Live Review - Independence of the Seas - 14 Night Italian Mediterranean Cruise 14/6

[londongal796]

I thought I would do my best to write a full ‘live’ review so that I can hopefully answer some questions along the way. I will only be updating and check things while I am in port so apologies but there may be some delays but I will do my best. You will be reading this from Day 4, Gibraltar, our first port day, but I will be writing as I go so I hope this will be quite thorough and complete.

 

Photos will be posted upon our return so this will be very text-heavy for now.

 

Some background:

My husband and I have cruised with RC together twice before for 2 different Mediterranean cruises. First on Grandeur of the Seas for a repositioning cruise (Palma de Majorca to Venice) and then on Navigator of the Seas (Rome to Rome, visiting the Greece and Turkey). I have cruised with RC a further two times, and once with Carnival, a number of years back. This makes my fourth Mediterranean cruise.

 

We live just outside of London. He is from up north in Scotland whereas I am from the US. This is the first time either of us has cruised without needing to fly to a port!

 

A little more background: Leading up to the cruise, we were both incredibly busy, working non-stop and dealing with an ant infestation at our home (dreaded flying ants!!). The morning of departure I had a somewhat panic-attack which left me feeling sick and weak. Not the best day for travel, especially with 4 cats to pack up and get to the cattery before grabbing the train to the port with all of our heavy luggage! And then we got a very exciting phone call -- the new houses we were looking to reserve had finally been released. That morning. The morning of our cruise!!!! 45minutes later in a complete and utter panic (not helping my panic attack) we arrived at the development and put our names down to reserve our future first home (first time buyers). SO! The morning of our cruise, we just happened to buy a house!!!!!!

 

As I mentioned, we took the train from Woking (where we live) to Southampton using Southwest Trains. As an annual season ticket holder I get 6 free tickets per year on the Southwest Train network so the train fare was free. Not too bad! It took 50 minutes to get there (longer if you’re coming from London Waterloo). Southampton Central (the correct stop) has taxi stands on both sides of the station and the port is only about three quarters of a mile away. However, I would not recommend walking there unless you have carry-on luggage only as it is quite far to be lugging 2-weeks worth of cruise clothing!!

 

We arrived into Southampton Central at 1:50pm. There were plenty of taxis waiting and we were whisked very quickly to the port and dropped off just outside of City Cruise Terminal. As we were so close to the port we didn’t get one of those sweeping visions of the ship beforehand in all her glory--just snippets of her backend and some of her sides. But I could see ‘Independence of the Seas’ on her side and I was soooo excited!!!!!

 

Dropped off and before we’d even sorted our luggage a porter was on hand offering to take it away for us. Very efficient! We walked into the mercifully air conditioned cruise terminal and followed the queuing system for ‘Gold’ members. There were three different lines -- first for everyone, second for just Gold, and third for all higher statuses. I am assuming that suite guests were for that line as well but I have to admit I didn’t read the whole list as it was quite long!

 

As we were arriving much later than most people I can’t comment on how efficient things were in general but for ourselves we had a brilliant time of it. There were simply no other Gold members in the lines and very few ‘higher status’ people as well. Most everyone appeared to be either first time cruisers or people who had not bothered to join Crown & Anchor society and so weren’t ‘Gold’ members. (By the way, this is our last cruise as Gold members -- we will be Platinum by the end of the cruise!) So things went very swiftly.

 

First queue took us to the security check point where they briefly reviewed our Set Sail passes and then we had our carry-on belongings screened and we went through metal detectors. We were asked to remove laptops although I was allowed to leave my Chromebook in my bag. No problems there and we moved swiftly on to the next room which was for check-in. We were first in our line again (okay, ONLY people in our line) and waited about 1 minute before we were seen by a check-in member. The regular line side was significantly busier, but there were probably 50 agents and only a few ‘higher priority’ guests so I think things moved very very swiftly. As a US citizen, for the third time now, I was asked to relinquish my passport for the duration of the cruise. This is because of Gibraltar. Previously it was because of Croatia and also Turkey. I don’t know why I can’t seem to catch a cruise where I can keep my passport BUT hey, it’s not so bad. At least there are no chances of me losing it mid-cruise!! I assured the American ladies beside me that this was quite normal and they do get it back to you by the end of the cruise. The first time I was asked to give up my passport I was a little demanding of information and probably not very pleasant. The second time I was more aware and was able to advise my father as well (he was travelling with us for the Rome to Rome cruise). This time I was surprised to be honest as Gibraltar is a part of the UK, and I did not think we’d need to go through such rigorous customs for it, but apparently we do! So while I was surprised, once I was explained it was Gibraltar and why, I gave up my passport quite readily. They give you a slip of paper explaining how and when to collect your passport. You also get a little ticket to keep to match it up with. Also, just to be clear: They take ALL NON-EU passports for some of these cruises. So not just US citizens but anyone who is not from the EU.

 

Very swiftly our paperwork was completed. They even took a photocopy of my passport for me to keep, which they have never done before -- that was quite helpful and very professional in my opinion. We then were given our Sea Passes and away we went. I have to admit, we dodged the photo opportunity and all of the sales pitches as we were tired and ready to eat and rest. We boarded very quickly, just a few ‘bingers’ in front of us (the ‘BING’ where they take your photo every time you go on and off the ship). Straight on to a lift to deck 8 and to our beautiful Family Oceanview Room, 8500. Definitely a major luxury for this cruise!!!!

 

So, as far as ranking goes:

Embarkation: 10/10

Definitely the most professional and less frantic cruise terminal I have ever been through. It was also thoroughly temperature controlled which makes a huuuge difference in comparison to some of the pop-up ones I’ve been through before. And the convenience for ourselves, living so nearby in the UK, means we will very strongly consider future Southampton cruises in the future!

 

Our cabin, 8500, was a very lucky upgrade. I had been on the RC website every single day, multiple times a day, checking the fares for our cruise. While it seems a bit over the top, I had already managed to snag us a £200/per person price drop a few months earlier. We did lose our $400 OBC but £400 is significantly more valuable than $400 -- at the time it was around $650 worth of money. And it also was a reduction on the fare, and meant we did not ‘have’ to spent $400 OBC. (Although we probably will if I am honest, and it is currently the start of Day 2! I haven’t spent a single penny on board -- YET. But I feel great and I know my first mocktail is coming up soon!)

 

Anyway -- we already had gotten a price drop on our Interior Z category (Guarantee) stateroom. With a 14-night cruise, it was more important to us to be able to afford to go than have a Balcony, although trust me, I LOVE Balconies! It was a few weeks before sailing and I was checking very frequently but sadly the only prices going down were the Oceanviews. Everything else was holding steady. Then the Junior Suites started to drop a little bit, but they were still £1500/per person more expensive than what we had already paid -- basically double our current cruise fare! Then one magical evening I checked and went through the Oceanview categories by chance. Lo and behold, there was a new ‘category’ available: Family Oceanview. I’d never noticed that one before, but there were 5 cabins available. I came to Cruise Critic and looked up the category and some of the stateroom numbers and realised I was really on to something here!!! The cruise fare was less than what we were paying for our Interior Z category for a FO Oceanview. The only snag was that it was after 8pm GMT and so the phone lines for the UK RC Customer Services was closed until morning!!!

 

Over night I woke up a few times and checked the cabins available from my phone. 8200 disappeared but the other 4 cabins remained. I had my sights set on 8500 and just kept hoping and hoping I could make it happen. Fortunately I did not have work first thing the next morning so I set my alarm and at exactly 8:30am I phoned through to the UK RC Customer Services number. I got through to a gentleman and made it very clear to him that we were in a rush to upgrade to 8500. He swiftly processed the transaction and offered me a £42 refund on our fare!!! I was ecstatic -- I didn’t NEED the refund but I wouldn’t say no!!!

 

For those not familiar with 8200 and 8500, these particular Family Oceanview rooms are laid out sideways instead of the way normal cabins are and have three separate rooms. A “bunk bed” room, a living room with a full-sized pull out couch and two chairs & TV, and a bedroom with another TV and your usual two single beds or one ‘king’ bed. The bathroom is a normal sized bathroom. There are 4 port holes and it is located right at the front of the ship (all the way forward!). The square footage must be through the roof -- I feel quite confident that a JS is smaller than these rooms. The 8500 has the (I feel) added bonus of having actual proper doors. From the videos I have seen of 8200 I believe they have slider doors, but I can confirm that the 8500 on the Independence has proper doors (no locks though) separating each ‘room’. There are also storage areas in each of the rooms, bedroom is your normal sized closet and plenty of drawers around the desk. There is also a nifty stand with two open ‘drawers’ and a cupboard with two levels under the TV. There is another one of these in the Living room but in the cupboard is your ‘minibar’. There is also a large closet in the Living room which can accomodate a good amount of clothes. The bunkbed has a smaller closet and a bench but no other storage areas. The closet is full height though.

 

For just the two of us, this room is beyond generous. We have the luxury of putting our clothes in all three closets so I haven’t had to have my clothes ‘share’ hangers as I usually do (I normally have to double, triple or quadruple stack my clothes on hangers to get it all in there. While they provide hangers, I could always do with a few more!).

 

For a family of 6, I am sure it is very tight in terms of storage but it must be significantly better than some of the other Family Oceanviews which have a less private layout. They are generally designed like a JS but have an additional alcove where the bunkbeds are. I say if you are travelling with 5-6 people and are not going for a Suite designed for larger families then definitely try to get one of these quite spacious Family Oceanviews, either 8500 or 8200. I understand that the ‘bunkbed’ room for the 8200 is significantly larger than the 8500 (the 8500 is pretty tight, designed for sleeping and changing ONLY really). But both rooms are fantastic and I’m sure anyone would be lucky to get them!

 

The only negative thing I will say about our cabin are the curtains. This is not something I usually complain about but as these are Forward cabins that jut out beyond the bridge, it is essential that you close the curtains fully to prevent light from escaping the rooms at night as this can, apparently, affect the view from the bridge. I have been a bit paranoid about this as I am a rule-follower. So imagine my surprise when most of the curtains were a proper battle to get them to close fully!! And one of them has a broken hook at the top and I could not for the life of me figure out how to get it to close all the way. I was panicking until I had a nap and woke up with a brain wave: I’d brought some clothes pins to dry my gym clothes out on and so I grabbed them and clothes pinned half the curtains completely shut. Phew!!! Problem solved. I am surprised at how shabby they look though, with tons of ‘moth holes’ in them, considering the ship has recently gone through an update. But honestly, that is a very minor thing, but hopefully they will address this soon.

 

So for our cabin, 8500: 11/10

(Sorry but this may be the nicest room we ever travel in for the next few years!!!! We can simply not afford to travel in Suites and this is as close as we may get to one for a looooong time!)

 

My husband had prepped me for the movement we were bound to feel on the English Channel and while I thought it would be bad, I didn’t realise quite how bad. It’s not TERRIBLE, but it’s a lot more than what we normally feel. We did have one night on our way to Croatia where we’d had 6-10metre swells which REALLY got the boat rocking. This is nowhere near that bad. But it is still a bit more than I am used to in the calm waters of the Mediterranean so I will warn others about that.

 

Now we had originally had plans to eat at Giovanni’s for our first night of the cruise to take advantage of the 20% discount. However, as we both were exhausted and I was still recovering from my panic attack, I just didn’t think it was a good idea. I phoned them up and advised them I didn’t quite have my Sea Legs yet and hoped to move our dinner to another date. This was fine and we rescheduled for 2 days’ time. Tonight (Day 2) is our first Formal night.

 

Ultimately we ended up eating in the Windjammer for lunch and dinner. The fare was pretty standard, the Jade was fantastic in the evening, we had sushi and there were tons of non-spicy asian-style hot dishes to eat as well. The rest of the buffet featured an ‘American’ corner, burgers and hot dogs as well, salad, desserts (hot and cold), and then a section that could only be for British people -- steak and mushroom pie was featured!

 

At lunch I ate a splodge of mashed potatoes only so I have no idea what else was available. I was really feeling rough at the time. I am loads better now though fortunately.

 

We did not manage to make it to the Main Dining Room at all to even check the menu so I apologise that I can’t confirm which is was. It definitely had the Prime Rib on the menu though. I am going to do my best to keep track of each and every menu moving forward so that I may be able to tell others exactly what menus there are during the cruise.

 

Our cruise starts off with two full days at Sea. Our Meet & Mingle is later this morning so I will try to keep writing this as we go along, at least every few days. Please note: I am VERY long-winded so if you want short & sweet, read someone else’s review. If you have questions, I will try to investigate it.

 

I did go to the gym this morning at 6:25am. It was supposed to open at 6am but it was still closed. I decided to walk around the jogging path instead for a full mile and that was incredibly refreshing. When I finished I came down and saw the gym was open but as I haven’t been to one in years, I really needed to speak to an instructor first to familiarise myself with the equipment and procedures. Sadly none was available so I will go back later today. I am just very surprised that it opened so late, as it was definitely sign-posted as opening at 6am! And I wasn’t the only one waiting!

[londongal796]

(Just to follow up on the gym -- I went back in the afternoon and spoke to the staff that was there. I was told that the notice is ‘just for kids’ and I should have ‘ignored it’. Riiiight. So I can just go in and use the equipment, no problem. I was a bit irked by their blase attitude towards their own rules but I guess I am the fool for trying to obey them!)

 

It is currently the morning of Day 3 so I will take this opportunity to catch you all up on Day 2. We are both still a little down and out so we haven’t been attending every performance. We missed out on a Comedian on the first night’s performance which is a real shame but we were just too exhausted. After I finished writing yesterday we went to breakfast in the Main Dining Room. It was fine although the menu was sparse. No poached eggs, no eggs benedict. We also had an unusual situation where they served ‘courses’ at breakfast? I’ve never experienced that before. They just always brought the food as and when it was ready. Instead we had to wait for everyone who had granola, yogurt, and fruit to eat before we could be served our hot portions. In the past if I’ve been a bit greedy and ordered more than one item, I’ve gotten everything served up at once and I haven’t had room for my food! I don’t know what I prefer, but since it takes longer, we will keep that in mind for timing. Another slight oddity--I was asked if I’d like bacon with my breakfast and I agreed. My husband’s came with bacon. He received American-style bacon while I received British-style bacon. We promptly swapped as I haven’t had American-style bacon in a while!

 

I asked for apple juice and this was brought to me but never refilled. We received no glasses of iced water either. So I had one glass of drink only at breakfast. I don’t know why it’s so hard to keep fluids going but it seems to be a real problem in the dining rooms so far.

 

We visited the FlowRider area and discovered the great seating area there where you can either sit in the sun or the shade and enjoy watching other people surf or boogie board. It was very enjoyable and an area I frequented again later on.

 

We got back to our room and discovered they had varnished something, and it absolutely stunk our room up. We opened our stateroom door to try to air it out as we have no other way for ventilation! Sadly that varnish smell plagued us for the whole day and got consistently worse before it got better. We felt a bit high from the fumes at first, it was that bad! But we survived. I think the smell is nearly gone now but we were not told anything about it, no warning before and no explanation after. Oh well. I know these things happen and it doesn’t ruin things, but I know when they varnished our balcony railing one time we had notice a day before it happened and since it was outside it did not affect the smell of our room!

 

We tried the Main Dining Room for lunch as well. The Tutti Salad was absolutely fantastic, I had almost everything and the only thing I regretted was the asparagus--it just wasn’t very good. But I had a lot of everything else and it was everything people had reported it to be. I also got a BLT which was MASSIVE. The menu was very much so geared towards the British guests so there were choices of Fish and Chips, a Pie of some sort I think, and just yeah--a really limited menu to be honest. I did get served a glass of water but it was never refilled. I know, I know -- but it’s my thing. I drink a LOT of water, and that can make or break a meal for me, as I am trying to stay hydrated without buying tons of bottles of water at $4.75 a pop!!

 

A while later my husband decided to take a nap so I got ready for some fun and sun at the FlowRider seating area. I really enjoyed it and got a little pink in the process. Weather was very dry and warn enough in the sun. We were told we were going about 25miles an hour I think? I can’t remember the conversion in knots but we were going quite steady so the breeze was pretty strong. In the shade, quite cool, in the sun, just right!

 

It was formal night so I came back and woke up my husband and we got dressed. We headed to the Main Dining Room for our first meal there and made an interesting discovery about our dining table.

 

Now as a younger couple, and just in general being a bit younger, we have become used to being seated with an older crowd. When I was in my early 20s I was often seated with women in their late 30s or 40s even, and while I felt the difference, it wasn’t so bad. This cruise we are with another young couple probably the same age as ourselves, and a pair of older ladies -- OLDER ladies. I have had the good grace NOT to ask their age but I would say at least late 70s, possibly 80s. I’m sorry but, the discrepancy is just too much. I was tempted to see if we could swap to My Time Dining but in the end, the other couple is quite nice to talk to so I’m hoping it will work out. But two whole weeks with a pair of crotchety old ladies is not my favourite idea of a good time. IF they hadn’t been so crotchety and complained about absolutely everything, I may have been more open to it. But they even had to remind themselves that an American was at the table so that they would not slag off Americans or talk about ‘those immigrants’!!!!! If it’s really bad we’ll see what we can do.

 

The food was good and served quite quickly. Really enjoyed our dinner choices. I had the Bay Scallop Gratin and Shrimp Cocktail for starters (I just looove seafood and fancied it), the Shrimp Ravioli for main, and a chocolate soufflee without the espresso sauce. Husband had the Bay Scallop Gratin and Melon for starters, the Roasted Duck for main and also the chocolate soufflee without the espresso sauce. I had a bit of his Roasted Duck and it was amaaaaazing.

 

The water situation was not much better but I was offered a refill as we were about to leave the dining room. Grrrreat. I don’t know why but the dining room servers just seem to be incapable of handling that one little thing, at least to me. Oh well. I will just ask for it in future.

 

We went to the Production Showtime which was ‘An Invitation to Dance’. Fantastic South African couple who seemed to specialise in Latin dancing were the two stars for me. Traditional singers and dancers as well who all did a phenomenal job. The only thing that surprised me was how very busy the theatre was. We always turn up about 10 minutes in advance and have plenty of seats to choose from. Not so this time so I guess we will be going earlier!

 

This morning we had to move our clocks 1hour forward (well, last night I guess) so that we can be on the right time as we move to our ports. We also had the chance to get our tickets to the two different ice shows for the cruise. The queue was quite long and took about 20 minutes in total from start to finish for ourselves to get our tickets. We got first choice for our first show and second choice for our second show. Not too bad!

[londongal796]

It is currently the morning of Day 4 and we are fast approaching our first port of call, Gibraltar. We have been warned about the ‘filthy filthy monkeys’ by our Cruise Director, Joff. I’m sure I’d read he wasn’t very good but actually I have found him to be hilarious. Maybe you have to be familiar with British-style humour to enjoy him, it’s quite self-deprecating, but it IS funny.

 

Yesterday was quite a long day. I wrote just after breakfast so I thought I’d try to catch you up. Breakfast in the Windjammer was fine. We also had lunch there later on. My husband is fighting off one of those on/off colds he’s had for ages and of course, the moment we step on board for our relaxing 2-week cruise, his cold switched to ‘on’ again. So he didn’t do a whole lot today. Napped after breakfast and went to bed early after dinner. We did spend some time at the FlowRider and I just have to say, ladies AND gentelmen, please come prepared!!! Wear a shirt if you are a lady, no matter the style -- we saw a boob pop out on a woman who seemed very prepared. And better yet, wear some shorts as well, because we also saw a fair bit of butt cheek. The water current is STRONG. And as for the men, best recommendation is to wear boxers / briefs underneath your swimming trunks. This will save you some embarrassment. But ultimately, have FUN.

 

Lunch choices did seem to be a bit sparse but I found some ‘chicken schnitzel’ which was really really good (like chicken escalope). And I know people have commented about the scarcity of ‘full-sugar’ cookies (as opposed to the ‘sugar free’ versions) but I can just assure you, the full-sugar ones are VERY popular on this ship. Coconut Ranger Cookies were simply delightful and full of sugar. As were the Chocolate Chip Cookies on day 1. And the Fudge Chocolate cookies I had last night. They are everywhere here -- must be a British thing!!

 

We stayed in our room for most of the afternoon as well and then got ready for dinner at Giovanni’s Table. The meal was very nice and I certainly would recommend it. We would likely return to the venue. However, there are a few things worth noting. They ‘upcharge’ you water the moment you walk in. Two bottles, still and sparkling, which are not included in any beverage package. ‘Tap’ water was NOT offered. I paid $8 for a bottle of still water!!! OUCH. Second, NO beverage package is accepted there except I believe the soda package. Wine packages were NOT accepted and they were trying to sell people $80 bottles of wine. OUCH again. I was really dismayed to find this all out. You are already paying an extra $20 a person to eat in a different venue, forcing people to pay so much more for things they’ve ‘already paid for’ is ridiculous. One table had the grand idea to carry their own glasses of wine in to the restaurant but the fact that you ‘need’ to is just off-putting.

 

The only other thing worth commenting on is that the ‘Maryland crab ravioli’ is NOT made with Maryland crab!! At least not on this ship! On top of the ravioli were a few tiny pieces of possibly Maryland lump crab meat, but the inside was made with I believe Dungeness crab. As I am from Maryland I was VERY disappointed. It was not as advertised really and I had really been looking forward to it. But, the rest of the meal was delightful. We started with the olive bread and olive oil/parmesan cheese/balsamic vinegar. Then we had the Antipasti to share and I had the Scallops and my husband had the Mozzarella ciabatta I believe. The antipasti I would skip next time but the other two starters were fantastic. Ravioli as mentioned -- not worth it in my opinion but I had high expectations. Husband had the steak which was fantastic, and the chips which accompanied it were also top notch. They did bring the wrong sauce out but he didn't really want either and the steak was seasoned so well it didn't really need anything. I had the jumbo shrimp which was also incredible. One or two of them were a bit dry and our waitress struggled to get them out of the shell so she brought me an extra two!! These were much nicer and it was very thoughtful of her. The vegetable accompaniments were average. For dessert we both had the cannoli's and I also had a spoons worth of the tiramisu -- I am no expert but both were good, not exquisite but very good.

 

All in all, I would probably rank our meal as a 7/10. We will probably try it again on this cruise so I may change that ranking.

 

Well, we have literally just docked in Gibraltar so we have some things to be getting on with!!! I will catch up again as and when I can. Possibly this afternoon or else in 2 days when we arrive in Corsica! Thanks for reading!!

[Beccafcr]

great review so far. I like the detail :)

Congrats on your house! Enjoy the rest of the cruise, looking forward to more :)

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your review.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[nelly55]

Hope you have a wonderful time, Indy is our favourite ship.

On our last 2 cruises on this ship there have been 2 breakfast areas, 1 for what you described which I think was on deck 5, but a full cooked available on a different deck (4 I think) The full breakfast was waiter served and had eggs benedict etc, it was really good.

PS we are near neighbours, we live in New Haw and I work in Dukes Court in Woking.

[rwright261]

Hi,

 

First of all, congrats on buying your first home, excellent news and a great start to your holiday (minus the panic attacks!).

 

Loving your review so far, thanks very much.

 

Hope you enjoy Gibraltar, we spent a week there earlier this week. We have also been to Corsica on Indy, and had a wonderfully relaxing Sunday there.

 

We are going on Indy in six cruises time (yes, I am sorry, I am wishing everyone else's holidays away!)... I am particularly interested in the cupcake classes. If you get chance, could you see if you can find out when they are run (sea days / port days?) and the cost of them.

 

Thanks very much, enjoy your holiday and keep up the fab work with your review.

 

:D

[londongal796]

Just a brief reply, thanks to everyone for your comments! :)

 

Hope you have a wonderful time, Indy is our favourite ship.

On our last 2 cruises on this ship there have been 2 breakfast areas, 1 for what you described which I think was on deck 5, but a full cooked available on a different deck (4 I think) The full breakfast was waiter served and had eggs benedict etc, it was really good.

PS we are near neighbours, we live in New Haw and I work in Dukes Court in Woking.

 

We went to the A La Carte breakfast which is what you are describing. I do know which one I mean, as the floor below was buffet only! And sadly Eggs Benedict wasn't available first day. However, it was available yesterday apparently but we decided to eat in the Windjammer.

 

Wow New Haw really is right up the road and I know Dukes Court in Woking!! We live just up the road :) Used to be in the Centrium but live in a house a little further away now :)

 

Hi,

 

First of all, congrats on buying your first home, excellent news and a great start to your holiday (minus the panic attacks!).

 

Loving your review so far, thanks very much.

 

Hope you enjoy Gibraltar, we spent a week there earlier this week. We have also been to Corsica on Indy, and had a wonderfully relaxing Sunday there.

 

We are going on Indy in six cruises time (yes, I am sorry, I am wishing everyone else's holidays away!)... I am particularly interested in the cupcake classes. If you get chance, could you see if you can find out when they are run (sea days / port days?) and the cost of them.

 

Thanks very much, enjoy your holiday and keep up the fab work with your review.

 

:D

 

I will keep an eye out for the Cupcake classes but it looks like it is quite frequent, they have a board up and I saw a few times posted, but I was looking at it from across the promenade so I didn't see exactly which dates/times were available. Will report back in a few days!

 

By the way -- beautiful day here in Gibraltar. We are just about to set sail so I won't have internet for much longer. Full report to come!

[rwright261]

Just a brief reply, thanks to everyone for your comments! :)

 

 

 

We went to the A La Carte breakfast which is what you are describing. I do know which one I mean, as the floor below was buffet only! And sadly Eggs Benedict wasn't available first day. However, it was available yesterday apparently but we decided to eat in the Windjammer.

 

Wow New Haw really is right up the road and I know Dukes Court in Woking!! We live just up the road :) Used to be in the Centrium but live in a house a little further away now :)

 

 

 

I will keep an eye out for the Cupcake classes but it looks like it is quite frequent, they have a board up and I saw a few times posted, but I was looking at it from across the promenade so I didn't see exactly which dates/times were available. Will report back in a few days!

 

By the way -- beautiful day here in Gibraltar. We are just about to set sail so I won't have internet for much longer. Full report to come!

 

 

 

Brilliant!

 

Looking forward to your report and thanks for checking out the classes for me :)

[Missus Makkem]

great post about being on the Indie and first hand too.

[beryl patricia]

Hi I love the review - thanks. I'm looking forward to the next instalment as we will be sailing on her soon.

 

I do have a question for when you get to Rome - I have been reading that they have changed the port entrance from South to North and that it is now a mile walk to the station. Are you planning to go to Rome as I independent travellers by train and if so can you please let us know how you get on thanks. We tried to book the private train as there will be 4 other ships when we arrive but it is already full !!

 

Have a great time

Gill

[londongal796]

Brilliant!

 

Looking forward to your report and thanks for checking out the classes for me :)

 

So I checked the classes the day we were in Gibraltar (so two days ago) and they had three classes scheduled for our Sea Day, at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. I will check today to see what other times are there since we are in port today and the next 3 days. I imagine they have the classes quite frequently on Sea Days (as you can see) but probably not port days. I will confirm for you this for you soon! They didn't say if they were adult or childrens classes, I'll try to ask them if they are open when we go past next time.

 

Hi I love the review - thanks. I'm looking forward to the next instalment as we will be sailing on her soon.

 

I do have a question for when you get to Rome - I have been reading that they have changed the port entrance from South to North and that it is now a mile walk to the station. Are you planning to go to Rome as I independent travellers by train and if so can you please let us know how you get on thanks. We tried to book the private train as there will be 4 other ships when we arrive but it is already full !!

 

Have a great time

Gill

 

We will be DIY going into Rome and more than likely we will be taking the train. I will let you know how it goes and report back as we were under the impression it would be about a 10minute walk from the end of the port (there should be free shuttle buses to there) and then on to the train station. Fingers crossed it is not a mile walk! Not in this heat!!

[londongal796]

Okay -- it is the morning of Day 5 so I still have a lot to catch up on!

 

First there was one thing I forgot to mention which we did in the afternoon before we went to Giovanni’s. We went to the Jewellery making session which was the first one of the cruise. We received a free Jewellery making kit (normally $9.99!!), with all of the stuff you need to make a pair of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet. Well -- between my husband and I we did manage to make a pair of earrings each but even then we lost several beads and were swearing frequently under our breath. It was NOT easy. The beads are so small and fiddly, and the bags were not designed as a ‘keepsafe’ thing, instead they seemed to let beads slip out and roll away if you even glanced at it. Ah well!! It was still fun and there will be additional sessions throughout the cruise.

 

So after Giovanni’s my husband was feeling very unwell again so he went to bed. I was left having to decide if I would go to the show that evening, which was the Bee Gee’s tribute act. I decided to go on my own and from there I had quite a long evening!

 

The ‘Bee Gee’s Magic’ was a decent enough show although, bizarrely, I felt like I could have directed it a little bit better. They came on stage (three blokes), and had the Ships band behind them on stage playing music, and had some lights on etc. But basically for the first half hour they stood and sang and occasionally tried to get us to clap our hands. (One big difference between the Mediterranean cruises and Caribbean cruises is the amount of audience participation -- very little out here, even less out of Southampton!!) I was sat in the audience thinking, YAWN, this is quite a dull performance -- I wish they would jazz it up with the light features they have on stage, the bulbs they have on the back of the stage, some disco-y type effects, and really try to get the audience involved. Finally, at the halfhour mark, they did exactly that and asked everyone to stand up and get our ‘disco fingers’ out, pointing during the chorus. It was very good -- until they then finished the song and moved straight into a ballad…!! Overall though it ended on quite a few high notes (VERY high if you know the Bee Gees haha) and I enjoyed the last half hour much more than the first. It was a slow start but left everyone in the Disco Mood!

 

I came out and went upstairs for the 70s Party on the Royal Promenade. I grabbed a refreshing cookie from the Cafe and then settled in wherever I could along the promenade. Well, I ended up quite a distance from the white bridge where two of the Production Singers came out and sang some songs. But fortunately I was near the silvery bridge which is where the real fun happened. I watched the singers from afar and it was enjoyable but I was waiting for the crowd to start dancing etc. Then the silver stage descended and Joff (Cruise Director) and some of his staff were there all dressed up and did some dancing, throwing disco-rings out to the crowd (little light-up rings). They got everyone pumped up and then introduced the ‘Macho Men’ -- dressed up as the Village People. Some were wearing costumes which suited them, others not so much -- but it was all in good fun! I think the most memorable moment was when Joff shouted out to the crowd that he had something for one lady, one lady in particular, he described her as the lady in the green top with the flowery bits -- ‘this is for you, and you alone’ -- before dropping down and plastering his butt against the glass walls of the bridge and shimmying it!!!!!!!! Bwuahahahaha!!!! (Did I mention I LOVE Joff?! He is hilarious!!)

 

Finally we were all danced out and they sent us on our way to the ‘Adult Late Night Comedy Act’ with … I can’t remember his name but I will post the Compasses of the cruise at the end. He was good, very enjoyable, and yes, it was definitely adult themed. Sex was mentioned freely, some swear words (but not an outrageous amount, not cursing every other word), and of course some derogatory banter with the audience. It wasn’t that extreme if I am honest but it is Royal Caribbean and some bits were more risque than others. The only thing that was a bit shocking was the family of 4, with their two little girls (no older than 8) who stayed through the whole performance. I know, it’s not my place to judge, but the baby in the audience (who cried halfway through the performance) could NOT understand any of the jokes. But those little girls should not have been exposed to it. And their parents -- well, anyway. Not my place!!!

 

After the comedy act it was 12:15am and I had had enough time of being alone! So I went back to the room and promptly fell asleep!

 

Day 4 was our Gibraltar day. I had booked the Rock of Gibraltar tour which was only an hour and a half but included a ride up to the ‘top’ of the Rock. Okay, so there were a few things wrong with this tour but I am NOT complaining, this is simply commentary. I really enjoyed our excursion and I am still debating on whether I would turn it to a formal complaint or not. I need to double check how much I paid for the excursion before I decide if the faults of it were worth asking for a partial refund, simply because I feel that the tour description misrepresented all that we were going to do.

 

We went for breakfast in the Windjammer, standard fare as usual. The breakfast ham is particularly nice, it’s a carving-station style thing but very delicious. We then went back to our room and watched us pull into the port, it was quite a tight squeeze! Apparently Gibraltar charges a lot less for shipping fuel than elsewhere so all of the big tankers pull up and ‘queue’ for fuel. There were just dozens of ships littering the harbour. It was amazing that we got in!! We were ready to deboard at about 10:20am for those who are interested but we didn’t go until our excursion time really, we ended up getting off the ship around 12:00pm. We grabbed a few bites at Sorrento’s to keep us going and packed some cookies from the Cafe (remember to bring ziploc baggies and you too can grab some cookies for your excursions!). The pizza was DELICIOUS, at least to me (subjective--husband said it was nothing special, but he eats pizza regularly at work. I have it very infrequently and even then it’s always the same shop these days). I had the California pizza, no idea what that was supposed to be but this had bits of tomato, avocado!!! and chicken. MMmmm. Avocado was lovely!!

 

We met off the ship and on the pier at 12:30 though we went a few minutes early and looked around at the pier building. There was a lovely arts and crafts store there which I would strongly recommend. Most of the time when I see ‘hand-made’ objects, the people are pretending they are some Picasso-esque artist and charge similar amounts, to the point I shake my head in disgust and move on. Not so here -- everything was VERY affordable and I thought maybe even a little too cheaply priced. It was fantastic. In the end I decided to shop on our return, and we got back quite close to boarding time so I only bought one thing, but if I had enough time I would have bought a LOT more. Shame really!

 

Anyway, our tour started and we were on the second of two ‘buses’. When I say ‘buses’, I mean, a really old vehicle that looks a bit like a van. It had seating for about 4 across but one of the middle seats was a ‘jump’ seat that was folded down for our journey. We had three across most places, including the wheel-well, and then 4 along the back. The windows (plastic bits that slid back and forth) were all open. Why were they all open? Because the air conditioning wasn’t working! That was one of the things that irked me, it was about 75F and in the sun, very very warm. Now obviously 75F isn’t that hot, but when you are used to living in the UK, anything about 70F or even 65F becomes a bit on the warm side. I used to be able to tolerate 90F-100F summers in Maryland but now I really really struggle with that kind of heat. 7 years of moderate temperatures will do that to you!

 

The other thing to mention is that, due to the Barbary Monkeys on the island, who are not scared of moving objects like cars or ‘buses’, we would have to close the windows sometimes. And that is where the unbearableness of not having air conditioning comes from.

 

Well, to start off with, things were fantastic and we really enjoyed our tour guide / driver. We had a woman on the ‘bus’ with us, a label said ‘Escort’, but she did nothing except delay us at one place when she didn’t bother to get back on board and we nearly left without her! I have no idea why she was being paid but the driver did all of the work. He drove us through the city centre which was quite heavy in traffic and showed us quite a few things but honestly, I missed most of it as I couldn’t figure out what he was pointing at. But he was quite funny so I didn’t mind. We drove for about a half hour or so and then stopped near a big lighthouse and a mosque where we could see the coast of Moracco way way in the distance. We had 10 minutes to get off the ‘bus’ and walk around. There were toilet facilities here which were fine (in case people need to know these things). We re-boarded in a timely fashion and then continued on our way up the hill. We drove for a while and then stopped at the place for St Michael’s Caves (I think that’s what it was called). We had tickets and went inside. It was a lot of stairs up, then down, then up again, so that’s why the excursion said you need to be able to walk at least 90 steps. It was very cool inside of the cave and it was a HUGE cavern so no worries for those who dislike tight spaces. It was super modern, the steps were proper steps, with railings and metal edgings for each step etc.

 

The cave is used as some sort of music venue or show venue as well so there were modern lights and seats along each level like a theatre. Very interesting!

 

Outside there were some Barbary Monkeys so we had had to close our windows. Also, the driving, while safe, made my heart skip a few beats as it was TIGHT and we were right against the cliff. If you are scared of heights, maybe close your eyes (as I did and as the driver recommended!!).

 

It was baby season so the monkeys had a lot of babies. I kept well clear but took a few snaps. Some people acted like they were tame animals and tried to go right up to them, talking loudly and gesturing. Well, they are lucky they didn’t get bitten or worse. Because those were mama monkeys and they could be fiercely protective of their young, I am sure. Anyway, no incidents to report and a few good photos taken.

 

Next we drove up to the Monkey Den or something, and got some nice photos of the ship. We could also see the cable car which goes straight up to the top of the rock. Just so others know: the queues for the Cable Car were very long and we have heard that many people went and were unable to go up. That is a real shame for those who were interested, I’d heard that was a problem and sounds like it still is.

 

The Monkey Den was rather quiet but there were two monkeys there so most people were happy getting photos with them. Again, I wasn’t fussed with the monkeys, I was after some ship photos, and so I spent the whole time getting those photos. Next we approached our driver and asked if there was any way of getting dropped off in town as my husband left his camera battery and charger charging in the wall at home… oops!!! He checked and double-checked and said we’d have about 1 hour but we MUST get back to the ship by 3:30pm. We promised we would so he did confirm to all passengers that we could stop in town if people wanted. He drove us down the windy roads and dropped us off in town just as he said. He told us about the shuttle taxi service for €2 or £1.50 per person and where it was, and directed us to the store my husband had looked up in advance. He was very helpful and I really enjoyed his tour and just frankly he was one of the best tour guides / drivers I have ever had. I do not know how he maneuvered those crazy windy tight roads while giving us a running dialogue of things as he went -- it was just astounding. Which is part of the reason I really don’t think I will complain about things, except -- I am sure the tour described us going to ‘the top of the rock’ and also that we would go ‘along the airfield’ which we definitely did not do either of these things. Nor did we have AC. But anyway…

 

Sadly our mission to get a charger was unsuccessful although they did have the battery -- but without the charger it was pointless so after 30 minutes of them searching high and low for one we had to give up. Also worth mentioning was, on the short walk to the shop, some random old guy screamed and pushed me in the streets, he was speaking in Spanish, no idea what I did to upset him but I just kept walking and nothing else happened. When I say push, I mean, he pushed my shoulder gently, but he still touched me and I am not comfortable with that. But who knows, there were plenty of other tourists around, I was wearing a lot more than everyone else (long jeans and a think-strapped tank top, no cleavage) so I don’t think I could have offended him in that respect? Ah well, you can’t reason with the crazies of the world.

 

We went back to the taxi shuttle place and got a taxi in no time and back to port. I would strongly recommend it as it was a good half mile walk and while that isn’t bad, for the price it was pretty affordable. We arrived at 3:10pm with all aboard of 3:30pm. Quickly shopped the arts and crafts store then re-boarded. All in all a fanastic day.

 

We rested for a bit and then went to get a fruity drink at the Schooner Bar. Then I checked out the Inches of Gold offer which sadly the silver-worked material was not 100% anything, it was silver with cobalt? And the guy wasn’t a very good seller so I skipped it. I don’t like gold-coloured things but I do love silver or white-gold. I have very sensitive skin though so even sterling silver can irritate it so I need to be quite sure about what a product is made of first. Shame really!

 

We also popped into the ‘Seasons’ clothing store and I got a lovely blue RC ladies top for $16. Quite a bargan really although to be fair it is free advertising for them if I wear it.

 

Then back to our room to change for Black and White night. I thought I looked pretty decent and it was so neat to see loads of people wearing Black and White. We went to dinner and it was the Oregano menu which I’d never seen before. It had a Mixed Grill which is 100% British-based. All of the menus are tweaked here and I found out that there will be NO LOBSTER NIGHT :( I am gutted. Our Med cruise in 2012, I was sooo looking forward to Lobster night. But it was a 5-night repositioning cruise and I checked these forums afterwards and everyone said ‘you need a 7-night or longer Med cruise’. Then in 2013 we had a 7-night Med cruise and I was soooooo looking forward to lobster night. And then, no lobster night! I checked the forums. They said, ‘no no, not 7-night Med cruises, ones that are MORE than 7-nights’. Ooookay. 14 night Med cruise, surely I will have lobster night right? Nope. They are serving the Jasmine menu with extra big prawns but no lobster. I have to pay $34 for one of them. Oh well. And before we get into a Lobster night debate, this is the deal: My first RC Cruise introduced me to lobster which is when I discovered I actually LOVE lobster. I grew up eating Maryland crabs and lobster was never really my thing. Until my first RC Cruise, in the Med. Loved it. So again on my next RC cruise, lobster night was fantastic. Since then, I have grown to love lobster more and more and having ‘free’ lobster is something I have really looked forward to. One year when I went back home I had $150 worth of gift certificates to Red Lobster and we ate there a LOT (I was home for 3 weeks though). Anyway -- seriously, I LOVE Lobster. And I really thought I’d have it for ‘free’ this time (included in a menu). But alas, it is not meant to be. I promise it won’t spoil my cruise, I just was a bit disappointed at the time I found out.

 

Okay, back to dinner. It was really good, I had the Salmon En croute and my husband had the Mixed Grill. They actually came around with a plate of chips (fries to the US folk) and offered them to us -- TOO FUNNY!!! This cruise is SO BRITISH. I have never experienced anything like it before!

 

Oh, for starters I had the fried camembert which was lovely but it was served with a rocket salad which was much too bitter for such a sweet cheese. And no bread or crouton or anything to go with it so I think save your roll for the camembert if you have it. We both had the same starter. And dessert, husband had the Lipton Tea Creme Brulee which looked disgusting if I am honest, but he said it was okay. And I had the Mango Trio which was good but a tiny tiny portion (considering it was ‘three desserts in one’, there was about 2 bites of each one). Still, yummy all around and as I had some extra chips I felt pretty full. (I was quite hungry as we’d had such an early ‘lunch’ at Sorrento’s and been out all day.)

 

Show last night was with Taffy somethingorother, another comedy act. He was HILARIOUS. He combined magic tricks with his comedy act and it was very funny. He also did some audience participation which was really enjoyable too. We were then invited up to Deck 11 for Dancing under the stars. Live band played some music so after working up the courage I dragged the husband on the dance floor so we could dance together for the first time since our wedding night!!!! I am not a good dancer so I won’t comment on his dance moves but let’s just say, he didn’t have many dances as a kid whereas I went to them multiple times a year growing up hehehe. Well, we had fun in the end and got quite warm despite the lovely breeze. Then the band took a break and they did some ‘line dancing’ songs, it started with YMCA, then we did the Electric Slide, then the Cha Cha Song, and finally the Macarena. I did all four but my husband only did the YMCA before stepping aside. By then I was really sweaty and thirsty so we went down to the Promenade and got Ben and Jerry’s, a scoop each, it was lovely. And then as I was quite tired we went to bed, I think it was nearly midnight by then.

 

And now -- I shall go wake up my husband as it is nearly 11am!! And we have a whole day at Sea ahead of us. It is the second formal night this evening so I’m sure I’ll have plenty to report. My apologies to everyone but my photos of menu effort is not going great. I did take photos of the Oregano and if I see any really weird menus I will try to take photos but it’s a lot harder to get a snap of them if you aren’t actually having dinner there. Oops. At least I am saving every Compass and I will post them at the end of the cruise, so I hope that helps!!

[londongal796]

Reporting live from Ajaccio, Corsica on Day 6:

 

So we decided to go to Johnny Rockets for a very early lunch on Day 5 at about 11:30am (where I left off). We were seated right away and greeted with an ‘Everybody say HELLOOO!’. The table seated behind us were particularly noisy and amplified the HELLO to an overwhelming decibel and periodically shouted it out randomly for no known reason. They had two children in tow so I guess they were determined to get their moneys worth.

 

So we have been to Johnny Rockets before and you mostly go for the food but you do also go for the entertainment. I am happy to report that they did do the dancing twice while we were there, and for each time they did one song inside and a different song outside. We were there for around 1 hour so that was about once per half hour.

 

Food was good, not the best I’ve had there but it was adequate. The milkshake was great although I thought they used to have an Oreo one, this wasn’t an option, just Vanilla, Strawberry and Chocolate. We had Strawberry and Chocolate and both were delicious.

 

If you have been to Johnny Rockets then you know that your server generally greets you with a plate of fries and onion rings plus a plate of ketchup with a smiley face (or something else) drawn on it. As I was ravenous by then (I’d been up for a while and getting hungrier and hungrier while I let my DH sleep in) so I was really looking forward to this feature of Johnny Rockets. Sadly it was not meant to be!!! We were served our milkshakes before we got any food and that’s saying something, as the milkshakes take a while. Oh well. Our fries were okay, there was something about them that wasn’t quite right, I think maybe they hadn’t been cooked quite long enough as they were on the pale side although seemed cooked through. They just needed a little longer to get them golden and with a crisper texture. I liked the onion rings, loved I should say. The ranch dressing was a little -- I’m not sure, it wasn’t quite potent enough. Served warm. Yuck. Anyway, it’s been ages since I had ranch so it was delicious anyway but I know these were some downers. Which means we aren’t interested in returning again although we had originally planned on doing Johnny Rockets at least twice, maybe more, as we don’t mind the cover charge as we are both big milkshake fans and we just love the food. Usually anyway.

 

Johnny Rockets: 6/10

 

Afterwards we went back to our cabin until the first ice show, Strings, which was at 3:15pm. There is a second ice show, called Freeze Frame, next week. So the show was quite good and some of the performers were amazing. All of the females were from America, most of the males were from Russia, and I think one was American and another was Canadian? I think. They also had a Polish guest star who played the violin throughout the show. The premise of the ‘story line’ was a bit to farcical for us so we may have giggled a LOT whenever they referred to the ‘plotline’ but the skating was superb, the music was mostly really good, and by the end they had everyone clapping in their seats and they received a proper standing ovation. One of the skaters could do backflips and that is PHENOMENAL. He landed each one as well!!!!

 

Then we went back to our cabin to get ready for our second formal night. I have to admit, I didn’t put too much effort into it, as we seem to have quite a few formal nights on this cruise, instead of just one. But we got all dressed up and headed to dinner. We had the Shiitake menu including my favourite, the Pork Scallopine Oscar. This was good except they added some bearnaise sauce which I don’t remember having last time which overwhelmed the ‘Oscar’ portion and made it less seafoody and more super-yolky-creamy. But it was good overall. Husband had the same main. We had the Beef Carpaccio for starter, both thought it was very good, and I also had the New England Clam Chowder as I haven’t had that in ages. It was good for a Mediterranean cruise but it wasn’t quite as thick as I’d have expected it. For dessert I had the Two Tone Praline thingie (I can’t remember full name) which was good and husband had the Warm Chocolate Cake, a MUCH better choice than mine but very very rich. Delicious.

 

We went straight afterwards with the couple at our table to the Movie Music Quiz in the Schooner and joined another couple for a team of 6. This is when I discovered that my husband’s movie knowledge was a lot broader than I had ever imagined. We didn’t win by any stretch of the imagination but he really knew a lot of the answers. We went to the comedy act at 9 and it was fantastic, Mike Doyle, do NOT miss him if you have a chance. Easily the best comedian of the three we have seen. Absolutely hilarious and really great. Loved him.

 

We then went for a quick costume change and headed out to the Pyramid Lounge for the Movie Mania trivia since we were now aware that my DH was quite good at this stuff. In the end we tied for first!!! We got 34 out of 35 answers right but we also missed the bonus question. It was the two of us and two ladies who were sitting at our table, and they helped us with one answer. The other group had 6 adults (and one baby) so I’m going to say we did pretty darn good for just the four of us. I also absolutely rocked the Animated Movies section. In the end they had a tie breaker which involved guessing the year a movie was released. We were 4 years off, the other group was 2 years off, so we did not win the camera cases but we weren’t fussed as neither of our cameras would fit them anyway. And squirrel backpacks are not anything we need :)

 

Finally it was off to bed since we had an early start in Ajaccio, Corsica today. We had breakfast in the Main Dining Room, A la carte, and Eggs Benedict made an appearance so we both ordered that. I also had the grits. Our eggs benedict was -- not great. Between the two of us and our four ‘poached’ eggs, all four eggs had hard-as-rocks yolks. Not even a little teensy bit runny. Just hard, cooked solidly all the way through. What’s the point really? The rest was edible enough and the sauce was gorgeous but wow, no runny yolks! My grits were fantastic, really enjoyed it, and the people we ate with were really fun to talk to and we had to drag ourselves away to get ready for Corsica.

 

We are actually back already because the town is super small and sadly everything closes for lunch. We may go back out as it is only about 3-4 minutes walk to some of the Museums from the ship (well, once you get OFF the ship, as we are right at the front and the gangway is right at the rear, it was a good 5 minute walk just to get off and on the ship!). We shall see how we feel as tomorrow and the next day are our BIG port days, Rome and Livorno (Pisa and Cinque Terre for us, although most people do Pisa and/or Florence). We may just go up for some time in the hot tub if it is quiet on the ship. We shall see!

[lancashire_cruisers]

Hi Londongal

 

Really enjoying your report as we'll be on Indy in the school summer holidays!

 

It might be worth asking the ship's photogarphers if they've got a compatible battery charger you can use for your husband's camera. My DH did the same and the photographers were really helpful (this was on a P&O ship though, but still worth asking).

 

Debbie :)

[rwright261]

So I checked the classes the day we were in Gibraltar (so two days ago) and they had three classes scheduled for our Sea Day, at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. I will check today to see what other times are there since we are in port today and the next 3 days. I imagine they have the classes quite frequently on Sea Days (as you can see) but probably not port days. I will confirm for you this for you soon! They didn't say if they were adult or childrens classes, I'll try to ask them if they are open when we go past next time.

 

 

 

We will be DIY going into Rome and more than likely we will be taking the train. I will let you know how it goes and report back as we were under the impression it would be about a 10minute walk from the end of the port (there should be free shuttle buses to there) and then on to the train station. Fingers crossed it is not a mile walk! Not in this heat!!

 

 

Thanks so much for checking these classes for me. I do really appreciate it.

 

If you do manage to speak to someone, I would be interested to know if they run two different classes, I have seen a dog cupcake and burger one. Also can you remember how much the classes are?

 

Really enjoying your review. It's bringing back lots of memories about our last Indy cruise.. it seems as though you are doing a similar itinary to use - we stopped in Gib, Corsica, Livorno, Rome, Vigo, Cadiz and possibly one more that I cannot remember.

 

Continue enjoying your trip and thanks for the review :D

[clochette]

great review thanks

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

I just came off the Allure, and was on the Freedom a few months ago(not to mention a bunch of cruises on oasis class and Freedom class ships over the years) and have done the cupcake decorating a few times. They do have a dog and a burger. I'm sure the reviewer will confirm. The dog is more for "kids" they say as it is easier, and the burger is more for adults as it is a bit more complex. They are both fun distractions. You'd think I'd remember the cost of doing it, but I don't sorry. They had a frog for kids too years ago but i haven't seen that one in a while

[beryl patricia]

Thanks for the latest review they're great. I didn't realise there was a comedy club on board - did you have to book? I read on one of the other post that you did or is that just when cruising in the Caribbean.

 

Enjoy your cruise

 

Gill

[londongal796]

Thanks for the latest review they're great. I didn't realise there was a comedy club on board - did you have to book? I read on one of the other post that you did or is that just when cruising in the Caribbean.

 

Enjoy your cruise

 

Gill

 

As this is a two week cruise, there are a lot of filler shows. They are really trying to avoid having additional full production shows (there are only 4 through the whole 14 night cruise). So it has been comedy night after comedy night after comedy night. I really enjoyed the three comedians but tonight it is a Comedy Improve Troupe and frankly, I am SICK of comedy. Yeesh. Give us something different!! A hypnotist or a dance group or acrobats or something. We had one night with the Bee Gees and two production shows so far but every other night has been a comedian. So no Comedy Club, just this cruise happens to be very comedian heavy!!!

 

Update from yesterday til today about to be posted.

[londongal796]

Writing from Day 7, our day in Rome, but reporting back about yesterday first.

 

We went to the Windjammer for some lunch and I really enjoyed a salad. The rest of the food was again pretty blah. I don’t know, the selection was really limited. It was the exact same menu on both sides of the buffets, and then you have a burger and pizza station along the end and the middle is devoted solely to desserts. I don’t need 17 different dessert choices, but I would like something other than mashed potato and some kind of plain meat for lunch!!!

 

Afterwards we got ready to go in one of the cantilevered hot tubs which was very enjoyable. I am a bit freaked out about them but they aren’t too scary unless you try to look straight down, but it is quite weird staring down the length of the OUTSIDE of the ship as you are propped so far outside of it. But it was really nice.

 

Then we got ready for dinner at Chops Grille and just beforehand we watched the ship leave port. It was quite a tight squeeze in Corsica so it made for an interesting maneuver out as well. Our dinner at Chops was fantastic and more on that in a second but it’s worth mentioning that the seating for two was done in a row along the wall with the window, so that one chair faced the restaurant while the other faced outside and the sea. Every single table of two was made up of a couple, male and female, and at every single one, the man had made the ultimate sacrifice and sat facing the restaurant while all of the beautiful ladies had commanding views of the sea. How sweet!

 

Our meal at Chops went really well. We started with the Shrimp Cocktail (BIG Shrimp) for DH and I had the Crab Cake. That was quite good. I should add -- this was the old style menu. For our steaks, DH had a Filet Mignon medium rare while I had the Porterhouse medium rare. Why such a big steak? Because I can still get it for free!! I can’t believe that will be an upcharge steak in an upcharge restaurant in future!! So I enjoyed it while I could. We also shared a Baked Potato, the Roasted Potatoes with Parmesan and Prosciutto, and I had the Steamed Aspargus. All three were absolutely brilliant. We also had the Bearnaise sauce which was lovely. I have to admit, my steak was good and tasty but I really struggled to cut it. I don’t know if it was the steak itself, the cooking of it, or my steak knife, but something was amiss. DH cut through his Filet no problem, but I was sawing away at me. I tried different angles but it always ended up the same. It seemed a bit soggy to me and I think that’s why it was so hard to cut, but once cut the meat was gorgeous, flavourful, and tender. For dessert we had the Mississippi Mud Pie and the Red Velvet Cake. Husband had the Mississippi Mud Pie and was very disappointed by the coffee flavouring in the chocolate mousse which formed the whole of the cake. Boo. I don’t remember it being advertised as a chocolate cake on the menu but we will double check next time we are there. We ended up changing our reservation from Giovanni’s for the end of the cruise to Chops as we both much preferred it. Although I did really like my big grilled shrimp at Giovanni’s, the steak was just so good at Chops, and all the sides, starters, desserts, etc.

 

If you discount the fact my DH was very disappointed by his dessert, then we ranked

 

Chops Grille: 8.5/10

 

After dinner we went to the Production show which was ‘Once Upon A Time’. I have to admit that personally this was my absolute favourite production show I have seen on any Royal Caribbean ship. It started off a bit oddly but then the music selection was so varied with lots of more modern pieces, and the dancing was top notch, the singers were really giving it a go as well (instead of just being up front singing while the dancers do all of the hard work). And they had a tiny bit of aerial work which is always one of my fav things. So, maybe I have seen other performances that I liked better but as far as I can recollect, this was definitely my favourite one so far, ever.

 

This morning was our day in Rome and we arranged with a few other couples to travel into Rome together using the train etc. We agreed to meet at 7:30am for breakfast but I wanted to eat before then so we tried the room service breakfast that you order with the placard outside of your door. We thought we were ordering quite a big breakfast but when my scrambled eggs arrived the size of a scoop of ice cream, I was a little underwhelmed. The only generous portion was the ‘variety of pastry’ which was 4 different pastry where as my toast was one piece of toast. Everything was luke warm, my banana was a bit squashed, it just overall was a bit poor. We probably won’t try that one again but it was timely and convenient.

 

We finally got off the ship about 8:15am or so once everyone else had eaten, toileted, etc. We took a shuttle straight from the ship to the port drop off. Unfortunately the South port entrance is completely shut off due to extensive road works. I think they are improving access and making it better, especially for the many buses that come through (currently they have to squeeze past a small rock wall where there is just enough room for one to go by) so I think access will be improved -- but in the mean time, yes, we do get dropped off at the North port entrance which is a full 1 mile walk to the Civitavecchia train station. I was very disappointed that no free bus shuttle was offered by RC as frankly very few people wanted to be dropped at the port entrance but really wanted to be dropped off either in town or at the train station. Why not just make the free shuttle go to those two places? There WAS a very affordable bus shuttle which went from the Port entrance to Civitavecchia train station for €.80 per person each way. We walked to the station as the couples we were with wanted to walk but we rode the shuttle back. The walk was not too bad, most of it was in the shade and it was practically flat the whole way so it really was just a 1mile walk. Nothing too strenuous. We bought our train tickets from a shop a little outside of the station. I warned everyone that this was not the official place, and they charged us an extra €2 per person as a ‘fee’. But ultimately it saved us time as we barely made the 8:53am train in the end. Like, barely.We all ran for it. If we had waited to get our tickets in the train station we wouldn’t have made it.

 

The 8:53 was a regional service that took about an hour and 20 minutes to get to Roma Termini. Roma San Pietro is a good 20 minutes earlier and you can see St Peters Basilica from the train so I’d say it is pretty central as well. We rode on to Roma Termini and split up from the other couples and went on to the Metro for 2 stops to Colosseo. We made the very poor decision to queue up for our tickets. I knew it would save us €4 in total but I also thought it would only be 10 or 20 minutes. Try 40. Ouch. And then I needed to pee which was another 10 minute queue, there were only 7 stalls in the whole of the Colosseum. (They were modernised ones they had put in.) Oh well.

 

It was SO busy we just got pushed all around and it was rather unpleasant, especially for myself as I am really not okay with crowds. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time there, about an hour or so, but I took a lot of photos. There are about a million giant steep steps (okay, about 40) up to the main floor of the Colosseum so please be aware, but there is also a lovely lift that you can take. I was winded at the top and going down I held on to the railing for dear life as it was STEEP. But we made it up and down safely. One tour guide tried to run us down while we were doing the circuit at the top but other than that we managed okay.

 

We got some photos outside, decided in the heat to skip the Roman Forum, as we had some shots from the Colosseum. I know, we were in Rome and we only did the Colosseum?? But it’s our holiday, we can do what we like, and we were in Rome last summer and did the whole works. So I’m not ashamed!

 

Back to the metro, back to Roma Termini, back to our train to Civitavecchia. Back to the train station, bought our tickets for the shuttle, back to the port entrance, got on the next bus which stopped for each of the cruise ships in port including ours, and then back on board. Little hiccup here -- the staff at the xray machine refused to give me a container for the stuff in my pockets so I was forced to carry them in my hands. Of course the buzzer went off and the next lady was shouting at me about what was in my pockets. I dug my phone out and was told to go through again. I gave me stuff to my husband and was promptly shouted at again, no, I must go through AGAIN with ALL of my stuff. Away I went. I beeped. Then I am shouted at as no, they meant, put my stuff through the xray machine (as I had tried to do in the first place!!!!) and THEN go through the detector. By now I am humiliated and angry at being shouted at and so I muttered a few choice swear words and stomped loftily off to the lifts. Harumpfh. I really dislike being shouted at, especially when I did everything I was asked, and it was only the fault of their incompetent staff who refused to give me anything to put my stuff in as I knew I should do!!!!

 

I have to admit, overall, we spent more time in transit or queuing than doing anything we wanted. We left at 8:20am or so from the ship and returned on board at 3pm. And we literally spent less than an hour walking around the Colosseum. So please, if you want to DIY Rome, first and foremost, get off the ship ASAP. And second, really really plan things. Possibly give in to a taxi. Or give in to a shore excursion. They are 9 hours long for a reason!!! Since we have already done Rome before it wasn’t a big deal for us, and to be honest, if you are just going to look at the outside of everything, then our day was more than enough time (as obviously you can come back later to the ship). Everything in Rome is really within walking distance from one site to the next, about 5-10 minutes at most between iconic places, so that’s ideal. But if you want to go inside the Vatican, or inside the Colosseum, etc, you really need to make full arrangements in advance.

Okay -- I will look up cupcake stuff later but I think a nap is calling me, or at the very least, a snack!!

[Peewee14]

Thanks for this review, we are on Indy again in August,

 

Really reading about your holiday please keep it coming!

[Cruiseswithfamilyornot]

We are on the ship once you are done(6/28) so really enjoying your insights, thanks

[rwright261]

I just came off the Allure, and was on the Freedom a few months ago(not to mention a bunch of cruises on oasis class and Freedom class ships over the years) and have done the cupcake decorating a few times. They do have a dog and a burger. I'm sure the reviewer will confirm. The dog is more for "kids" they say as it is easier, and the burger is more for adults as it is a bit more complex. They are both fun distractions. You'd think I'd remember the cost of doing it, but I don't sorry. They had a frog for kids too years ago but i haven't seen that one in a while

 

Thanks for this. I'm planning on consuming my fair share of cupcakes on the cruise, if they are decorated by moi even better :D