Rhapsody of the Seas (Royal Caribbean Cruise Review)

Because I’m an impulse buyer when it comes to travel (and deals), we saw a sale pop up on the Royal Caribbean website and booked it.. even though it was 1 1/2 years in advance. And that was our first introduction to the Rhapsody of the Seas.

The Cost

So, how much would an impulse buy for a seven night Caribbean cruise cost? Well, we paid a deposit of $100 per person, and the rest was payable 3 months before the cruise.

The total cost for our 7-night, interior room was $1,250 for 2 people (approx $625 per person) including taxes and port fees. However, gratuities were an extra $14.50 per person per night, so that’s an extra $203. Unfortunately, there is no way to get out of that extra $14.50 and it will always be on top of the base cruise price you booked. You can however, prepay any of the gratuities if you feel like the price will go up or if you’re really sure you’re going on your cruise. Or you can use your shore credit (if you have any) to offset part of the costs. Note that if you have a balcony or a suite, the gratuity price is higher on a per person, per day basis.

Running total for the cruise? $1,453 for two people, equivalent to around $103.78 per person per night.

For the accommodation, travel to a different country, and food, then heck that $103.78 is worth it! Some hotels in the continental US cost way more than that if you pay in cash.

Additional perks we got were $100 in shipboard credits which we opted to use on a shore excursion (more on that later). We normally use our credits to help offset the gratuities but in this case, we got a great deal on the excursion and it was more convenient.

We also bought a few things on the ship: alcohol to bring home (a liter of liquor was $20), and 2 bracelets for me ($10 each). We also booked another shore excursion for Cozumel with the ship, which was $48 per person ($96 total).

On our other shore excursions, we booked our tours independently, with our Roatan personalized (and private) tour costing $84 for two people, and Costa Maya (Chacchoben Ruins) at $110 for two people.

All in all, if we included the base price of the cruise with gratuities, the shore excursions, and the onboard shopping (which is optional for you guys), the total for the week for two people was $1,644 or $822 per person.

The Ship

The Rhapsody of the Seas is a smaller ship as compared to the behemoth ships called the Oasis class. It has a maximum of 2,500 passengers, with 800+ crew on board. That means it has 1/3 the capacity of the newest ship, the Symphony of the Seas!

It’s got the usual spots of any Royal Caribbean ship: the Centrum, the Shops, an Art Gallery, bars, specialty dining, the buffet called the Windjammer Cafe, the adults-only Solarium, the rock climbing wall, jogging path, and the spa.

The room we chose was an interior room. However, we decided to splurge a bit more and select a room that’s on a higher floor: specifically on Deck 8.

The room is small, which is what you would expect from an interior, with a small vanity that can also be used as a computer desk, and a chair. Our room had a queen-size bed which also converts to 2 twin beds – you will have to specify which configuration you prefer when you are booking. There’s also a small lounge chair in the room and a TV.

There is no DVD player in the room (a little disappointing), so we watched the movies we brought on the laptop. There is ample closet space and drawers, enough for us to store the clothes we brought (we only brought a carry on and a backpack each), the waters, and our electronic devices.

The bathroom is teeny-tiny, especially the shower. Peter is 5’11” and if he was two inches taller, he probably would have to duck his head through the bathroom door, and inside the shower. So if you are taller than him, then expect a tight squeeze. You can’t even turn fully in the shower.

We saw a balcony room from the corridor as we were disembarking (deck 8) and we can confirm that these rooms are way bigger than the interior. These rooms come with a sofa that can be turned into a bed at night.

The Itinerary

For this particular trip, we went on a 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary:

Day One: Tampa (embarkation)
Day Two: Cruising (Day at Sea)
Day Three: Costa Maya, Mexico (Mahahual, Mexico)
Day Four: Belize City, Belize (tendered)
Day Five: Roatan, Honduras
Day Six: Cozumel, Mexico
Day Seven: Cruising (Day at Sea)
Day Eight: Tampa (disembarkation)

We felt that this itinerary was more bang for our buck, as we haven’t been to any of these places before, so it was really exciting for us.

The ship also has another itinerary that stops at:
Key West, Florida
Cozumel, Mexico
Belize City, Belize
Costa Maya, Mexico

We have been to Key West before which was why that second itinerary did not appeal that much to us. For the same price, we might as well get 4 places we have never been before (+1 to a country that we’ve never been before).

Feel free to check out our separate post on which tours we did in each stop, what companies we went with (and why), comparing them against the cruise ship prices, and which one was a better option (for us).

The cruising days were perfectly placed: the first cruising day was good to just ease in to the cruising lifestyle, get used to the ship’s offerings, the room, sleeping in a floating hotel, and maybe do a last minute shore excursion booking after attending their presentation. The last day of cruising was perfect to just relax, catch up with writing and other things after four straight days of nonstop touring.

Since we are part of the ‘younger’ clientele, we were up for four straight days of touring. However, a few of the other cruisers we were talking to said they were staying on the ship on certain port days as it would be too much exploring for them.

That’s one point of our travel manifesto: we want to see and do everything while we have the health and the funds to do such things!

When you’re younger, you have the health and the time, but you don’t have money

Yuppies like us have the health and the money, but we don’t have time (either raising families of our own, or we don’t have much days off from work)

If you’re retired (like, normal age retired, not an early retiree), you may have the money and the time, but your health may not be the best.

The Food

First off, breakfast sucks. It is the same thing being served every single day, and it gets really boring after some time.

Secondly, the breakfast room service is only free if you order items from the continental menu. If you want sausages or eggs, or anything else that makes it an American breakfast, expect to pay almost $10/day. And again, it is the same thing being served daily!

Lunch at the Windjammer (the buffet) is more interesting than the breakfast. Every single day, the menu changes, from the entrees to even dessert! You can get free flavored water, unsweetened tea, lemonade, and water with your meal. If you want soda or alcoholic drinks, you can pay per glass or buy one of the ship’s unlimited drink packages (extra cost on top of what you paid for).

For dinner, we mostly went to the main dining room. The menus change as well, but there are some staples on the menu if you don’t feel like having any of the specials. On certain nights, the wait staff will do a dance or a song number, and that happens around 7pm. We don’t really know if they repeat the show for the second seating (8pm).

We did my time dining, which means we just showed up without any reservations or set time to eat. The one time we had a wait was during our second to the last night, when it seemed like everybody suddenly wanted to dine in the main dining room.

They try to pair you with the same waiters/assistant waiters nightly, so you can have more consistency in terms of service and build a rapport with them. They do remember your preferences though! In our case, they remembered that we like having hot tea during our meal and kept replenishing it when our supplies were low.

The Entertainment

Onboard entertainment includes bingo, a casino (additional cost), a lot of trivia games (where you can win Royal Caribbean pens, keychains or highlighters!), and actual shows with singers and dancers.

But of course if you are in the middle of the ocean with no internet (also an additional cost per day), don’t have an inkling to join the crowds in the pool, nor the onboard activities interest you, what else can you do?

The ship does have a library where you can borrow books (if you didn’t bring any), but really, your best bet is to bring your own entertainment for the hours you just want to stay inside your room. This could be reading a book or a magazine, watching some downloaded tv shows or movies, writing blog posts (or creating anything, really).

We once read an article about an author who took a repositioning cruise and just shut himself in his room and wrote a book. That person did manage to finish their manuscript after the cruise. It’s great, isn’t it? Think of all the possibilities!

We didn’t try the rock climbing wall when we were cruising – the first cruise day, we had two storm systems so our boat was listing to the side a bit. We didn’t get sick but we did take Dramamine as a precaution. They also cancelled the scheduled show during that evening but they did show it again on our last day at Sea.

Note: if you are prone to seasickness, bring a box of Dramamine to your cruise. Drink it before going to sleep and you’ll be out until the next day.

It’s also good to note that with these weather systems, some shows and port calls may be cancelled, so always have backup plans in place.

Is Cruising for you?

This was our third ever cruise. The first one was with Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas, and the second one was with Holland America’s MS Noordam. At first we were hesitant on cruising, but now we love it.

Our initial concerns about cruising were that they were marketed for a different clientele than us (i.e. older generations who have a ton more money). Now that it is more mainstream, we see more younger folks cruising.

When I was younger, I would get on an overnight bus to take me to a new city in order to save money. Cruising is sort of like that – you pay to get from one place to another except you get a room and bathroom to yourself, all-inclusive food, and activities too. It’s such a great deal and this definitely won’t be our last cruise.

Also, if you are wondering how we afford our travels, here’s some ideas for you:

Related Posts:

How We Fund and Afford Our Travels

The Cubicle Dwellers Manifesto

Treat Your Weekend As A Vacation

Have you considered cruising? What are your thoughts?