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:

 

[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

 

[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).

 

[mousestellar]

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

 

[gumbypee]

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?

 

[gumbypee]

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

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

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[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?

 

[OKW Lover]

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

 

[gumbypee]

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.

 

[gumbypee]

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)

 

[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.

 

[gumbypee]

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!

 

[suzismini]

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

 

[gumbypee]

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

 

[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.

 

[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!

 

[Mrsjvb]

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

 

[gumbypee]

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!