# TRIP REPORT -Rhapsody of the Seas -Tampa- January 14 2017!!



## gumbypee

OK so this is my first attempt at a Trip Report so bear with me 

A little background - I am 40 year old single female living near Tampa, FL.  I have cruised once on Princess (to Alaska), Celebrity (to Hawaii), and Disney (Western Caribbean).  So this is first venture onto Royal.  Sure, Disney was the best, but being on a cruise is what you make of it and I was determined to have fun and I sure did!!  I went with my friend who had never cruised before.  I am a very picky eater so my food pics will probably be boring to most people LOL






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We arrived at the port around 11:15 am and as soon as we got out of the car, the porter took our bags.  We went inside and it took about 45-60 minutes to get through the lines, fill out medical card, and get checked in





boarded onto deck 5 and off to Windjammer to find some lunch!

thought this bread was cool nautical theme:


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## gumbypee

We had an oceanview room and it had two decent size portholes, on deck two.

This was the room when we got there and we had them separate the beds later LOL





our decorated door!










view of the port of tampa (and the funny building is the Aquarium so it is right there)






my attempt at artsy shot of glass with clouds and birds , this was deck ten





centrum, begins deck 4





nice furniture and decor - it was very well kept and very clean the whole time - there was a stinky odor on one side of ship around deck 5 steps but that was it






heading out to sea!!!






this is a view of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge that we would be going under around 6 pm - two hours after setting sail.  There was a terrible tragedy in the 80s and a freighter hit the bridge because it was so foggy and several people died.  As a kid, I was always terrified driving over this bridge.  This bridge is apparently one reason only smaller ships can sail out of Tampa.....more later


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## Mrsjvb

oh I cannot wait to see what else you have .  we are sailing Rhapsody in December but will be in Tampa next month for the long weekend to  check out the city( including the aquarium).


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## mousestellar

Following....we are sailing on Rhapsody next April!


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## gumbypee

Mrsjvb said:


> oh I cannot wait to see what else you have .  we are sailing Rhapsody in December but will be in Tampa next month for the long weekend to  check out the city( including the aquarium).



Cool!  There are lots of things to do in the Tampa Bay area - including across the Bay in Clearwater etc 

Next December - is it same route? Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel?


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## gumbypee

mousestellar said:


> Following....we are sailing on Rhapsody next April!



glad to have you following along!  next april you will have a blast!


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## gumbypee

beautiful water and birds




pelican









more of the Skyway Bridge









port of Tampa in background










approaching Bridge




going under in 5...4...3...2...









and on other side now


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## gumbypee

oh so I forgot to consult my notebook (I like to take a small notebook on vacations to take notes of things I see and funny things that happen).

So after boarding, we went to Windjammer to eat.  I don't know if I have a pic of lunch but I had a little potato soup - it was good but soup is better for cold weather , I also had some cheese pesto pasta which was good and a turkey burger which I would skip next time.  Then the desserts: coconut cookie was soooo good and I don't even like coconut! a small strawberry tart thing was good and a little brownie.

We went to Vitality Spa next and took the tour bc my friend was interested in getting a massage, which she did get on a sea day.  We picked up a raffle ticket for later.  We explored the ship - it was very well laid out and when you checkin you get an embarkation compass which didn't have much but did have a map of ship which I used the first day.  By the end of the cruise, we knew where every bathroom even was located!!!

I liked the size, it didn't take too long to walk from one end to the other.

Staterooms were ready about 1:30 pm and we went down and my suitcase was already there.  I decorated the door as a surprise to my friend and people were commenting on it when I was doing it - not many were decorated but it was fun and easy to find the door.


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## OKW Lover

Nice to see the pictures of the ship.  We were on her in September doing a Greek Isles cruise.  

Question about the picture of the port.  There is another RC ship (I'm assuming you took this picture from the Rhapsody) there.  Do you know which one?


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## OKW Lover

Also curious if you noticed any other stateroom doors that were decorated.  This wasn't a thing on our Greek Isles cruise.


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## gumbypee

OKW Lover said:


> Nice to see the pictures of the ship.  We were on her in September doing a Greek Isles cruise.
> 
> Question about the picture of the port.  There is another RC ship (I'm assuming you took this picture from the Rhapsody) there.  Do you know which one?



I THINK it was Brilliance of the Seas but I could be mistaken.


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## gumbypee

OKW Lover said:


> Also curious if you noticed any other stateroom doors that were decorated.  This wasn't a thing on our Greek Isles cruise.



There were two with Happy Anniversary hearts (I think RCCL packages), one with Happy Birthday, and one with a little bit of decoration, then ours.  This was just on deck two - I didn't look at other decks.  (It wasn't really a thing on here either but I always like to do it)


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## Mrsjvb

if you have ever sailed out of Baltimore,  there is the same problem with the first Bridge ( Francis Scott Key) and fitting underneath  and this class is the only one that fits.   then at  11-midnight ish  you transit the  Chesapeake bay bridge which is very cool to see the cars disappearing under water into the tunnel.


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## gumbypee

Mrsjvb said:


> if you have ever sailed out of Baltimore,  there is the same problem with the first Bridge ( Francis Scott Key) and fitting underneath  and this class is the only one that fits.   then at  11-midnight ish  you transit the  Chesapeake bay bridge which is very cool to see the cars disappearing under water into the tunnel.



darn bridges LOL

I have driven under the Chesapeake tunnel before - I imagine it was cool seeing it from the water at night!


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## suzismini

Loving your trip report.  Sailing out of Tampa on Rhapsody in March.  Looking to find a good excursion in Belize City.  Any suggestions?


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## gumbypee

suzismini said:


> Loving your trip report.  Sailing out of Tampa on Rhapsody in March.  Looking to find a good excursion in Belize City.  Any suggestions?


 aw thanks.  I am a little all over the place in describing things but I am going to try to be more coherent LOL

I replied to your post about the cave tubing  I did


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## gumbypee

soooooo I was taking pics of the carpet throughout the trip and I know it is weird but I just wanted to 

one night at dinner, my friend saw me snapping a pic of the ground and looked to see what I was taking a picture of and I said "the carpet".  She looked at me and started laughing and then we were both laughing so hard people were looking at us in the Windjammer.  It was one of those moments.

so here are some carpet snaps 











Then it was off to get my first (and only) frozen strawberry daiquiri and relax for a bit before muster drill.





Then on the key card is a large number that indicates where your muster station is.  I think it was at 3:30 pm but I don't quite remember.  All the muster stations are on deck 5.  We scan our seapass cards and then stood around waiting for stragglers.  It was only a few minutes long and then we went back to room so I could change my pants as I got some stains on them (I'm a slob!!)

I went to watch the Sailaway party and I expected something a little more grandiose than what it was... that was just my expectation but it was fine.  It was just members of the staff in regular clothing doing some dances and then they started a couple line dances like the Cupid Shuffle for the crowd to join in,  I joined in and it was fun.


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## gumbypee

I stayed for the bridge crossing while my friend went to the spa raffle.  I was able to join her for part of it.  They gave away several spa gift certificates (to be used on port days I believe) and someone won a piece of art but was in the bathroom so they didn't get it (have to be present to win) so then my friend won it.  The person that was in the bathroom asked if they could have it and my friend was so nice and gave it to them.

Next we went to the Schooner Bar on deck 6 for Welcome Aboard Trivia.  My friend and I played individually and I only got 5 out of 15 LOL

Off to Windjammer on deck 9 for dinner buffet!!  I had chicken parmesan (surprisingly good), mac n cheese (eh), corn on the cob, corn and peas and a roll (the bread was so delicious on this ship).





The strawberry-kiwi water (free) was insanely refreshing and delicious, I drank so much of it.  We missed the comedian show so we could eat leisurely since it was vacation after all.

windjammer at night 








the carpet pic that set off the crazy bout of laughter:





for dessert, I didn't get a pic, but I had blueberry peach crumble deliciousness, a cookie, and a carrot cake (yes, I eat a lot hence being Pooh sized)

Centrum lit up





I went to the "If you know it, Sing it" game in Centrum.  It wasn't what I was expecting.  There were team captains and basically they just had to get alot of people on the centrum floor to sing hit songs.  It was good for participation but I thought it would be more of a contest thingy.  I went to sleep to playoff football game on the tv. and that is the end of day 1!


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## Mrsjvb

make zero apologies for taking pictures of carpets.    you are trained  since  the hidden Mickeys on Disney are also in the carpets.


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## gumbypee

Mrsjvb said:


> make zero apologies for taking pictures of carpets.    you are trained  since  the hidden Mickeys on Disney are also in the carpets.



you just made me LOL!! zero apologies!


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## gumbypee

Day 2: Sea Day (January 15, 2017)


















Windjammer Breakfast





thought these were cool looking:










more carpet!!!!





our home away from home - the Schooner Bar


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## gumbypee

So ship had some movement this morning.  Not bad, never got sick or anything.  Just could feel you were on the water.  I was told the week before I sailed there was a lot of movement and they couldn't even dock at Costa Maya so we were lucky.  I felt a little vibration in my decck two room but it wasn't bad- kinda soothing actually LOL

We went to Schooner Bar on Deck 6 for Sudoku Challenge at 9:30 am.  There was a master that got it done in just a few minutes!!  I finished it later in the day.

Then it was to poolside, deck 9, for Morning Stretch.  It was a nice 15 minutes or so of stretches with the cruise director team member, Talita from Brazil.  Afterwards, we relaxed outside with the sun shining and a wonderful breeze on our faces - Ah the cruise life!

Back to Schooner Bar for Morning Trivia-we paired up with two Green Bay Packer fans and we did ok, 9 out of 16 whereas the winners had 15 of 16!!

So we decided to try Edelweiss Dining Room for a sit down lunch.  I had yummy chicken sliders, french fries, then banana cake with pecan ice cream.

here was my ketchup from server 




lunch





just thought this was a nice elevator LOL





Found a nice spot on Deck 5 to sit quietly and read and relax. I went to Art Auction at 1 pm in Shall We Dance Lounge bc they advertised free champagne but I think they were waiting until the bidding started or something bc there was no free champagne when I got there so I left and went back to Deck 5.






nice and quiet





Off to Cafe Lattitudes for free snack (the specialty coffee drinks had a cost but the snacks were free) - had a Cheesecake Lollipop which was just ok


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## gumbypee

Up next was Closeup Disney Trivia - I should have kept the paper but I did not.  They were closeups of parts of faces and outfits of Disney characters.There were 28 characters and we missed three - Zeus, Meeko, and Peter Pan.  We had eight minutes to write answers down then we traded papers to grade.

Then I went poolside to do some line dances - Cupid Shuffle, Electric Slide etc.  It was fun. There was a decent crowd of people doing them.

Time for a carpet pic!!






I was going to go to "Fun Dance Class" in Centrum on deck, but Max (cruise director member) had some technical difficulties so I left to go to Schooner Bar again for Trivia, Country Capitals.  This was SO HARD!!  List the capital AND currency of the countries.  So we only got 8 of  34 LOL

Time for dinner-we had early dining at 5:30 on deck 4 of Edelweiss Dining Room.  We missed the first night so this was our first time to meet our tablemates.  We were seated at a table of 10 and there were 9 of us.  Everyone was very friendly and it was nice to chitchat but it took close to two hours and the food was not that good for either of us so this was our only time there.  We were going to go back but the Windjammer kept having such good food we ran out of time LOL

Cantaloupe and Honeydew Shavings appetizer




I didn't see anything on adult menu I liked so I ordered kid's pizza and mac n cheese with fries.  pizza was ok, but mac n cheese had no cheese flavor to it.  I don't recall what my friend had but she wasn't a fan of it.

For dessert I had banana creme brulee and a bittersweet chocolate souffle.  Souffle was not tasty so I didn't eat it.  Ate top of creme brulee

souffle





Went to room for some reason and I watched end of Dallas Green Bay game the we went to Windjammer for dessert LOL  I tried black forest cake but wasn't my cup of tea and had strawberry cheesecake.  no pics

As we were leaving I saw playoff NFL game on poolside TV screen so I sat out there and watched until halftime.  Fun!






Off to bed to get ready for Day 3... Roatan, Honduras!


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## rndmr2

Fun report, looks like a beautiful ship.   
Looking forward to reading more about your trip.


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## gumbypee

rndmr2 said:


> Fun report, looks like a beautiful ship.
> Looking forward to reading more about your trip.



glad to have you along!

It is a very nice ship - doesn't look her age (although I didn't do a thorough inspection LOL), very clean, and a friendly staff.


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## gumbypee

Day 3: First stop is Roatan, Honduras

Woke up and had breakfast in Windjammer, no pic.  Then went to Schooner Bar for Sudoku Challenge.  I was close, 3rd place, much better than previous day.

Up on deck to see us approach Roatan















workers below working on getting the ship docked





the view of the water as docking









Welcome to Roatan!!





I got a Christmas ornament (I love having a tree with all the places I have traveled decorating it).  Even though I had called my bank to let them know where I would be and even got email confirmation of travel plan my card wouldn't work so I had to pay cash 

Then I got in line for my ship excursion "Maya Key Private Retreat".  I LOVED it!!!!!  We took a boat right from the dock about three minutes to the little island Maya Key.  I rented snorkel gear (had to pay extra boooooo) but ended up having an awesome time.  Walked out to the dock and a guide asked if I wanted him to go with me and I thought about it and said sure--best decision ever!  He pointed out so much that I wouldn't have seen myself!  Best use of tip ever!

here is the little boat to take us to Maya Key (in background)





and there is Rhapsody






so I had an underwater camera that actually took quite good pics except I am not that great a photographer and luckily the guide, Edwin, took it from me and took some awesome photos.

this is one of my pics LOL














now these are Edwin's pics from here on out!

LOBSTER





OCTOPUS



















SEA CUCUMBER











































SQUID









Oh and this was part of the second largest Barrier Reef (it extends by several countries-second to Great Barrier Reef in Australia)


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## OKW Lover

love the underwater pictures!


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## gumbypee

OKW Lover said:


> love the underwater pictures!



it was so nice and clear and amazing!!


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## gumbypee

now time to soak in the rays and relax in the water










was not crowded AT ALL






this was the dock I walked onto and snorkeled right off of




and the included Roatan lunch










this is the life!





Then I took a guided tour of a replica ruin and learned about mayan history and there was also an animal sanctuary on the island that helped to rescue and rehabilitate, if possible, animals.





saw pink boa, jaguar, margay, ocelot, collared peccary, white faced capuchin, black howler monkey, spider monkey, cougar, and toucans.  My pics were not very good so I will spare you.

Then it was animal encounter time.....
baby capuchin pen with a bowl of fruit.














Then I relaxed a bit more and went to see Southern Sea Lion feeding at 3:30.  It was only a few minutes long but everyone else on excursion had gone back to pier and I had made sure the last boat ride back to pier was 4 pm so I was the only one on the last trip back to Rhapsody LOL

hard to tell perspective but this is how close the island was to the ship






Back on board it was back to Schooner Bar for Love Song Movie Trivia with Sylvia from Slovakia as cruise director team member leading it.  My friend and I actually won!!!! We only got 8 of 15 but for the ones we didn't know we just kept putting Sleepless in Seattle and wouldn't you know it, one of them was correct and we won by one point!LOL  Sometimes they gave out zipper pulls, tiny bags, key chains, we got Royal Caribbean yellow rubber bracelet things.

We went up to deck 10 and walked around a bit talking to some people we had met on ship and there was a guy from Costa Rica there--I have always wanted to go there and planned a trip one time that fellthrough - so I got recommendations from him and he even gave us his email address.  People were so nice on board.

Time for Windjammer dinner - it was British theme night in there.

I tried pasta with alfredo sauce that had mushrooms and I tried to not pick the mushrooms but the flavor was there and I didn't like itso I had a hot dog and mac n cheese and cheese potato.  Took cookies back to our room.


















Then it was time for Battle of the Sexes game in Centrum....this was Caio (a very hot Brazilian that made a pretty girl although the pic is bad) from cruise director's team


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## Mrsjvb

last time I was in Roatan I spent close to ten grand on baubles.  I think maybe heading over to see baby capuchins is cheaper.  

Mr jvb has been there a few times, but mostly for work.  look up Operation Continuing Promise some day.  the Navy and a butt ton of civilian volunteers  hit many of the islands in the Caribbean to offer humanitarian assistance.  the Sea Bees tag along to build schools, chicken coops and playgrounds.  this last time though, he zip lined from the building  basically directly  in front of the ship.  think it was  like $30 for two trips.


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## gumbypee

Mrsjvb said:


> last time I was in Roatan I spent close to ten grand on baubles.  I think maybe heading over to see baby capuchins is cheaper.
> 
> Mr jvb has been there a few times, but mostly for work.  look up Operation Continuing Promise some day.  the Navy and a butt ton of civilian volunteers  hit many of the islands in the Caribbean to offer humanitarian assistance.  the Sea Bees tag along to build schools, chicken coops and playgrounds.  this last time though, he zip lined from the building  basically directly  in front of the ship.  think it was  like $30 for two trips.



wow!  Yeah, the excursion was like $59 or something like that.  Had great time.  That is awesome about the humanitarian work, I'll have to look into that!


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## gumbypee

Now it was time for Battle of the Sexes in the Centrum.  When I was on another ship (I think Celebrity??) it was like girls against guys with trivia - girls getting questions on mechanical stuff and sports and guys getting questions on makeup and stuff like that so I thought it would be the same.  So I volunteered to be one of six girls......NOT the same game this time LOL

First game was having to sing three seconds of a song, and then he would pass mic to next person and couldn't repeat a song.  Sounds super easy but it was so hard and so nervewracking--my knees were shaking.  I tried Britney songs but then I drew a blank when it was down to me and the guy so I lost that point for the girls - so frustrating!!!!

Second game was passing an orange down row of the six volunteers under chin, almost won but we lost that one too.

Third game was popping balloon game.  One person was the "popper person" and the other five had to pop the balloon in different positions against the popper person.  I was the last one and the girls won!!!! woohoo

Fourth, was a conga line through the Centrum and the girls got more girls to join so the chicks won battle of the sexes!!

Now off to Broadway Melodies Theater for "Savannah Jack" show






It was four guys, fiddle, guitar, drum, and singer; sang a hit song from each year from 1960-1978.  I knew all of the 60s songs and few of the 70s


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## gumbypee

Day 3 (January 17, 2017) BELIZE

Got up at 6 am to get ready to tender into Belize City port.  The tender ride was only about 10-15 minutes and we arrived at Belize City Pier.  

Then we got on a bus for our Jaguar Paw Cave Tubing and Jungle Trek with Lunch ship excursion.  It was a little over an hour bus ride but the guides kept us occupied by talking about Belize.  Part of the movie "Mosquito Coast" with Harrison Ford (odd movie btw) was filmed there.

We got there, rented a locker for our stuff, got life vest and helmet with light on it and grabbed an inner tube.  We walked through rainforest about 20-30 minutes.  Very easy walk even with inner tube.

Rhapsody in the distance while on Tender


















we had to walk across water first to walk around to where we would enter in water to go through caves




















we were in groups of 8 and our tubes were tied together with a guide leading us













crystals on wall
































didn't see any bats












this was map we went through




lunch was chicken (bamboo chicken = iguana but this was regular chicken LOL)




then time for bus ride back and then walked around port to shop then tender back to ship






saw a rainbow back at room


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## westcoastfldisneygirl

Subbing! Tampa is my home port  Great report so far, loving the pics!


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## gumbypee

westcoastfldisneygirl said:


> Subbing! Tampa is my home port  Great report so far, loving the pics!



yay!  glad to have you along on the report!  I just moved back to Tampa area so this is my first cruise out of Tampa 

PS - I take A LOT of pics


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## westcoastfldisneygirl

gumbypee said:


> yay!  glad to have you along on the report!  I just moved back to Tampa area so this is my first cruise out of Tampa
> 
> PS - I take A LOT of pics



Loving the pics keep them coming! I love how though Port of Tampa is smaller and can only have the smaller ships, they are all amazing and beautiful!

This itinerary is one I want to do in the future!


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## gumbypee

continuing day 4 (i said day 3 earlier oops).  After finishing cave tubing and making it back to the ship, I went poolside for line dances with activities crew: electric slide, cupid shuffle, mississippi slide, Wobble.

Then at 4:45 was Sexiest Man Competition (sorry ladies, didn't take pics LOL).

Back inside to stop at Cafe Lattetudes for another cheesecake lollipop, it was still just ok but I had to try it a second time LOL

We got some cards from the book corner by cafe lattetudes and played some card games a bit then went to Windjammer for Italian theme dinner.

I had mini calzone, mac n cheese, chicken parmesan, then a made to order pepperoni pizza.









Then we grabbed dessert and headed out to watch movie on pool TV




Queen of Katwe movie- it was pretty good





oh and I had asked what the strawberry-kiwi juice/water stuff was and I was told it was Nestle Vitality Sugar Free but I can't find it in stores.....

just did a search on amazon and found it there- it looks like it is a kind of restaurant thing.  Hmmmm

https://www.amazon.com/Vitality-Str...r=8-1&keywords=nestle+vitality+enhanced+water

We returned our towels for the day - you do have to check them out with your SeaPass card and check them back in but it was no biggie.  You could get at least two per person that I know of.

We had to change the clock forward one hour this night


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## Mrsjvb

PLEASE tell me the Park Cafe has Beef on Weck!!!!! I miss that on  the last 3 cruises on larger ships


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## westcoastfldisneygirl

Ohhh dessert by the pool tv sounds amazing!


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## gumbypee

Mrsjvb said:


> PLEASE tell me the Park Cafe has Beef on Weck!!!!! I miss that on  the last 3 cruises on larger ships



no idea - I never made it to eating at Park Cafe !


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## gumbypee

westcoastfldisneygirl said:


> Ohhh dessert by the pool tv sounds amazing!



it was very fun to chill out there and watch the movie with desserts


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## DVC_Chris

We board the Rhapsody in less than three weeks.  Do you remember which night formal night was?


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## gumbypee

DVC_Chris said:


> We board the Rhapsody in less than three weeks.  Do you remember which night formal night was?



There were two formal nights - night 2 and night 6

Ask any other questions and I will try to help!!


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## DVC_Chris

The only other question I have is do you remember what movies they played under the stars?


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## gumbypee

DVC_Chris said:


> The only other question I have is do you remember what movies they played under the stars?



They played:
Father of the Bride
Queen of Katwe
Middle School
Playoff NFL games also


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## gumbypee

OK so next day was Costa Maya day!!I heard later that the previous week they couldn't even dock there so we were lucky to dock - it's also known as "Costa Maybe"

So I got up and went to Windjammer for waffles for breakfast then I went to theater to wait to get of the ship.  They were still manuevering.  My friend was scuba diving and had an excursion a little later.

Time for ship's excursion: Beach Snorkel!

these were some dancers right out front - don't know if it is authentic Mayan stuff or if they were just dancing to get tips LoL (random people in photos)


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## gumbypee

I am having compuyer issues - will try to post more when i can....grrrr


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## gumbypee




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## gumbypee

so back to Beach Snorkel - as I got in the line, Jorge came over and said that the currents were pretty strong and so if we were not strong swimmers or wanted to we were allowed to change tours.  I decided to try it anyways.  

(My friend who went to scuba dive, all the divers said it was too dangerous but the harbormaster said it was fine - another scuba excursion was cancelled too.  since they all thought it was unsafe they did not go - Royal was gracious enough to refund her money back - yay customer service for RCCL!!!)

We took about a ten minute bus ride to Tequila Beach.  Then it was off to the snorkel area- life vest, fins, mask, snorkel - check! We got to keep the snorkel too since I guess they buy cheap ones so they don't have to clean them.  We walked a bit on the beach, stepped into the water and put our fins on and just started snorkeling there.  The current was failry strong but it was doable.





i liked all the grass




puffer fish?




guide picked up starfish









I thought this was cool- I am guessing the current made these stripes




another guide found a conch





saw a turtle too!!!  But alas, no pic!

another guide said he saw a moray eel but I didn't see it.

pointing out a yellow stingray!




overall a good snorkel

then it was back to the beach to chill




it was an open bar so I had four rum punches but did not taste any alcohol LOL

laid out, red book, went in water, all for a few hours and then off to find taxi that was included.  Got back to port and walked around then took the long walk back to ship.  Got onboard and showered and got sand all over the bathroom - sorry Hippolito (stateroom attendant)  Off to Windjammer for very late lunch


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## rndmr2

Sounds like a fun excursion. My DH and I went on a Princess cruise on our Honeymoon (2003) to the Western Caribbean (we did Cozumel, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and the Princess island, they weren't doing Roatan or Belize back then). We had a nice beach day in Costa Maya, it was pretty windy, looks like you were having wind too from the Palm trees in your pics.  Was the water pretty warm?


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## gumbypee

rndmr2 said:


> Sounds like a fun excursion. My DH and I went on a Princess cruise on our Honeymoon (2003) to the Western Caribbean (we did Cozumel, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman and the Princess island, they weren't doing Roatan or Belize back then). We had a nice beach day in Costa Maya, it was pretty windy, looks like you were having wind too from the Palm trees in your pics.  Was the water pretty warm?



The water was a little cool but not too bad.  Very easy to get used to it in like a minute.  I kept going back in the water to cool off after laying out and having the sun beating down!


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## mevelandry

The ship is beautiful!!!


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## gumbypee

mevelandry said:


> The ship is beautiful!!!



yes she is!  She seemed very well taken care of and very clean


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## DnA2010

Great report! We've been on Oasis and Freedom


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## gumbypee

DnA2010 said:


> Great report! We've been on Oasis and Freedom



glad you are enjoying it - it is fun to relive it.  What did you think of Oasis?  That is a mega ship, right?


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## gumbypee

After the shower, I went to Windjammer for a late lunch of pizza, pasta, and of course strawberry-kiwi water





Then I went to Shall We Dance Lounge for Cha Cha class





artsy fartsy attempt





I was hoping more people would show up for the Cha Cha class but there were only a few.  It wasn't like other dance classes I have been to (I do East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop for fun) where you dance in a circle and switch partners every few minutes.  This was for "couples" so I became a guy/lead and danced with this other lady.  It was fun still but I prefer to be a follow.

Then a group on board was teaching a flash mob dance (I forget the name but it was for a group against domestic violence against women or something like that and the nation wide flash mob was going to be in February I think)

Then I went next door to the Schooner Bar for Tribond Trivia - what do three things have in common? example: a cruise ship, a truck, river?  answer: beds.  It was hard!! I only got 8 out of 15!

Then I went up to pool deck to meet my friend and we had dinner at  at Windjammer.  I just made a sandwich out of chicken, cheese, and rolls.  





We went to Theater for comedian/magician guy at 6:30 and he was pretty good and entertaining.  After that we went and watched the Paradce of Flags in the Centrum.  Crew members representing different countries had their flags and they announced how many crew from each country.  It was cool.  Over 800 crew members onboard from 62 countries.  Back to Windjammer to bring cookies back to room to chill (notice how much we liked the cookes?!?!)




This was waiting for us:





cruise director Patricio (I think that was his name)









yes, i took a picture of a plastic tree (I didnt realize it was fake to the amusement of my friend)


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## Shanna-like-Banana

DnA2010 said:


> Great report! We've been on Oasis and Freedom



If you could point out some of the biggest differences between the ships from a passengers perspective, what would be your top 5 items between the Oasis vs Rhapsody ?

My Girl Scout troop is looking into another cruise, some of us are leaning toward wanting to go on the Oasis and some are leaning toward the alternating routes the Rhapsody takes.


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## Mrsjvb

Shanna-like-Banana said:


> If you could point out some of the biggest differences between the ships from a passengers perspective, what would be your top 5 items between the Oasis vs Rhapsody ?
> 
> My Girl Scout troop is looking into another cruise, some of us are leaning toward wanting to go on the Oasis and some are leaning toward the alternating routes the Rhapsody takes.



 you are basically talking about the largest most bells and whistles laden ship versus the smallest least tricked out ship( I am not counting Majesty and Empress which are classes unto themselves as far as raison d'etre)

Oasis class ships will have the most on board activities that would appeal to pre teen and teen girls.


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## gumbypee

Shanna-like-Banana said:


> If you could point out some of the biggest differences between the ships from a passengers perspective, what would be your top 5 items between the Oasis vs Rhapsody ?
> 
> My Girl Scout troop is looking into another cruise, some of us are leaning toward wanting to go on the Oasis and some are leaning toward the alternating routes the Rhapsody takes.



Personally I choose the cruises based on locations of ports I go to.  And location of port I am close to.  so that is how i ended up on Rhapsody.  I was a little worried about smallness but I realized I LIKE smaller ships.  I think the mega ships would be too big for me.  The entertainment was fine, like trivia and line dances and stuff but the nighttime shows were a little lackluster.  I like the broadway style shows on Disney ships.  I havent been on oasis so I can't really give a comparison.  There was a rock climbing wall.  But I don't know what the kids clubs and teen clubs were like.

sorry for rambling - watching super bowl and typing LOL


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## gumbypee

Thursday, January 19 - Cozumel Day!

Walked right out for my Island Roots and Chocolate Traditions tour.  We drove out to Mayan Cacao Company and on way Edwin, the guide, told us about Cozumel.  He was actually from Mayan descent and spoke Mayan, Spanish, and English.  Boas are not native to Cozumel bit Hollywood brought some over to film Tarzan and left a few behind.  They ate up all monkeys and some birds.  They have programs to catch and release them back on mainland.  Six cruise ships were in port that day.  Chocolate place:













In Mayan it was two words: Choco latte (my spelling) but the Spaniards mispronounced it as one word, chocolate.  It was used as currency too and this was a cool poster









We saw another guide give a demo on making chocolate from the beans, rolling them out, adding old spice, cinnamon, and paprika (to give a red color - used to be made with blood so the paprika coloring was symbolic)  That was how Mayans made.  








We got a small cup of 90% chocolate.  It was ok, a bit bitter.  you could add spices but I drank as it was

Then into the gift shop where there were samples of chocolates to try that you could buy.


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## gumbypee

Then back to the bus and we went to an area with an original Mayan temple and the first church on Cozumel (about 150 years old).





MAyan temple




church





trees had white paint on them to stop ants (I think the paint was mixed with concrete too)





now for Tequila tasting and talk




Most commercial brands only let the blue agave plant grow a couple of years to make tequila, but in Mexica (Jalisco) they let it grow 8-10 years to let plant mature.  Then we had sips of all nine on display above - 4 kinds, 3 fruity kinds, amaretto kind, then a bailey's kind.  I am not a drinker but these were actually delicious and very smooth.









agave plant





back to bus





Then I met my friend and we walked out of the secure port area (gasp) and went to Ernesto's Fajitas ( I had asked guide for a place to eat and he recommended this - wanted something a little more real than Senor Frogs or Margaritaville) It was about a five minute walk




I thought it was so cute how they spelled "flour" tortillas in pic above 

yummy fresh chips




delicious chicken fajitas




this was our view eating lunch




My friend had an amazing time scuba diving in Cozumel too btw - very clear

Then it was time to head back to ship, well after a little shopping of course, I got a necklace

oh and the guide had said back in 2005 when Hurricane Wilma had hit, (all their food, water, supplies come by ferry from mainland but all ferries went to Cuba for safety for a month) so three cruise lines: Disney, Royal Caribean, and ? (Carinval??) brought supplies during that month

Back to the room for a 20 minute nap before Disney hits music trivia in Schooner Bar! 20 out of 34 - it was actually hard!

Then we did some trivia from book corner before Visual Celebrities trivia where we only got 10 of 20.

Time to go to:




green quesadilla and rice and then some messy tacos









Then it was time to go to Broadway Melodies Theater for "Piano Man" show.  We sat in balcony as somewhere different to sit.  It was ok = singers and dancers it seemed to mostly 70s music.  Then we went to the shops for a raffle that we did not win.  Back in the room there was a confirmation for Chef's Table - however I never made a reservation.  odd.  Got that canceled.  Read a bit then time for 70s music triva, um we got 3 of 15 LOL.

Off to bed before last sea day!


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## Mrsjvb

I had to laugh at the  'public woman'  on the sign, although  not a bad deal, considering.  ( why are there never any 'public men' for the ladies?!)


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## gumbypee

Mrsjvb said:


> I had to laugh at the  'public woman'  on the sign, although  not a bad deal, considering.  ( why are there never any 'public men' for the ladies?!)



I know, right?!  If I have enough beans, why can't I buy a man?! LOL


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## DnA2010

gumbypee said:


> glad you are enjoying it - it is fun to relive it.  What did you think of Oasis?  That is a mega ship, right?



Yes, Oasis is one of the biggies- we LOVED it! there was sooo much to do, lots of pools, we enjoyed the MDR, and honestly our cruise on DCL's Fantasy felt more crowded- the big ship really spreads out the people


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## DnA2010

Shanna-like-Banana said:


> If you could point out some of the biggest differences between the ships from a passengers perspective, what would be your top 5 items between the Oasis vs Rhapsody ?
> 
> My Girl Scout troop is looking into another cruise, some of us are leaning toward wanting to go on the Oasis and some are leaning toward the alternating routes the Rhapsody takes.




Well I was on Freedom as oppose to Rhapsody, but for a girl scout troop, I would say Oasis all the way! The big ships have so many awesome activities for kids/teens and great pool deck, flow riders etc- big ship all the way I would say! Girl scouts are going to be way more about the ship than the ports


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## Shanna-like-Banana

I guess I should have been a little more detailed. They are not little girls, they are all high schoolers and most of them will have just graduated the week before we go on the trip. I'm going to start a different thread and see if I can get some more responses  


DnA2010 said:


> Well I was on Freedom as oppose to Rhapsody, but for a girl scout troop, I would say Oasis all the way! The big ships have so many awesome activities for kids/teens and great pool deck, flow riders etc- big ship all the way I would say! Girl scouts are going to be way more about the ship than the ports


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## gumbypee

oops almost forgot this little guy waiting for us previous night





Last day onboard 

Woke up about 8 am and went to Windjammer for breakfast - had a made to order cheese omelet and then some waffles












Then grabbed a trivia and Sudoku from Book corner and went to Schooner Bar to do them.  We talked to hot, but young, Brazilian Caio from cruise director's team a bit about Brazil and speaking Portuguese and he wrote a few words down for us - very different from Spanish.  Then it was time for HARRY POTTER trivia!!!!!!! We didn't win but got a decent score.

Went down to check on our accounts - everything looked good.  Then to Centrum on deck 4 to watch towel folding demo.  We saw lots of cool ones being made.  









teehee= - here is a fuzzy pic of Caio (far left)

















turtle




elephant





cat




little girl




dog




crab




frog




teddy bear




peacock




this was a mermaid - hard to tell in pic






It was fun - and we took some videos - ill try to post at the end

then it was back to Schooner Bar for napkin folding class.  We all gathered around piano and actually learned how to do them and practiced them.
 We learned crown (or corn), candle, flower, and flower with a rose.  We got papers on how to make them too.  Talita was the insructor, also from Brazil.

basic




crown/corn




Talita wearing crown




candle




flower




rose




flower and rose




forget the name





now time for lunch - back to Windjammer for hotdog and pizza - both yummy






Then apple pie and ice cream for dessert - delicious





Then it was time to relax in the sun for a bit and read and rest and then into the shade when it got too warm.  

Now it was 5 o'clock Motown trivia - 8 of 20.  Went back to room and packed up then my friend went to comedian and I grabbed some dinner .  Saw some of the chocoalte cookies from first day and took about five for the room LOL.  Started watching movie "Middle School" by pool but it was not very good so I left to go to room to read for a bit.
Then 8 pm schooner bar for michael jackson trivia!  It was fun with everyone making MJ noises LOL heeheeeeee  We got 12 of 20. not bad.

Then it was back into the room for our last night - watched some NBA and fell asleep.

Then Saturday, we got up about 7 am and we carried our bags off ship - there was a long line by the time we got there but it moved very quickly so I didn't look at the time but we were off provbably by 8:30 am.

Hope you enjoyed reading!

It was fun trip!


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## gumbypee

only watch like first 15 seconds - then I didn't realize I still was recording LOL


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## gumbypee




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## gumbypee

under bridge


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## gumbypee

just the water 






now trip report is complete!


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## Mrsjvb

ya.  thanks for sharing.   we are actually taking a w/e trip to Tampa next week to scope out the area and find a hotel close to the pier


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## gumbypee

Mrsjvb said:


> ya.  thanks for sharing.   we are actually taking a w/e trip to Tampa next week to scope out the area and find a hotel close to the pier



awesome!  Have a fun time in Tampa!  Lots to do around there.  I know nothing about hotels near the pier though, sorry!


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## gumbypee

bump


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## mevelandry

So you never ate in the dining room? Just at Windjammer?


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## gumbypee

mevelandry said:


> So you never ate in the dining room? Just at Windjammer?



My friend and I ate in the dining room one night but we didn't really care for the food there and preferred Windjammer - granted, I later found out that they have the menu up on electronic board somewhere and we might have gone back if we had known the options.  That was just us though


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## mevelandry

gumbypee said:


> My friend and I ate in the dining room one night but we didn't really care for the food there and preferred Windjammer - granted, I later found out that they have the menu up on electronic board somewhere and we might have gone back if we had known the options.  That was just us though



The food looked good.


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## Frozen2014

Great report. Looks like you had a great cruise.  We'll be hitting a lot of the same ports so nice to see what others do there (Roatan, Costa Maya, CozumeL).  Was also going to ask about MDR for dinner vs Windjammer but see someone asked above so see your answer.  Thanks for sharing.


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## gumbypee

Frozen2014 said:


> Great report. Looks like you had a great cruise.  We'll be hitting a lot of the same ports so nice to see what others do there (Roatan, Costa Maya, CozumeL).  Was also going to ask about MDR for dinner vs Windjammer but see someone asked above so see your answer.  Thanks for sharing.



Glad you enjoyed reading.  It was a fun trip - it is an older ship but we had a blast anyways without bells and whistles.  everyone was friendly and service was great.  the entertainment staff were fun too.  Hope you have a fun cruise!


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