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

[rwright261]

London gal - the once upon a time was my favourite show too I am really looking forward to seeing it again. I'm sorry to tell you that it feels like your week is really flying by. Loving the review. Keep enjoying yourselves ;)

[hebbie67]

Fantastic review - so looking forward to our trip on Indy when you disembark!

 

Would love to know what the theme of the Mystery Theatre Dinner is. We attended Ba Da Bing Ba Da Boom on Adventure last year and are hoping this one will be different.

 

Enjoy the test of your cruise!

 

 

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[lorrdean]

loving the detail you are giving. we are getting on indy when you come off :D

[Susie51]

Thank you for your detailed review.

[lorrdean]

Londongal a quick question. When you were in chops grille, did they 'upcharge' you for water ?

 

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[little britain]

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.

 

Hello from former resident of Woodham!

Rather concerned about these comments on Giovannis. On Adventure last month we happily had 'ship's water'....but most worrying are your comments about the beverage packages. We are on Oasis in September and have the Premium drinks package and I will be not a happy bunny (OK I will be furious) if I cannot use the package to get a glass of wine or 3 with lunch.:eek: Are you sure they don't accept packages?

 

Great review !

Edited June 21, 2014 by little britain

[Alysia]

Thank you for writing such a detail review while you are on the ship. This is very helpful to us since we will be on the 7/12 cruise. Hope you are having a great time.

[londongal796]

Fantastic review - so looking forward to our trip on Indy when you disembark!

 

Would love to know what the theme of the Mystery Theatre Dinner is. We attended Ba Da Bing Ba Da Boom on Adventure last year and are hoping this one will be different.

 

Enjoy the test of your cruise!

 

The Mystery Theatre Dinner was definitely called Ba Da Bing Ba Da Boom. That's all I can confirm for you. I heard it was very good but as for whether or not it's the exact same show, I am not sure -- it was definitely called that though so I hope you aren't disappointed.

 

Londongal a quick question. When you were in chops grille, did they 'upcharge' you for water ?

 

At Chops Grille our waitress said, 'Would you like sparkling Perrier, still L'acqua (the brand), or just ice water?' I said 'Ice water please!'. Was served with about half a pitcher of glass but hey, it was free!!

 

Hello from former resident of Woodham!

Rather concerned about these comments on Giovannis. On Adventure last month we happily had 'ship's water'....but most worrying are your comments about the beverage packages. We are on Oasis in September and have the Premium drinks package and I will be not a happy bunny (OK I will be furious) if I cannot use the package to get a glass of wine or 3 with lunch.:eek: Are you sure they don't accept packages?

 

I am very sure that the waiters made it clear to all guests that drink packages were not accepted. I can confirm that my husbands soda package was honoured, but that all guests were advised that Wines were NOT included in the meal. The bottles of wine that were suggested to one guest were priced around $80/bottle!! I did see a group of 3 adults walk into the restaurant with glasses of wine. There are other venues where you can get a drink and then you could carry it through. But obviously if you want more than 1 glass with dinner, then I am really sorry but I think you will be disappointed. It is definitely worth complaining about I believe. Although -- this is the Giovanni's onboard Independence of the Seas out of Southampton and not the same as Oasis. So I can't comment on what your experience will actually be like.

[londongal796]

First, to report on the cupcakes: The 1pm class is adults only, mixture of both for the 2pm and 3pm classes. I believe they said they were on Sea Days only. The next one they were doing was the Puppy Dog one. And -- I have completely forgotten the price. But it was around $20+ for adults and less for children. I think other people have reported the exact price on the forum so it’s worth a search for that.

 

They are also currently allowing people to ‘ice their own cupcake’. So when you go to the Cupcake place, you can either purchase a pre-iced one or you can ice your own so you can learn how to do the icing bit. Although in the actual class they teach you how to fill a piping bag and a lot more besides, how to do the piping etc etc. But it’s still good to know!

 

It is currently the morning of Day 9. I’ll pick up from after Rome.

 

I went down to the Cafe Promenade while DH grabbed a nap. I saw a man there with a glass of milk and I thought -- that’s just the ticket. So I grabbed some cookies and a glass of milk and enjoyed Cookies & Milk for a snack. Yummmm!!!! They serve milk for people to make tea / coffee with so I grabbed it from one of those containers using the glasses out for iced water.

 

I read for a bit and then got DH up so we could go down for dinner. It was the Basil menu and that’s about all I can remember. I know that I had the Crabcake for a starter along with something else which I currently can’t remember. DH had -- I have no idea. For mains I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu and he had the Braised Beef Duo. He said his was delicious and he ate every bite. My chicken was good but according to the virtual menu (on the display screens) his dish was supposed to come with ‘carolina yellow grits’ which I was sure I’d love. So I asked for that instead of my rice pilaf. Except, the physical menu (in the MDR) did say that his dish came with a vegetable mash. Our waiter said no problem but when he served it, there was no rice, no mash, and no grits. I just had some undercooked veg and the chicken. The waiter apologised profusely and explained that grits were no longer being served since they came over from the US and that they would need to get the virtual signs changed. They hadn’t realised there was a difference on them. Anyway, he was really nice, but I think he’d forgotten that I needed some sort of starch on my plate since he must have asked them to NOT put the rice on, but then didn’t ask them to put anything else in its place. Oh well!!! I munched some of DH veggie mash which was fine.

 

For dessert DH had the pistachio ice cream and I had the Cherries Jubilee. I am not a boozey person so I didn’t care for the cherries themselves very much but the sauce with the melted ice cream was quite sweet and I enjoyed it very much.

 

After dinner we decided to skip the Comedy Improv Troupe. We heard from a LOT of people that the act was terrible, they just slotted in words from the audience into scripted bits, which is the exact opposite of what an improv act is supposed to be. Apparently, although we can’t confirm ourselves, about 50 people walked out within 10 minutes. But overall it was reported by many people to not have been enjoyable. Sorry for any disappointment. Although I’m sure some people did enjoy it, we haven’t met anyone who did!

 

We had an early night and watched some tv before bed. Next day was Livorno for our Cinque Terre/Pisa trip. When we checked the Cruise Compass, for some bizarre reason, even though we were due to dock at 7am and be released into port by 7:30am, they did NOT have the Windjammer open for 6am as they had done the day before when we were in Rome. Instead it opened at 7am!! Since we needed to be off the ship by 7:30am for our private tour, this meant we had to begrudgingly use the room service breakfast again. We ordered more food but they forgot to give us some of it so again, we really didn’t get enough to eat. Oh well. They did phone about 20 minutes early and offered to deliver it early which was great for me, I was already up and ready to go, although the phone did wake DH up. But they said they knew people were going off early and that some would want it early and that was fine by us. It was exactly the same as the day before so nothing really to report there.

 

We had joined up with two other families from our roll call for a private excursion with a company called Papillon. If I’m not allowed to mention the company, my apologies, I can repost this later if it gets removed. We were doing a day to Cinque Terre which are a series of 5 fishing villages off the coast of Italy which were built up on the rock cliffs. It is an amazing feat and I had seen many photos of these villages on various ‘Top 50 most Beautiful places to visit’ websites etc. I was charmed at first sight. We were driven by private taxi (van) to Portovenere to catch a ferry at 10am. We arrived at 9:15am and walked along the town waterfront to the end where there is a large castle with a grotto dedicated to Lord Byron, who ‘bravely’ swam across the waters there to another place. I have to admit, it cracked me up, but I guess it was quite a feat. It is more funny to my DH and I as one of our cats is named Byron and we had a bit of a funny picture of our little black cat swimming across the Mediterranean.

 

Anyway, I digress -- the waterfront was filled with the typical fishing houses which our driver described as ‘very tall but not very wide’. I had seen photos but I did not realise just how thin these houses were!!! Maybe one room wide at the most, one very modest room, and about 5 stories high each!!!!! It was incredible! I don’t even know how they had space for stairs! And every house is painted in a different colour, all of the lovely Med colours, yellows, pinks, greens, blues. Mostly pinks though which is my favourite colour. It was gorgeous. The grotto as well was a bit scary actually, the powerful sea crashing against the shore. Very inspiring.

 

Our driver had told us that we may not be able to go on the ferries if the weather was too bad as it is quite dangerous landings they have. Though we were in luck, ferries were running fine. (There is a train that goes everywhere for less money that can run in all types of weather so there is always back up transportation.) We boarded our ferry no problem at 10am and set off. Immediately I knew I was in trouble. It was a ROUGH ride. I have been in boats smaller than this in what appeared to be similar waters but there was something different about these boats or the currents of the Med that meant I felt pretty ill right away. I opened a window but some random Italian woman shouted at me to close it (even though, seriously, every other window was open) so I closed it and moved towards a doorway. It was rough going though and I was worried breakfast would soon be making an unwelcome reappearance. It got even worse when we arrived at our first stop and we had to wait for 5 minutes while people got off and more got on. The sea is moving us left and right while the driver is moving us forwards again and again trying to stay close enough to the cliff side where one disembarks from. And let me just say, it was seriously just the cliff/rock front, not a nice pretty neat pier. I don’t know why I expected something a little better but … I did. If I’m honest. It’s 100% my fault what all happened next and is no reflection on driver, the tour company, or anything. It was all personal preference and I had no problems with it either.

 

We arrived to Manarole which was where we were to get off the ferry for 1 hour, and then take the next ferry to Vernazza where we would meet our driver. We got off and the boat is moving back and forth, back and forth, the gangway looked like it was about to slip off the edge of the rocks, and I am supposed to go down this thing. I ran for it but I knew there was no way in hades I was going to psyche myself back up enough to get ON the thing. So new plan: my very loving and ever patient husband and I would take the train to Vernazza instead of the ferry. I knew the tickets were really cheap in comparison to the ferry but I had no idea where the station was or how to get to it. We had about 25minutes until the train left (versus the 1hour our fellow travellers would have in town) so we immediately set off to find the station. We walked along a footpath that brought us out towards the sea as I thought I had seen a station or something from the ship. Well, I had, but it was for Corniglia, the next village over. Oops. But we got some amazing photos from there of the village. We walked back, the heat was very high with humidity of a million percent, so I was sweat through already. Oh well. We went into town searching for signs but then came across a tour group with an English-speaking guide who said she would ‘take everyone to the main square and then to the train station’. Victory!!! So we followed them to the main square and then saw the signs for the station. It was through a tunnel in the cliffs and then out into a station. We got tickets for very little money and validated them then waited on the platform. Must admit, train was 10 minutes late, but it was a PROPER full-sized train. I pictured some really small tram-type service or something but I guess when they build trains connecting 5 teeny tiny fishing villages they really mean business. So this huge double decker train arrived which, since it was running late, tried to depart with about 1/3rd of the passengers on board. Everyone had to keep forcing the doors open until everyone boarded. Most people stayed on until Vernazza as well as Corniglia is a village right at the top of the cliffs and is quite hard to get up to on foot.

 

We made it to Vernazza about 15minutes before everyone else was due and made our way down to the pier where they would arrive and the driver would meet us. They arrived safely and then we agreed to skip visiting Vernazza and having lunch there and instead go on to Corniglia and have a meal there. We walked up the hill and then got in our taxi for a panoramic cliff drive along to Corniglia. It was about 20 minutes or so on windy one-lane roads with incredible blind spots. Fortunately we didn’t really pass anyone so it wasn’t so bad, but I was strapped into the front middle seat and may have been biting my tongue from squealing. But I am always a bad passenger on roads like this (I’m sure DH will say I’m a bad passenger on good roads!!). Bit of a backseat / front passenger seat driver. Well, we can’t all be perfect!!! At least I didn’t try to stomp on my invisible brake pedal like I usually do.

 

We arrived, went to the balcony where you can see the Med and then walked back up to a restaurant for lunch where we all ate. It was really good. I can’t have tomatoes due to a health condition and most sauces had tomato, so I ended up having a pesto pasta which was gorgeous. I know we were paying tourist prices for a plate of pasta but c’est la vie. It’s my own fault for not speaking Italian!!

 

We finished and were then driven along the same scary errr I mean beautiful panoramic cliff-top road until we got back to La Spezia and then the blessedly-normal motorways to Pisa. Pisa, oh Pisa. After the day we’d had, I was exhausted, a bit queasy, and sweat through. But Pisa. You made it all worth while.

 

So here’s the confession part. Cinque Terre was fantastic, really great, but I had a different picture of ‘how it would be’ to visit there. It looked exactly like a smaller version of Venice, which I’ve spent 4 days in already. I’m not an expert, but -- it was a bit like, oh. This is quite familiar. And the journey to the villages I expected to be a bit less dangerous and more, I suppose, Venetian lagoon like. This is all 100% my fault and no one else’s. I enjoyed the photos I got, but the experience was not worth it (personally), and I would never do it again. Ever. So with that in mind -- seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa was an absolute dream come true. A long-held dream. Ever since I had visited Florence in 2007 I wanted to go to Pisa. It just wasn’t feasible at the time. And so finally, there she was, the beautiful, awe-inspiring, truly magnificently pristine white marble Leaning Tower of Pisa!!!!!!!!

 

We did the obligatory photos of me holding up the tower but must admit, sideways is not my most flattering side. Oh well. We tried it again and again but it turns out -- I’m just fat. Haha!!!! Husband looked a lot better in his photos. We had a great time anyway, walked around the Baptistry, the Church, and of course Pisa. It looks more leaning from some sides than others. Then we grabbed some gelato, some drinks, and sat with another person while everyone else walked up the tower. No idea how they all had the energy for it, about 300 steps, but even if I had, I can’t do spirals very easily so we skipped it. Then for the last time we all got back in our van and drove on back to the ship. Phew!!! What a day!!!!

 

Our driver was brilliant and took us everywhere very safely. I do wish that a little more background and history, tour guide stuff, was given to us beforehand as she was not able to accompany us places and even when she did, I am guessing she wasn’t allowed to actually act as a tour guide because, well, she never did. She was really friendly and kept us safe, and told us the basics of what we needed to know. We had a tiny bit of history of things, but I really was craving a lot more information. Considering we had an hour+ drive everywhere, there was certainly plenty of time to tell us more. But it was still worth every penny of what we paid and we had an overall really great day.

 

We re-boarded the ship and then decided to skip the MDR experience. We went to the Windjammer at 7pm and I just have to re-iterate what I have mentioned before, the selection is just too poor. In the past when I have eaten at the Windjammer I have had too many choices, I wouldn’t know which to pick, I wanted everything. This time, I have to circle again and again and finally come up with something I think I’ll be okay with, not something I really really want. There is the Jade section where we got some sushi before dinner, but the rest was 100% curries last night, and I don’t do many curries. There were no stir fries or other Chinese/Japanese or even Thai dishes. Just curries. The next station was for salads and sandwiches (I did have a salad). Then the middle outside station was 100% desserts again. And half of the back counter station was desserts, the other half, pasta. Then the two floating island stations there was MORE pasta. And more sauces. Identical for half of themselves to the other stations (gravy, mashed potato, broccoli, etc were at both stations). One side had some stuff for tacos/burritos and the other had some typical British foods. There was also a small bit set aside for burgers and hot dogs.

 

Oh well -- I am really disappointed with the Windjammer but there’s always enough to scrape by. It does help with the not over eating as well!

 

It was the Hypnotist act last night with Chris Caress and it was so good we stayed for BOTH seatings!!!! It was fantastic. I can’t really describe it but the people really do go under, not everyone, those who don’t he pulls off the stage, but the rest of them are properly hypnotised and if you don’t believe me, then watch it for yourself. It’s always funniest with the blokes who do go under, as they always seem to be big lads who end up piouretting like ballerinas or sobbing their eyes out over a sad film. TOO FUNNY. We were in tears, wheezing as we were laughing so hard. Seriously. The best show ever.

 

We are now in Toulon but we are going to stay on board. Apparently we were VERY tired as we slept for 11hours straight and have completely missed breakfast. Whoops!! Time to get something to eat and some sun on the pool deck!!!

[lorrdean]

Thank you londongal. I much prefer water to drink with my meals and grudge paying for it :)

 

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[Bril]

I actually doubt whether the waiters are right. Which package did you have? When they don't serve wine by the Glass, guess they are right, but still have to offer a 20% discount!, I think.. Somewhere else on the board one says the packages do apply in the specialty restaurants...

 

 

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[hebbie67]

Thanks londongal - think we'll cancel the theatre dinner now - we feared it might be the same. No worries - there's plenty of other things to do!!

 

Hope we get the hypnotist too - saw one years ago and it was hilarious to watch people you know go under!!

 

Looking forward to the next instalment...!

 

 

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[rwright261]

Thanks so so much Londongal for finding out such useful info re the cupcake classes.

 

Sorry the Windjammer isn't up to much, or the room service. It sounds as though you are having a wonderfully relaxing time though... 11 hours sleep sounds great.

 

Just thought of another question, are people really dressed up on formal nights?

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip :D

[Alysia]

Hoping you are having a great cruise. I do have two questions and hopefully you could answer them:

 

1) Who is the piano player in the Schooner lounge?

2) Who is the guitar player in the pub?

 

 

Thank you again for posting live.

[londongal796]

Thanks so so much Londongal for finding out such useful info re the cupcake classes.

 

Sorry the Windjammer isn't up to much, or the room service. It sounds as though you are having a wonderfully relaxing time though... 11 hours sleep sounds great.

 

Just thought of another question, are people really dressed up on formal nights?

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip :D

 

Yes we are definitely having a great time and very very relaxed. Food isn't the only thing on board and at least I don't have to cook or clean up after it!!!!! That always wins out in my book!

 

Everyone does follow the dress codes from what I have seen but how formal you go is up to you. A lot of women have worn 'maxi dresses', those long flowy dresses that are quite summery really. Then men usually just have a blazer on top of a button up shirt with a tie. Not seen many proper tuxedos and just a few guys in kilt outfits. Hope this helps.

 

Hoping you are having a great cruise. I do have two questions and hopefully you could answer them:

 

1) Who is the piano player in the Schooner lounge?

2) Who is the guitar player in the pub?

 

 

Thank you again for posting live.

 

I will be posting all of the Daily Compasses at the end of the cruise so you can check who the various performers are in different lounges then. I don't know that it's the same performers night after night, at least I have noticed different performers at times (at least I think I have).

 

 

 

As for those about the drinks package: Of course I am not Royal Caribbean. I can't 100% say anything. I can 100% say what I heard onboard at the time of my meal. Our waitress clearly stated that the drinks package would not be accepted at Giovanni's. We were not offered free water in that venue. Chops did not tell us about no drinks package and did offer us free water. If the truth is different, fair enough, but if the staff tell guests otherwise, what can we do? They very clearly told other tables as well at Giovanni's that the drinks package would not be accepted. Chops was not the same, we didn't overhear anything about drinks packages there. Hope this helps.

[londongal796]

Day 11 now and we have just arrived into a very rainy Cadiz. Oh well, it happens. You can see the historic centre right from the ship, I can see some sort of Cathedral, so if the rain lightens up we will definitely venture out. We didn’t book anything here but I have some maps and things but -- only one umbrella. And no rain jackets. Because we panic-packed the last few minutes before we left and a lot of things got left behind.

 

So I left off in Toulon. We went up to the Windjammer for some lunch after I finished writing. I was again really disappointed with how little food there was to choose from. One whole island at the back of the Windjammer was closed off and another was again devoted to desserts. I ended up having a salad and some mashed potato, slice of meat from the carvery and a turkey escalope. It was a very poor showing if I am honest!

 

Afterwards we walked past the Solarium and there were a few empty deck chairs so I grabbed a towel and put it down along with my flip flops so I could quickly change and come back up. I did so and was lathered up in sun cream as well. I sunbathed for the first time in I think 7 or 8 years. The aim was to get a smidgen of sun on my legs as I haven’t really done that in ages but instead I ended up with some wicked burns on my front and back, I definitely put sun cream on these places but it must of rubbed off on the towel. Legs: still very very white. Oh well!

 

It was soooo hot in the sun that I felt like my skin was on fire at points so I jumped in the Solarium pool which was freeeezing (well, comparatively). It was quite cool. I did managed to get a virgin Miami Vice I think? which was served in really cute plastic cups with lids and straws which was ideal for poolside sitting. I managed to sunbathe for about 2+ hours which is quite a feat for me as I get bored easily. Afterwards a quick shower and got ready for dinner in the MDR. We were advised that the Chops Petit Filet Mignon would be available for the bargain rate of $12.50 per meal instead of the usual $19.00 in the MDR. While that’s not a huge savings, we knew the steaks were gooood, so more than half the table ordered it. My steak was absolutely superb. The accompanying mash was good. The veg -- undercooked. Very disappointing. I couldn’t even cut the broccoli with my steak knife, that’s how huge the piece was and how undercooked it was. Also, sadly for my husband, the waiter gave him a done steak while someone else got his medium rare. That is a real shame but he said it was still pretty good. I do have to admit that the wait staff in the MDR in general are quite … poor. They get orders wrong consistently, even your main MDR staff that you have dinner with night after night. I don’t know what’s going on. I really like our waiter, and I will give him an extra tip at the end of the cruise as he’s really friendly and doing his best, but if you go for breakfast or lunch, the staff are so not bothered and really do the bare minimum and even then get it wrong consistently. The experience is about on par with what I have experienced in the last few cruises but I am still surprised at how consistently poor their performances are.

 

This was the Arugula (I think) menu, I took photos so we can share this as it’s not a normal one. Well, for starters we had -- uhhhhh…. Tomato Seafood Risotto for me and -- I can’t remember for my husband. Pudding was Crema Catalona for me which was like a Creme Brulee (wish they had just called it that!) and husband had the apple tart. I snagged a bite of his, it was okay. I didn’t like my topping as it was quite caramelly but the custardy bit was delicious.

 

We went to the quiz in the Schooner Bar afterwards but did not fare very well. Then we went to the show which was Under the Big Top -- a big circus-style production. Must admit this was not a favourite of mine and sadly our performance was cut short as a piece of equipment malfunctioned. They replayed the entire piece yesterday at 2:15pm from start to finish but we did not bother going as it wasn’t very good. The performers did a fine job but the music selection was really poor and I just didn’t enjoy it at all. I will add that the staff did a terrible job of keeping us informed on what was happening. The lights came up and a voice announced that due to unforeseen technical difficulties the show would be delayed. The curtains came down and a lot of people left. A few minutes later Joff’s voice came over and apologised for the delay, explained that a very large piece of equipment had failed and was stuck on the stage and that it would take ‘a long time’ to sort the problem. He said the show was being postponed. And that was it. A lot more people left but he didn’t say, ‘okay guys, you can go now, we’ll see you another time’. We waited a further 10 minutes before staff started re-setting the front end of the stage with the next events furniture (the Stars vs Stripes Charades match) and we realised that ‘postponed’ meant ‘not happening tonight’. It was surprising as we felt a lot more information should have been given, at least explaining that the performance would not be continuing that evening. It just wasn’t made clear to us at any point.

 

We stayed for a half hour of the Stars vs Stripes which was funny enough but after being in the theatre for so long we were quite ready for a change so we grabbed some snacks and went back to the room for some tv and sleep.

 

Yesterday was a day at Sea and also was the Chocolate Breakfast. We were told at dinner the night before. I was really excited so I set my alarm to get us up in time. We went to the MDR and were seated and the menu featured a special Chocolate Tasting Breakfast menu. It started with Hot Chocolate or Chocolate Milkshake, next was various pastries with chocolate (chocolate muffin, chocolate croissant, chocolate and banana bread, and something else). For ‘mains’ was Chocolate Pancakes or Chocolate Waffles with a caramel sauce. And for ‘dessert’ was a Chocolate Trifle.

 

I had the chocolate milkshake which was sooooo good. It was really chocolate milk with an extra frothy topping but it was perfection. Husband had hot chocolate which I think was average. I had a chocolate muffin which was good. He had the waffles, seemed fine. My pancakes were good but only about 5 chocolate chips per pancake!!! Not very chocolatey. And one was so overcooked I could only eat a part of it. But overall not a bad effort, all things considered.

 

We went to the Animal Kingdom Quiz at the Schooner where we did pretty well. Not sure why but when it’s just the two of us we seem to rock it, but we really need more people to do well. We are always beaten by larger teams, although the team of 6 whose quiz we scored we did a LOT better than them. We came in I think 4th place so that wasn’t too bad.

 

The decks were quite busy with sun bathers so we went back to our room to catch up on some more tv (if people think we were watching reruns of BBC shows on the ships channels, please note, we brought a TON of tv shows to catch up with on our computer so we have been watching a lot of actual properly good tv, which is why we’ve spent a lot of time doing it!). We ordered a ridiculously huge room service lunch so I could have some honey stung chicken. It was -- okay. Definitely not the old stuff it used to be but it was juicy and decent enough. Sweet potato fries were really good too. I tried a Caesar Salad but the dressing was just vinegar really, yuck (to me anyway). And some artichoke and spinach dip which was quite good. All in all not bad! It came in about a half hour as well which was good for us.

 

We then went up for a dip in the hot tub while the ship was moving so we could enjoy the breeze. It certainly helped as usually we have gone in when in port (static) and it gets SO STEAMY you can’t last long. But it was very refreshing. I decided to ‘cool off’ in the pool for a few minutes only to discover the Solarium was super warm!! Almost bath warm. It was amazing!!!! I swam for a bit and really enjoyed it. Then back to the room for a quick change and off to MDR for dinner!!!!

 

It was the Pimiento menu which I was looking forward to. For starters I had the Arancini (mushroom and rice balls deep fried and served with spinach and a tomato sauce) and also the Garlic Soup. WOW the garlic soup was garlicy. I ate about a third of a bowl with my bread. Too garlicy really, and that’s saying something -- I normally am a garlic lover. Maybe they need to tone it down a bit as I’m sure I have had it before and finished it. No one really finished it at the table either -- maybe it was a too strong batch. My Arancini was delightful. Husband also had garlic soup and ate about half the bowl. For mains he had the pork tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto but he said it wasn’t very good. I had a bite and I felt the gravy didn’t really help, it overpowered the flavour of the meats. I had the Garlic Tiger Prawns which were phenomenal, and even better when our waiter came around with a plate full of them and topped everyone up, including my husband as he’d tried one of mine!! He much preferred the Tiger Prawns to his meal!! It was lovely. I had 5 in total instead of the usual 4 (since I gave one away to start).

 

For dessert we both had the sticky bread and butter pudding and that was really delightful.

 

Afterwards we got ready for the comedy show in our room and we were joking around listening to the song by ‘The Lonely Island’ called ‘I’m on a boat’ (I got him a gag t-shirt which has that phrase on which he was wearing). I jokingly threw the curtains open to talk about seeing the dolphins in the water and -- there were dolphins leaping out at the front of the ship, a whole pod of them!!! I started squealing and after 10 minutes of them being there we ran with my camera to the bow of the ship outside. The wind was about 30mph+ and it was terribly noisy but after about 5 minutes we caught sight of them again. There was a big pod and they would leap and leap and leap as we moved towards them and as they got closer you could see them diving right through the water, you could see them IN the water (like, under the sea) swimming and then leaping out and back under. It was incredible. We took some videos of it and I was squealing the whole time. It was just one of those perfect perfect moments you can’t plan for.

 

We went up to the theatre straight after to get seats for the show and I waited on Deck 4 for the Suites guests only section to be opened up to the public. That was well worth it in the end as we got good seats considering we arrived so late. The comedian, Gowrnry ? Thom (or something like that) was absolutely hilarious. I laughed very very hard. He wasn’t a normal comedian but he was really interactive and got the audience very involved with his show. And it was super enjoyable. Then we went up to the Royal Promenade for the Mad Hatters parade which was a bit crap and only really for children. Then we tried the Labyrinth for dancing which -- went okay I guess. The decor in there is really ridiculously over the top Goth and I had to laugh quite hard when we first went in. I have only been in one of the night clubs and that was years and years ago. Back then there were mostly younger crowds there -- but here everyone was 40+ to start with and the only people dancing were single women in their late 30s or 40s. There was an older couple doing a proper dancing routine as well but they were probably in their 50s. Danced wonderfully though. The music up until 11pm was ‘oldies’ apparently and then they moved into more modern stuff. They did a few songs I really liked so we danced for a bit and then after all my favourites were already done in the first 20minutes we left and went to bed!

 

If the weather clears up for a bit we’ll definitely get out on land but I didn’t come prepared for much rain and it was absolutely chucking it down a half hour ago. Sounds like it has lightened up a bit now though so we’ll see how it goes!

[robin13]

Hello from former resident of Woodham!

Rather concerned about these comments on Giovannis. On Adventure last month we happily had 'ship's water'....but most worrying are your comments about the beverage packages. We are on Oasis in September and have the Premium drinks package and I will be not a happy bunny (OK I will be furious) if I cannot use the package to get a glass of wine or 3 with lunch.:eek: Are you sure they don't accept packages?

 

Great review !

 

I was on the IOS Caribbean cruise several months ago and ate at Giovannis. I had the Premium Drink Package and ordred 3 glasses of wine (it was a long dinner). All of my wine was included so I have no idea why they would say it wasn't. Also, used the wine package in Chops and probably at every bar on that ship. You might want to call and see if something has changed for the European cruises and if it has then I would be very upset as well!

[hebbie67]

Hi Londongal

 

Such a shame about the weather. Can I ask where the best place for wifi is in Cadiz please?

 

Loving the review!

 

 

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[rwright261]

Hope you managed to get off at Cadiz and the weather has brightened up for you.

 

The chocolate breakfast sounds lovely, I will definitely be looking out for that.

 

It's good to know its a mixed bag on formal night, we like to really dress up :-)

 

Looking forward to your next instalment!

[patl95]

Loved reading your review!!! We are going to be sailing on the IOS on July 12th! We can't wait!!!

 

Did you happen to notice were there was WiFi in any of the ports? We won't be using it on the ship so we'll be relying on it when we're docked....

 

Thanks!

 

Patty

[Susie51]

Thank you for your descriptive review.

[russnob]

I am so pleased to hear that Chris Caress the hypnotist is on the Indy this year. I hope he is still on in August when we sail. I was hypnotised by him on the Adventure last year and I can assure any doughters that I most definitely was not in control and was thouroughly hypnotised. ( he offered me $1m to tell the audience my name and I couldn't do it )

 

 

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[LBumb]

great job

[beryl patricia]

Love the review - I keep checking for the next instalment like a good book ha !

 

A little question have they been charging for the shuttle buses ? If so do you know how much on average. Chocolate for breakfast - sounds awful but hey I've got to give it a go ha who doesn't like chocolate sound like a great way to start the day - I just pity the parents of the little ones who get a sugar high ha ha !

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise and thanks again.

[Bril]

Great Posts! As I have booked the Ultimate package because, among other things, of the inclusion of specialty coffees, and because of a refurbishment of the Indy las year, I have a question: which brand of specialty coffees does the Promenade Cafe serve? Still Seattle's? Or Starbucks?

 

 

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Edited June 28, 2014 by Bril