cruise review for “The Rhapsody of the Sea’s”. The cruise began on January 25, 2004 from The Port of Galveston. The itinerary included Key West, Georgetown (Grand Cayman’s) and Cozumel with several a few days at sea sprinkled into the schedule. The following is my take on what I observed during the cruise:

DEPARTURE EMBARKATION FROM GALVESTON (Sunday): It was utterly amazing how fast the port staff processed me through. I will say that I booked a Grand Suite (Cabin 8516) and had check-in privileges which included a separate line from the general boarding line. So, I walked right up to the counter and was on the ship and in my suite within 10-15 minutes. I traveled alone so I bypassed the boarding pictures that are taken. If you don’t care for the photo’s you can go around that queue. Once on the ship it was a direct beeline for the 8th deck. I was able to board around 2:30. Unfortunately, my bags did not get to my cabin until 5:30 but since the first night on the ship is a casual night, I was already appropriately dressed. I took the time to checkout the features of the suite and to make my spa appointments for the entire week. Once I finished all that it was time to depart which was exactly 5:00PM as scheduled. I stayed on my veranda until I could barely see land. It was really awesome. About that time my cabin attendant (Leslie Ann) came by to introduce herself. We had a nice chat and I explained that she probably wouldn’t be hearing from me that often as I was pretty much a low maintenance traveler. However she was always nearby and anytime you left the room it was immediately made up when you came back. I tested her one day and left a hand towel on the bathroom floor. When I returned 15 minutes later it was gone and a new one was in its place. However, she did not come in if you left the “Do Not Disturb” sign in the door. After Leslie Ann left I unpacked. My shirts that had been recently starched at the cleaners were somewhat wrinkled so I hung them in the shower for about 10 minutes with the hot steam and they all came out looking perfect. I would have sent them out for pressing but wanted to try this little trick which seemed to work fine. By the time I unpacked it was time for dinner.

STATEROOM: As I mentioned I booked into one of the Grand Suites which are on the 8th deck. I read several reviews before departing that made the “Rhapsody of the Sea’s” seem like a Holiday Inn. Whoever posted that ad was sadly mistaken! My suite was absolutely beautiful and VERY clean. I’m hard to impress when it comes to aesthetics and I was impressed. The bathroom was awesome and really large. I’m not sure what they were doing to the bathroom but it always smelled extremely clean and fresh. The furniture was all comfortable as was the bed. The designers used common sense with space that would normally not be used. Meaning, there were many cubbyholes to store personal items in corner shelves and the closets. The veranda had plenty of seating and tables for dining if needed. Oh, and not that I was in my room much but when I wanted some quiet time they had “Retro TV” on the television. It was a really cool station with old television shows like, “Flipper”, “The Patty Duke Show”, “The Jefferson’s”, “Charlie’s Angels” and many shows you might see on “TVLAND”. It was really fun while getting ready for dinner or watching some TV before bed. As I said, the bathroom was really great. Beautiful inlaid tile flooring and plenty of towels, bath products and tons of storage space for personal items. For those like me who are tall (I’m 6’4”) be careful when you get in the shower…it’s a really low ceiling and I actually forgot one day and bashed my head.

THE CRUISE: The ship departed Galveston for Key West and was not scheduled to arrive until 3PM on Tuesday. This was one of the things that attracted me to this itinerary (outside the fact that I live in Houston and could depart from Galveston). I really enjoy the time on the ship and care little about the ports of call. That evening for dinner I met my table mates for dinner. As I approached my table I noticed that it was a table for 8. There were already 4 people seated. The two couples were traveling together and well into their middle to late 70’s (I’m 40). I didn’t have an issue with the difference in age had they been engaging. The entire time we ate dinner they complained about getting stuck with a late seating versus the main seating earlier in the evening. They had asked to switch but the main seating was full and couldn’t accommodate 4 people. So, as the dinner continued I noticed that my table companions didn’t even look up the entire time we ate. I also made note that the other 3 seats were still empty and apparently the five of us were going to be it for a week. After kindly excusing myself after dinner I hightailed it over to the dining room supervisor who was more than happy to reassign me for the following day. He did a great job! The following day at dinner I was THRILLED with my new table mates and we all really enjoyed each other’s company.

The first stop on the itinerary was Key West which was just great. It was so convenient getting around and we bar hoped up and down the main street (Duvall Street). We docked around 3PM and had until 11:30 (sailing at Midnight). We ended up getting back on the ship around 9PM. To sum Key West up, it’s definitely worth hanging out there.

We left Key West and were scheduled to be at sea another 1.5 days for Georgetown, Grand Cayman’s. However, the water was really rough and in fact I noticed a lot of green and sad faces walking around. Captain Charles announced that it was possible we wouldn’t be able to tender into Georgetown if the harbor master didn’t approve our visit because of the rough water. At 6AM the day we were supposed to arrive (Thursday) Captain Charles announced that in fact we were not approved and they had already started heading for Cozumel. A lot of people were bummed as they had scheduled a shore excursion and was looking forward to the fun things Georgetown has to offer. The Purser’s Desk was quick to credit all SeaPass accounts. So, we ended up having an additional day at sea (which to me was awesome). We were now scheduled to arrive Cozumel the evening of Thursday. We arrived at 8:15 PM and was allowed to go ashore by 9PM. The ship basically emptied out after the late seating for dinner. Everyone went into town to party at the various places just outside the gates to the pier. Needless to say they were a lot of hangovers the following day as well. I chose to stay on the ship as it was “Retro 80’s” night in the Viking Lounge. Unfortunately there weren’t a lot of people on board so it was pretty empty. I enjoyed listening to the music as I grew up in the 80’s.

The following morning (Friday) we were still docked in Cozumel so it gave everyone the entire day to do their shore excursions, shop and have a lot of fun. It was really busy while we were docked that day as RCL’s “Mariner of the Sea’s” pulled up next to us and TOWERED over the Rhapsody. It was beautiful. Then Carnival’s “Conquest” (which I believe is their largest ship) pulled up as well as Princess’ “Grand Princess”…they were all beautiful. The Rhapsody was sort of swallowed up by the other larger ships but was still EXTREMELY beautiful. I read another review once where the reviewer said they were really proud to be on the Rhapsody and couldn’t figure out why they were having that feeling. I must say I felt the same. Other than getting off the ship to buy some cologne and take some pictures I was on the ship for the rest of the day as I really enjoy the quiet time while everyone else is gone. However, the buzz was all the excursions were great and I didn’t hear any complaints as I made a point to ask a lot of people. We departed promptly at 6PM to head back to Galveston.

SPA: I booked 3 separate spa appointments. The first was the salt scrub and the full body massage. It was really awesome but I had to admit, I’ve had better and for a lot less money. It was $160.00 plus I tipped my therapist $30.00 because they truly do work hard.

The second treatment I had was a facial which was really nice. The facialist who did my facial advised me my skin looked great but I had some very slight dark circles which can be caused by cigarette smoke in bars, even second hand smoke. Then a day after I had my facial with her we were in Cozumel and I saw her walking down the pier with a big ole cigarette hanging out of her mouth. I thought it was really funny for some reason.

The third treatment was the day docked in Cozumel and a last minute booking. I booked one of their specials where you can pick two 25-minute treatments for $79.00. So, I booked the Alpha Capsule and a neck, scalp and shoulder massage. The Alpha Capsule is supposed to relax you so much that 25 minutes in this enclosed capsule is equivalent to a 3-hour nap. What they didn’t tell you is it got up to 114 degrees inside and I about went out of my mind and didn’t feel well rested as advertised. The massage was of course really nice.

CREW: I simply can’t say enough about the entire crew. Everyone was wonderful and couldn’t do enough for you. One of the things I noticed that really impressed me was many of the crew remembered your name if they had met you previously. Additionally, they always paraphrased sentences in a conversation and used your name freely in which made me feel like they were listening. It was quite noticeable and I heard other passengers who appreciated this as well. The dining room staff was particularly attentive and if they heard even the minimal dissatisfaction about something being served they were right there trying to make it right.

FOOD: Frankly I’m not going to write much about the food because I had no complaints. I will say that if you want 3 awesome meals a day go to the main dining room and eat as I didn’t have a bad meal in there the whole week. Plus, they will seat you with other people on the cruise and it gives you a chance to chat. One day I met a group of “Quilters” who organized a vacation together and they all brought their sewing machines on the ship to do some projects while at sea. RCL accommodated them by allowing the machines to all be setup in once of their large conference spaces…pretty cool. They were a hoot. Anyway, back to the food…I didn’t care much for the Solarium food which was basically pizza, burgers and hot dogs. The burgers were pretty good but that was about it, oh and the veggie burgers were awesome. The Windjammer buffet was decent but I usually just ate their if I wanted a salad or some of their awesome frozen yogurt for an afternoon treat. I ordered room service for breakfast a few times which was really good. I liked the strong coffee. Plus, I used this service as sort of a wake up call as they call 10 minutes before arriving with you tray. So I chose the earliest breakfast time (7AM) which ensured I had a full day. The surf and turf on Thursday evening was great. If you dine during the main seating at 6:30 PM you will only be allowed to have 2 lobster tails but the late seating got unlimited tails and our table of ten pretty much made fools of themselves! The chocolate buffet they did early in the week was fab and I think I almost slipped into a sugar coma that night.

SHIPSHAPE FITNESS CENTER: Superb!! Enough classes and variety for all ages and levels of fitness. I also enjoyed running on the top deck running track. It was a pretty awesome feeling running while the ship was sailing alone in the middle of no where.

DRINK PRICES: I drink Bacardi and Coke and they ran $5.75 for each which I didn’t think was bad. They have endless specialty drinks ranging in price and all were really great.

VIKING LOUNGE: Frankly, not the greatest but after you meet a few folks and hangout it gets better. The music isn’t catered properly to the people who are actually in the club. Meaning, most of the people in the club were younger and ready to dance but the music wasn’t always the best for dancing. It was pretty much like a wedding reception everynight but, it was fun and we managed to make our own party. The first night in the “Viking Lounge” they had a singles night at 11PM. It was a TOTAL bust as there were very few single people on the ship. Since I was traveling by myself I included myself into the singles crowd. However, the following night was PACKED and I attributed the first nights lack of energy to people being tired from traveling and getting settled in. Monday night they did a 70’s night and it was a blast. I met a ton of people that evening and two guys I ended up hanging with for the rest of the week.

CHAMPAGNE BAR: Needless to say I spent time here every evening right before dinner. They serve a champagne cocktail called, “The Classic” which was amazing. It included champagne, bitters some sugar and lemon…very refreshing. Watch it though each one of those babies ran $9.14.

SHORE EXCURSIONS: Since I decided not to do any shore excursions this trip I don’t have much to write on the topic. However, I heard from several people that the Dolphin swim was amazing in Cozumel. You actually get to swim with them for up to an hour whereas the same excursion in the Grand Cayman’s is a bust as you only get to touch them for a couple minutes. I don’t believe I heard any complaints about the excursions.

FOR GAYS AND LESBIANS: It’s really funny to watch all the gay men cluster together within the first day. Usually it happens the first night in the nightclub. As I said I was traveling by myself so I just made it a point to go and introduce myself to most of the people I thought were gay. Within a day we were all hanging out and it was really fun. I’m not hip about the idea of “all gay” cruises as there is only one word to describe to many gay men on a ship…”DRAMA”! This itinerary was nice because there was a really nice mix of people. In addition, the passengers and crew I encountered were really gay friendly and people at my table were also really fun and I never got the impression it was an issue. My partner did not sail with me on this cruise but I met some really nice gay couples and a lesbian woman who was a real blast.

DISEMBARKATION: The disembarkation was very orderly and there didn’t seem to be any confusion. Since all cabins are released by a colored coded process it’s hard to go wrong. Since 9/11 all passengers are required to pass through U.S. Customs but it only took a couple seconds per passenger. Once in the terminal I had my bags and was out front in just a couple minutes where I picked up my ride back to Houston.

CLOSING: As the car pulled away from The Rhapsody I was actually upset and I had utterly enjoyed myself. I’ve traveled all over the world and have even cruised once before but I was really impressed with that ship and the service. I highly recommend it to anyone. In fact, my partner and I have decided to book on the March 21st sailing of the Rhapsody. This time we are going up another notch to an “Owners Suite” which should be really nice. I went on and on about the Grand Suite but there was a really great deal advertised for an Owners Suite on the March 21st sailing so we decided to go for it. For those sailing during that time please let me know so we can meet up for a drink.

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