Good, but lacked that special something
Rhapsody of the Seas Cruise Review
7 Night Southern Caribbean (San Juan Roundtrip)
Sail date: September 29, 2024
Ship: Rhapsody of the Seas
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 2114
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 2 months ago
Review summary
Cruise was good, but it lacked soul. It was missing that something that would make me say “yes, I can’t wait to book another one”. The Windjammer was terrible. Very crowded, limited seating, food temperature issues for desserts, some food lacked seasoning and flavor. The MDR was much better though. There were still temperature issues there but not as severe. For instance the bread given before the Starters, were ALWAYS cold. Some were very soft and tasted good, but the butter wouldn’t even melt. Some steaks needed a bit of salt but were good. The creme brûlée and crema catalana tasted good, but was served cold. Surprisingly, the sugar free desserts that I tried tasted better than most “regular” desserts. Portions were good, never felt I was too stuffed or had to go and grab something else afterwards. I didn’t like the tight schedule for the places to eat. Considering how the Windjammer was almost a mess especially on sea days and during embarking and disembarking, I felt the operational hours should have been longer, not just for the Windjammer but for Park Cafe and the MDR. For instance, we had late seating at 7:45pm, we wanted to see the San Juan sail away. We only had until 8:15pm to get into the MDR, the sail away was scheduled at 8pm. The ship left port at 8:08pm, so we never made it, yet “my time” dinning served until 9pm. Why not let late seating eat until 9pm just like my time dinning? The pizza was ok, but definitely on the bottom of the tier list. The Solarium was almost always packed and way too hot. It felt like a Sauna outside of the pool. They did lots of presentations and routines on the Centrum, but space was very limited. Even Zumba classes were a squeeze. Theatre seats were uncomfortable despite looking comfortable. There way too many places for people to smoke and that made outdoor seating an issue through all of deck 9 and deck 5. I bought the internet package and even though it was great in public spaces, it wasn’t all that great inside the cabin. Had multiple connection issues daily inside the cabin. The electrical outlets on the cabin were worn out. No plugs would stick. Even the hairdryer would slip out while in use. We had to put something to hold the plugs stick to the outlets while in use. The ship also had a great live band that was never used during the theatre shows and it showed. The sound quality playing while there was singing sounded light on beats. I didn’t feel the “hook” for booking another one with RC anytime soon. The ship has its flaws, but the vibe and soul of the ship was missing. It’s hard to explain, it took me a while to figure it out, because there wasn’t something in particular that I hated or didn’t enjoy, it just didn’t have a personality. Even on my least favorite Carnival sailing (Fascination 2016), there was enough vibe and memorable moments that made me give it another chance. This sailing just lacked personality, that special something that would’ve made it unique.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
If you are on a gluten free diet, stay away from the Windjammer gluten-free desserts. They were tasteless and almost all of them had a custard/gelatinous texture. Salad dressing was limited to Caesar, Honey Mustard and Raspberry dressing at the buffet. However, they had Thousand Island at the Solarium only all the way at the opposite side of the ship, for some odd reason.
Ports of call
Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S.V.I.