IOS Review - 8 Night Eastern Carib. with a Family of 4

[CruiseDad-NYC]

Here’s a review of my 8 night voyage on the Independence of the Seas’ Eastern Caribbean itinerary, which we took from 2/6/10 to 2/14/10. Traveling with me were my wife and 2 boys (ages 5 and 7). We were in interconnecting cabins, 7650 and 7652. We have previously sailed on the Celebrity Millennium, Summit, and Galaxy. Long ago, my first cruise was on the RCCL Song of America and my wife sailed on the Majesty, our only previous RCCL experiences.

The Day Before

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale the day before our cruise and stayed at the Comfort Inn on Stirling Boulevard. Unfortunately, the Super Bowl was in Miami the same weekend, and hotels seemed to be very expensive or totally booked, even in Ft. Lauderdale, and I had a difficult time finding a reasonable price after checking for months. We paid $214 (a $194 base rate) for the room, including tax, which we found on Hotels.com, which is absurd for a Comfort Inn. The hotel’s rooms were very small, the beds were very small and uncomfortable, the pool was ice cold, the door didn’t lock (which we didn’t realize until the next morning), and the continental breakfast was just OK. The only plus was the shuttle from the airport and to the cruiseport, which was quick and easy for us. I’m not terribly picky about hotels for pre-night cruises, but thought this just wasn’t very good at all, and I would not stay there again (something I very rarely say).

The Ship

Embarkation was a breeze. We got on board the free shuttle at the Comfort Inn at about 10:40 a.m. and we were on board the ship at approximately 11:20. That’s crazy fast, and I barely believe it myself. Our cabin wasn’t ready until 1, but that was no problem for us. We were just happy to be on board. We went up and had lunch at the Windjammer at about noonish, and it was already packed and it was hard to find a seat (something we found often on the ship over the course of the voyage). Our cabins were beautiful – they still seemed new and pristine, and they were huge (214 square feet each), and the balcony divider was opened, which made the balcony seem extra large. We could not have been happier about them.

The Indy was a little bit large for us, and I think the ideal size really was the Celebrity Millennium and Summit. I felt we had to take elevators more often than on those ships, and we would generally prefer to walk if its just 3 decks or so. The elevators came pretty often, but I’d rather walk if I could. I think the Oasis would be just too big for us, and I have absolutely no interest in it at all.

Overall, the ship was beautiful. It was shiny and bright and more tastefully decorated than I think I expected.

The Food

Was kind of disappointed with the food. It seemed just OK. Meal times seemed packed in the Windjammer, and it was often difficult to find a table. They had a pasta station, but just one person serving, which was absurd and meant that very few people could get it without waiting a long time. Same thing for the egg/omelette station in the mornings.

I don’t enjoy the pageantry of the main dining room so much, and even though our waiter was perfectly fine, I actually preferred eating in the Windjammer (or the adjacent Jade) in the evenings. The selections were varied (a lot of nice fish) and it just wasn’t much of a scene, and I felt there were lighter and healthier opportunities for eating up there. A very nice surprise was the Indian food – each night there were at least 1 or 2 Indian dishes at the Windjammer that were expertly cooked and seasoned. Also had a Moroccan Lamb Curry one night at Jade that was excellent. They had white table cloths and waiters who would come around to take drink orders and were very friendly. Just know that it if you just can’t bring yourself to sit through a big, long meal in the MDR one night, this is a nice break.

We also tried Portofino one night. I really expected to be wowed by this, because we had been blown away by the Normandie restaurant experience on the Summit and thought we were in for similar quality here. We still had a nice time, but it was no nicer than the MDR and not worth the money, in my opinion. The room was nice, but did not wow like it should have. The service was painfully slow – far beyond leisurely. We waited well over an hour between the appetizer and the seafood kabob, which arrived way undercooked (the salmon, shrimp, and lobster were raw and cold in the middle). They promptly sent us another that was cooked fine – but it was just good, not extraordinary in any way, in my opinion. The skewered salmon kabob that they had in the Windjammer was just as good, when this should have been way better. Also, our waiter, while very nice, should have known the answers to some very basic questions about the limited wine list (i.e., what’s the difference between the wine that was $12 a glass and the wine that was $15 a glass, both of them Italian Chardonnays). That said, it wasn’t a bad experience, it just wasn’t good enough to do again, and I don’t recommend it at all, unless spending $20pp makes absolutely no difference to you or if you just want to eat in a quieter, less bustling place one night.

The coffee – something that is important to me – was very good on the ship! Fresh, hot coffee was available 24 hours a day at the Café Promenade on Deck 5, and I was there bright and early every morning.

AdventureOcean, Kids Activities and Babysitting

My kids are 5 and 7 and enjoy playing with each other, so we were hoping the age groups would not be so rigid and they could be in the same program, since the cut off would have split them up. As it turns out, having my 5 year old participate in the 6 to 8 program was not a problem, though we were warned that there was a “one strike” policy – that is, if there were any type of behavioral issue, there would be no second chances, and he would be bounced down to the 3 to 5 year old program. This was not a problem for him or us.

My kids loved the Fun Factory on Celebrity, and one of the reasons we took the IOS was because of our perception that the Adventure Ocean would be even better. All of this is subjective of course, but they seemed to like the counselors better in the Fun Factory and the activities and the facilities in Adventure Ocean were no better (the only difference I could see was that the room was larger, like everything else, on the IOS).

On one of the afternoons, I went to pick my kids up, and the organized game was either “Protect the President” or “Mission Impossible” (I couldn’t tell which, and both were on the printed schedule), and the counselor was telling the kids “All of the Assassins line up over here . . . .” Honestly, having first and second graders engaging in role playing games where some are designated “assassins” is pretty poor in my opinion.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m slamming Adventure Ocean. I thought it was good – just not great. And my kids never begged to go, like they had on our previous cruises.

In the evenings (except for the first night and the last night), we had babysitters. RCCL has a policy now where they assign 2 babysitters instead of just one. (I have read on these boards that there was some type of incident that led to the new policy). The rate is $12 per hour total. Guest services said we just pay one of the babysitters and the cruise line pays the other. But, the baby sitters told us that they split the money (which might explain the price increase from $8 to $12 since last year). My kids absolutely loved the 2 sitters who could not have been nicer and more enthusiastic (we had the same 2 all week). They brought games and books and played with the kids for about 1.5 hours before putting them to bed. I’m wholly skeptical when I read on these

My kids loved the H2O Zone (i.e., the outdoor water park) and it was one of the real highlights of the trip for them and us. It would also be a reason that would factor into our decision to take another cruise on a Freedom class ship. I also liked the pools and the Jacuzzis, though they were often very crowded and it was sometimes hard to find room.

One of the things we really liked about the ship was all of the activities. We played a lot of mini-golf, ping pong, shuffleboard, basketball, etc. and it was nice and easy to have them all easily and readily available. I did not do the Waverunner, though I was tempted. My wife had fun on the rock climbing wall, and I was totally impressed with how quickly she scurried up to the top. We also went ice skating one morning, which was my 5 year old’s first time skating – crazy that it was on a ship! We also went to one of the ice shows, and I was surprised with how good it was.

The Ports.

We chose this itinerary in large part because of the ports, which were:

St. Maarten: We walked off the ship and walked to the beach in town, which was perfectly nice. An easy 15 minute walk. Rented 2 chairs and an umbrella (with bottles of water) for $10 total. Ice Cold Red Stripes were for sale just steps away. It was a great day. We love St. Maarten for the easy on-off with the kids.

St. Thomas: We took a cab ($7pp) for a ride (approximately 15 mins) to Emerald Beach. It was a beautiful beach that was at a Best Western Hotel on a beautiful cove with beautiful sand and great swimming. Rented 2 chairs in the shade ($14 total). You can use the bathroom facilities at the hotel, and we ordered drinks from the bar on the beach. They also serve lunch, though it looked pretty expensive for what it was. This was a great day, and would definitely go back here again.

San Juan: It was hot and the kids didn’t like walking around Old San Juan very much, though I think it is beautiful and charming. I dropped the wife and kids back at the ship after an hour and ended up going on my own walk for about 45 minutes or so.

Labadee: Labadee is one of our favorite stops. The kids loved the water park (and we dropped them off there for a couple of hours during the time it was supervised by the Adventure Ocean staff) and had a great time. We had lunch on shore and spent the whole day at the beach.

Overall

Overall, we had a great time. The ship was beautiful and the itinerary was a very good one for us and the ports were easy for us to get around. We liked that it was an 8 nighter, which seemed like the perfect duration for us. While the ship is a little bigger and seemed more crowded than I ordinarily might have preferred, I would definitely go on it or any Freedom class ship again. In fact, we’re already thinking about the Liberty for next year.

[dleafy]

Thanks for posting your review.

We did the 8 nighter Jan 23rd and loved it. We also loved the food a bit more than you appeared to.

We would jump at the chance of going on the Indy again.

Loved it.

 

cheers

 

Davy!!! :D

[marci22]

Too bad about your hotel, there are a lot of good recommendations on the Florida departure boards on this site. (may be too late for you, but will help others). TripAdvisor is also a valuable resource.

 

Glad to hear about the Indian food in Jade/WJ. We have had varied experiences with Indian: sometimes excellent, sometimes fair, but I think we'll try it instead of MDR one night.

 

Having been on Freedom, I also feel that Indy is just a little bit big for me, but I am going to overlook it because it was the right price/itinerary at the time I needed.

 

Thanks for posting~

[CruiseDad-NYC]

[Too bad about your hotel, there are a lot of good recommendations on the Florida departure boards on this site. (may be too late for you, but will help others). TripAdvisor is also a valuable resource.]

 

Believe me, I tried and looked and researched everywhere! What it came down to was $$ and this was by far the best deal I could find! I know you get what you pay for, but felt that for this price, we should have received more. . .

 

[Having been on Freedom, I also feel that Indy is just a little bit big for me, but I am going to overlook it because it was the right price/itinerary at the time I needed.]

 

That sums up my thoughts exactly. For 8 nights, our base fare was $1079 pp, a $175 OBC per cabin in a category D2 balcony cabin. I was very happy with that price, and those ports work out well for us. It's easy on, easy off and you don't have to deal with transportation issues and precarious bus rides (e.g., in Dominica) which I just don't want to take with small kids.

[sharktums]

Thanks for the review, we leave on the 8 night Indy next Saturday!

 

I selfishly wish you had kept your younger son in the 3 - 5 age group so I could have heard your review on that one, since our daughter turns three next week and she'll be in that group! At least I know she won't be an assassin! =)

[depplep]

Glad to read your review. We leave on this itinerary in 24 days. I agree about the MDR, I have 3 nights booked in the specialty and am planning on Johnny Rockets for another night. I'm also happy to hear you had no embarkation problems as previously reported on another thread. We love cruising out of Lauderdale.

[CruiseDad-NYC]

[I'm also happy to hear you had no embarkation problems as previously reported on another thread. We love cruising out of Lauderdale.]

 

We had no embarkation problems - in fact it was probably the easiest one ever for us. But dis-embarkation was a different story! I had never really understood what people were talking about when they said dis-embarkation was a problem, since we had always just walked off the ship with no problem. Leaving the Indy was a mess, and I finally knew what people had been talking about. It took us an hour to get from the lounge from when our group was called to passport control. We had difficulty getting an elevator to get us to deck 1, and when we did, it opened up onto a packed corridor, which made it difficult for people to get off the elevator. It would have taken even longer to dis-embark if we hadn't hired a porter to take our bags for us and whisk us out of there. We were in no hurry, because we had a late afternoon flight, but for older people, that's a long time to be standing.

[nancronin]

Great review - thanks for taking the time to post it - also thanks for the information on Emerald Beach - I think our group will be going there. Sounds like you had a good time - glad you enjoyed the cruise overall.:D

[krisko]

I appreciate the review as I'm about to book the same itinerary on Liberty. I've wanted to take my family to SJ for a while and I've yet to see Labadee. It's too bad you didn't enjoy the adventure ocean club. I wasn't terribly happy with the club on my last cruise either. My kids are 9 and 10 which puts them in the older group. There was pretty much no science or learning going on, just dodgeball type games and a couple of treasure hunts. They loved it but they learned NOTHING about ships or marine life.

[CruiseDad-NYC]

Great review - thanks for taking the time to post it - also thanks for the information on Emerald Beach - I think our group will be going there. Sounds like you had a good time - glad you enjoyed the cruise overall.:D

 

Yes, we loved Emerald Beach! It wasn't crowded, the sand and water were great, and it did not involve a scary cab ride. In fact, all things considered, it might be one of our more favorite beaches for a cruise ship stop.

 

[Thanks for the review, we leave on the 8 night Indy next Saturday!

 

I selfishly wish you had kept your younger son in the 3 - 5 age group so I could have heard your review on that one, since our daughter turns three next week and she'll be in that group! At least I know she won't be an assassin! =)]

 

You're going to love the Indy, and so will your daughter (even if she doesn't have the opportunity to be an assassin). We spied on the 3 - 5 year old program and thought it looked great, and I think better than the 6 - 8 program. There was boat she can climb on, and it looked like they did a lot of arts and crafts. I would not have been crushed if my 5 year old had been kept out of the 6 - 8 year old program. He definitely would have seemed too old for the 3 - 5 group that was there, but he also seemed a little young for the 6 - 8 year old activities. A more ideal age breakdown, in my opinion, would be 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, since grouping kids that are 3 years a part is a pretty big age difference at that age. She will also love the H2O zone. And everyone on the ship was extremely nice to kids.

 

[it's too bad you didn't enjoy the adventure ocean club. I wasn't terribly happy with the club on my last cruise either.]

 

I hope I didn't give the impression that we didn't enjoy Adventure Ocean. We did enjoy it - we just didn't love it, like we did on the 2 Celebrity cruises, which surprised me. I remember on the last full (sea) day of the cruise last year, I went into the Fun Factory to get them, because I wanted to spend some time with them in the pool, before we headed back to the real world. They didn't want to leave and my then 4 year old threw himself onto the floor and started thrashing about in protest - and that is entirely uncharacteristic of him! On the IOS, the kids were always ready to go when we picked them up after a couple of hours. I agree that there are better things to do than dodge ball games. And I also don't like the ready accessibility and option to play video games - I'm in the minority on video games, but I don't like my kids playing them; I think they're bad on a lot of levels and it makes me feel sad when I see kids totally zoned out playing them for hours when there are much better things they can be doing with their minds and bodies.