The Rhapsody of the Sea is a medium size (75,000 tons, vs. 2000 tons for the big ones) for a cruise ship. Not that that was a consideration in choosing this cruise. We later learned that ocean cruises, crossings as they are known, are best done on this size or bigger for calmer trips. Our crossing was very smooth and neither of us got horrible sea sickness, though we were often rocked to sleep at night by the rhythm of the sea!
There were about 2,000 guests aboard plus crew. Brazilians made up 1200 of the guests and 70% of the crew so the announcements were all in Portuguese, then English, by the captain. He had a sense of humor and always ended with “Ciao Ciao!” At first it wasn’t a way to build confidence, but after a while it became funny. Maybe that was more me settling in. The crew loved him!
The first thing we learned was that cruisers take very seriously what level you/ they are in the cruising loyalty programs. It is like a pyramid scheme where the more you cruise the higher you are which means more free stuff and a bigger cabin. This being basically our first cruise, (Peter was 10 months old when Steve won the only other cruise we’ve been on). It was on that cruise that we “met/found” Jolene for Jeff. It turns out that ship has since burned up and been replaced.
We played a lot of bar trivia and bingo where we won $150, pens and luggage pulls. Mostly we met some great people to play with, that knew way more answers than we did. We slept ate and read. The food was good but not great and of course there was a lot of it. Mostly we made good friends with some Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Germans, Scots, a few Brazilians, and best of all some Norwegians we plan to visit before we return!
Over all I think we liked the cruise. It was a fun way to “cross the pond”, meet people and not have to unpack every other day. As to whether we will try to get to Diamond level, I doubt it. But if one goes where we want to go at a price we like we might consider it. The Pacific beckons.
FAQs
- No, we did not wear formal wear. Some people did, but even guest services said it wasn’t necessary. Ellen did get some new clothes, Steve got some new shirts. There were no shorts or flipflops for dinner.
- The female Brazilian guests do not have body image issues. They did not find it necessary to wear clothes other than thongs. Steve felt rather thin in comparison to the men.
- There was Purell hand sanitizer everywhere. They had machines, as well as a person stationed at each door to the dining room to remind you to use it.
- Cheap travellers (us) get off the boat and arrange tours, etc. on their own rather than paying for the packaged tours.
- Nearly everything is an extra cost – spa, internet, drinks, bottled water, yoga, pilates. Tips are mandatory – a daily charge to your bill. Everything is expensive. Sauna and steam were free.
- You are not supposed to “save” chairs at the pool (put something on it early in the morning, and come and use it later,” but many people do.
- It was a very welcoming environment for all ages and orientations.
- We met people who cruise all over the world, some people even live on cruise ships. I met people who cruise 9 months of the year.
Hi Steve and Ellen,
Oh I am chuckling about the statements about the Brazilian cruise. So funny. I would have body image issues immediately. LOL When we were on the Viking Cruise we realized how many retired couples cruised for months. I liked that most of the tours were included in the cost of the cruise. We had some good tours. Enjoy Europe.
So interesting. I’ve never been on a cruise ship. Seems like a different world.