This was our first time cruising, and it probably didn't live up to our expectations. We got a great price on a balcony stateroom, which I would highly recommend. The room was pretty nice, clean and plenty of room for storage. Not much on t.v., although they do play a few newer movies each day. Not that you want to spend much time in your room anyway. The first night out of Galveston was very rocky! We all got seasick, and as I was wandering around the ship, it appeared that many of the guests were not feeling well either. But by the next morning it was much better.

Our first stop was Key West. It is a beautiful city. Rhapsody did not arrive there until 3:00 p.m., so it did not leave much time for sightseeing. We took the champagne sunset sail, and I would not recommend this to families, as this appeared to be more of a drink-fest than anything else. Loud music and beer and champagne flowing. It's good if you are into that kind of thing, but we are not. The boat just cruised around and around the island. Not very exciting. We now wish we had not booked an excursion, as there is plenty to see and do right off the ship. Watch out when the sun goes down! We wandered around the shopping area, and there are some strange people around. I felt uncomfortable walking around with my 4 year old, so we returned to the ship at 9:00. Nice city, but the arrival is way too late.

Then we had 2 days at sea, which kind of got long, as there are not a whole lot of activities. Note: in February, it's still chilly when you leave Galveston, and VERY windy on the decks, so the first couple of days were too cold to swim in the pool. There is an indoor pool area, but this is restricted to adults, so we did not swim at all until about the 4th day. I wish they would open the indoor pool to children in inclement or cool weather. There are activites on board, such as bingo (We did not win anything), trivia, and a sexy legs contest. Some of those were kind of fun. However, we did become bored after awhile. I spent a little time in the casino, long enough to watch my money go away very quickly. I played the slots. My boyfriend didn't do any better on the Blackjack tables either. Needless to say, we did not go back in there.

We went to see a few shows, and those were good. The Broadway Melodies theater is beautiful, and the seating is very comfortable.

Our next stop was Belize City. You will want to take an excursion in this port. There is not much to do. There is a small area for shopping right on the dock, and we purchased some nice things there. We took the Riverboat tour with the Belize Zoo. This was OK. We saw some monkeys and some Manatees. A few people got a glimpse of a crocodile, but we didn't. If you are disabled at all, you might want to skip this one. When getting on the boat in Belize, which is nothing more than a motorboat, it rocks terribly, and it was very hard to get on. And it was HOT! After about an hour on the river, I was ready to get off because I was so warm. But, I am from Wisconsin, and the Average temp. in February is about 20 degrees, so I guess it's whatever you are used to. The zoo was really nice, although again, very hot. And the animals are kept in cages with alot of foliage so the animals are somewhat hard to see. They gave us lunch in what seemed like a shack in the middle of nowhere that smelled like an outhouse. I just had a soda, and did not eat. It was chicken and some beans and rice. The smell turned me off to eating. This is a tender port, so you need to take a short boat ride to shore. Royal caribbean let everyone off first that had tours scheduled, and that seemed to go ok.

Our next stop was Cozumel. We did not take an excursion here, as those got kind of pricey. This ended up being our best day off the ship. Cozumel is beautiful. We took a taxi to the beach and spent the day there snorkeling and swimming. The taxi ride was $10 each way, and it's only about a 10 minute ride. Don't go to Chankanaab if you are looking for sandy beaches, it's all rocks. We went to the beach a little further down the road, and it was very nice. There were a few stands at the entrance to the beach selling souvenirs, the prices are definitely negotiable. There were taxis waiting right at the beach when we are ready to go. So we went back to the dock, and there was loads of shopping places there. So we shopped for a few hours and returned to the ship. Loved Cozumel.

Overall the service was very good. Loved our room attendant and the towel animals we came back to each night. Dean kept our room very clean and neat, and our ice bucket full at all times. The water on the ship tasted fine, so don't bother bringing bottled water. When you get to your room, they will have your refrigerator stocked with soda and bottled water. You will be charged $1.70 each can of soda, and $3.00 for bottled water if you drink it, so beware. I would recommend bringing your own soda on board to keep the the refrigerator, as drinks on board are very expensive. You can buy a drink card for $30, but you are much better off if you just bring your own. They also have drink cards for alcoholic drinks, but I don't know how much they are, as I do not drink alcohol. Sorry. I think it was around $30 as well. But, they were selling these fruity drinks on the deck for like $5 apiece, so I imagine that your $30 drink card would not go too far.

We ate in the dining room only once. Otherwise we went to the Windjammer buffet, and most of the entrees in the Windjammer were the same as the dining room. We did not want to be on a dining schedule, so we preferred the buffet. And we do not own formal wear. The food was excellent. There is always plenty of variety, except for breakfast which was the same every morning, but delicious anyway. And the wait staff was awesome. Very friendly. The dining room was very elegant. 5 course meals, and they took a long time. Do not take young children to eat there, as they are ready to go after about 15 minutes. This was our mistake. The food was superb! However, being the gourmet kind, you really did not get enough, and ended up stopping at the Windjammer for a snack anyway. We also got Room Service a few times, and this was ok, but not great. You will have to tip the wait staff when they bring it.

I am a smoker, and for all you other smokers out there, get a room with a balcony, as this is the only way you will get to smoke in your room. No smoking is allowed in the cabins. And smoking on the ship is pretty limited as well. So be prepared for that. The best place for smoking is next to the pool on one side, other wise the smoking areas are hard to find.

Be careful with the Seapass cards you are given when you get on the ship. It was very easy to rack up several hundred or thousand dollars without realizing it. No cash for buying things on the ship, you have to use the Seapass.

The last 2 days, you hear alot about tipping for the staff. And that happened to be the night we were in the dining room, when the waiter came over and basically asked for a good rating on your Exit survey. And they give you recommendations of how much you should tip everybody, and for 3 people, it came out to a total of almost $300! Since we did not eat in the dining room but once, we did not give the recommended amount to the dining staff, but instead gave to the Windjammer. Be prepared for this, as we were not. Our next vacation will probably be at an all inclusive resort instead, most of those don't allow tipping. I also noticed that on the last day of the cruise, the staff really wasn't around helping at all. In the rest room by the waiting area as we were leaving, a woman had gotten sick all over a bathroom stall, and nobody attended to it for at least an hour. It was quite disgusting in there, to say the least.

Overall, the ship is very nice, and the staff does a good job, other than the last day. Food was great. Would I recommend this cruise? Probably not. There aren't enough ports, and not enough to do onboard, especially for families. I would not recommend it in February, as I was pretty cold for much of the time onboard, mainly due to the wind. I don't know if it's that way on all cruises, or just the area we were in, I'm not sure. I am going to try another cruise, perhaps on a bigger ship with more to do. Probably not for a few years though.

This cruise probably would fit in better for couples without kids, or a large group of people cruising together. Not enough family type activities.