Independence semi live review 4/18/16

[Kteacher]

This will be a semi live review due to saving my two free internet days for the last two days of the cruise.

Background: We have been sailing with Royal for many years. I booked this last year during the Bogo sale. April school vacation is typically when we sail.

 

Pre- cruise: We stayed 2 nights pre- cruise at the Westin Beach Resort in Ft. Lauderdale. Although we rarely book the hotel through the cruise line, the Tortuga Festival meant finding a room was going to be tricky. After searching and coming up with nothing, we ended up booking the Westin through Royal. It was perfectly fine for a two night stay. The location was great, and the staff were friendly.

 

Embarkation: We were picked up by the shuttle at 10:30, but made a second stop at the Hilton. The first drop off was for the Serenade, which was for most of the shuttle passengers. It took a while to unload them and their bags, but we were off to pier 25 soon after the last Serenade passenger was paired with their luggage.our embarkation process was probably one of the quickest I've encountered.I think from outside sidewalk to the ramp onto the ship it was at most 15 minutes. We avoided the Windjammer, and instead opted for sandwiches , drinks, and comfy couches at the cafe promenade while waiting for our cabin to be ready.

 

Cabin: GS 1282 on deck 10- I'll post some pictures later as the server is acting up at the moment and doesn't want to cooperate.The location was perfect,. G

We're pulling into Falmouthas I type, so I'll have more later. Today we're doing the Jamaica Culinary Tour [emoji41]

[Tobleronebar]

Waiting "not" so patiently for more!!!! Have fun!

[Clarea]

Looking forward to this.:)

[Red-arrow]

Looking forward to reading more over the next couple of days. One thing that would be much appreciated to have comment on - is there any sign of Voom works going on - eg antenna construction around the middle of deck 12 near the running track?? Thank you

[Keith1010]

Bon Voyage.

 

Keith

[Kteacher]

Yes

[Kteacher]

Sorry, replying to red-arrow, yes, they are working on it ( at least they were on Tuesday).

[Kteacher]

Back from a wonderful tour in Falmouth called Taste of Jamaica [emoji106]. The weather this week has been absolutely amazing [emoji41]!.

Continuing on with the review- food venues: We gave up on the MDR a number of years ago for various reasons, so can't report on that

. So far this week we've used our BOGO coupons in Chops on the first night and Giovanni's the second night. Chops was just okay. My filet was chewy, and the bernaise sauce had an off taste to it. As others have reported, the red velvet cake has changed, and just isn't as good. Our bill got messed up, but was fixed quickly.

Giovanni's was great [emoji108]. I had the spinach and ricotta crepes and the shrimp. Both were very good. We finished with tiramisu and limoncellos. Service was excellent! Night three we dined in Chops again. It was very busy in the restaurant at 8:30, but the service was wonderful, and our meals were greatly improved from the first night.

[Red-arrow]

Many thanks for the confirmation - most kind. Pleased to hear you've had a great day.

 

 

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[dmrmcr]

Glad to hear about the good weather - we have family on this cruise. Wish we were there too!!

[Kteacher]

We've reached the saddest part of any vacation- waiting at the gate at the airport [emoji25]. Let's see if the photos post now that I'm off the ship.

This is a photo of the promenade cafe on embarkation day, around 12:00. The sandwiches were delicious, the couches comfy, and we grabbed some beverages from the pub. Plenty of space to spread out while waiting for the cabins to open up at 1:00.

[Kteacher]

So as I mentioned, we were in GS 1282 on deck 10. Perfect location, although we did notice some noises from right above us every morning between 5-6 a.m.

These were waiting for us in the cabin (D+ amenities)

 

 

We also received a fruit plate the first day, two plates of sweets ( petit fours, chocolate covered strawberries) on day 2, and a cheese plate on day 3.

[Kteacher]

Beverage package: We had received the beverage package as part of our cruise package last summer on Celebrity Summit, and really enjoyed the convenience as well as not having to think about receipts. We like trying new drinks, and having the package made it easier to do this. Whether we got our money's worth, probably not, but we weren't trying to max out our beverage intake[emoji41].

The best bartenders by far were in Boleros. The drink menu they have is interesting, and we tried some drinks that were new to us. Our favorites were the triple coconut mojito and el matador. If I had to rate this bar I would give it [emoji484][emoji484][emoji484][emoji484][emoji484].

[Kteacher]

Here are some photos of cabin 1282:

 

 

 

[Kteacher]

More cabin photos:

 

 

 

[Kteacher]

...and balcony photos

 

 

[Kteacher]

The view at sail away from our balcony:

 

 

I'd rate the weather this week at [emoji41][emoji41][emoji41][emoji41][emoji41]!

[Summerknight]

Thank you for the review. Good to hear about the Culinary Tour!!

[Kteacher]

I've seen questions on here about brunch in Chops. Here is the invitation we received in our cabin:

 

 

and the inside of the invitation:

 

Brunch was delicious, and consisted of baby lamb chops, sushi, crab cakes, a mini baked potato topped with beef filet, creme brûlée , tiramisu, mimosas, bloody Mary's ( sorry, I forgot to bring my camera). We were served by officers.

[ilovewdw]

Thanks for sharing your review. I can't wait to read more! We are sailing on INDY for the first time next July so looking to,learn all I can before I sail. Glad you had a great trip! :)

[Kteacher]

First day back at work after the cruise ended, and I'm wondering where my favorite bartenders are

 

and my favorite drink on board, triple coconut mojito

 

 

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[Kteacher]

Here are some shots of Labadee. The weather last week was spectacular [emoji41][emoji41][emoji41][emoji41][emoji41]

 

 

 

 

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[Kteacher]

Some more shots of Labadee. We were disappointed you couldn't get closer to the Dragon's Breath rock formation, and that the bar on top of what used to be the zipline check in wasn't open. Labadee is still one of our favorite stops, though.

 

 

 

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[Argana]

Great review!

 

We too were on this sailing with you, in a GS (room 1256). We had our two small children with us (age 7 and 3), so we were unable to attend some of the private invitations. I just read to my husband the food that was available for the brunch and now he is sad he missed it. LOL

 

We were at Barefoot Beach too on Labadee, so I'm sure we saw you there, if not in the hallways some of the days.

 

This was our first time on RCI, and really enjoyed the trip..but are spoiled now with a GS and probably couldn't do without having it if we are traveling with kids. The expedited embarkation and debarkation was worth the extra cost, as well as the lattes in the concierge lounge. :D

[Kteacher]

One of our favorites things about having a balcony:

 

 

nothing better than enjoying a glass of wine here