Jon Lee

Age: 30
Occupation: Software Engineer
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship: Rhapsody of the Seas
Sailing Date: February 8th, 2004
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Since this is my first cruise and my wife's second cruise we had a pleasurable experience with the Rhapsody of the Seas and we hope that our input would help those who are interested in booking with the Rhapsody of the Sea.

ARRIVAL:
We arrived to port in Galveston and was not sure we were at the right place until we physically saw the ship. The port was smack dab right in the middle of an industrial area, not the kind of place where you would expect a cruise ship to be. Getting to the terminal was worse. We waited a good 30 minutes to travel 1 mile to unload. Apparently, the terminal is being reconstructed so the temporary teminal looks like it used to be a warehouse. There's a hugh cement producing facility off to one side and piles and piles of rubble everywhere. Standing aboard the cruise ship later and looking out across the port, it looked like you were standing in downtown Baghdad. The terminal is not able to support the large number of people coming on and coming off the ship at the same time.

THE ROOM
We were on Deck 7, room number 7573. It was an inside room and we really didn't care. The room was spacious for our needs, the bathroom was very small, but again, based on our needs it was very accommodating. However, concerning the bathroom, if you plan on creating a "stink", I would strongly suggest using a public restroom because due to the size of the room, it lingered around for a while. I am not trying to be funny here, but to warn you if you plan on staying in your room for a while. Our room attendant, Reggie Bougondeau from the Dominica was awesome. The room was kept clean, the bed was turned down every night and there was always a different towel creation on our bed. He did a superb job.

FOOD
What can I say? I gained six pounds during the week. Food was everywhere and it was GREAT! Our waiter, Edmund and asst. waiter Vester were very nice, very helpful and went out of their way to accommodate our needs. My wife was on a Disney cruise and she said by the second night, the waiters would know what type of drink she wanted and would serve it without asking you first. Here, every night they would ask what we would like to drink and sometimes they would place it with the wrong person. Our glasses would be almost empty before they would come and refill. On the last night, our head waiter was very pissed at our waiters due to the lack of service they were giving.

PORTS:
The first stop was Key West. We took the trolley for the tour of the city. It was sunny and 75 degrees out. It was nice if we could have arrived earlier in the day instead of getting there at 4pm to midnight. There was so much to do. We watched the sun set at Mallory Square and stopped at alot of the local shops. If you see a local guy doing a juggling show on a unicycle, I would highly recommend seeing it, it was very entertaining.

From my understanding, the previous two weeks, the ship was not able to tender at Grand Cayman. Fortunately for us, we were able to tender and went snorkeling. The temperature was 85 degrees and mostly sunny. The water was so clear. Afterwards, my wife and I ate at an Italian restaurant called "Cassanova". It was very good. We could see it from where we were snorkeling. We bought a ton of rum cakes from Tortuga and Blackbeard and of course lots of alcohol!!!!

Cozumel was okay. We saw the Tulum Ruins. The Ruins itself was very beautiful due to its location along the sea. However, the time it took us to go there and back was longer than the actual tour itself. It was 85 degrees and cloudy.

ENTERTAINMENT
We saw a show every night. The Broadway productions put on by the ship were very good. The dancers and singers did an awesome job. The ship also brought on acts as well. The magic show of "Laraf" was my least favorite. To me, most of their show was doing talking than doing actual magic tricks. The cruise director Chris Anderson didn't sound very enthusiastic when addressing the crowd. I think I fell asleep a couple of times when he was talking. My wife and I participated in the "Love and Marriage" show and were promised a copy of the show on Saturday. Saturday night came and we still did not get the copy. We contacted the Purser's desk and Chris wrote a letter back and said due to technical difficulties a tape could not be created. It would have been nice to be told that instead of us having to inquire first about it. However, we got a free copy of the "Cruise in Review" so I am not too sore about it. There was something always going on the ship. We saw the Belly Flopping contest and that was quite funny!

OTHER STUFF
The Solarium was cool. I was surprised to jump in the pool and find out it was saltwater! I didn't bother me and it found it quite enjoyable to float in there. No kids were allowed in there. The decor was of Egyptian with hieroglyphics on the walls. There was soothing music playing. It was one of the most favorite parts of the ship for me.

DEPARTURE
We left the terminal around 10:30 am. However, getting out of there was just as bad as getting in there. People crowding outside waiting for their rides. Again, the terminal is just not capable of holding that many people at one time. Tempers were starting to rise and one family almost lost it. I would wait until construction is done before going back to that dump.

All in all, being my first cruise and my wife's second. We were satisfied with our experience. If given the chance we would take another Royal Carribean cruise but not out of Galveston. I would give this cruise and eight of out 10.

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