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On 3/17/2024 at 7:42 AM, Seespot said:

Will you please keep us all posted?  We are on that same itinerary April 4

"Dear Guest,

Due to the evolving situation in Haiti, and in an abundance of caution, we’re temporarily suspending our visits to Labadee for our entire fleet. We continue to monitor and assess the situation with our Global Security & Intelligence Team. We’ll now enjoy a visit to Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos instead of visiting Labadee. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by these changes. Nevertheless, we’re excited to take you to a new port! Below, please find our revised Independence of the Seas March 21^st, 2024, itinerary.:

3 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

@Ocean Boy these are for you. 
 

 

I give him 15 minutes until he is asleep. 

 

 

Forgive my ignorance as I've never flown outside of economy (!), but those seats are very interesting. Is there an option to sit next to someone in your party or is the point to sit alone? Thanks for the review. It's been fun traveling with your family.

1 hour ago, JWR1011 said:

I will also be on this ship at the same time and I wish they would just let us know what the plan is.  I really hope they change something up!  Would love to do key west or something other than Labadee.  I doubt they would give us another sea day since Labadee was the only stop of this ship. 

Ship is too big for Key West. I'd take Grand Turk or Puerto Plata though.

22 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

I have been to Grand Turk on a Carnival cruise pre-Covid and it was a relaxing day for us. The beach is right at the pier, in front of the ship. The port area has some shopping and an interesting small display about the U.S. Space program (a space shuttle once landed in the water there).  We went to Margaritaville for lunch, I don’t know if that is still open. 

It's still open and it's a really good time!

1 hour ago, master029 said:

Independence departing 3/21 is still showing Labadee on 3/23. It's the only port on the itinerary. Anyone see something different about an alternate port. Wishing for CocoCay although it's a longshot. Only one ship scheduled that day in port. Finger crossed!!

Grandeur is now going there on 3/23. Someone posted earlier that they're telling passengers 3 days in advance.

27 minutes ago, BLiles1961 said:

We're sailing on Symphony this Sunday, and neither of us has received any kind of email. Is anyone else on this sailing? Do I need to cancel the reservations that we've made, or will it be automatically refunded? If we go to Coco Cay, will we have an opportunity to make any reservations, or will we have to take care of this on the ship? 

Labadee excursions were canceled by Royal.

4 minutes ago, 1992cruiser said:

I didn’t see they moved Grandeur there…that really stinks. I bet it’s Nassau.  Any chance they still have the tender boats at CC. lol. 

This was posted on the other site yesterday. I'll run the tender boat myself! Lol

3 hours ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

If a replacement port is to be scheduled, it would be nice to give passengers enough early notification to actually book excursions before they are sold out. If you tell passengers 3 days out that they are going to Nassau, for example, the desirable excursions will be unavailable.

On Indy 3/21, that's within 7 days so hope we hear today. They moved Grandeur to Coco Cay the day we could have went so that's out. Hope it's not the easy choice of Nassau. We were just there.

20 hours ago, pirate4me2 said:

Sorry for the delay in posting the rest of yesterday, I got….um…sidetracked. 

 

Mom and I went to dinner right at 5:30 again, and had our same table and waitstaff from night 1. They are fantastic! Nino, Sasiya and Shann are the team, and table 717 is in a corner right next to the window. I love it! I got the Girdo Street Salad, Indian Vegetarian, and butter pecan ice cream. Mom and I also wanted to try the eggplant parm, so we got it to split. Nino told us he also wanted us to try the shrimp poke app, it’s his favorite, so we agreed. Oh my gosh y’all, that is my new favorite Carnival app, and I will be ordering it from now on! It’s like a deconstructed sushi roll in a bowl and was so flavorful! The eggplant parm was a let down, Mom and I agreed it needed something….I think maybe some garlic. My Indian Vegetarian tho….oh my. It was SPICY and amazing! Mom’s dessert, the cappuccino pot thing, was nasty….it had a weird texture.

 

After dinner we went and changed into our swim wear and hit Havana, and again we had the pool and hot tubs to ourselves. I’m loving this! We were in the water for maybe an hour, then Mom said she was winding down. I told her to go take her shower first and I would get a drink at the bar and be right back to the room. 

 

Well….one drink turned into 3 Cuban iced teas and 2 shots, as I made friends at the bar. I met another Stephanie about my age, and her husband, whose name is Chris! We sat and chatted (and drank) for a long time. So long, in fact, that who should come looking for me IN HER PAJAMAS? Thanks Mom for embarrassing me in front of my new friends! She CLAIMS that she was FaceTiming Dad to show him the Havana area and that he wanted to say hi to me…yeah whatever. I felt like a naughty high schooler being caught out drinking past curfew. 

 

Around 11 I decided that I better call it a day. I reached lucky 13 on my Cheers package and was feeling pretty dang good. Those Cuban Iced teas are the bomb, that is my new go-to Havana drink! I came back to the room, took my shower, and Mom grumpily told me to shut the light off, quit talking, and go to bed. SHE is to blame for the lack of evening update. 🙂

This is one of the funniest stories I've read on here in forever! A great story to tell when everyone is sitting around watching over Grandma. 🙂

Sending lots of positive light and prayers to your Grandma and family. It sounds like she has a fantastic support system which will be a huge help to her. 

9 hours ago, DennysDad said:

Here's a thought. 

 

Those ships that were scheduled to be the only one in port for the day, now have the possibility of a second ship. Due to labadee rescheduling.

I was thinking that as I'm waiting to hear what happens with the Indy 3/21 sailing. Freedom guests probably loved they were the only ship there 3/23, now we may be pulling up too! Lol

1 hour ago, bucfan2 said:

We enjoy CC early, and back on board before most are even headed off. 

 

As far as the 'dump' (Nassau) goes, we enjoy watching from our balcony as well.  I especially enjoyed watching the 50+ workers sit around enjoying out $20+ port fees while they were 'working' on the new pier(s).  

The "dump"? Wow.

We're on Indy 3/21 with Labadee 3/23. Guess I'll keep an eye on my email.

11 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

My jet ski excursion was also just cancelled for our stop in two weeks. I've also seen reports that kayaks were cancelled.

It looks like anything leaving the island as someone in my FB group had their fishing and Paradise Cove excursions canceled. 

Same for Indy 3/21 - I didn't think they'd cancel the stop but now I'm not too sure.

Really enjoyed your review. Thanks for taking us along! Sounded like your group traveled very well together!

5 hours ago, garnet115 said:

Are there times other than Black Friday when they run sales on packages?  I just booked a cruise for October, so no Black Friday before then!  

Many but not usually as low as BF.

Indy is our favorite ship. It is the perfect size and enough activities to keep 2 adults and a teen busy. We've always encountered friendly staff everywhere. We got to spend a rare 7-nights over Thanksgiving and will be back on shortly for spring break. Can't wait!

13 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Thanks for following along 😀. I enjoyed taking you. Enjoy Oasis, she was a wonderful ship with a great crew. 

 

Next cruise is in March On Celebrity Constellation 12 day Central America and Caribbean cruise. I'll be bringing my mom along on that one.

Are you doing a Live for that one? I'll have to leave a post-it since I don't spend any time on that board. I need to follow along with all of your mom's shopping trips! We mainly sail Indy & Freedom as it fits best with the school calendar. We did Symphony during the "lift and shift" phase so the ships weren't very full. I've never experienced leaving a full Oasis-class ship! We normally disembark late since we live in Hollywood, but I'd imagine it would be better to get off early in order to get an Uber. Thanks for another fun Live 😀

4 minutes ago, jam19872016 said:

Time to pack. I did carry on only so I did pack an empty bag to help load up my haul.

 

Eight bottles of power aide coming home. Two bottles of champagne. Two bottles of water. A crystal block. And nine ducks. Yes I shall need some extra room.

 

I did get while I was out and did two more laps.

 

Now I'm packing and laying down. I want to get out of Miami before traffic gets too bad which means getting up at an ungodly hour.

 

Good night everyone 😴. 

Are the ducks for your mom?

6 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Cafe promenade has really upped their game. Never had that sandwich before. Cream cheese and spinach. Really good.

 

Casino on the other hand, really bad.

 

How bad?

 

I lost all yesterday's profits. Most of day one's as well 😞.

 

Back In the room and and turning in for the evening. Tomorrow will be our first sea day.

 

Goodnight. 

Plenty of days left for your luck to change! However, I'm not understanding that sandwich....cream cheese and spinach on bread is a good thing? Hmmm.... Can't wait to see what shenanigans you get into on your sea day.

1 hour ago, colesc15 said:

I swear Royal prides themself on stale breads. I can't think of a ship I've been on where the hot dog and hamburger buns in the windjammer aren't stale or hard as a rock lol. I've learned if I want a burger, grab a roll from the bread area and make your own bun. 

On our last cruise, I asked my husband if it would be too much for me to bring my own hamburger buns! Those buns are way too thick and always slightly stale. I blamed it on their supplier but maybe they're just old.

31 minutes ago, DandDM said:

I've rambled enough.  Final, general, thoughts.

 

Very glad the trip was two weeks. The first was a bit of a blur and I would have been bummed to leave that quickly. By the end of the second week I was ready...could have stayed longer, but felt the time was right.

 

Really, really, enjoyed the bartenders (Sherwin and Roman) in Vintages. Met a lot of people there, drank too much, and just generally had a good time. As much as I like to plan, never know what a cruise is going to be like; this one was the Vintages cruise!

 

Regarding my decision to make this a 'running cruise' - I'm happy with that. Sure would have been nice to sleep in some mornings and not think about what I was ordering, but it was worth it. I still ate a lot (probably too much for my goal) but I feel good about how it went down. Don't know if I'll ever have the need to push myself this much on a future cruise, but if I do, know how to do it.

 

Finally, stairs!  Made it all two weeks without an elevator!! Was very tempted after some runs (especially St Thomas) and when I just wanted to quickly get something up or down the stairs. Could probably write a page on my thoughts on stairs and all the tricks and strategies I used to keep it going!  Also sure I built up some stair specific muscle, but unfortunately, don't have any stairs in my regular life to keep that up. I guess it will be useful next week in Vegas and taking the street overpasses. Related - I'm on the third story of my hotel. Other than bringing my bag up here, have still been using the stairs.

 

You now know more than you ever wanted to about what I thought about this cruise; please let me know if any questions. 

 

As I posed earlier, will come back with any updates, especially about the race, but I'm pretty much wrapped up with this trip.  Six AM flight tomorrow 😞

 

Thank you everyone for following, happy cruising!

 

 

 

 

Thank you for taking the time out of your vacation. I really enjoyed your review. I'm not a runner by any means but it was fascinating to see you stick to your goals during a cruise. My next one is in March and I will certainly take the elevator but I want to push myself to do steps more. I will think of you! Safe travels home and looking forward to the race review!

2 hours ago, DandDM said:

This is different for me too! I'll share my thoughts, but welcome anyone else with more 'local' knowledge to chime in.

 

I consider the service charge the gratuity (or tip) and have not given extra. Kinda like the 18% that cruise lines add to bills (I wonder if that is where the idea came from here...)

 

Where I live (Pacific North West USA) there was a period of time where restaurants would claim to be socially responsible by adding a "Living Wage" tip to your bill. For most places it was 15 - 18% and they were upfront about it, saying that the tip ensured that employees received a 'living wage'.  If you didn't like it, you could have it taken off, or you could give extra. Once again, very upfront about it. This didn't last long and all of the restaurants I know of that tried it out, later stopped and went back to a traditional tipping system.

 

Have treated what I've seen here as being similar, but it has not been done the same way. First off, I didn't notice anything on menu or table that specifically talked about it.  Second, it was buried in the bill as a 'service charge.'.  Finally, the receipt to sign (or when the bring the machine out) had it included on the total with additional line for tip. I specifically asked my waitress about it today, I said, "This is the tip, right?".  She nodded agreement, but based on a language barrier I noticed when ordering, not 100% sure she understood me.

 

If I was going to tip extra for outstanding service, would only calculate the tip based on the food and drink cost before taxes and the service charge. 

 

Now that I've seen it twice here in Miami Beach I am guessing that it is pretty common in the area...other might have more thoughts.

 

Cheers,

I live in Hollywood and dine in Miami maybe every other month.  It's rare that we tip additionally, maybe $5-$7 if the server was extra friendly which can be rare in Miami!  However, I'm also not eating in super fancy restaurants so maybe that is a factor as well. 

2 hours ago, DandDM said:

12th and final run today!  More runs than I thought feasible for the trip. 
 

The run itself was just ok, after two weeks of ‘practicing’ on the ship, thought I would crush this. But of all things, my shins bugged me from the start…the only reason I can think of is that I’d gotten used to the softer track surface on the ship, so running on concrete and brick was the issue. While not what I’d hoped for, was able to get five miles in and kept time under 11 min/mile. 

 

A lot of people out, forgot that it is Veteran’s Day. A big Thank You to the veterans out there!

 

 

 

Today is President's Day. No school!