Lovely relaxing cruise

As you would have read in my last post I was heading off on Rhapsody of the Seas for a 7 night cruise around the Greek isles. My next few posts are going  to be about some specific topics on the ship like food, entertainment,drinks packages etc but today I thought I would tell you my favourite areas of the ship.

But first I thought I would tell you a bit about the ship herself.

• Rhapsody was built in 1997 and is a Vision Class ship.
• The maximum passengers she holds is 2416 with 765 crew – so effectively 1-3 ratio.
• She has been refitted twice. The first time in 2012 when Royal Caribbean spent a whopping $54 million US Dollars upgrading public areas, adding more cabins, specialty restaurants and a nursery. A smaller refit was finalised in 2016.
• She has definitely seen a bit of the world with previous itineraries including Caribbean South Pacific, Asia, Alaska, South America and more recently Europe- specifically the Adriatic Coast line area.
• Classes as a mid ship ship she is 78 tonnes which makes her perfect for ports like Venice, Santorini and Mykonos.

Upper Pool Level (Deck 10)

This is where we based ourselves for the majority of the day time on board. The weather was hot hot hot so I found the pool area on deck 9 to be quite claustrophobic and airless. It was perfect up on deck 10 plus we had the bonus of the fabulous breeze, wonderful bar staff going around with their carts full of drinks and cocktails and  great view of the pool entertainment when you look down the middle of the ship. The ship was full but we didnt have any problem gettinig a sun bed and there was loads of places in the sun or the shade if you preferred. The area was very clean and there were lots of staff around to make sure it stayed so.

Solarium on Deck 9

We love a good solarium, especially if you are travelling to ports that are that bit colder (I almost lived in the solarium on my Norwegian Fords cruise). I w very concerned that it would just be too hot in there as I assumed they would open the retracting roof and it would be like an oven. However, the roof stayed closed for the full cruise and it was a lovely area to sit in. A nice warm temperature without reaching the scorching heat of the open pool area and the bonus of the Park Cafe being there meant that we popped in here every evening before bed for a wee cup of tea and  a cookie.

Centrum on Deck 6

After being out and about in the ports when they are 35 degrees all you want to do  is come back inside and sit in a lovely cool area and have a cold drink. Our favourite place was the centrum area on deck 6- right beside Latitudes Coffee Bar. It is so cool and inviting and we could sit and catch up with our books and enjoy our Iced Lattes. In one port only 70 passengers remained on the ship so when we wee going back after just a short visit I thought lots of places on the ship would be closed but no. All of the bars were staffed, the restaurant was still open for lunch and the coffee shop was open. It meant sitting there we felt like we were the only ones on board.

Outdoor Promenade on Deck 5

For dinner we choose the MyTime option which meant we were in the restaurant on the upper level, deck 5. Every evening after dinner we ordered a drink and went outside for  walk on the Promenade deck to watch the sun set. Iti s such a lovely wee area and it was nice to stretch our legs after eating the fantastic food. One thing to remember is that the side that you could see the sunsets was the smoking side of the deck so that was a bit of a negative but it didnt put us off going out there every evening.

Stay tuned next time for my opinion of the food on board x