Independence Royal Suite Spring Break Review

[Kcjarvis]

I'm just starting the review, but this peaked my interest. I am assuming reading the review that the 75 will become apparent, but what makes the extra 2 for Liberty?

 

That was the 2012 sailing rating.... wait for it.... hahah

[Kcjarvis]

We woke up steaming into Grand Cayman harbor

 

 

 

Tendering has begun

 

 

 

 

In port with us, The Club Med 2

 

[Kcjarvis]

We grabbed a $5 per person taxi to Royal Palm. $2 per person entrance fee.

 

 

 

 

The food and drinks were good, although the beach waiter service was lacking. It was easier to just go to the bar yourself.

 

 

 

[Kcjarvis]

 

One perk we enjoyed the last time we were on Freedom, could have come in handy on Indy - "Priority Tendering" The line was very long, but moved... When is GC going to build a pier???

 

 

 

 

 

 

An excellent beach day. Good bye Grand Cayman

[BillOh]

 

Ricky Matthews - Cruise Director got the crowd going

 

 

 

So that is where Ricky is. Nice enough guy, had him as CD 3 times. Hope he has new material. He did run a good quest.

[Kcjarvis]

That evening was the Headliner Show - A Evening with Celine Dion by Tracey Shields.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Show was entertaining - grabbed a mudslide and headed to bed.

 

[Kcjarvis]

We woke up already docked in Falmouth

 

 

 

 

We left the port on foot and walked 2 blocks to Nazz for some curry chicken and fried dumplings. We felt very safe.

 

 

Walked back to the port and took a taxi shuttle ($20 per person round trip) to Doctor's Cave Beach

 

 

[Kcjarvis]

 

 

 

After a few hours, we headed back to Falmouth, and met Allure in port with us.

 

 

One of our Falmouth traditions is to have Auntie Anne's pretzels, patties and Red Stripe before boarding

 

 

[Kcjarvis]

 

 

 

Back on the ship, we waited 45 mins for late arriving people. Clearly the Capt was not happy

 

 

Good bye Allure

 

 

Good bye Jamaica

 

[PompeySailor]

Agreed on the patties, we always stop off here before getting back on ship.

Yum tasty yum..

Hope you are enjoying that RS.

 

Enjoying your review

Happy Days!

[TigerMom1987]

Kc.........loved seeing your photos.

 

I have many pix of Sting Ray City........I will post if anyone would like to see them. Our kids had the best time there.

 

We loved the Indy. We had two balcony staterooms on Deck 7 near the library. It was heavenly...... So quiet that there were times when I wondered if we were even moving and if anyone else was onboard.....really.

 

We did anytime dining in the MDR, and never waited longer than 2 minutes for a table. Our waiter was Fernando and May was part of his wait staff. We adored both of them. RCI knew it was our dd's 16th b-day right before we sailed. Fernando brought his guitar on our Tuesday night at sea and serenaded dd with 3 songs.........she was thrilled, other diners joined in singing, and had a great time. Fernando is very serious about doing his job well, and we were blessed to have met him. May is an absolute crack up.......we shared so many laughs with her.

 

We had excellent experiences every single time in the Windjammer thanks to RODNEY. LOOK FOR RODNEY.........probably our most favorite RCI person. He remembered every single morning that I take a little coffee with my half and half, and he got it right every.single.time.:D

 

Ricky, the CD, was excellent. We had a chance to chat with him the morning we arrived in Grand Cayman..........we were first off the ship and first on the tender. Richly, the photog, and the pirate with the parrot and our family shared lots of laughs.

 

Loved Grand Cayman.......used Captain Marvin for snorkeling, conch diving, sting ray city and lunch. Do not know what we paid for it, but worth every penny. We all loved it. Probably one of the key highlights of this trip. Val and Jason(I think) skippered our capt Marvin tour and they were great. Have them watch the time though........our group really lingered at lunch at Kaibo and we made it back to the ship on the last tender.

 

Falmouth......we only visited the dock markets, and spent an hour or so there and we were happy with that.

 

Port day in Jamaica we all did stuff at the Spa........Vaneesa and Chelsea are THE BEST!!! I could have chatted with Chelsea for days......my son had a teen facial (do not know the name of his aesthetician) but I have to tell you, one week later, his skin looks fabulous! My dh had a facial and a shave, and is still glowing. The spa is top notch. I do the spa weekly here in DC, and RCI's spa is aces! If you are going to use the spa services, book early!

 

Our room standards were Asep and Roland............they were fabulous as well. They went above and beyond making certain we were always comfortable and enjoying our cruise.

 

I will say that the RCI staff was phenomenol! David on the Royal Promenade fast became a favorite and we always made certain to say hi to him.

 

We loved Ben and Jerry's.......we totally don't understand the need for a cupcake shop, but whatever. Check for bargains at the clothing store on the right hand side (same side as guest services....next to cupcake store) .....I had forgotten to bring sandals for the pool areaa d they were having a sale. The sandals I bought are my new favorites.

 

Finding lounge chairs on deck was problematic as we had the most glorious weather..... It did require searching, but we always found a couple of chairs. I am not a fan of roasting in the sun for hours and I loved to sit on the deck where Johnny Rockets is located, in the shade, enjoying a breeze.......I don't know what deck that is.......12?

 

Our kids loved the Flow Rider, the rock climbing wall, the mini golf. My advice is to enjoy those things earlier in the day rather than later......later in the day the wind is gusting up on that deck, and if there are clouds, well, it becomes downright cold (almost). Do those activities earlier.

 

Movies by the pool were sparsely attended, but my kids would watch an hour one night, and the. Two nights later, finish watching. They loved the arcade, and sadly didn't get a chance to ice skate.

 

The skating show was a HIT with my dh and dd14 who went to see it. Tix are handed out a day or so in advance at a specific time outside of the rink (deck 3, I think). The line will look endless when you go to get tix....but it moves at lightning fast speed.......we were back at the pool in less than 10 minutes.

 

We didn't do any shows.......just didn't. Only the ice skating show.

 

We ate at Chops Grille a couple of times and the food was excellent. I will suggest the bacon wrapped scallops as a starter.......although we all ordered different starters so we could sample and they were all fantastic. The Mississippi mud pie was also fantastic. Our waiter was Melbon and he is really quite serious. He is also excellent at his job, and by the end of the mail, he was cracking jokes along with us. My only caveat for Chops would be this: as you walk towards the huge flower arrangement in the center of the restaurant, there is a lovely banquette on the right that will seat 5........2 in chairs. Do not sit there! Directly behind the banquette is the area where the busboys 'dump' the tableware that has been used. The crashing of plates and flatware continues non stop........we were giddy and practically in tears laughing at the racket by the end of our meal,but someone else might find it annoying. You have been warned . :p

 

THE WORST PART OF THE TRIP HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH RCI.......PLEASE READ ON: we stayed the night before at the Marriott Spring Hill Suites......it is a very convenient place to stay.....nothing wrong with it......we stayed there so we could park our car with no charge while we were sailing. HOWEVER, KSA TOURS operates from that marriott.......and many other hotels. DO NOT USE THEM. We did everything.....paid cash in advance, received our stickers for pick up from the ship when we returned, and were ASSURED they would be at the dock when we cleared customs. We waited TWO HOURS, and another family waited 2.5 hours in the blazing sun until they stopped to get us. Their driver passed by us no less tha. Three times, had empty seats on the bus, but would not stop. Their dispatch person at first kept telling us and the SHERIFF at the dock who knows them that they would be there in 5 minutes. They were running ONE small bus at the busiest time of the weekend.......5 ships in port and hundreds of people who had paid for and were waiting for rides. Hail a cab, park at the port......I read reviews here and that was how I picked the marriott but it must have been a different tour operator than KSA whose review I found on here. Do not use them.

 

Read the next day's cruise compass every night for the operating hours of the flow rider, skating rink, etc, and for everything going on the next day.

 

 

If I think of anything else, I will post again..if you have any questions, please ask. This was our first cruise, and we loved it. We are already booked on the Norwegian Epic for a cruise tour at the end of July.

[Kcjarvis]

Evening Event - Love and Marriage Game show

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hardingk]

Thanks for the review!! We just got off the Liberty Saturday and are sailing on Indy next April for Spring Break!

[Peeker28]

.used Captain Marvin for snorkeling, conch diving, sting ray city and lunch

 

Did you book this through RC?

[cincicruisers]

Subscribing love the review. Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[Kcjarvis]

Woke up doing 19 knots towards Labadee

 

 

Headed to Chops for our daily Gold Card breakfast, does anyone eat the tomato?

 

 

 

 

Wow - we have never docked on that side of the pier before

 

 

[Kcjarvis]

 

A great welcome from the aqua sports crew

 

 

 

 

A short walk over to Barefoot Beach

 

 

[Kcjarvis]

We had over the water cabana #5

 

 

 

 

They have added stairs and a ladder to the water - very nice

 

 

Remember to bring your swim shoes.

 

[Kcjarvis]

The enhanced buffet was excellent

 

 

 

 

 

After another great beach day, we headed back to the ship

 

 

[Summer Lovin]

What is the gold card breakfast at Chops? We have only sailed Royal Caribbean three times. Is this a breakfast offered to people that have sailed with with a number of times? Thanks!

[Clarea]

What is the gold card breakfast at Chops? We have only sailed Royal Caribbean three times. Is this a breakfast offered to people that have sailed with with a number of times? Thanks!

Guests in full suites (Grand Suite and better) plus Pinnacle C&A members get a gold SeaPass card. Some ships have a special breakfast for gold card holders in a specialty restaurant.

[perfect match]

Great review! Thank you!

 

Our turn on Indy is coming up soon! I can hardly wait! :D

[takevtr1]

following.

sailing the Indy 8/9/15.

Mitch.........

[setsail]

You have reached the office of KC. We are currently cruising, you can leave a message, but if you want to talk to me you will have to book a cruise:D

 

Sharp as ever Ken, great pics and review. We booked Harmony for dec-2016

Edited April 16, 2015 by setsail

[Kcjarvis]

Bridge Tour