Sinppu

Our first port on this cruise was Vigo.

We decided to go DIY in every port and had nothing planned in advance.

It turned out to be a great plan :)

We'd heard the previous night that Vigo was an industrial and boring city with nothing special to offer, but we disagree.

Vigo had character but maybe not the kind many people look for.

We got a map right at the pier and decided to head for the fortress to see the views over Vigo.

Vigo has plenty of stairs and hills so walking might not be an option if you are agilitically challenged.

A lot of souvenirs which were not too expensive.

Love your review and it's bringing back such happy memories ...but we've been on Indy four times now and I've NEVER noticed the sheep. Lol. Where were they ? I must walk round with my eyes shut. Lol

They're at the gym :D

Sinny, I loved your review of the Southern Caribbean. We followed your advice and stayed at Tres Palmas Inn in San Juan and we loved it! Thank you (Although it wasn't for everyone in our large group, it was exactly what my DH and I prefer.)

 

I am really looking forward to the rest of your review. I love your writing style. We are planning a cruise to the Med in a couple of years (Greek Isles out of Barcelona.) Who knows, you may convince me to look at other options and ships!:)

HI!! I'm so glad hear that you liked Tres Palmas Inn. It suited us very well.

I'll try with the foods anyway.

Mostly the MDR served good or excellent food. Sometimes we got something we weren't that impressed with but we never went anywhere else after dinner and that sums it up in my opinion.

Pineapple, kiwi and strawberry starter. (I like that name. Doesn't leave you wondering what you are eating...) Nice and fresh.

Shrimp Cocktail. OK.

Seafood Pasta. Sufficiently good.

Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding. Good.

Carrot Cake. I WANT MORE!!!

Low Fat something. Lowry had many of these as dessert. They were never spectacular, but did the job.

And to bed early again.

Tomorrow in Vigo!

I'll be back later in the evening, have to go and work for a while again.

I attended the Free Champagne Art Auction today.

I do it for the champagne.

It helps me part from my money more easily :p

Today all these lovely chaps found a new home.

Poor little roll. Wonder where it's parents are?

First formal night was tonight. We are the kind that like to dress up and here is proof:

This evening we ate at the MDR.

We had My Time Dining, mainly because we never know what time we are hungry.

On the Independence there is a Shakespeare theme and King Lear on deck 5 is MTD.

And now I notice how foolish it was not to take photos of the menus. I am a food porner and it would indeed be helpful to know WHAT I've have photographed for you all...

Still practising my perfection, I suppose. Darn it.

I always like to walk around the ship (also in corridors I don't live in) to see all the art.

Some really cool things on Indy as well.

OK, the last photo isn't art per se. It's just me being artsy-ish. In a lift.

Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for all your kind wordses and complimentses (feeling a bit Gollumish this morning... Saturday and all :p).

I'll continue then, shall I? Yes? No?

Silence.

I'll take that as a yes.

We didn't do much on our first sea day. We work hard when at home and so very often on holiday we sleep A LOT on the first days, 10-12 hours a night.

We got up just in time for the Meet and Mingle and there were about 30 people there.

It was one of the best Meet and Mingles we have attended as the Activities Manager Tim Connor was absolutely hilarious and he had a plethora of "Royal Caribbean crap you've never wanted" to give away.

I won an amazing pair of RCCL earrings!

We then went to the progressive trivia and met Joff Eaton for the first time.

We are pro-Joff. His sense of humour is mean but we appreciate it.

As we didn't do so much today, I'll post some photos of the ship taken on various days.

From the solarium. That's the only bridge I might like to spend time under...table and seats, everyone!!

I assumed this would have been for ladies wanting to sunbathe topless but never saw any such.

And as we are European and invented the sauna, we don't mind. ;)

Sinny - great review so far, I love your sense of humour! :D

 

I think you might have meant the Westfield shopping centre in London though? ;)

:eek::eek:

I did indeed.

Oops.

Great to see another report from you Sinny - I just finished your Alaska trip with you. Are you still a dealer? I bet the gamblers love your table as you are soooo nice. Ditto on London, favorite in all the world.

 

Chris

I'm still a dealer :D

Happy customers are the best customers and keeping people happy even though they lose their money is my goal.

Usually I succeed :p

Ha ha! Pink art :D loving your sense of humour. Can't wait for next instalment and I'm getting excited about my holiday!

:D:D:D

Interesting to see you had an Indian entree. We don't have those in the US anymore.

One every evening on the menu. Indian food holds almost the status of national food in the UK :p;)

We weren't too impressed with the MDR menu today, so we ended back up in the Windjammer.

The first evening there tends to be crowded, but later on the cruise dinners there are usually really nice and quiet.

Unfortunately I don't have the MDR menus. They were refreshing on a cruise this long, there was much variety and in the Classic section every night something very British.

Same goes for the WJ. Leaving from Southampton clearly makes a difference and you can find scones in the afternoon, sandwich stations and other UK specialties there.

A lot of pink art...really, it's pink. The lighter blob is just reflection from the lamps.

We had an early night on the first evening.

Next up is Day 2 spent At Sea (but some work first...pfffft.)

Thanks for the info. London is on our bucket list, so I keep filing away transportation ideas on how to get to the cruise port.:)

But of course! There are also trains, but they are about 3-4 times more expensive (though faster by an hour).

A BIG word of advice regarding London: The Tube is amazing but really not recommended if you have heavy luggage. Carrying around your bags up and down hundreds of stairs is :eek::mad::eek::mad:

The Tube map shows you which stations are accessible (=have lifts) and I really recommend planning your journeys with them in mind when you have luggage with you.

Just something to remember :)

We missed the sail-away festivities as we might have been somewhere else just then.

Wow. What a brainwave from me just there. :rolleyes:

Muster drill was nothing different from the other ones we have been to, it was done out on deck.

Lovely weather.

We are casino people. Lowry by choice and I by profession. Which also is a choice, obviously...I'm just amazingly sassy today...

We spent a lot of time there, Lowry more than me. He mat some really nice people playing poker.

He also met some less nice people. On our previous cruises we have also noticed that in the casino you can find the best and worst members of the crew.

Some are just lovely and friendly and others should find a job where they could get customer service from themselves. That would teach them...

On the first evening there was free champagne in the art gallery.

I didn't go.

Ha! Fooled you. Of course I did. Silly.

Sinny, did you find it a hassle to take your bags on the train (National Express)?

 

Enjoying the review, as usual.:)

Heheeey BOB!!

It was not a hassle at all...as we didn't take a train ;)

We took a bus but it was easy as peas. The driver helped at both ends with the bags and there was plenty of space for them.

Not so much inside the coach though, just a backpack or a purse.

Glad to see you here!!

Really looking forward to following this review, we did this cruise last year and we are doing it again in a few weeks time x

It was the best cruise we've had. :D

Fantastic review - can't wait to read more. Thanks for taking the time to post and for giving me some good laughs. :)

Why sure! More to come :D

Thanks!

The big screen on the pool deck showed Wimbledon tennis matches as well as the football World Cup.

The matches were heavily featured around the ship so if someone wanted completely to escape them... sorry. No go.

We frequented Sorrento's quite often this cruise. Their pizza is definitely forgettable, but it was often refilled, fresh and offered gluten-free (Lowry doesn't eat wheat) so we ended up there a lot for a late snack.

When and if you can't find ice water from Sorrento's or Cafe Promenade, it's because a) the U.S Health Department forbids it now or b) RCCL wants to make more profit by selling water bottles.

Dependes who you ask...

But you get water by asking for it from the bar.

Or by buying it from the ports and carrying it back to the ship. We did it twice and nobody batted an eye.

(Except an elder couple of fellow passengers in Barcelona who promised us our water would be taken away. No. I'm quite offended, really. They broke their promise to us.:mad:)

Ice Cream seemed to be a hit this cruise but I don't think the Cupcake Cupboard crew had their hands full during the whole fortnight.

We found an excellent way for Lowry to find his way back to the cabin.

Someone would surely return him if found this way wandering down the corridors.

We had a lot of time to get to know the ship. Some places were completely empty and others filled with people.

Want to eat in peace? Fill your plate in the Windjammer and find a free treadmill in the gym!

Or in the jacuzzi.

Or in the chapel.

Or if you want to mingle, pick a seat somewhere convenient. Like on the Promenade.

We haven't been on the Freedom class before but especially I was surprised to see how familiar the ship was.

It reminded me a lot of the Navigator... so maybe that's why it felt like home so quickly.

We set out for the Windjammer to have lunch.

Some outside entertainment.

The cabins were opened promptly at 1 pm.

I'd booked an inside guaranty cabin and we got Promenade cabin 6577.

We were right above the Dog and Badger Pub which allowed us to listen to the pub entertainer Pat Shannon's every song without us actually ever going inside the pub.

So if you like to retire early and are a light sleeper, Promenade cabins are not good for you.

We quite liked it, though.

Here you have proof that the embarkation in Southampton was more than efficient.

We arrived in Southampton about 10.40 am, to the terminal about 10.48 am, had the SeaPass cards in our hands 11.05 am and were on the ship 11.11 pm.

So the walk uphill took us 12 hours.

Kidding...just checking are you paying attention :D;)

Not at all crowded....niiiicceee.

That was our pre-cruise stay very shortly and sweetly.

Now it is Indy time!!

From London it's very easy to reach Southampton.

We took the cheap way and bought coach tickets from National Express £10 per person online.

You can take two pieces of luggage with you, you are guaranteed a seat and there is service every hour.

The journey took 2 hours and 15 minutes and we would definitely do it again.

We set off 8.30 am and were in Southampton around 10.40 am.

There has been a lot questions regarding the boarding times in Southampton. As we are Platinum, we were free to check in anytime and hence were at the terminal as early as possible.

Not too crowded...and we got our SeaPasses quickly!

A short walk uphill...

And you have reached your destination: The Drink Package Sales Point.

Venturing out of the immediate city centre is a good bet.

We went to the Northfield Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush because Lowry had his birthday coming up and as a present he got to fly a Boeing simulator for an hour.

Also great food for a good price in Northfield.

I went to two museums while in London:

The V&A

The Museum of London

Love both. Excellent free Wifi also ;)

In London there is always somewhere to eat and plenty to look at.

Public transport might be the best in the world.

Same goes for shopping, people-watching, entertainment...take your pick.

London is by far my favourite city in the world and it's both easy and convenient to spend time there pre- or post-cruise when departing from Southampton.

London is huge so if you only have a few days to spare, plan accordingly.

The sights never ever run out...I've been here 9 times and still haven't seen everything I want to :eek:

Hotels are expensive.

We tried out a budget option this time and were happy (considering the price we paid and the location).

The EasyHotel chain provides very cheap hotels in very central locations but do remember that with the teenyweeny price tag...

...comes a teenyweeny room.

We laughed uncontrollably when we saw the room and every morning put our bags on the beds to get more room and in the evenings put them back on the floor.

But we did pay only £60 per night and it was the most expensive season because of the Wimbledon Tennis tournament.

The hotel was a 5-minute walk from Victoria station which is a recommendation in itself.

iBienvenidos a todos!

Welcome everyone to this much awaited (just call me Eager Sinver!) photo report of our longest cruise yet!!

Can't wait.... and don't have to anymore :D

Typing away already, aren't I??

So here are the most important facts about our cruise:

The ship

Itinerary

Day 1 Southampton

Day 2 At Sea

Day 3 Vigo

Day 4 Lisbon

Day 5 Gibraltar

Day 6 At Sea

Day 7 Valencia

Day 8 Barcelona

Day 9 Palma de Mallorca

Day 10 Ibiza

Day 11 At Sea

Day 12 Cadiz

Day 13 At Sea

Day 14 At Sea

Day 15 Southampton

And the cruisers

To new readers we are Sinny and Lowry, mid-thirties, Finnish and as my signature reveals, love cruising.

I write photo reports from our cruises and will try to answer all questions, thank for every compliment and snipe back sniders ;)

This is it...here it begins!!

Thanks for the kind words everyone :)

A review is indeed coming soon!

Hello ladies,

here are my 5 dresses from our 14-day Indpendence cruise.

Been home a week now :(

The three in the middle are formal.

Two at the sides are smart casual.

Was happier with some choices than with others :rolleyes:

Thank you all for these great tips! We are trying HAL for the first time in October... the itinerary is amazing.

And as it seems, so will the ship :)