Extreme culture shock!

Rhapsody of the Seas Cruise Review

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 5
Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Rhapsody of the Seas

6 Night Greek Isles (Haifa Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 12, 2022

Ship: Rhapsody of the Seas

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

This was probably the worse cruise we ever took. We were very pleased with our experience visiting Israel. However, we were also greeted by extremely rude people who thought they could take over the ship. Without judging or prejudice, we were simply not prepared for such a culture shock. And neither did the Royal staff onboard. I simply advise against sailing from Haifa if you are not from Israel or used to their culture. They were very disrespectful to the staff, other guests, entertainers etc. They simply took over and had no regard for others. Kids in the adult pool area, loud and obnoxious etc. Our time in Tel-Aviv, Bethlehem and Jerusalem were otherwise great. This is not Royal’s fault. We lived and learned from this one.

Embarkation

3 out of 5
Many people arrived at the same time, appeared nobody bothered to follow embarkation times. Small port, overwhelmed and somewhat unorganized. Otherwise, beautiful area..

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
Cruise Line relocated us without warning before our cruise. We were out under main theatre and could hear the shows at night (second show) as we were usually at the first. Extremely loud and we could not sleep. We would go to bed early as we had early excursions in the morning. This is only to advise against a room near the front of the ship under the theatre. The cruise line relocated us after we made a request to relocate.

Ship tip

This ship is small yet still very nice. I would definitely sail on Rhapsody again out of a different port with a different group of people and culture. Felt really out of place and disrespected on this one.

Ports of call

Piraeus (Athens), Greece

4 out of 5

Limassol, Cyprus

4 out of 5

Haifa, Israel

4 out of 5
Chaos at the port. Getting to the port requires a bit of work, but can be done by various transfers from Tel-Aviv etc. Bus, train and taxi..

Santorini, Greece

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
A bit chaotic and a lot of walking.. small port a bit disorganized.
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5 Comments

MarkXDStops    1 year ago

Thanks for the heads up on Haifa port! I feel the same way about Vancouver and New Orleans, which are MY personal "never again" ports.

javawoody    1 year ago

Appreciate your comments

AuntPinkie    1 year ago

Sorry this was disappointing!

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Oops sorry 😞 thanks

RetiredRay    1 year ago

Unilateral cabin changes can be bad. So try that your cruise demographics left things to be desired on board.