Travels - Indo China Cruise (March 2008)
(Days 4-8 - Aboard The Rhapsody of the Seas)
When Nancy and I first considered coming to Asia, we never thought that any of the exploring we might do would be by cruise ship and certainly we would have never thought that it could be an economical way to seeing the region. But, that's life in Asia for you. What you assume is turned upside down and inside out. Usually it's just not something so pleasant that's turned around from what you expected.

Our ship for the cruise was Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas and her claim to fame here in Asia is that she is the biggest cruise ship in the region. At 915 ft long and 11 stories from sea level to her top observation deck she is certainly hard to miss and was the prettiest ship in any harbor we visited. From the moment they saw her both Sarah and Josh were wound like tops. Rhapsody did not disappoint from that moment on.

Our stateroom was what kindly could be called "cozy". Located on the 2nd deck the only luxury in it's 150 sq. ft. were the outside windows - a slight indulgence and a concession to Nancy's claustrophobia. The room had a double bed and 2 bunks that dropped from the ceiling. Again, it was nice and utilitarian, but not much else. After all we figured we wouldn't be in the room much anyway. So, after checking out the room and unpacking, we quickly hurried to our lifeboat drill and then scurried of to our evening entertainment.

It was after the show that our cruise experience was to take a drastic turn - for the better. Despite my better judgement, Nancy, Sarah and Josh talked me into springing for Bingo tickets since the prize was use of the owner's cabin for the duration of the cruise. At $15 a bingo card I wasn't interested really blowing that much on a silly game of bingo.

Well, it turns out that the rest of the family had the right idea. A short time into the game our new family good luck mascot, Josh, won us the Owner's Suite. Shows you what I know. Anyway, off we scurried to our new room - 8th floor, 560 sq ft, bath room almost as big as our original room, 2 bedroom areas each with a queen sized bed, a private balcony, a Jacuzzi tub, and plenty of room to spread out. What a great way to travel! We're letting Josh do all of our gambling for us from now on.

Needless to say the cruise was terrific and the ship was a joy. We had great meals, saw some fabulous entertainment, hung out on our private
balcony and just pretty much enjoyed the heck out of our trip. Sarah even climbed the rock wall before it was all over making it look about as easy as a spider climbing a drain spout.

It's unlikely the Royal Caribbean will bring the Rhapsody back to Asia any time soon (too big and not selling enough seats - thus our great deal). She will sail to Japan, China and (ironically) Korea for the next couple of weeks and then reposition to Australia and New Zealand for a period of time. Hmm...always wanted to see Australia. "Hey Josh, what numbers should I pick in this Lotto game?"
Our welcome photo
Sarah and Josh at the Lifeboat Drill.
We took this picture of the 4 of us in our original "cozy" cabin on arrival. Nice if a bit tight and the kids beds aren't folded out of the ceiling yet which made it that much "cozier".
Later that night in the Owner's Suite. Sweet! Just a tad bigger.
Rhapsody's Centrum Lobby
Kids in front of the ship's waterfall art.
Sarah on our "Bingo" room balcony.
The kids loved dressing up and going out to grown-up meals. Josh in particular loved wearing his bow tie.
Maybe she was inspired by staring off that balcony or maybe she's just an explorer at heart. Either way on our last day, Sarah climbed the rock wall on the rear deck of the ship (it's built into the back of the smoke stack). She scurried up like it was nothing and rang the bell. That's 200 feet above the ocean up there at the top (about 35 feet off the deck).
Sarah was picked to help with a card trick at the show on the evening we left Halong Bay. The magician correctly identified the 5 of clubs Sarah picked by throwing the deck in the air and stabbing her card out of the air with a sword as it fell.