My last Royal Caribbean cruise was aboard the world’s largest ship, Royal Caribbean’s Symphony*. Rhapsody, one of the largest ships around when it first sailed in 1997, holds less than one-third of the passengers of the Symphony. So how does it compare to its giant sister?
And how does the 22-year-old ship look? While the décor still has a bit of the 90s in the less expensive cabins and some public areas such as the Schooner Bar and Theater, the overall maintenance is excellent. The large central atrium sparkles and the pool deck and spa areas are very modern. There is very limited evidence of the ship’s age. And it is fresh smelling.
Cabins
Cabins range from small and inexpensive inside cabins to massive suites. We took an Oceanview cabin on the lowest public deck at about midship. (If you want to avoid rough waters this location is just about ideal since it is near the center of gravity for the ship.) It is nice to see out of a window when sailing, but if you like taking photos you won’t be doing it through the window. The salty sea air makes the view blurry and the windows impossible to keep clean. And like many Oceanview cabins, our headboard was below the window, so you’d have to kneel on the bed to take a picture. But the room was well laid out with good floor-space in the center making it easy for two people to move around. The bathroom was small but worked well. There were no USB ports but there were 3 plugs at the desk which was sufficient for us.
Common complaints for older ships are bathroom odors and a lack of hot water. We experienced none of that. The room always smelled fresh and I never had a problem taking a shower. Fitting your luggage under the bed was a bit of a challenge because the ship stored linens under there. The TV system was very disappointing with no US based news channels and no pay-per-view movies.
Service
Royal Caribbean has a solid reputation for service and the Rhapsody certainly more than met my expectations. The Dining Room staff was particularly accommodating. The Windjammer (buffet) sometimes had issues keeping up with needed supplies such as napkins and utensils, but there was always plenty of food. Our cabin steward Carlos was very helpful.
I did run into one staff member who was clearly having a bad day. When I asked if we could switch to anytime dining, the gentleman at the podium told me that would not be possible because the anytime diners were selfish and all came between 730pm and 800pm which made the job difficult for his staff. Oops!
Like most other cruise lines, Royal Caribbean adds a daily gratuity to your bill to distribute to the staff. Right now that gratuity is $14.50 per person per day. This is distributed not just to the staff you see, but to staff in other areas who are ensuring you have a wonderful experience. You and I may not like how this works, but the hardworking staff rely on it for their income. While you can opt out of this and determine your own tip, this will negatively impact those behind the scenes. I encourage you to pay the set cruise line tip through your onboard account and if you get exceptional service from staff members, give them an additional tip.
The staff had citizens of 62 different countries! The largest contingents were from India, Philippines and Indonesia. On my first cruise in the late 1980s most were from the Caribbean. About 10 years later that had changed to many from Eastern Europe. Both those regions still have representatives on cruise ships, but now the dominant groups are south Asia and southeast Asia. For the first time I recall, there were staff members from mainland China.
Entertainment
The massive Symphony of the Seas had amazing Broadway quality shows with eye-popping technical features. The much smaller Rhapsody had some entertaining guest entertainers. We enjoyed a comic magician and a comic string quartet. We saw the singers and dancers in one not very memorable show.
On the other hand, there were many entertaining onboard activities such as sexiest man contests, silly game shows, karaoke competitions and tons of trivia games (often 3 or 4 per day). The Cruise Director’s staff was extremely positive and energetic and made the goofiest activities fun.
Cuisine
We ate at the buffet and in the main dining room but did not make it to the specialty restaurants which have an excellent reputation. The breakfast buffet had a wide variety of fare including an eggs-to-order station. The bacon was undercooked, and the bagels were often dried out from sitting under a heating lamp, but that is the challenge of all buffets.
At lunch time, the ship did not have the outdoor grill or the pizza oven running all the time as some comparable ships have, but they had the standard American lunch items along with nice representations of Indian and a few other ethnic cuisines. There were always nice salads and fruits available. The lettuce was not sufficiently spun dry.
Dinner had four or five choices of always available appetizers, entrees and desserts with five more featured specials each night. The vegetarian selections were interesting and often from various ethnic cuisines. I enjoyed all but one item. I mentioned this to the waiter because I believe in feedback and the assistant Maitre d’ was sent to make sure I was happy.
Items such as lobster and filet mignon were not served in the dining room gratis as they have been in the past. Part of the reason for this is the location. You are more likely to see these items on the menu in the Caribbean and Alaska, but in Europe they are much more expensive so they are offered only for an added fee.
I took a tour of the kitchen followed by a brunch. It was impressive. The most interesting part was about the environmental rules and how they separate different types of waste.
Drinks and Internet
Unlike some of its competitors Royal Caribbean does not offer pricing which includes a drink package. So if you are a moderate to heavy drinker, and you do not purchase one of the optional drink packages, you final account may be a surprise if you don’t keep an eye on it. Royal Caribbean does not have a set price for their daily drink package. It varies from about $60 to $80 per day including gratuities. It is unclear why they don’t have a set price, but I suspect they have found a way to maximize revenue.
And if you get the package, both passengers in a cabin must get the package. So, for example, when one of our traveling companion and her son were considering this there were not any good choices. She is a light drinker and it would have made sense for him to buy the package.
During the cruise there were special offers. Three in our party purchased a 10 drink card which they shared, saving a few dollars per drink. Prices for drinks were comparable to nice resorts with beers in the $7 to $9 range, glasses of wine starting at about $9 and fcocktails often coming in over $10. After adding a gratuity, you can see that will add up.
Also not packaged with pricing is an internet package. I was hoping to keep an eye on my work email, but the only way to do that was to buy a daily package which for one device was about $25 per day. Instead I bought it midday on two days during the cruise and was able to look at my email 4 days. Royal Caribbean does not offer an internet package by the minute, which would have been helpful for me.
Drinks and internet can add significantly to your bill.
Other Cruisers
Royal Caribbean markets to all segments: families, seniors, young people, honeymooners and singles. They also have a strong international following. On our cruise there were many from the UK, Canada, Korea and China. If you sail with them during school breaks you will see lots of families with all ages of children. If you are bringing children and want them to participate in the children’s or youth programs, you may need to sign them up as early in the cruise as possible because space can be limited.
Value
Royal Caribbean has a very loyal clientele, so their cruises tend to sell early and fill up. Ship quality, solid cuisine and accommodating service are the reasons for this. It also allows them to have higher prices and / or fewer added values. Loyal RC cruisers get some extra benefits, of course. What you will find is that pricing varies quite a bit with similar cruises on Royal Caribbean. Cabins for 4 during school breaks can be particularly pricey while cabins for two may be good values.
At Cruise Planners we often get a limited number of cabins with small to really big discounts. So if you are flexible with your dates, you can often get a great deal for your cruise, which is why we cruised on the date we picked.
But when considering your options you should also look at the cost of drinks and internet when comparing different lines. Celebrity and Norwegian offer extras in their prices, so they might have a better value for you. Other lines may have periodic promotions with drinks and onboard credit which might add more value.
But if you appreciate quality, Royal Caribbean is a great choice in its category.
*Royal Caribbean ends the names of all its ships with of the Seas. I have skipped that.
Gingerline Travel 