(Slightly less so) Cheapo dad's trip report on Independence of the Seas

NOBODY in line this morning at guest services before 8 AM

What is a Christmas morning without Santa? The event this morning is to have Santa walk from the poolside at 8:15 all the way down to Studio B (I have yet to find Studio A on the ship) to pass out presents to kids from 8:30 to 10:30. I’ll pass as I have to eat breakfast before the tour but we will go to Studio B as every kid gets a present (RCI defines anyone 17 years or younger to be a kid for this purpose).

So off to breakfast we go. This section of WJ pretty empty at 8 AM.

Oh, before we talk about inside windjammer, my son mentioned how he is getting used to hearing the happy gal in front of windjammer every morning squirting everybody's hands and singing the "washy washy" song. I recorded her singing the song on my cell phone as she sang "washy washy before yummy yummy, merry Christmas" . So going forward, if I ever want an instant cruise feel, I can just play the washy washy song. Maybe even have it as my phone's ring tone...

More people toward the back center section.

As I am not a professional reviewer, I didn’t do a scientific study but from my casual observation through the cruise, people like to gravitate toward the center middle area. That tends to be the most crowded per my observation. If you need an empty table, look around toward the side or when you first walk in by where Santa’s butt is. Those tend to have fewer people as I think people are lazy and don’t want to sit too far away from the food area so expect those areas to be taken first. So look for tables away from the food area toward the side and you might have some luck.

But like I said, this is not scientific as I didn’t do a table availability matrix analysis on this. Take this info anyway you like. If I am wrong, email CC to get one month credit…

Here is the egg station where you place a special order for what type of egg you want. Typically I pass on this station as I don’t have the patience to stand and wait. But since today was Christmas Day and the line isn’t very long, I placed an order for an omelet.

So you ask what you can put in your omelet? Glad you ask.

You can also get the type of eggs you want like sunny side up/over easy and so on (see first picture) if you don't like omelets

Now those people who have been reading what I typically eat the past few cruises knows I like a little of everything. So it will come as no surprise when you see my omelet – combo. Has one of everything on the list. That’s my style. One of everything. Simple, no? Technically speaking I did have some bacon on the cruise as a result of this omelet.

That's a whole lot of "stuff" in this omelet

They have these half cut fried tomatoes that are not too bad. Of course, here are the round pork things (aka Canadian bacon). I passed on those today.

They also have these waffle/pancake topping stations where you can add different flavors instead of the plain syrup. I always get the strawberry topping

Gotta have the salmon

This island is still in recovery mode. The taxi drivers likely lost income from the hurricane season which devastated this island. I think rather than annoying, they are hoping to make some money to stay afloat.

 

I am sorry for them to have someone say they look annoying.

 

Downtown San Juan looks good but go inland and the reality of the damage is very evident.

I’m aware of the fact that there is significant damage elsewhere on the island, don’t worry.

I’m sorry they lost their income, I’m sure they are just trying to earn enough to get by. That doesn’t mean I can’t find their harassing tactics annoying! I’m sure they’re all great people.

The full English breakfast (sausage, bacon, egg, mushroom and beans) on RC is just awesome.

The full English breakfast (sausage, bacon, egg, mushroom and beans) on RC is just awesome.

My older one loves the beans. He gets those for breakfast daily.

I'm culturally inept. Didn't realize these are part of the full English breakfast. I knew they didn't have the mushrooms on the Freedom last year. So are the mushrooms and beans just on the Indy as they are more based in Europe or part of the fleet wide WJ menu?

These juice guys need to be more consistent on their juice dispensing amount. The variance is huge between different cups of orange juice. Some are almost full and others are less than half.

These juice guys need to be more consistent on their juice dispensing amount. The variance is huge between different cups of orange juice. Some are almost full and others are less than half.

 

 

Carb grams choice for the diner?

Hi,

 

Especially if you are getting older in life, you need to consider the value of time in how many more years you have to cruise as a family. When they get older and go away for school and have their own lives, they may not have time to vacation with you down the road. So the window is closing/narrowing as they get older. Like the old saying goes, money can’t buy you happiness but sometimes, it buys you the opportunity to do something before the chance is gone.

Harry: You are wise beyond your years. Jim,

So true. Harry is indeed wise.

What type of car do you drive? Mine is a 22 year old Camry…

I drive a 14year old hyundai, santa fe. With 269kmiles. I had bought it new. It runs great

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Harry: You are wise beyond your years. Jim,

So true. Harry is indeed wise.

Thanks for the high praise, guys. Not really.

Just learned from real life lesson after my parents passed away, the fond vacations memories I had with them were taking our first few cruise together. So just trying to pass that along to my kids.

What type of car do you drive? Mine is a 22 year old Camry…

 

I drive a 14year old hyundai, santa fe. With 269kmiles. I had bought it new. It runs great

 

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Yeah, it's great to keep the car for many years as the first and only owner. No need to make monthly payments.

Thanks for the high praise, guys. Not really.

 

Just learned from real life lesson after my parents passed away, the fond vacations memories I had with them were taking our first few cruise together. So just trying to pass that along to my kids.

True Dat! Appreciate every day that you end up on the right side of the dirt.

Losing both parents within a year of each other when my kids were toddlers meant having to keep the memories alive but also explain that time together was more important than almost anything else.

Still reading and enjoying your pictures, Harry.

Hi Harry,

This is such an interesting review of you family vacation. You are really quite entertaining with your style of humor.

You also have a lovely family 🙂

I got the souffle. Always associate that as cruise food.

 

With sauce

 

 

I will NEVER EVER understand why RCCL's "chocolate" souffle is beige.

What the heck, guys?????

Here’s my theory on the half-filled beverages in the WJ — room for ice cubes? DH loves his beverages ice cold, so usually has more ice, less beverage.

I can’t believe you were able to do both forts in one day! I think we had two cruises in a row with stops in SJ. First time (arrived after 1:00) we hotfooted it to El Morro, which closed around 5:00. Second stop we spent most of the day at Cristobal. You must see Fort Brimstone Hill if you get to St. Kitts.

And you must be outside sailing into SJ. It’s fantastic!

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Here’s my theory on the half-filled beverages in the WJ — room for ice cubes? DH loves his beverages ice cold, so usually has more ice, less beverage.

That's my theory as well. In the past they add the ice first and then fill with juice. The problem with this is that it waters down the beverage if it has been sitting around for a while. Adding the ice when you take the drink prevents that.

True Dat! Appreciate every day that you end up on the right side of the dirt.

Losing both parents within a year of each other when my kids were toddlers meant having to keep the memories alive but also explain that time together was more important than almost anything else.

Yeah, the kids grow up fast and if you don't vacation with them when they are young, they might not want to vacation with you when you are old. Good to establish family traditions.

Still reading and enjoying your pictures, Harry.

Thanks for the kind words and following along. Appreciate the support.

Hi Harry,

 

This is such an interesting review of you family vacation. You are really quite entertaining with your style of humor.

 

You also have a lovely family 🙂

Hi,

Thanks for the kind words. This is my third installment of this series. It’s pretty much the same lame humor as the first two as I only have a comedy writing team (of one) on the staff.

At the end of the day, a trip report is nothing more than a re-telling of what one did on their vacation. Days of Our Lives, if you will (for those from outside the S, Days of Our Lives is a name of the day time soap opera). On paper, that’s about as exciting as reading a laundry list. So I just try to add bunch of non sense stuff to keep the people awake and throw in some rock pictures to keep the ADHD in me from being bored.

It’s a lot of work as it typically takes me 1.5 months to do one of these reports but it’s a lot of fun and from the feedback I have received from the newbie cruisers, some of the junk stuff I spew out was actually useful for the their cruise so it’s all good to help people have a better vacation.

If nothing else, I have introduced some people to Sir Mix A Lot’s rap song…;p

Here’s my theory on the half-filled beverages in the WJ — room for ice cubes? DH loves his beverages ice cold, so usually has more ice, less beverage.

 

I can’t believe you were able to do both forts in one day! I think we had two cruises in a row with stops in SJ. First time (arrived after 1:00) we hotfooted it to El Morro, which closed around 5:00. Second stop we spent most of the day at Cristobal. You must see Fort Brimstone Hill if you get to St. Kitts.

 

And you must be outside sailing into SJ. It’s fantastic!

 

 

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That's my theory as well. In the past they add the ice first and then fill with juice. The problem with this is that it waters down the beverage if it has been sitting around for a while. Adding the ice when you take the drink prevents that.

Here is the picture from the Freedom last year. All drinks were full. Indy's juice drinks are anemic in comparison.

If you look the difference between water and juice, the water cups are much more full. Given that the water in theory should be cheaper, I still think it's the cost factor that is limiting the drinks

Here’s my theory on the half-filled beverages in the WJ — room for ice cubes? DH loves his beverages ice cold, so usually has more ice, less beverage.

 

I can’t believe you were able to do both forts in one day! I think we had two cruises in a row with stops in SJ. First time (arrived after 1:00) we hotfooted it to El Morro, which closed around 5:00. Second stop we spent most of the day at Cristobal. You must see Fort Brimstone Hill if you get to St. Kitts.

 

And you must be outside sailing into SJ. It’s fantastic!

 

 

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We more or less ran out of energy and time at El Morro as we couldn't see all the levels. But at least we went to both.

We did visit Brimstone Hill at St. Kitts. That will be on day 7.

My older one loves the beans. He gets those for breakfast daily.

 

I'm culturally inept. Didn't realize these are part of the full English breakfast. I knew they didn't have the mushrooms on the Freedom last year. So are the mushrooms and beans just on the Indy as they are more based in Europe or part of the fleet wide WJ menu?

I’m British by birth, I don’t think many non-Brits would know what’s in one either, don’t worry!

They had all of this on Navigator out of Galveston, back then I was still able to eat most of it and my husband was just in heaven because we miss this stuff living in Texas. They also had it on Oasis last summer, except that I can’t eat most of it anymore due to a colon disorder so I didn’t get to partake. They also had other British dishes at lunch and dinner in the Oasis WJ, like cottage pie or trifle. The beans are my favorite too, they’re a staple part of a British kid’s upbringing!