ptf2009

We will be sailing on the Independence of the Seas in 3 weeks. We have signed up for My Time Dining but have not reserved dining times. We are a party of 2. Are reservations necessary? If we don't have a reservation and we decide to eat at 7:00 pm, how long should we expect to wait for a table? Will requesting a table for 2 (without a reservation) make our wait shorter or longer? Is it harder to get a table on formal night (without a reservation) than on any other night of the cruise?

My DH and I sailed May 3-10 on IOS. We did MTD because we wanted to eat when WE wanted to eat. We never made one reservations throughout the week and we had no wait time. We also were seated in the same area each night with the same waiters:) (lucky us near the window). This was the first time we did this and we loved it. It was so nice to have the option of staying at the pool longer and/or taking our time getting ready for dinner. Enjoy your cruise!

I was on this cruise. Saturday was the last day (sea day). Just before 6 pm, the captain made an announcement that we would be going top speed to get back to Fort Lauderdale asap due to a medical emergency. He estimated that we would pick up the pilot about 2 am and be dockside about 2:45. I woke up just after 3 am and we were in port. We did ask around at dinner as to what had happened, but no one we spoke to had any hard facts, just speculations.

The debarkation process still happened at the originally scheduled times.

I was also on this cruise. I did not see the accident but was walkiing up to the flowride area on Saturday afternoon when they were taking the gentleman on a stretcher with his head and neck totally supported. He didn't look THAT old...45-50 or so and I saw his wife (holding back tears) and mother walking with the medics and security. I asked others what had happened and I was told that he was on the boogie board and his head and neck hit the back wall really hard. I sure hope he is doing okay now as it was a very concerning thing to witness. Lots of prayers going out to him!

OH, It's look like all the show seems very poor.

 

Do you enjoy it ?

We were on the May 3 IOS sailing. The shows were very good! We had MTD and didn't miss a thing, as we did not ever make reservations...just showed up when we wanted to eat with NO waiting:)

This was our third time on IOS. WE loved every minute except when we had to go to a public restroom..they were disgusting, especially the pool area ones. I never saw anyone cleaning them. So we would just go back to our cabin when necessary.

Also, disappointed that they never had chocolate-chocolate chip cookies anywhere. I even tried to order them for dessert one night and they brought me chocolate chip cookies:(

Anyway, enjoy and have fun!!!

Depending upon when you are cruising in May 2015 it will be either

 

Jamie Fentiman (who will be CD from April 10 until May 10) then Leigh Xuereb (from May 10 through September 8). Leigh is the new permanent CD on Indy.

 

I hope this makes it easy for you.

Easier..but disappointing......we had Jamie in Dec. and he's just a big show off....he was just a substitute at that time and the real CD returned in January.

We wouldn't have booked this ship (May 3) if we had known this info.

There is a new cruise director for the month of May only. I was told that activities won't be the same as previous compasses but I'm not sure if that's true or not.

Does anyone know the name of the cruise director in May?

Don't leave home without it. DH thinks it's a waste, but I convince him it is a necessity.

We usually buy the travel insurance from RCL which isn't too expensive, but is this insurance good enough?

I'm currently onboard Independence of the Seas... my second Royal Caribbean cruise after many with Carnival and a few with Princess and Norwegian.

 

I'm one of those weird people that eats all meals in the buffet restaurant and never sets foot in the main dining room of a cruise ship anymore. I have to say that lunch and dinner in the Independence Of The Seas buffet restaurant is the best cruise ship food I've had in all 29 of my cruises. There's lots of choices, and plenty that fits my particular taste in food. I can't honestly say I like their breakfast options... but lunch and dinner have been fantastic.

 

Here's the thing that's a disappointment to me, though: the entertainment. It hasn't been good, and it's also been sparse. A lot of the music acts don't even get going until after 9:30 PM. Comedy has been almost non-existent. Carnival just completely blows Royal Caribbean out of the water when it comes to comedy. Also, no waterslides, and no self-service laundry facilities.

 

It's weird how their is little to no entertainment until later in the evening. When you have a 8 AM call for a shore excursion the next day, you really can't attend an 11 PM musical performance.

 

Not to imply we're having a bad time... we love to cruise and can have a good time on just about any cruise. But this is weird how little entertainment there is at night here!

We were just on the Indy in Dec. and are going on May 3 again. The entertainment was great and we looked forward to the shows every night. We were usually in bed by 11:00 and only missed the "adult comedy" at midnight which we really didn't mind. Check your cruise compass. The singers and dancers were great, the comedian, illusionist, a guy who did an Elton John impression, the fabulous ice skating show, love and marriage game, quest game, karaoke, just to name a "few." Besides the beautiful blue caribbean beaches and just being on a cruise ship, I look so forward to the entertainment and read the daily compass front to back so we don't miss anything!

Have fun....12 more days for us!

It looks like there isn't a deck where you could walk outside around the ship other than on top decks. I'm used to walking my laps on deck five on the other RC ships. You don't get the hot sun while you're outside feeling the breeze as you walk your laps.

I can just picture the D nomads now...wandering the ships, coupon cards in hand...;)

Now that is a very snobby response. We will be Diamond after one more cruise and had been looking forward to the perks. We "nomads" will be sure to spend very little time at the D and D+ lounge....you know get our drinks and leave so that you don't have to look down on us for very long.

Thats right!! They were hilarious and how did they know those answers?:confused:

It was obvious from the start that the older couple ...married the longest (60 yrs.) had been on a recent cruise (perhaps b2b), because the wife was jumping up and waving when asked who was married 40, 50, 60 years. She couldn't wait to be chosen...and then to come up with all the answers....and win the prizes. It was shameful. The other two couples were "real" and authentic. Everyone around me thought it was terrible that people would actually do that (cheat)...plus show off. I've been on many cruises and watched many love and marriage games and no one has ever done this before.

Thanks for an awesome review. I know you said you didn't do any activities but do you remember if the game Quest was held and the Love and Marriage Show?

 

THanks

Triena

Yes the quest game was on the 12/5 sailing...lots of craziness and fun. Also the love and marriage game was really wild. But it seemed like the couple who won knew all the questions because how many 80 yr. Olds can remember such things....they weren't even funny because it was so obvious. The other 2 couples were a riot!

I have cruised enough to know that the ship STAYS on ship time (Florida time) regardless of what the local time is on any of the islands visited.

We were on the 12/05 ios sailing and we had to turn move our clocks forward on the 3rd night and then back on the 7th night. So maybe you need to go on the cruise to know diffferently.

Anyone else been to Orient Beach lately? We're interested in any updates to the beach condition, i.e. seaweed, hurricane damage. Specifically, the areas around Pedro's and the nude beach.

We were there Dec. 9 and we were so disappointed in the condition of the beach. We had remembered it to be beautiful white sand with crystal blue calming waters. What we found was a beach filled with mounds of seaweed and a very rough murky sea! The waves knocked many swimmers over, but the water was warm as you moved around the seaweed. This was the case at ALL the Orient beach areas, nude or otherwise. Also we saw nude people (who would really look a lot better with a bathing suit on) at several beaches. The topless women and the men with g-string pouch thingies strolled up and down the beach.

On a positive note, the seaweed seemed to be less as the mid-afternoon approached.

We were also on the 12/6 sailing, and I agree about the CD. Last year on Freedom we had Richard Spacey who is amazing. Other than that, our experience was fantastic as well. A beautiful ship with an amazing crew.

 

 

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We were on the IOS Dec. 6 sailing also. Totally agree with you regarding Jamie, our Cruise Director. While he was entertaining at times, he was quite full of himself. Jamie was a fill-in for another CD, so hopefully they will replace him soon, and he will go back to being an activiities guy. We also had Richard Spacey several years ago on FOS....he is the best..but I think he's with Celebrity now.

We also agree with you that the IOS is a great ship, and we had so much fun! We are now in the process of booking another cruise in the spring and/or fall.

You may have already read my "Which Beaches?" post - this is a follow-up to that. We are stopping at St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Which beaches do I want to AVOID because they are topless/nude? Not because I necessarily care that my 3 year old and 1 year old would see, but because I don't want my husband seeing someone else's boobs or maybe more! Thanks!

Orient beach is very nice but one section is nude. However, they love to stroll the beach topless and the men wear thongs with a "little pouch" in the front. Believe me, you will wish that 90% of them would just put on some clothes because it's not a pretty sight and your husband will probably be disgusted at what he sees. It's not a "wow..it's an "oooohhhhh ...yuk" reaction.

We just got off the Independence on Sunday, 12/14/14 and had the chance to talk to Jamie. We mentioned we would be sailing again in January and he said he would be on the ship then. He hinted that Tim wouldn't be returning for quite awhile.

 

We thought Jamie was quite personable and entertaining.

We were also on this cruise and thought Jamie was very entertaining. We thought it strange that he mentioned his parents quite a few times, but never his wife...and he did have a wedding ring on.

The entertainment was very good and it was a wild Love and Marriage show!

One entree, multiple sides. Extra entrees are $10 each.

Does the cover charge also include the tip?

We were just in St. kitts in October. The Marriott looked wonderful but as mentioned earlier the water is very rough there. We went another ten minutes down the road to an amazing beach.

We are going to be at St. Kitts in a few weeks on IOS and would appreciate you letting us know the name of this amazing beach and please tell us a little more about it. Did you take a tour or a taxi? Thanks soo much!

I was expecting to see a popular Broadway show with beautiful music. No one told me that there would be many people dressed like cats creeping around the stage and coming down the aisles. I thought that because I really don't like cats that maybe the reason I didn't like CATS, but talking to other people who have pet cats and love them, they hated CATS also. Since at least 50% of the audience leaves at intermission, I am in the majority and totally understand their feelings. If someone paid me to go, I would just have to put blindfolds on and listen the ALW beautiful music. But I don't have to worry about that...we've been on OOS already. So we'll wait until they get rid of CATS before we sail on OOS again because we look so forward to the entertainment on the ships.

We totally agree about CATS being boring and creepy. We saw the broadway show in Chicago and left at intermission. We didn't appreciate seeing people dressed liked cats crawling around the stage. The music is beautiful but we just couldn't stand looking at the creepy cats!

What a disappointment this is that RCL chose to do THIS show when there are soooo many other wonderful broadway shows.!

I'm not a big CCL fan because we like RCL so much more; however, since you have your kids with you, I agree with everyone who says to go with the Breeze and save the 2000 for another cruise. That's alot of money. My DH and I went on the OOS last year and stayed in an oceanview balcony for less than 2000 for both us with all fees and gratuities included! OOS, like AOS is a fabulous ship, but we like the Freedom class size of ship much better.

Have fun...your kids are fortunate to get to go on such a nice vacation!

We took a taxi ride to Cockleshell beach...beautiful blue water:) You can see Nexis from the beach. We are going to be there next month on IOS and think we may try Frigate Beach...closer to the ship.

DCL transfers are $35.00 per person each way (WDW/port; port/WDW; MCO/port; port/MCO).

 

Gratuities are $12.00 per night for each person in your room. That $12.00 breaks out to $4.00 per night per guest to your room host; $4.00 per night per guest to you dining room server; $3.00 per night per guest to your assistant server; and $1.00 per night per guest to your head server. You may tip additionally to this, if you wish.

When you book a Disney cruise along with days in dw do you reserve separately or does Disney have a cruise/land package?

I did not think that wj was open 24/7