On Board!

ON BOARD WITH US! ------>abyboAZ – Amber & Alex – Tucson, AZ aqcuiser – Stephanie – Walnut Creek, CA adjoinkora – John & Brenda – Delmar, MD betarelle -- Brazil biomedbob – Monterey, TN Blue Skies – Ruth & Mike – Channel Islands, UK BrantfordCruisers – Louise & Eric – Brantford, Ontario Bunson_Bill – Stu – Ottawa, Ontario Captain_Kangaroo – Frank – Myrtle Beach, SC catsmit – (See L454S) centurycruiser – Jim & Janet – Port Orange, FL cincytravelers – Jeanne & Dennis – Ft. Myers, FL ColoradoCrusin – Paula & Chuck – Centennial, CO – 7622 Craig Cole -- Craig & Margi – Port Stanley, Ontario -- 3620 Cruisedafewtimes – Debbie & Wayne – Surrey, BC CRUISINGFAMILY – Brian & Linda – Ontario, Canada cruising_to………… -- Ken & Joan – Ontario, Canada -- 8546 cruiseworld47 – George & Sandra – Whitby, Ontario Dave33549 – Dave & Deb –Lutz, FL distrat – Diane – Utah drsel – Connie & Selwyn – Dutch12 – Zeeland, MI EvaV-N – Germany Florida_Couple – Alice & Nicole – Palm Beach Gardens, FL flowyogafaith – Faith – Port Richey, FL Freedom55 – Tom & Chris – Sarnia, Ontario -- 3634 gacruzr – Sue & Rick – Newnan, GA HandE – Hugo & Elayne – Kitty Hawk, NC *Helena* -- Eileen & Sean – Leeds, UK jani – Jani & Ann – Brussels, Belgium JeannetteK – Ger & Jeannette – Spain/Holland jlicquia – Jim & Marcia – Champaign, IL – 2067 JLKKEarley – John & Lori – Colorado John&LaLa – John & Laura – Cocoa Beach, FL Karen316 – Karen & Charlie – Long Island, NY Keishaw – Karen & Tom – Victoria, BC kgidhig – Houston, TX kjc852 – Keith & Marge – Babylon, NY L454S – Cathy & Lenny – Gonzales, LA – 8012 love2cruiseyesIdo – New York marriedwith3 – Pierre & Lyne – L’Assomption, Quebec mcb40seabee – Jim & Ginny – Palm Beach, FL MGSquare – Saveria & Ina – Prescott, AZ – 8017 missamy – Amy – Middletown, CT – 7050 nana2papa – Rob & Judith -- Colorado Ohbabybaby – Alana & Paul – Port Perry, Ontario Ontario_Cruiser – Sherrill & David – Peterborough, Ontario – 3540 peacebeautytruth – Mike & Doris – Cocoa Beach, FL Proseknitic – Holly – Berkeley, CA rallystar – R.Dale & Francesca – Overland Park, KS Razz850 – Canada rkhtex – Kim & Robb – Spring, TX sail2fun – Norm – Fort Walton Beach, FL SailingShelley – Shelley & Chuck – Ocala, FL sailorman321 – Steve & Amy – Central FL sdsseattle – Sue & Joyce – Seattle, WA shakespeare – Liz & Rick – South Florida – 8100 ……………………..Amilia & Bobby (friends of Shakespeare) Sherryvan15 sjbeachbabe – Terri & Blake – Delray Beach, FL slg1979 – Sarah & Anthony – Colorado Snowball Traveller – Florida StephandFred – Fred & Stephanie – Austin, TX tampa_traveler – Larry & Harriett, Land O Lakes, FL – 2026 Travelgrrl9999 – Nanette & Terrence -- Tennessee treesha – Alan & Teresa – San Diego, CA -- 3084 Umbria_lover – Art & Barbara – Pinellas Park, FL – 7559 Unkagabi – Dave & Bonnie – Toronto, CA Widowswalk – Carmen – Silver Spring, MD Wine-O – Michael & Maureen – Myrtle Beach, SC – 8088 Yucca39 – Ninon – Bandera, TX Yunric – Yun & Enrico – Mississauga, Ontario Zplasty – Jeff & Cindy – Atlanta, GA

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Review - by me!

Rhapsody of the Seas – Transatlantic – April 29th 2017
Overview
A fantastic vacation! We love the smaller ships and this one did not disappoint. They have a very friendly staff in all parts of the ship. The food was very good the entertainment was mostly excellent. We booked the Vision for a TA next year, so that says something I guess.
Embarkation
A snap. Tampa is a great port. The Diamond line seemed longer than the regular line, but not much waiting. We were on board by 11:30, the cabin was ready by 1 pm. after a windjammer lunch. One big beef! We were not welcomed in any way as we boarded the ship , IN FACT we were bombarded by advertising for specialty restaurants and extras that you have to pay more for. RCCL, how about a hello and a glass of bubbly?
Cabin – Ocean view 3624
Adequate size for us to store all our stuff. We chose to have the bed separated into two singles as it made the layout a lot friendlier with access to the window. There is no comfortable place to stay in the room for any length of time (so we didn’t). The TV was sketchy on the crossing and I was disappointed in the channel that showed our position. Most of the time it was a camera from the bow that showed nothing and there was no weather information at all. Our room steward Gloria was very nice and did her job perfectly.
On Board
Nit-picks first – 
The Windjammer buffet was not 24 hours. It closed after every meal and if you wanted something at other times you had to go to the Park Café at the other end of the ship. It had a very limited selection which was always the same. 
The hot tubs had very little bubbles (for our safety?) and the main pool ones were not hot. 
There was a stink at the midship elevators that they tried to cover up with chemicals. No idea what it was. It was strong in the first few days, went away, and returned every once in a while. Not Nice.
The casino was smoking (and smelled like it!) and cold as a meat locker! So we didn’t go there but had to walk through it a few times.
The theatre venue is very old and as a result the design is lacking, but the shows were good!
The good-
The Schooner Bar is the best ships bar we have been in! Great location with floor to ceiling views of the sea and a great staff!
Food in the MDR was awesome as well as the service. The best we can remember.
Food in the Windjammer was good, but the same every day.
Food in the Park Café was exactly the same limited menu every single day.
We did not go to a specialty restaurant
Entertainment on board varied, the piano bar guy was bad, but the “Tea for Two” duo of guitar and violin were awesome. The “pool” bands were hot and cold.
In the theatre, the headliner shows were consistently great. We did not attend the “ships singers” shows but we did hear them sing in other venues and that’s why we didn’t go to the shows (if you know what I mean). There were also some matinee performances by the headliners, usually at 3 p.m.
There was also a guest speaker talking about astronomy which I attended and enjoyed on each sea day
Ports
Key West – got off and looked around, had a beer at Sloppy Joes did some shopping and went back to the ship. Looks like a fun place.
St. Maarten – Have been many times. Took the water taxi to town to look at the shops and had a beer and lunch at “Pirates in Paradise”. It’s owned by an Ohio State guy but I went anyway and shouted “Go Blue!”
7 days at sea – HEAVEN!
Malaga – (Spain Rocks). We took the shuttle to town (5 Euros return). We went on the big Ferris wheel for the views (20 euros) and had some Tapas and beer.
Cartagena – What a great place! Everything is close to the port. We walked around town and did some souvenir shopping. Narrow streets all, paved in tile and mostly pedestrian malls. I would love to go back here.
Barcelona – after debarking we stayed for two nights at the Hostal Khronos, a boutique hotel six block from Sagrada Familia. Day one was visiting the Sagrada Familia. I would suggest that you book your tickets online ahead of time to avoid lines on the day. Amazing place and not to be missed on any visit to Barcelona. The send day we had a day pass on the Hop on Hop off bus. (The Barcelona Touristic) It provided a great day of seeing all parts of the city. Very enjoyable. Don’t miss the Gothic District, the port area, Place de Catalunya and the rambala.

Note: we bought a coffee card ahead of time for the Lattetudes but found out on board that the specialty coffees were free (and better) in the diamond lounge! Live and learn. BTW the Lattetudes barista guy was the only un-friendly staff member we met on the whole ship. He looked pissed off when you ordered!
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