the_lovely_voyage

Thank you for taking the time to write this amazing review! I've been on many cruises and have learned a few new things from your posts! Thanks and have a happy new year!

It's fun to remember the trip and appreciate things all over again, so my pleasure! I'm glad to help!

I'm enjoying your review. [emoji4]

 

I'm also a Hawkeye. Originally from Iowa, moved around as a kid, went back to UIowa for college and moved around a a bit afterwards. Currently living in the Chicago burbs.

 

Looking forward to reading more.

 

 

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Sounds like we traded places; originally from the Chicago suburbs, came out here to go to UIowa and stayed put after graduation. I love Iowa, and it seems like it'll be a place to call home for a long time.

Glad you're enjoying the review!

Day Three- November 30, 3016- Labadee, Haiti

My fiance and I have wanted to go to Labadee since Spring 2015 when a friend of mine visited and posted pictures of the island and the zip line. Having just done our first Royal Cruise in January 2015, we were definitely open to cruising Royal again and looked up sailings that went to Labadee. At the time, Oasis was a big visitor and the price and length of sailings were something that weren’t feasible for us. We put it on the bucket list and sort of forgot about actively pursuing it. When we started looking in November 2015 for our next cruise, we stumbled upon this sailing, and it really was a perfect fit. Two new ports, a new ship, and a great price- done!!

Fast forward to this cruise, and we were incredibly excited to finally see Labadee for ourselves! I can’t thank Cruise Critic enough for all the preparation and tips you all provide. I honestly don’t think I would feel nearly as comfortable planning cruises and venturing to new places if it weren’t for the pictures, reviews, and feedback from other cruisers- so thanks :)

I knew that we’d head straight to Columbus Cove, the farthest East part of the area near the Aqua Park. Many people reported there being lots of seating options, a nice beach area to wade into the water, closely located to a bar and buffet area as well as bathrooms. All of this was discovered to be true! I’m so glad that we headed here early in the morning to get good spots and enjoy the day. We ordered room service so we could eat while getting ready instead of dealing with the Windjammer and elevators and crowds. It worked out for us but for some reason, my parents called our room saying their room service card never got picked up (they had it out before midnight and the deadline in 3am). They headed up to the Windjammer and we were still able to meet up at 8 to head off the ship. We were definitely on the island by 8:15 since that’s when my phone and camera photos start with timestamps. The process to get off was incredibly easy and we didn’t encounter any lines.

The view from the dock:

The Labadee sign that I somehow didn't know existed:

A view of the Arawak Aqua Park from our walk to Columbus Cove:

The walk to Columbus Cove wasn’t bad, but it was confusing. There were some signs guiding us but it certainly could’ve been more clear. A few times we were unsure of if we were heading in the right direction and asked a staff member once to confirm where we were going. Some of the walk was paved, some was on sand, and some was up and over rocky terrain. There might have been a completely paved route but I think we took a more direct way. My advice would be to have your Labadee map with you or study the map before hand to make sure your walk is easier than ours was. I also knew to expect people to ask us where we wanted to sit and they would move beach chairs to our spot. I came prepared and had a few dollars ready for our chairs and had my mom ready with a few singles as well. I don’t necessarily agree with this practice, I’m willing to move my own beach chair, but I’m not gonna fight a few bucks so I just let it happen. Based on my timestamps, we were on the Cove beach by 8:35, which means it was about a 10-15 minute walk from the main shop/info booth area to Columbus Cove.

The tree-covered mountains were beautiful to look at and a nice contrast next to the blue sky and blue water. It was such an amazing and relaxing sight to see, and I definitely would not be opposed to returning. The water was a little chilly until you got used to it, but I didn't go in over my waist. I'm not much of a swimming fan, but other people were having fun swimming and lounging in the water, so I'm sure the temperature was fine. My fiance and I enjoyed a few Labadoozies (admittedly not as fantastic as I created them to be in my mind), read, and sun bathed for about two hours before going on our next adventure: hiking around Labadee (covered in my next post). My parents stayed and "held down the fort" on the beach.

A view from our beach chairs for the day:

Day Three- November 30, 2016- Cruise Compasses

Day Two: At Sea

One of the few "nice" pictures of us from this cruise:

After lounging out in the fresh air for a while, we went to music trivia in the Schooner Bar, did pretty okay, and enjoyed a few drinks. Then we got ready for dinner and met my parents outside Giovanni’s for dinner at 6:30. Since we had a reservation, we were seated right away, although it wasn’t incredibly busy for 6:30pm either. My fiance and I knew what to expect for Chops the night before, but Giovanni’s would be new to all of us. Before I start picking out the things I didn’t like, I’ll just say that yes, we had a lovely meal and are glad we went. Nothing went “wrong” or was bad, there were just things that made the experience less than fantastic. Also, I know that when people ask on Cruise Critic “Chops or Giovannis?” most people respond Giovanni’s. I think my fiance and I would both say Chops. It’s to each their own and now we know.

Our waiter was very hard to understand- his accent was very thick and even though we tried and he tried, there was still a communication barrier.That added to our confusion about how to order our meal. We had asked a few questions to clarify menu items and the answers we received didn’t seem to make sense. Also, some things are “per due” or for two, and others are individual servings. Our waiter recommended doing several plates for the table, but we all wanted our own things and were unsure if it was “okay” to order individually instead of for the table. It was a more stressful ordering experience that I would like, so that probably cast a shadow on the whole experience. The food was delicious and we have no complaints about that, we just feel that we liked the food at Chops more.

After Giovanni’s we all made our way to the Alhambra theatre for the 9pm showing of Invitation to Dance. I grew up loving musical theatre- both watching performances and working in the theatre crew of my high school and I love music- having played clarinet and bass clarinet for 11 years. The shows on cruises always entertain me and inspire awe. So naturally given all that, I loved this show, and so did my fiance, to my enjoyment. We headed to Finish That Lyric gameshow afterwards and had fun watching the contestants forget words to some pretty famous songs. To be fair, I didn’t volunteer to play and if I had, I probably would’ve gotten all my answers wrong too. We didn’t stay out late tonight because we knew we’d have an early morning at Labadee, so I’m pretty sure we all went to bed after the gameshow was over.

How much is the BOGO deal for specialty dining,and how does it work?

 

 

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When we bought it, it was $30 for two dining venues, per person. Check your Cruise Planner if you currently have a cruise booked to see if they're offering it for your sailing and what the cost is. It basically allows you to try two dining venues for a very cheap cost, aka a great deal. You can chose what dining venues you visit, and I think you can do two of the same venues if you weren't interested in the other (since Indy only has two specialty dining restaraunts). I know that bigger ships with different venues provide more options, but I've read that the BOGO works a little differently in venues that are a la carte pricing. For us, we bought our BOGO online, picked a time to dine the first night, then set up our second night dining choice onboard.

Day Two continued...

We walked around the ship after trivia and eventually met up with my parents for lunch at the Windjammer at 11:30. I’m a somewhat picky eater, so I’ll throw that out there as a disclaimer, but I didn’t find a whole lot of food that appealed to me. My fiance and my dad had no problems piling their plates full though, so it just varies by personal preference. There are several different types of food, such as grill, soups, Asian, salad bar, meat stations, and more, so I’m sure that most people will have no problem finding something in the Windjammer.

Here's my fiance lounging in the Solarium and trying to look really cool:

Also, girls just wanna have fun-damental rights (one of my most favorite shirts) and a giant bottle of champagne. Finding this bottle is now a "tradition" since we found it by accident on the Enchantment of the Seas and knew we had to find it on the Indy:

After lunch we must have walked around and had a few drinks and enjoyed the sun. We headed to the ice show, Strings: A World Adventure of Ice, for the 2pm show but arrived at 1:35pm to get pretty good seats. In preparation for the trip, I thought I read that ice shows were assigned by muster drill, but this wasn’t the case. I’m not sure when they changed that or why, but it wasn’t a big deal. There were people that weren’t able to find seats and I’m guessing they were told to come back at the 4pm showing later that day. I was very impressed by Strings, but was initially worried that my dad and maybe even my fiance would think it was boring or not their type of show. To my pleasant surprise, they both really enjoyed the show, as did my mom and I. There are definitely moments during the show that you’re nervous for the ice skaters, and I think that suspense and adrenaline helps make the show exciting.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Solarium near the windows, since laying out on the deck while the ship is moving was way too windy. That's actually one of my bigger complaints about the Indy is that the Solarium wasn't covered, and therefore was very windy during sailing times. It was uncomfortable to lay out and enjoy the sun when the wind made it colder, knocked half-empty drinks over, and was constantly blowing my hair around. We loved the covered Enchantment Solarium and wished we had that again. Or at least part-covered, as some of the newer ships are. The Solarium pool was colder than desired and I wasn't brave enough to ever swim, but my fiance did get in one of the days and said it wasn't warm but was bearable after a few minutes. It was also pretty hard to find a seat in the Solarium so keep that in mind when scouting for a place to enjoy the weather.

Tuesday November 29th- Day 2- At Sea:

Not sure if it was due to the time of year, because of tropical storm Otto to the West of us, or just random but the waves were very noticeable today, and it continued to be noticeable the rest of the cruise. None of us are really prone to seasickness, but we all noticed the motion of the ocean and sometimes it was a little unnerving. I was definitely under the impression that the bigger the ship, the less you feel the waves, but since this was the biggest ship I’ve been on, I’m not so sure that’s a true statement.

We started out our first day at sea by going to the Windjammer for breakfast. There’s a fairly good selection of foods, and it wasn’t hard to find a seat at 8:30am. Both sides of the Windjammer offer the same types of foods, so if one side is busy, check out the other side. Also, we didn’t realize how long the venue was, but once we did, we figured out the buffets stretch out for a long time, which means there’s a lot of food available.

Not a bad view for breakfast:

It was my birthday a few weeks before the cruise and my fiance gave me onboard credit towards a massage, so I had made a reservation for that first sea day to really get into the relaxation mode. I went to the spa at 8:45am while my fiance wandered the ship and took pictures. For my massage, my masseuse was named Jevelyn and she was really good. I absolutely achieved a high level of relaxation and am so thankful I was able to have a massage, since it had been a year since my last massage (also onboard a cruise ship). There were a few minutes during the massage that there was a lot of banging and thumping noises outside of the room, which was a little annoying since massages should be serene and peaceful. Not sure if they were restocking or what, but it wasn’t great to hear. And then there was of course the Elemis pitch to buy massage oils that I politely declined. I knew that the sales pitch was coming but it’s still a rough way to end a relaxing massage.

My fiance took this while roaming the ship during my massage:

After my massage, my fiance and I went to the Schooner bar for morning trivia and didn’t do so hot, but still had fun. Turns out there was a big showing for 10am trivia, so get there early if you want a seat. This goes for all the trivia events- a lot of people showed interest and it was frequently standing-room-only at these events. Also, the Schooner bar doesn’t start serving drinks until 11am, but if you take a short walk into the next room, which was the casino, that bar was fully functioning bright and early, so that’s where we got our drinks to enjoy during morning trivia. Trivia at the Schooner bar definitely became one of our common activities, and by the time the cruise was over, we had won Royal keychains, pens, and reusable shopping bags. Woo! (Jeez- How many times did I say “trivia” in that paragraph?)

Was there an extra charge for lobster?

Nope, not on Day 4 dinner, with the Jasmine menu. It was part of the "Fisherman's Plate" offered in the regular part of the menu. Broiled lobster tail, garlic butter, and seasonal vegetables.

There were always these premium options for an up-charge as well:

Day Two- Day at Sea

Again, sorry for the green highlighting.

Thanks for the review! Did you/do you know if the Main Dining Room had a Lobster night? We're doing the 5 night next month and are curious.

Yes! It was on Thursday/Day 4/the night of Falmouth. I had it and it was delicious. Was really glad that the waitress opened the lobster for me though, since I would have had no clue where to start. :o

Hmm turns out the music on that time lapse did work. Weird. But cool!!

I know some of you following along have cruises on the Indy in the next few weeks and I'm really gonna try to get a huge chunk done in the next week. Sorry it's taking longer than expected!

To finish up Monday, aka embarkation day, here is a video that my fiance filmed. He used a mini tripod for his cell phone and did a time lapse over 30+ minutes. I tried to add music behind it but it didn't work too well. Enjoy!!

[YOUTUBE]9vCU1oqAtE4[/YOUTUBE]

Day One- Comes to an end:

We parted ways with my parents to get ready for dinner. As a little backstory, I graduated with a Masters degree in May, and as a part of my gift, my mom said she’d buy our plane tickets for our cruise. This obviously was super touching and generous and really unexpected. My fiance and I wanted to do something to give back to my parents, even if it was something small. We decided to buy the BOGO dining packages for us to visit Chops and Giovanni’s on the first and second night and treat them to some nice dining experiences. We kept this a secret for a few month but couldn’t hold it in any longer, so when we were about to step onto the ship, we told them about our gift.

For those of you who have questions about the BOGO dining process, I booked online and selected 6:30 as our dining time for the first night. When we were on the ship, I talked to a staff member on the Promenade who was set up to book dining times for people, and decided we would do Chops that night and Giovanni’s the second night, both at 6:30pm. It was a really simple process and we didn’t experience any issues.

So we reconvened outside Chops at 6:30 and were promptly seated. The entire meal took a little over two hours, so we did miss a few things we were hoping to do, such as the Welcome Aboard show at 7:40pm. We didn’t take pictures of our food but I do remember that there was PLENTY of it, and it was all tasty. My fiance got the crispy goat cheese salad and I did the french onion soup, he did the beef carpaccio appetizer and I did the colossal shrimp cocktail, he did the parmesan veal chop and I did the 6 oz strip steak. For the table sides we did creamed corn, garlic mashed potatoes, and something else that we can’t remember. I don’t remember there being any complaints about the food and we all cleaned our plates each time. The service was a little slow but nothing horrible, and honestly it was nice to take our meal a little more slowly instead of shoveling each course down. The first time my fiance and I did Chops in January 2015, we ate very fast and didn’t anticipate how much food there would be, so we felt very full and very sick afterwards. We warned my parents for this Chops adventure and made sure we came with empty bellies and were mindful of being full and not forcing ourselves. This time, we certainly left full, but not sick.

After dinner we went to the Pyramid Lounge for a music trivia game show, and then headed to the Love and Marriage Show in the main theatre. We LOVE this show, and even though the questions are usually the same, the answers always have us laughing so hard. In all honesty, two of the three couples they got for the Love and Marriage Show weren’t all that entertaining, and some of the answers that could have been a little more “risque” were actually slightly boring. We still had a great time, and our Cruise Director Jamie did a good job trying to make boring answers funny, but I wish the contestants had more flair this time.

We checked out The Labyrinth dance club and were slightly surprised to see a little bit older crowd running the dance floor. I think I had expectations that it would be full of 20-somethings dancing, but the average age was probably more mid-30’s to mid-40’s. We had no problem with this, it was just not what we expected. We stayed for a little bit and had a few drinks and dances, but the DJ wasn’t really playing music that we enjoyed and we left within an hour. We went back to our room to review the next day’s Cruise Compasses for our first day at sea and went to sleep.

I remember the first time I saw the Royal promenade you just go WOW !

 

Love reading you

 

Eric

 

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Thank you!! Aiming to crank a lot more posts out over the next week. Hope you continue to enjoy :)

Loving the review so far! Good to hear about the drink packages. We are buying them for the first time as well. He is a SUPER beer snob so I'm a little scared but my degree is in wine and spirits lol so I scoped the menu ahead of time and there is a ton of great wines in the price range of the package. Glad to hear you thought it was worth the price.

 

Also I have that shirt!!! Totally wearing it for the cruise lol! You guys look great!

There's definitely a wide selection of alcohol, so hopefully you both find things you like! My recommendation for a big beer variety is to head to the Dog and Badger pub- they definitely had a lot on their lists. One benefit of the drink packages is not needing to worry about price or paying a huge tab at the end of the trip. That freedom of buying without worry can make it "worth it" for people if but for no other reason.

Thank you for the compliment! I love that anchor shirt and new when I found it in stores months ago that I'd have to wear it for sail away!!

We caught up with my parents at their room and headed up to the Royal Promenade to see it in all its glory for the first time. It was so beautiful. Very hard to believe that such beauty and architecture is on a cruise ship! We went to Cafe Promenade where everyone grabbed a few small things to eat. After eating our snack, we continued to walk around and explore the ship.

The Christmas tree!! This was all of our first cruise during holiday season, so it was pretty cool to have a very "wintery" item while in the sunny Caribbean.

We grabbed a few drinks throughout our explorations and were completely appreciating our drink packages. We found Olive or Twist (Viking Crown Lounge) and LOVED the views! We definitely wanted to go back throughout the week, but unfortunately there were so many other things going on every night that we never made it back. Such a weird complaint, but we noticed that we were often deciding between this activity or that, and while that’s WAY better than being bored and having nothing to do, it makes you want to be able to be in two places at once! That being said, it means that there are a variety of entertainment options to appeal to everyone. On the nights that my fiance and I didn’t spend with my parents, we never ran into them, because we were in one venue and they were enjoying something different in another venue. So no worries about being bored!

Olive or Twist- a nice looking lounge!

A view of Port Everglades from Olive or Twist!

We did our classic muster drill and thankfully the sun wasn’t beating on us, so it wasn’t too terrible in terms of heat or length of time. I had read (thanks to wonderful Cruise Critic members) that we should skip the sail away party on the main lido decks and head up to the helipad area on the bow of Deck 5. In order to access this deck, walk on the outside of Deck 4 towards the front of the ship. You’ll find a set of stairs, and once you head up those, you’ll find the helipad. There were a few more people than I expected, but we were still able to get a railing spot to watch us pull out of port.

A view leaving port from the helipad:

A beautiful sunset before dinner.

Was there more than one formal night? Thanks.

No, there was just one. It was the second night (Tuesday) on a Sea Day.

Not to add to the stress, but yes customs was a nightmare when we disembarked on Saturday 12/3. We were able to stay on until about 10:15 (we didn't have a flight until 3:30pm) and heard them "close the gangway" at least two or three times, telling people to wait in their assigned areas until they were called to get off. We enjoyed a few mimosas that morning and a leisurely breakfast around 9, and sat around until we were the last group in the Schooner Bar. Customs at Terminal 25 was definitely not pleasant, so I'd try to be off very early if I had an early flight.

Monday, November 28th Continued:

So shortly after sitting down to enjoy our drinks at the Schooner Bar, we heard the announcement that our rooms were ready. My fiance and I were in 2626, and my parents had the exact room (just flipped) on the starboard side, 2326. It was an oceanview with a port window, and was the biggest room we’ve had in our histories of cruising. It was very spacious and we really liked the curtains to draw across the bed in an effort to make it “two rooms.” We also liked the interactive TV, as that was new to us as well. We unpacked since it was a 5 day and put our suitcases under the bed. We also took some time to put up black and yellow door decs (GO HAWKEYES!).

Can confirm that our bathroom had shower doors instead of the static-clingy curtains, which was a first for us (there's a lot of those this trip!) and we totally loved the doors. My fiance also liked the storage shelves in the mirror doors above the sink. Unfortunately I pack heavy on the toiletries and makeup, so I kept all of my stuff on the vanity/desk area by the giant mirror.

A note on our room, we did notice noise from the lower gangway or anchor or something on days when we docked (even though we docked on the right side both times). It was pretty loud, but we were able to fall back asleep. We definitely didn't hear any noise from bars or neighbors, so all in all, it was a good room location. The one problem we constantly encountered is that deck two DOES NOT connect the length of the ship. Meaning, if we went down to deck two near the bow (front) of the ship, we could NOT walk to the aft (back) of the ship where our room was located. We used Deck 4 where the photo gallery, casino, and Schooner Bar were in order to traverse the length of the ship. This was pretty annoying and I'm not sure how I never read about it in any of the reviews before our sailing. A word of caution if you're on Deck 2.

View from the door (also there's a Herky the Hawkeye pillow sneaking out of my bag. It's a healthy obsession, I swear!):

View from the bed:

I don't think these have changed in a while, but in case they have, here are the current Gold benefits as of 11/28/16:

Before I continue, I suppose our first drink would be a good time to talk about our beverage packages. Originally we weren’t going to buy drink packages. We’ve had them on our last two cruises and although fun, didn’t think we’d want them in the future. The more we talked about it and saw the 20% off “sale” online, we decided my fiance would get the Select (Wine and Beer) package, and I would get the Premium (Liquor, Beer, Wine) package. This was, of course, before the packages changed.

Once the packages were changing and we saw that anyone in Premium or Ultimate would automatically get upgraded to the new Deluxe package, we upgraded my fiance to the Premium before things changed. (Sorry, I know that’s super shady, but it is what it is. RCCL still got a ton of money from us and we don’t feel too terrible about it.) Three days before our cruise, I convinced my parents to buy the drink packages as well.

Overall Impressions of the Deluxe Drink Package: My fiance and I LOVED it. We so enjoyed buying fancy coffee drinks from Cafe Promenade, we tried the fresh juice a few times, my fiance loved the cans of Red Bull that were included, and of course we loved the liquor, beer, and wine. It’s not for everyone, I totally understand that. We thought we absolutely got our money’s worth, especially since one of our two port days was at Labadee, so we were able to use it all day there as well. It is expensive, though, and I think our next two cruises will not involve drink packages, especially since our long cruise next November includes 4 port days.

My Dad completely enjoyed it the first day and went crazy with different drinks. The entire time, really, he was all about getting drinks, and I never really saw either of my parents without a drink. (That sounds way worse than it is; they just enjoyed the freedom and variety and availability.) As we’re sitting in the airport waiting to go home, my dad made comments about how he felt pressured to drink and wouldn’t get it again. A pretty interesting dichotomy between actions and thoughts, but that’s my dad. As a wrap-up to this topic and a final word, each person has to make their own decision if it’s “worth it” for them. Happy Drinking!

(This was actually our second or third drink, but it fits the topic! Also it was super sunny, so that's my excuse)

Schooner Bar Menus as of 11/28/16:

(I apologize for some blurriness, I guess it looks better on my small camera display)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28th- Embarkation

We were up around 8 in order to be in the hotel lobby at 9:30 for our 9:45 shuttle to Port Everglades. This shuttle was offered free by Quality Inn and all we had to do was sign up when we checked in the day before. They had two time slots, 9:45 and 10:45, and since I wanted us to be one of the first on the ship, I was greedy and said 9:45. I’ve read some mixed reviews about their free shuttle process, but I think overall it went really smoothly. A staff member who coordinates the transportation had a list of guests who had signed up and called room numbers to board the two shuttle busses. We were the last group called to board, but other than that, we didn’t experience any problems. This shuttle was definitely a great benefit and factored in when I was deciding where to stay pre-cruise. The hotel also had a shuttle service going to Port of Miami for $20pp, in case anyone was interested in knowing that detail.

(As an aside, if it’s not apparent already, I planned about 90% of this cruise for the four of us. My dad used to be the vacation planner but since I’ve really gotten into cruising and researching things, I’ve taken over that role. I’m lucky that my fiance and parents are easygoing enough that none of my suggested choices were met with opposition.)

The drive from the hotel to the cruise terminal was really quick, and of course the second we saw the Independence of the Seas, the anticipation really started building. We got to Terminal 25 and headed straight inside, since we all had carry-on luggage and didn’t want to check anything with the porters to carry for us.

Being there by 10:10(ish) really had its perks. We walked in the doors, through the winding rope barriers, waited behind three families, and met the first customs security guard. She checked our passport, we scanned our luggage, got our S&S cards, and were directed to sit down. There was a VERY organized man showing people where to sit and in what order, to make sure that the order you arrived was the order you boarded. There’s free wifi at the terminal, which was awesome. We were definitely sitting and waiting by 10:30, but that meant an hour and a half of waiting was ahead of us. The wifi helped, and we all decided we’d rather be waiting at the terminal to board than still sitting at the hotel waiting for the later shuttle.

The boarding started around noon (YAY!) but then we were met with technology issues. I posted about it while we were waiting to get checked in, if anyone saw that thread. The computers would scan a handful of people in then completely stop working. Staff was very stressed by this and were doing a good job at communicating their apologies and attempts to fix the system. Of course I was pretty frustrated because I wanted our cruise to officially start. We were on the ship by 1pm, and made our way to the Schooner Bar for our first (of many) rounds of drinks.

None of us have been on a ship that has a Royal Promenade or anything super fancy, so this was a beautiful thing to walk into! Also, I spy a Christmas tree!

Here is the Cruise Compass for Embarkation Day! I really hope these aren't super large. I wanted to make them easy to read, but I know how annoying large photos can be too. Also, I apologize for the green highlights on some of the activities, I should've grabbed clean CC's from the guest services desk (they have a wall of all the CC's for the cruise). Nevertheless, hope this helps!

Zomg I'm so excited!! Lol thanks for the review! I love pic reviews that start out the day before and have lots of info. It really gets me excited to go. Can't wait to see your next posts. :)

Thanks for following along! I know you've been looking for reviews of the Indy, so I really hope I can help at least a bit!

You are right. I guess too that the majority of Kmart's customers there are cruisers who can spend more. How was the weather in FLL? A big change coming from your home! We are also single digits here in the northeast.

If I remember correctly it was mid-70's the day we were there. Definitely better than the 40-something it was in Iowa, that's for sure. The worst part of cruising is coming home to the cold. We flew back on the Saturday our cruise was over and drove from Chicago to Iowa in several inches of snow fall. As I write this, we're preparing for -15 overnight. Joy...

Boo. Unfortunately no more $500 cards, got 3 $100's though (yes I know that doesn't add up to $500)