Booking First Cruise for our Family

[nda776]

Hey Guys, 

 Last April I took my first cruise on Anthem of the Seas. I absolutely loved the boat, but the destinations, in my opinion, left some to be desired (Cocoa Cay and Nassau).  So when my parents heard how much Fun I had, they wanted me to book their first ever cruise for our family vacation! I opted to be more destination driven this time, then boat driven and booked us the Rhapsody of the Seas, leaving from Tampa, traveling to Key West, Costa Maya, Cozumel, and Belize. I booked us beach excursions for almost every stop, excluding key west. I'm kind of nervous because I know Rhapsody is a much smaller ship then anthem, so I'm not sure what to expect. 

Do you guys think this would be a good first timers cruise? Any opinions on Rhapsody? Any opinions on these ports? Whats your opinion on Big ships vs smaller ships?

Thanks!

[WAAAYTOOO]

Yes, I think this is a great first cruise ship for your parents.  Most likely they aren't going to be all that interested in flow riders, bumper cars, circus trapeze and levitating arms.  I think this will be a classy and entertaining option.  Our first Royal Caribbean ship was the Grandeur (when she was sailing out of Tampa !) and it was enough to hook us for life so there ya go !

[melski94]

I think you can have a great time on any ship big or small.  However, you do need to set your expectations as it will be significantly smaller with less bells and whistles than Anthem.  With the big ships, the ship is a destination itself.  However, as you said you wanted to be destination driven so you chose a cruise with 4 ports which I think will be perfect with this ship. 

[Matt]

We did that exact ship and itinerary last March and live blogged it here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/rhapsody-of-the-seas-live-blog

[nda776]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes, I think this is a great first cruise ship for your parents.  Most likely they aren't going to be all that interested in flow riders, bumper cars, circus trapeze and levitating arms.  I think this will be a classy and entertaining option.  Our first Royal Caribbean ship was the Grandeur (when she was sailing out of Tampa !) and it was enough to hook us for life so there ya go !

Thanks So Much for your response, You're absolutely right about not having interest in the bumper cars and flow riders. I think they are the type of people that have a great time no matter what and enjoy relaxing by the pool instead of jumping from one thing to the next. I appreciate your response! 

[nda776]

1 hour ago, melski94 said:

I think you can have a great time on any ship big or small.  However, you do need to set your expectations as it will be significantly smaller with less bells and whistles than Anthem.  With the big ships, the ship is a destination itself.  However, as you said you wanted to be destination driven so you chose a cruise with 4 ports which I think will be perfect with this ship. 

Thanks so much, for your response. Its funny you said that the Anthem ship was the destination because that was my thought exactly after getting off. It seems the newer ships have less port stops and options but have much more "things to do".  We only have two days at sea, which we'll probably be by the pool for those days. Thanks for your response, I really appreciate it. 

[nda776]

19 minutes ago, Matt said:

We did that exact ship and itinerary last March and live blogged it here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/category/category/rhapsody-of-the-seas-live-blog

Hey Matt! I checked out your blog of this trip a while back when I first booked and it really helped me decided on if this would be a good fit or not. We're even going to maya chan beach resort like you did!  We won't have any little kids for this cruise, so I think the two days at sea will just be relaxing at the pools. Thanks for your response and in-depth reports!