Katherine Laurie

Age: 45
Occupation: IS director
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship: Rhapsody
Sailing Date: July 4th, 2004
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

I sailed with the Rhapsody on July 4, as a present to my daughter for her high school graduation. I had done a lot of research, including this message board, in order to select a ship. I was not disappointed - this was a great experience.

We actually drove down from Dallas on the day of the cruise, and used EZ Parking (it was $35 a week). We arrived at checkin at around 1:30pm, and went right in - no line (and this was a full ship!). We found our cabin to be larger than we had expected - there was plenty of room for our hanging bag, "shoes" suitcase, two other bags and a collapsible cooler. Our cabin steward was immediately there, asking if we wanted our beds together (to form a queen) or separated. He separated our beds and throughout the trip, brought us ice and made animals out of towels. The room had no odor, was cleaned well everyday, and the shower was excellent - with good water pressure. We rarely heard noises from within our cabin on the 3rd Deck, and we also used room service coffee (nice and hot and strong) to wake me up every morning.

Our spent Sunday and Monday at sea, and stopped Tuesday in Key West. Then we had Wednesday at sea, and stopped on Thursday at Grand Cayman and Friday at Cozumel. Saturday was a sea day and Sunday we arrived back at Galveston.

During the sea days, Erin (my daughter) and I started our tans, explored the restaurants (the Windjammer and Solarium are casual; the Edelweiss is less casual). At first, we took part in every activity we could fit in - rock climbing (yes, me too - and I had surgery 4 weeks before!), line dancing, trivia contests, production shows, bingo, yoga. Our favorites were the trivia, the shows, and the yoga (you have to pay $10 for the yoga). We felt really let down after losing money at Bingo - that was no fun for us.

We had asked for late seating (thinking there would be fewer kids - which was true) at Edelweiss dining room. We were at a table for six. We really enjoyed getting to know the other couples - one on a honeymoon and one for an 8th anniversary trip. We partnered later with the honeymoon couple at "Name that tune" and won the trivia contest!! We took turns buying bottles of wine for the table. The food was fine - some things were stellar - some things were not. As a rule, the beef is really well done - as in no pink (regardless of how it is ordered). One night the salmon or chicken would bee juicy and cooked just right - the next it would be overdone. The desserts were WONDERFUL. There was a man at our table that could really eat - he would order two or three entrees at a time, which was no problem for anyone.

We researched and ordered our excursions online, and not through the ship. The advantage is that it is cheaper and less crowded. The disadvantage is that sometimes you do not have familiar faces around, and no one is watching every step you take to get you to the right place.

At Grand Cayman, we booked Captain Bryan's catamaran for snorkeling and stingray city - it was small (20 people), relaxing, and wonderful. We then booked Honeysuckle Ranch for horseback riding by the ocean for the afternoon. In retrospect, we should have ridden the horses in the morning - it was too hot for them and us. Doing both of these left no time for shopping, and we stood in a long hot line to get to the tender going back to the ship. Stingray city was wonderful.

At Cozumel, we planned to shop in the morning and lay on a beach in the afternoon. We should have gone right to the beach that we read about (Paradise Beach - the cab driver will know of it) right away - that would have gotten us away from the people that accost you constantly to go into a shop. The food at Paradise Beach was MUCH better than anything we got at the downtown area.

At Key West, we walked and found Kermit's for a key lime bar covered in chocolate (worth it), then we went into an Irish Pub (now that was fun) and then in Sloppy Joe's (hated that - why do people recommend that?). We also saw the sunset from Mallory Square - folks, I have seen much better in California, Florida and Texas.

On the Rhapsody, you may read that some things need touchups, but we found people constantly cleaning, painting, waxing - making the ship a gleaming example. Our only negative on the whole trip was that my digital Sony camera was stolen out of the Windjammer - so keep stuff by your side.

The cruise director and his staff ("Goose", Abe, etc) were great personalities, and kept everyone's spirits up without seeming forced - they genuinely seem to love their ship and their job. There were gems of entertainment everywhere - like the Schooner Bar where the entertainer made anyone who walked through the bar, dance across the stage. Or the "Love and Marriage" game show - even though I was not with my husband on the trip, my daughter and I laughed SO HARD watching this.

I can only be grateful that we were able to take this cruise and meet so many nice people. Even though my daughter is at a tough inbetween age to cruise, she still seemed to have a great time.

Don't forget to: go to the top of the ship at night, where there are no lights, and watch the stars; ordering coffee from room service; see the game shows on board; sit at a bigger table at night to meet people; try the cookies!; if you like flavored coffee creamer, bring yours; bring a reading book light if you want to read and not keep up your cabin mate; get your doctor to give you the seasickness patch - they work great.

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