Cruise Passenger > Reviews > Reviews: Rhapsody of the Seas

The Ultimate Guide for First Time Cruisers

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29 Nov 2010

After a long day waiting to leave Sydney, our first day sailing is all about figuring out how the whole thing works. Activities, kids’ clubs and meal times – how do we actually find all these things?

After another trip to the buffet for breakfast wander about a bit aimlessly looking for inspiration – the top deck is incredibly windy and it’s not bad fun trying to walk against it. There is ocean in every direction as far as I can see – it’s a strange isolated sensation.

We lounge around playing Uno and Scrabble until our allotted lunch hour and then head for the main attraction as far as Mary (9) is concerned. Pets at Sea, open only between 2pm and 3pm, where you can stuff your own plush animal and dress him in a range of Royal Caribbean clothing. We’ve gone for a horse dressed as a chef and named him Shef.

“Because he is a chef and it would be kind of weird if his name was spelled with a C.”

You just can’t argue with logic like that. Or at least I can’t.

Shef joins us for an afternoon matinee and retires for a nap before our first formal ship dinner, which is, possibly the poshest dinner my kids have been to – there are toddlers in tuxedos and lots of little girls that would look more at home at a wedding with posies. Bet their mums had fun dressing them.

We’re starting to get the hang of cruising and have even formed ourselves a routine, or at least starting to see the need for one. For as far as you can see in every direction there is water, which varies in colour from dark grey to dark blue.

Luckily Rhapsody has oodles to do (there are 400 kids on board) so we’re able to whittle away at the entertainment guide until we find something to suit us (or rather, suit my kids). So mornings is breakfast at the Windjammer Café, followed by Uno and Scrabble in the Moonlight Room and a swim in the wave pool. It’s not actually a wave pool – there’s a bit of swell.

Lunch at Windjammer (there’s an argument about this which I lose) and then we head for the stern for some rock-climbing. Once we’ve worn blisters on our fingers we head for the theatre to watch Toy Story 3 (the third time I’ve seen this, but it’s that good).

That brings us neatly to dinner with our lovely waiter, Kostya, who’s so attentive he evens cuts up Mary’s meat for her. Bless him!

Noumea! After days of agonizing over the vast array of shore excursions, I finally decide on none (I’m even worse with menus). However as soon as we’re ashore we find a visitor centre offering even more and settle finally on the great value Explorer Bus day pass. For $10 each we can hop on and off all round the island.

First stop is the Cultural Centre – a unique structure that looks like a row of giant timber shells – which sits on a very pretty peninsula surrounded by mangroves. Inside there are several exhibitions both contemporary and traditional, all telling a story of Melanesian cultural history.

We hop on the bus again and head for Lemon Bay along a beautiful coastal road lined with beaches and reefs. Lemon Bay itself is a turquoise arc lined with pine trees, palms and a great selection of cafes. After a leisurely swim we head over to one for lunch.

We’re woken this morning to the sound of the tenders being lowered from beneath our balcony, ready to take us ashore to the Isle of Pines. There are islands dotting the turquoise waters all around us, heavily wooded with pine trees and ringed with white, white sand.

Once ashore we wander to the far side of the island and along the softest, whitest sand I’ve ever seen before wading into the crystal clear water. Yes I know, that sounds like a brochure. The coral reef is a short wade away, populated with plenty of colourful fish and even more colourful cruise passengers.

It’s an idyllic spot – your quintessential desert island paradise, so it’s odd to think it started its French existence as a penal colony. The crumbling walls of the old gaol that was once home to over 3000 prisoners are in fact one of the first things I see as I walk up the jetty. The old colonial powers really knew how to pick a good place in which to punish their criminals.

So we laze on the beach, cool off in the water, laze on the beach, and repeat, until the last tender of the day takes us back to the ship. I’m definitely coming back here.

We’re back at sea after two days in New Caledonia and back into sea-faring routine, which, to my surprise, is just as enjoyable to the kids as a day on the most beautiful beach in the world.

Did I mention already just how many activities there are each day? And each evening there is a different reason to celebrate: 70s night, Tropical Night, Formal Night and 50s night – so far. The central atrium (Centrum) is the place where the evenings’ celebrations start with performances by the multi-talented crew and cascading balloons or confetti.

Even our waiters entertain us after dinner with renditions of Italian classics and the Macarena.

Our first day back at sea starts with Napkin folding class, followed by a kind-of Iron Chef cake decorating competition and, the moment the kids have been waiting for: towel folding demonstrations.

Each evening when our beds are turned down, a different towel animal appears – so far we’ve had a monkey, a puppy, a monkey and an elephant and the kids are dying to know how to make them. This actually seems to be one of the most popular activities Centrum has ever seen – it’s difficult to find a vantage point to squeeze into.

The routine continues with lunch, international men’s belly flop contest and a movie. There are now three towel monkeys hanging in the wardrobe and a towel elephant on my bed.

Our first family cruise is coming to an end and I have to say it’s been a hit. Who would have thought kids would like bingo and trivia contests?

Our last day at sea is a lazy one. We sleep in and miss breakfast, watch a movie and head to the dining room for lunch which for some reason is packed, despite the paella demonstration on pool deck.

Bingo follows, where we miss out on the $4500 jackpot, Michael Jackson trivia, family talent show (no comment) and the Farewell Variety Performance – our first venture into Broadway Melodies Theatre for a show.

The kids have all drawn thank-you cards for wonderful waiter, who after seven months at sea is soon to head home to his family in the Ukraine, and our assistant waiter (from the Philippines) who makes the sound of grinding pepper as he grinds it for us and has therefore been named “Pepper Guy”.

I should mention that the 70-odd wait staff that manage over 2000 passengers each night in the dining room come from 27 different nations – and they can all do the Macarena.

All in all, it’s been a happy experience – I think we might be converted.