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Unlock bucket-list-worthy shores and take memory-making to the next level — on Rhapsody of the Seas®.
We’re talking about wander-filled itineraries to some of the world’s most breathtaking sun-soaked destinations. Plus, non-stop onboard thrills like rock climbing 40 feet above deck. Catch Broadway-style shows and dazzling entertainment, night after night. And indulge in delicious cuisine guaranteed to please even the pickiest eater in your crew. Go all out on adventure and unforgettable moments onboard Rhapsody of the Seas®.
I read the awful reviews in advance and they were all wrong. This was a wonderful cruise on a perfect sized ship. No ice rink, no bumper cars, no ropes course, and I didn't want that nonsense. The ship is old, but well taken care of and clean. We were on the ship and having fun before noon on embarkation day (San Juan), and it was easy on and off at all the ports. The main dining room was just okay, the specialty dining (Chops and Giovanni's) much better. Our cabin (junior suite) was wonderful and our cabin steward top notch. Don't bother getting off at St. Croix or St. Kitts, you won't miss anything. Barbados was great (Carlyle Beach) and St. Thomas (we took the ferry to St. John's and went to Trunk Bay) and St. Maarten (Orient Beach, as always) were wonderful. The Rhapsody of the Seas and her sisters (Vision, Enchantment, and Grandeur) will be gone in a year or two, so go now, while you still can.
We chose this ship based on the port it was sailing from (San Juan, which we love to visit) and the itinerary - first time visit to the ABC islands and Dominica, second time in St. Kitts. There is no disguising that this is an older ship, with the isues that an aging ship presents and it has very few of the bells and whistles that RCL is known for. There are only 3 specialty restaurants and the only "sporty" activity, besides the pools, was the rock climbing wall. However, if you desire an "old school" approach to sailing, you will enjoy the ship and the crew and have fun. Rhapsody had just spent 3 weeks in drydock, and the ship was cleaned, especially in its public areas and appeared freshly painted. Our bed, sofa and carpet in our cabin were clean and appeared unworn. For sure, there were parts of the ship that were worn and the AC worked unevenly in places. Some of the elevators were inoperative, puzzling after a drydock visit. But, overall, the cabins and public places were in good shape. I was impressed by the amount of seating available in the public spaces surrounding the Centrum and on and around the pool deck. You could listen to live music and presentations in the Centrum from multiple floors surrounding the Centrum. The Shall We Dance lounge, the Crown Viking Lounge and the Broadway Theatre provided additional seating in a comfortable setting, with entertainment or quiet, as you might prefer. Rhapsody had the usual activities, from trivia to bingo. People seemed to enjoy these activites and have fun. Others have disliked the entertainment available on the ship, but I thought it was pretty good. Live music bands were excellent to listen to. The shows varied in quality - singers, dancers and the in house band worked hard to give us fun shows - country music and "piano" music reviews. You won't find a broadway show as on other ships. They had a magician, acrobats (surprisingly good - Max and Olga) and a Las Vegas singer, Savannah Smith, who was quite good - high energy and a voice we could hear clearly, and not drowned out by the band. The shows were amusing and fun, in general. Food always seems to cause debate amongst cruisers. All I can say is that the food was hit or miss. For example, we enjoyed the crusted salmon dinner in the MDR - large portions, well prepared and delicious. Loved the beer battered fried fish in the Windjammer. On the other hand, some dishes were misses - the pancakes , for example in the MDR on sea days were awful. We ate in Chops - food was excellent and Giovanni's - food was plentiful and delicious and service (ask for Maeva) was top notch. Plus Izumi, these are the only specialty restaurants on board. I would say to each his or her own when it comes to food - you will find dishes in the MDR and WJ that you will like and others you won't order again. A comment about service in general - servers and waiters are hard working but run off their feet. I think there is a shortage of crew in general. If you want a drink in the bar, it is best to order it at the bar - you may wait a long time to make an order or receive an order if you are sitting at a table, especially at a busy time. One place that had excellent service was the solarium and the Park Cafe. Swimming for adults and food/snacks and beverage service, plus plenty of seating. Specifically, our steward, Debby, (deck 7) was friendly, hard working and very accomodating - good to see that Royal is maintaining high standards for it housekeeping staff. One thing I did appreciate was how well organized the crew was to facilitate shore excursions and disembarkation. As someone who has sailed on NCL and Carnival and experienced how chaotic shore excursions and disembarking can be on those cruise lines, I like Rhapsody's approach in these areas. On the other hand, and this is specific to this sailing, embarkation was unpleasant to say the least. The ship was late in arriving in San Juan (from drydock!) and it started raining when the terminal was opened to receive passengers. We and others were soaked - Royal or the pier officials would not let people into the terminal to get out of the rain or provide some temporary shelter (ie tents). We were assigned new times for entry - we were in the first group at 4 pm - everyone seemingly pushed onto the ship at 4pm. Lots of people ignored their time to board (I don't blame them - it was raining) so entry onto the ship was slow. (At the very least, RCL should have offered some compensation in the form of OBC as a sign of good faith and loyalty, for essentially a wrecked day). Royal, do better next time. All in all, we enjoyed the cruise, the staff and crew, the facilities and the ports visited very much. If you go with an open mind when travelling on an aging ship, you will have a blast and a very enjoyable experience.
Honestly, for being my first cruise, it was pretty darn awesome! Food is great, experience was absolutely wonderful, cruise director was very energetic, and our waiter was just a fun guy. Though this may be a smaller ship, there’s so much to do! Though, not all things are for everyone, it’s always nice to relax and take a nap if needed; which brings me to my next point. The room sizes are a bit smaller than I would’ve expected, which isn’t horrible. There’s been numerous times where floods from the shower in the room next door had happened and housekeeping didn’t do much about it at first. The beds are rather solid but easy to get accustomed to. It would have been nice to have an outlet beside the beds instead of by the desk, but that’s a minor thing considering that the ship is older. All of these reasons are why I rated it one star lower than 5. Overall, a pretty good trip. I would recommend learning Spanish if you haven’t already as an English speaker before attending the trip.
I read the awful reviews in advance and they were all wrong. This was a wonderful cruise on a perfect sized ship. No ice rink, no bumper cars, no ropes course, and I didn't want that nonsense. The ship is old, but well taken care of and clean. We were on the ship and having fun before noon on embarkation day (San Juan), and it was easy on and off at all the ports. The main dining room was just okay, the specialty dining (Chops and Giovanni's) much better. Our cabin (junior suite) was wonderful and our cabin steward top notch. Don't bother getting off at St. Croix or St. Kitts, you won't miss anything. Barbados was great (Carlyle Beach) and St. Thomas (we took the ferry to St. John's and went to Trunk Bay) and St. Maarten (Orient Beach, as always) were wonderful. The Rhapsody of the Seas and her sisters (Vision, Enchantment, and Grandeur) will be gone in a year or two, so go now, while you still can.
We chose this ship based on the port it was sailing from (San Juan, which we love to visit) and the itinerary - first time visit to the ABC islands and Dominica, second time in St. Kitts. There is no disguising that this is an older ship, with the isues that an aging ship presents and it has very few of the bells and whistles that RCL is known for. There are only 3 specialty restaurants and the only "sporty" activity, besides the pools, was the rock climbing wall. However, if you desire an "old school" approach to sailing, you will enjoy the ship and the crew and have fun. Rhapsody had just spent 3 weeks in drydock, and the ship was cleaned, especially in its public areas and appeared freshly painted. Our bed, sofa and carpet in our cabin were clean and appeared unworn. For sure, there were parts of the ship that were worn and the AC worked unevenly in places. Some of the elevators were inoperative, puzzling after a drydock visit. But, overall, the cabins and public places were in good shape. I was impressed by the amount of seating available in the public spaces surrounding the Centrum and on and around the pool deck. You could listen to live music and presentations in the Centrum from multiple floors surrounding the Centrum. The Shall We Dance lounge, the Crown Viking Lounge and the Broadway Theatre provided additional seating in a comfortable setting, with entertainment or quiet, as you might prefer. Rhapsody had the usual activities, from trivia to bingo. People seemed to enjoy these activites and have fun. Others have disliked the entertainment available on the ship, but I thought it was pretty good. Live music bands were excellent to listen to. The shows varied in quality - singers, dancers and the in house band worked hard to give us fun shows - country music and "piano" music reviews. You won't find a broadway show as on other ships. They had a magician, acrobats (surprisingly good - Max and Olga) and a Las Vegas singer, Savannah Smith, who was quite good - high energy and a voice we could hear clearly, and not drowned out by the band. The shows were amusing and fun, in general. Food always seems to cause debate amongst cruisers. All I can say is that the food was hit or miss. For example, we enjoyed the crusted salmon dinner in the MDR - large portions, well prepared and delicious. Loved the beer battered fried fish in the Windjammer. On the other hand, some dishes were misses - the pancakes , for example in the MDR on sea days were awful. We ate in Chops - food was excellent and Giovanni's - food was plentiful and delicious and service (ask for Maeva) was top notch. Plus Izumi, these are the only specialty restaurants on board. I would say to each his or her own when it comes to food - you will find dishes in the MDR and WJ that you will like and others you won't order again. A comment about service in general - servers and waiters are hard working but run off their feet. I think there is a shortage of crew in general. If you want a drink in the bar, it is best to order it at the bar - you may wait a long time to make an order or receive an order if you are sitting at a table, especially at a busy time. One place that had excellent service was the solarium and the Park Cafe. Swimming for adults and food/snacks and beverage service, plus plenty of seating. Specifically, our steward, Debby, (deck 7) was friendly, hard working and very accomodating - good to see that Royal is maintaining high standards for it housekeeping staff. One thing I did appreciate was how well organized the crew was to facilitate shore excursions and disembarkation. As someone who has sailed on NCL and Carnival and experienced how chaotic shore excursions and disembarking can be on those cruise lines, I like Rhapsody's approach in these areas. On the other hand, and this is specific to this sailing, embarkation was unpleasant to say the least. The ship was late in arriving in San Juan (from drydock!) and it started raining when the terminal was opened to receive passengers. We and others were soaked - Royal or the pier officials would not let people into the terminal to get out of the rain or provide some temporary shelter (ie tents). We were assigned new times for entry - we were in the first group at 4 pm - everyone seemingly pushed onto the ship at 4pm. Lots of people ignored their time to board (I don't blame them - it was raining) so entry onto the ship was slow. (At the very least, RCL should have offered some compensation in the form of OBC as a sign of good faith and loyalty, for essentially a wrecked day). Royal, do better next time. All in all, we enjoyed the cruise, the staff and crew, the facilities and the ports visited very much. If you go with an open mind when travelling on an aging ship, you will have a blast and a very enjoyable experience.
AWARD-WINNING & AWE INSPIRING ACCOMMODATIONS
Redefining the cruising experience one room at a time. Our staterooms are an alluring escape from the non-stop action our cruise ships are known for. From our spectacular views to our deluxe amenities, a stay with us is like nothing at sea.
DESIGNED TO MATCH YOUR COMFORT NEEDS
We’ve thought of the details, so you don’t have to.
BABY FRIENDLY: Bringing a baby? Let us know and we'll provide a crib and supplies.
COUPLES RETREAT: Enjoy spa-like comfort in your stateroom, perfect for couples.
EXTENDED FAMILIES: Select staterooms can connect to accommodate more guests.
SPECIAL NEEDS: Our ships are equipped to accommodate you regardless of your special needs.
READY FOR YOUR STAY
All the creature comforts you’d expect to have during your vacation.
VOOM SURF & STREAM: Giving a new meaning to connected staterooms.
24-HOUR ROOM SERVICE: Indulge your midnight cravings.
DAILY CLEANING SERVICE: Sweet dreams are on the horizon.
DAILY STATEROOM ATTENDANT: A helping hand when you need it the most.
PLATED PERFECTION
Dial up date night with an elegant and intimate epicurean adventure at Chef’s Table, or dig into the fleet-famous Kummelweck sandwich at Park Café. Whatever you’re in the mood for, you’ll find something delicious onboard to satisfy your cravings.
COAST THROUGH THE CARIBBEAN
Rhapsody of the Seas® is what vacation dreams are made of. Gather your travel squad for the ultimate tropical getaway across stunning Southern Caribbean islands including St. Lucia, Aruba, Barbados and more.
Discover new thrills onboard while sailing to shores like Croatia, Crete and Cozumel. Whether it’s grabbing hold of adventure at the top of the Rock Climbing Wall, or savouring hand-rolled sushi at Izumi. All while enjoying superior service and an intimate environment.
EXPLORE MORE BETWEEN SHORES
Sea days aboard Rhapsody of the Seas are as exciting as each day in port. Get ready for a world of new discoveries on deck — like world class dining, award-winning entertainment, electrifying nightlife and unforgettable activities for every kind of traveller.
ADVENTURE DRIVEN DAYS: Whether you’re on a romantic cruise with your partner or a family getaway, there’s no shortage of ways to keep the thrills going strong onboard, thanks to fan-favourite features like the rock climbing wall, an arcade filled with all your favourite games, and lots of space on the pool deck to lounge the day away.
ADVENTURE AFTER DARK: After a day spent exploring Caribbean islands or European capitals, there’s nothing like a night out on Rhapsody of the Seas. Head to the theatre for a showstopping original production, or raise a glass of your favourite vintage or cocktail at one of the many bars onboard.
BEST CRUISE ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS & TEENS
Loads of laughter and unforgettable experiences go hand-in-hand when cruising with your kids. Royal Caribbean’s games, events and cruise activities for kids are going on all over the ship throughout the day and into the evening hours, making family time a great time. And thanks to our award-winning Adventure Ocean® youth programme, children love their cruise holiday just as much as their parents.
OUR AWARD WINNING ADVENTURE YOUTH PROGRAM
With our Adventure Ocean® youth programs, not only will your children's time on board be fun, it will be educational too! Aquanauts (ages 3-5 years) will have fun conducting cool experiments and becoming Certified Jr. Adventure Scientists. Our specially designed Explorers program (ages 6-8 years) is packed with exciting cruise activities for kids, which includes themed parties. Voyagers (ages 9-12 years) will explore a range of activities that puts the "cool" back into learning.
FUN ISN'T JUST FOR ADULTS - TEENS & TWEENS PROGRAM
Whether hanging out with other cruisers or playing games, sports and parties are on your tween's agenda, our teen-only spots are the places to go. Our Teen program also allows older kids the freedom to come and go as they please. They'll love it so much, the only thing you might wish for is a little more time with your kids.
YOUTH FACILITIES & FACILITIES
Adventure Ocean youth facilities are designed to meet the needs of younger guests. Kids will have a blast at our complimentary, award-winning Adventure Ocean® Youth Program. We separate kids and teens into age groups so that they can enjoy specialised programs made to expand their imaginations, in interactive, multi-room spaces designed just for them. It’s an incredibly fun, totally edu-taining adventure.
