Micnvic

5 minutes ago, loveheart said:

Just off of Indy and we never had a problem getting a drink in the bars. The Sports Bar was generally quiet early evening.

Thanks so much. I am a very typical Brit, and am

more than happy to queue. But I had images of standing at a bar for 30 minutes gasping for a drink 😂.

hope you had a fab time

We are sailing on this ship, our first cruise on the 27th July. I am really enjoying your posts. I do have one question/concern that maybe you or someone else could help with.

i have read a couple of comments about how it can be tricky to get a drink. I have heard that the bar attendants are few and far between, and so the wait at the bar can be lengthy. Is it really that bad?? 

We are on our first cruise in July , we are sailing on Indy.

i have read reports regarding the lack of bar attendants, I assume this is an issue that will run all summer long. I would love to read further updates from you.

have a great time 

6 hours ago, kernow said:

Yes the DL still has the tables, I said a few days ago that I would prefer nicer seating.

 

Mark had the mixed grill and said he enjoyed it, although the bubble and squeak was not proper! I had the pasta which was nice.

 

We're just back in the cabin and have put the cases out. I'll sign off now but will update with final thoughts when we get home.

 

Wishing all of you boarding soon  a fabulous cruise.

Julie

Many thanks for all the reports. Safe journey home x

You can clearly tell I am an inexperienced cruiser, but I have a question...🙈

i see that the cocktail prices shown seem to range from 12-14 ($ I assume). Is there a price limit on what is included in the delux beverage package? 

So so for example, if the price limit is 12 but the drink I want is 14 do I just pay the 2 difference?

2 minutes ago, shopaholic6 said:

Fantastic - the drinks package already includes the 18% and is well worth it I think! 😊

I have found it all fairly confusing. But after cancelling the drinks package several times and re adding it in the sales I think we have done fairly well. For me it is a huge weight off my mind to know that everything has been paid for when I step on board, i can fully relax

1 minute ago, shopaholic6 said:

 

They just scan your sea pass anyway - if you have the drinks package then great, if not then the drink will be added to your bill, plus 18% gratuity as far as I’m aware.

Many thanks for that. Full drinks package and gratuity all pre paid. 

I am loving your trip report. Thanks so much for taking time out of your holiday to update us, it really is getting me into the holiday spirit.

am saddened to read about the tipping issue you mentioned. As I previously said this is our first cruise. However, we normally holiday in Florida so we are used to tipping for services. We decided to pre pay our tips, and I am so glad we did. I assume that the servers and staff are aware that we have pre paid, I guess when we order a drink they just scan your sea pass?

Is there a dress code for the MDR in the evening? We are booked for every evening, but dh hates trousers and always wears smart shorts (not sports shorts). Is it trousers only?

I am loving all your posts and feedback. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. I hope you sail into some nice weather and see some sun.

Hey

a couple of questions here from a first timer.

1) is there a dress code in the casino, can hubby wear shorts?

2) hubby does love a little gamble and has been saving himself for the cruise. I wanted to give him some money to spend in there, can you buy chips or casino credit, or does the casino credit get deducted from your designated credit card?

many thanks 

4 hours ago, kernow said:

If you've got any specific questions let me know and I will try and find out.

I am pretty sure I already know the answer to this question. But does the ship offer WiFi?? I am sure that I have read that this ship doesn’t have WiFi...but I would appreciate the clarification.

have a fab fab time 

1 hour ago, kernow said:

If you've got any specific questions let me know and I will try and find out.

I wish I could think of something specific, but I can’t. I would just love to hear you report back and tell us that the food and drink was great. Plus any evening entertainment to loom out for. I hope you see lots of ☀️ 

Have a fab time. We are cruising Indy in July, our first family cruise. I would love for you to come back and give us any tips or info on the ship. 

Have a a great time 

8 hours ago, Stokie33 said:

Out of interest what date in Aug are you in Barcelona, it's easy to do it on your own you can get the shuttle bus from the port that drops you right by the hop on hop off buses, which one of the tours takes in the nou camp. I would advise buying stadium tickets in advance as they were sold out the day we were there 

I believe we are there on Friday 2nd August. 

I have received some really helpful info here. I think I may go ahead and pre book the stadium tickets. I like the idea of doing our own thing at our leisure. My son has his heart set on spending his pocket money in the shop.....much to his dads disgust 😂

We will be on Indy in August and have a day in Barcelona. We know that we want to go to Nou Camp as we are all football crazy. 

The excursion offered by RCI is a 4 hour trip, this includes a visit to Nou Camp and also some time in the town. It states a total time of 4 hours. 

We can’t decide whether to organise our own excursion or do the trip through RCI. Has anyone done this trip and are you able to tell me if you had enough time to look around the football shop, or was it all a bit rushed?

Oh that makes sense, thanks 👍

Oh that’s great news, thank you 

We are going on Indy for the first time in July. I had read so many good reviews on the Grease show, but I have seen several things on Instagram which makes me think that the show has come to an end. Is this correct? 

If so, are there plans to replace it with a different musical!

I just wanted to say a big thank you for all of the replies. I feel like I have a better understanding now of how the tipping process works. 

We have today added the pre pay gratuities to our package. For me, it seemed like the easiest option, and it means we can have less cash with us onboard the ship.

once again, thank you 

edited to say, we also had a huge result with our drinks package yesterday. We had already pre booked this back last year, but noticed yesterday that the cost had gone down by a lot! So we cancelled and then rebooked at the cheaper price. It's a great feeling when that happens 👍🏻

New cruiser here...please be gentle with me 😜😜

we are cruising around the Med in July. We have pre booked the adults drink package and booked on the The My Time Dining.

i am struggling to understand the gratuity options, if we are better to pre pay or pay on the ship. I believe the drinks package includes gratuity, I believe we would then pay the $17 gratuity per person on top of that. Does that cover all tips, or would we still be expected to provide any additional tips??

i understand that we could tip exceptionally good service on our own accord if we felt it was deserved.

many thanks 

We are sailing on Indy in July and my 10 year old son is looking forward to joining in with the kids activities.

Is there a list somewhere which gives a rough guide to what activities might be available to him. I have tried searching but am yet to find anything. 

Thank you 

1 hour ago, ERCruiser said:

We're taking walkie-talkies on our April trip.

 

I'm not sure if we'll use them for kids club, but we have it as an option.  

This is interesting. We had considered Wilkie talkies but were unsure if they would work well?

1 hour ago, cb at sea said:

Age 9 and up may sign themselves in and out.  There are no pagers for the older kids.  So, simply tell your child where you will be, if you want him to have this privilege, and he will know where to find you.  If you don't want him to sign in and out, it will be up to you to check back periodically.  I'm thinking, if he's like most kids, he'll be having a blast and want to stay most of the time!

I appreciate your message, thank you. 

Hi there

Myself, my hubby and son aged 10 are going on our first family cruise in July. We are doing 2 weeks on Independence Of The Seas and can't wait. My son is really looking forward to taking part in all the kids activities and in the evening I think he will spend a lot of time in the kids club.

My concern is how to stay in touch with him whilst he is there. Are we required to sign him in/out? At the age of 10 would he require an adult to come and sign him out of the club? What if he got there and decided after a short while that he wanted to come back with us, is there a way for the club to contact us?

I am sure there is a well organised system in place on the ship, and I have tried researching to see if I can find any information, but I am still unclear on it all.

any information gratefully received