Independence of the Seas- Nov. 28 Photo Review!

[mcchane1]

I too am from Iowa and I am waiting for the winter to be over so we can head to the IotS in April. I'm still trying to find reasonable air fare and dread the thought of Chicago.

 

 

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[the_lovely_voyage]

You are right. I guess too that the majority of Kmart's customers there are cruisers who can spend more. How was the weather in FLL? A big change coming from your home! We are also single digits here in the northeast.

 

 

If I remember correctly it was mid-70's the day we were there. Definitely better than the 40-something it was in Iowa, that's for sure. The worst part of cruising is coming home to the cold. We flew back on the Saturday our cruise was over and drove from Chicago to Iowa in several inches of snow fall. As I write this, we're preparing for -15 overnight. Joy...

[the_lovely_voyage]

Zomg I'm so excited!! Lol thanks for the review! I love pic reviews that start out the day before and have lots of info. It really gets me excited to go. Can't wait to see your next posts. :)

 

Thanks for following along! I know you've been looking for reviews of the Indy, so I really hope I can help at least a bit!

[OceansOfTravels]

I'll be following along! :D

[the_lovely_voyage]

Here is the Cruise Compass for Embarkation Day! I really hope these aren't super large. I wanted to make them easy to read, but I know how annoying large photos can be too. Also, I apologize for the green highlights on some of the activities, I should've grabbed clean CC's from the guest services desk (they have a wall of all the CC's for the cruise). Nevertheless, hope this helps!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2016 by morninsun86

[the_lovely_voyage]

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28th- Embarkation

We were up around 8 in order to be in the hotel lobby at 9:30 for our 9:45 shuttle to Port Everglades. This shuttle was offered free by Quality Inn and all we had to do was sign up when we checked in the day before. They had two time slots, 9:45 and 10:45, and since I wanted us to be one of the first on the ship, I was greedy and said 9:45. I’ve read some mixed reviews about their free shuttle process, but I think overall it went really smoothly. A staff member who coordinates the transportation had a list of guests who had signed up and called room numbers to board the two shuttle busses. We were the last group called to board, but other than that, we didn’t experience any problems. This shuttle was definitely a great benefit and factored in when I was deciding where to stay pre-cruise. The hotel also had a shuttle service going to Port of Miami for $20pp, in case anyone was interested in knowing that detail.

 

(As an aside, if it’s not apparent already, I planned about 90% of this cruise for the four of us. My dad used to be the vacation planner but since I’ve really gotten into cruising and researching things, I’ve taken over that role. I’m lucky that my fiance and parents are easygoing enough that none of my suggested choices were met with opposition.)

 

The drive from the hotel to the cruise terminal was really quick, and of course the second we saw the Independence of the Seas, the anticipation really started building. We got to Terminal 25 and headed straight inside, since we all had carry-on luggage and didn’t want to check anything with the porters to carry for us.

 

Being there by 10:10(ish) really had its perks. We walked in the doors, through the winding rope barriers, waited behind three families, and met the first customs security guard. She checked our passport, we scanned our luggage, got our S&S cards, and were directed to sit down. There was a VERY organized man showing people where to sit and in what order, to make sure that the order you arrived was the order you boarded. There’s free wifi at the terminal, which was awesome. We were definitely sitting and waiting by 10:30, but that meant an hour and a half of waiting was ahead of us. The wifi helped, and we all decided we’d rather be waiting at the terminal to board than still sitting at the hotel waiting for the later shuttle.

 

The boarding started around noon (YAY!) but then we were met with technology issues. I posted about it while we were waiting to get checked in, if anyone saw that thread. The computers would scan a handful of people in then completely stop working. Staff was very stressed by this and were doing a good job at communicating their apologies and attempts to fix the system. Of course I was pretty frustrated because I wanted our cruise to officially start. We were on the ship by 1pm, and made our way to the Schooner Bar for our first (of many) rounds of drinks.

 

None of us have been on a ship that has a Royal Promenade or anything super fancy, so this was a beautiful thing to walk into! Also, I spy a Christmas tree!

[Kismet522]

This looks like so much fun! I'm getting excited :)

 

 

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[ourfamilylovescruising]

thank you for taking the time to do a review

we are going on this on December 26th and are very excited we have never done rccl before so been watching cruise critic like crazy to see anything about the Indy

[mommyrants]

thank you for taking the time to do a review

we are going on this on December 26th and are very excited we have never done rccl before so been watching cruise critic like crazy to see anything about the Indy

 

 

Us too! See you in the Schooner bar!

[Kismet522]

thank you for taking the time to do a review

 

we are going on this on December 26th and are very excited we have never done rccl before so been watching cruise critic like crazy to see anything about the Indy

 

 

Me too! I booked this on a whim and am super excited! Also sailing Dec 26. Driving to Ft Lauderdale from Tampa :)

 

 

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Edited December 19, 2016 by Kismet522

[nimiq]

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28th- Embarkation

 

We were up around 8 in order to be in the hotel lobby at 9:30 for our 9:45 shuttle to Port Everglades. This shuttle was offered free by Quality Inn and all we had to do was sign up when we checked in the day before. They had two time slots, 9:45 and 10:45, and since I wanted us to be one of the first on the ship, I was greedy and said 9:45. I’ve read some mixed reviews about their free shuttle process, but I think overall it went really smoothly. A staff member who coordinates the transportation had a list of guests who had signed up and called room numbers to board the two shuttle busses. We were the last group called to board, but other than that, we didn’t experience any problems. This shuttle was definitely a great benefit and factored in when I was deciding where to stay pre-cruise. The hotel also had a shuttle service going to Port of Miami for $20pp, in case anyone was interested in knowing that detail.

 

 

 

(As an aside, if it’s not apparent already, I planned about 90% of this cruise for the four of us. My dad used to be the vacation planner but since I’ve really gotten into cruising and researching things, I’ve taken over that role. I’m lucky that my fiance and parents are easygoing enough that none of my suggested choices were met with opposition.)

 

 

 

The drive from the hotel to the cruise terminal was really quick, and of course the second we saw the Independence of the Seas, the anticipation really started building. We got to Terminal 25 and headed straight inside, since we all had carry-on luggage and didn’t want to check anything with the porters to carry for us.

 

 

 

Being there by 10:10(ish) really had its perks. We walked in the doors, through the winding rope barriers, waited behind three families, and met the first customs security guard. She checked our passport, we scanned our luggage, got our S&S cards, and were directed to sit down. There was a VERY organized man showing people where to sit and in what order, to make sure that the order you arrived was the order you boarded. There’s free wifi at the terminal, which was awesome. We were definitely sitting and waiting by 10:30, but that meant an hour and a half of waiting was ahead of us. The wifi helped, and we all decided we’d rather be waiting at the terminal to board than still sitting at the hotel waiting for the later shuttle.

 

 

 

The boarding started around noon (YAY!) but then we were met with technology issues. I posted about it while we were waiting to get checked in, if anyone saw that thread. The computers would scan a handful of people in then completely stop working. Staff was very stressed by this and were doing a good job at communicating their apologies and attempts to fix the system. Of course I was pretty frustrated because I wanted our cruise to officially start. We were on the ship by 1pm, and made our way to the Schooner Bar for our first (of many) rounds of drinks.

 

 

 

None of us have been on a ship that has a Royal Promenade or anything super fancy, so this was a beautiful thing to walk into! Also, I spy a Christmas tree!

 

 

 

 

I remember the first time I saw the Royal promenade you just go WOW !

 

Love reading you

 

Eric

 

 

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[the_lovely_voyage]

Schooner Bar Menus as of 11/28/16:

(I apologize for some blurriness, I guess it looks better on my small camera display)

 

 

 

 

[the_lovely_voyage]

Before I continue, I suppose our first drink would be a good time to talk about our beverage packages. Originally we weren’t going to buy drink packages. We’ve had them on our last two cruises and although fun, didn’t think we’d want them in the future. The more we talked about it and saw the 20% off “sale” online, we decided my fiance would get the Select (Wine and Beer) package, and I would get the Premium (Liquor, Beer, Wine) package. This was, of course, before the packages changed.

 

Once the packages were changing and we saw that anyone in Premium or Ultimate would automatically get upgraded to the new Deluxe package, we upgraded my fiance to the Premium before things changed. (Sorry, I know that’s super shady, but it is what it is. RCCL still got a ton of money from us and we don’t feel too terrible about it.) Three days before our cruise, I convinced my parents to buy the drink packages as well.

 

Overall Impressions of the Deluxe Drink Package: My fiance and I LOVED it. We so enjoyed buying fancy coffee drinks from Cafe Promenade, we tried the fresh juice a few times, my fiance loved the cans of Red Bull that were included, and of course we loved the liquor, beer, and wine. It’s not for everyone, I totally understand that. We thought we absolutely got our money’s worth, especially since one of our two port days was at Labadee, so we were able to use it all day there as well. It is expensive, though, and I think our next two cruises will not involve drink packages, especially since our long cruise next November includes 4 port days.

 

My Dad completely enjoyed it the first day and went crazy with different drinks. The entire time, really, he was all about getting drinks, and I never really saw either of my parents without a drink. (That sounds way worse than it is; they just enjoyed the freedom and variety and availability.) As we’re sitting in the airport waiting to go home, my dad made comments about how he felt pressured to drink and wouldn’t get it again. A pretty interesting dichotomy between actions and thoughts, but that’s my dad. As a wrap-up to this topic and a final word, each person has to make their own decision if it’s “worth it” for them. Happy Drinking!

 

(This was actually our second or third drink, but it fits the topic! Also it was super sunny, so that's my excuse)

 

[crusinot]

Loved Indy! Following!

[luckyprincess]

Before I continue, I suppose our first drink would be a good time to talk about our beverage packages. Originally we weren’t going to buy drink packages. We’ve had them on our last two cruises and although fun, didn’t think we’d want them in the future. The more we talked about it and saw the 20% off “sale” online, we decided my fiance would get the Select (Wine and Beer) package, and I would get the Premium (Liquor, Beer, Wine) package. This was, of course, before the packages changed.

 

Once the packages were changing and we saw that anyone in Premium or Ultimate would automatically get upgraded to the new Deluxe package, we upgraded my fiance to the Premium before things changed. (Sorry, I know that’s super shady, but it is what it is. RCCL still got a ton of money from us and we don’t feel too terrible about it.) Three days before our cruise, I convinced my parents to buy the drink packages as well.

 

Overall Impressions of the Deluxe Drink Package: My fiance and I LOVED it. We so enjoyed buying fancy coffee drinks from Cafe Promenade, we tried the fresh juice a few times, my fiance loved the cans of Red Bull that were included, and of course we loved the liquor, beer, and wine. It’s not for everyone, I totally understand that. We thought we absolutely got our money’s worth, especially since one of our two port days was at Labadee, so we were able to use it all day there as well. It is expensive, though, and I think our next two cruises will not involve drink packages, especially since our long cruise next November includes 4 port days.

 

My Dad completely enjoyed it the first day and went crazy with different drinks. The entire time, really, he was all about getting drinks, and I never really saw either of my parents without a drink. (That sounds way worse than it is; they just enjoyed the freedom and variety and availability.) As we’re sitting in the airport waiting to go home, my dad made comments about how he felt pressured to drink and wouldn’t get it again. A pretty interesting dichotomy between actions and thoughts, but that’s my dad. As a wrap-up to this topic and a final word, each person has to make their own decision if it’s “worth it” for them. Happy Drinking!

 

(This was actually our second or third drink, but it fits the topic! Also it was super sunny, so that's my excuse)

 

 

Loving the review so far! Good to hear about the drink packages. We are buying them for the first time as well. He is a SUPER beer snob so I'm a little scared but my degree is in wine and spirits lol so I scoped the menu ahead of time and there is a ton of great wines in the price range of the package. Glad to hear you thought it was worth the price.

 

Also I have that shirt!!! Totally wearing it for the cruise lol! You guys look great!

[the_lovely_voyage]

Monday, November 28th Continued:

So shortly after sitting down to enjoy our drinks at the Schooner Bar, we heard the announcement that our rooms were ready. My fiance and I were in 2626, and my parents had the exact room (just flipped) on the starboard side, 2326. It was an oceanview with a port window, and was the biggest room we’ve had in our histories of cruising. It was very spacious and we really liked the curtains to draw across the bed in an effort to make it “two rooms.” We also liked the interactive TV, as that was new to us as well. We unpacked since it was a 5 day and put our suitcases under the bed. We also took some time to put up black and yellow door decs (GO HAWKEYES!).

 

Can confirm that our bathroom had shower doors instead of the static-clingy curtains, which was a first for us (there's a lot of those this trip!) and we totally loved the doors. My fiance also liked the storage shelves in the mirror doors above the sink. Unfortunately I pack heavy on the toiletries and makeup, so I kept all of my stuff on the vanity/desk area by the giant mirror.

 

A note on our room, we did notice noise from the lower gangway or anchor or something on days when we docked (even though we docked on the right side both times). It was pretty loud, but we were able to fall back asleep. We definitely didn't hear any noise from bars or neighbors, so all in all, it was a good room location. The one problem we constantly encountered is that deck two DOES NOT connect the length of the ship. Meaning, if we went down to deck two near the bow (front) of the ship, we could NOT walk to the aft (back) of the ship where our room was located. We used Deck 4 where the photo gallery, casino, and Schooner Bar were in order to traverse the length of the ship. This was pretty annoying and I'm not sure how I never read about it in any of the reviews before our sailing. A word of caution if you're on Deck 2.

 

View from the door (also there's a Herky the Hawkeye pillow sneaking out of my bag. It's a healthy obsession, I swear!):

 

 

View from the bed:

 

 

I don't think these have changed in a while, but in case they have, here are the current Gold benefits as of 11/28/16:

 

[Gradelady]

Monday, November 28th Continued:

So shortly after sitting down to enjoy our drinks at the Schooner Bar, we heard the announcement that our rooms were ready. My fiance and I were in 2626, and my parents had the exact room (just flipped) on the starboard side, 2326. It was an oceanview with a port window, and was the biggest room we’ve had in our histories of cruising. It was very spacious and we really liked the curtains to draw across the bed in an effort to make it “two rooms.” We also liked the interactive TV, as that was new to us as well. We unpacked since it was a 5 day and put our suitcases under the bed. We also took some time to put up black and yellow door decs (GO HAWKEYES!).

 

Can confirm that our bathroom had shower doors instead of the static-clingy curtains, which was a first for us (there's a lot of those this trip!) and we totally loved the doors. My fiance also liked the storage shelves in the mirror doors above the sink. Unfortunately I pack heavy on the toiletries and makeup, so I kept all of my stuff on the vanity/desk area by the giant mirror.

 

A note on our room, we did notice noise from the lower gangway or anchor or something on days when we docked (even though we docked on the right side both times). It was pretty loud, but we were able to fall back asleep. We definitely didn't hear any noise from bars or neighbors, so all in all, it was a good room location. The one problem we constantly encountered is that deck two DOES NOT connect the length of the ship. Meaning, if we went down to deck two near the bow (front) of the ship, we could NOT walk to the aft (back) of the ship where our room was located. We used Deck 4 where the photo gallery, casino, and Schooner Bar were in order to traverse the length of the ship. This was pretty annoying and I'm not sure how I never read about it in any of the reviews before our sailing. A word of caution if you're on Deck 2.

 

View from the door (also there's a Herky the Hawkeye pillow sneaking out of my bag. It's a healthy obsession, I swear!):

 

 

View from the bed:

 

 

I don't think these have changed in a while, but in case they have, here are the current Gold benefits as of 11/28/16:

 

In this ship at the end of March...looking forward to hearing more about your cruise!

[aubreyc1988]

subscribed! I lived in Iowa for 4 years before I moved to Dallas two years ago! Don't miss the weather, that's for sure! We loved the Indy when we sailed her years ago, interested to see how she is doing now!

[CP3o]

Was there more than one formal night? Thanks.

[the_lovely_voyage]

Was there more than one formal night? Thanks.

 

No, there was just one. It was the second night (Tuesday) on a Sea Day.

[CP3o]

No, there was just one. It was the second night (Tuesday) on a Sea Day.

 

Thank you.

[the_lovely_voyage]

We caught up with my parents at their room and headed up to the Royal Promenade to see it in all its glory for the first time. It was so beautiful. Very hard to believe that such beauty and architecture is on a cruise ship! We went to Cafe Promenade where everyone grabbed a few small things to eat. After eating our snack, we continued to walk around and explore the ship.

 

 

The Christmas tree!! This was all of our first cruise during holiday season, so it was pretty cool to have a very "wintery" item while in the sunny Caribbean.

 

 

We grabbed a few drinks throughout our explorations and were completely appreciating our drink packages. We found Olive or Twist (Viking Crown Lounge) and LOVED the views! We definitely wanted to go back throughout the week, but unfortunately there were so many other things going on every night that we never made it back. Such a weird complaint, but we noticed that we were often deciding between this activity or that, and while that’s WAY better than being bored and having nothing to do, it makes you want to be able to be in two places at once! That being said, it means that there are a variety of entertainment options to appeal to everyone. On the nights that my fiance and I didn’t spend with my parents, we never ran into them, because we were in one venue and they were enjoying something different in another venue. So no worries about being bored!

 

Olive or Twist- a nice looking lounge!

 

A view of Port Everglades from Olive or Twist!

 

We did our classic muster drill and thankfully the sun wasn’t beating on us, so it wasn’t too terrible in terms of heat or length of time. I had read (thanks to wonderful Cruise Critic members) that we should skip the sail away party on the main lido decks and head up to the helipad area on the bow of Deck 5. In order to access this deck, walk on the outside of Deck 4 towards the front of the ship. You’ll find a set of stairs, and once you head up those, you’ll find the helipad. There were a few more people than I expected, but we were still able to get a railing spot to watch us pull out of port.

 

 

A view leaving port from the helipad:

 

A beautiful sunset before dinner.

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by morninsun86

[the_lovely_voyage]

I remember the first time I saw the Royal promenade you just go WOW !

 

Love reading you

 

Eric

 

Forums

Thank you!! Aiming to crank a lot more posts out over the next week. Hope you continue to enjoy :)

 

Loving the review so far! Good to hear about the drink packages. We are buying them for the first time as well. He is a SUPER beer snob so I'm a little scared but my degree is in wine and spirits lol so I scoped the menu ahead of time and there is a ton of great wines in the price range of the package. Glad to hear you thought it was worth the price.

 

Also I have that shirt!!! Totally wearing it for the cruise lol! You guys look great!

 

There's definitely a wide selection of alcohol, so hopefully you both find things you like! My recommendation for a big beer variety is to head to the Dog and Badger pub- they definitely had a lot on their lists. One benefit of the drink packages is not needing to worry about price or paying a huge tab at the end of the trip. That freedom of buying without worry can make it "worth it" for people if but for no other reason.

 

Thank you for the compliment! I love that anchor shirt and new when I found it in stores months ago that I'd have to wear it for sail away!!

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day One- Comes to an end:

 

We parted ways with my parents to get ready for dinner. As a little backstory, I graduated with a Masters degree in May, and as a part of my gift, my mom said she’d buy our plane tickets for our cruise. This obviously was super touching and generous and really unexpected. My fiance and I wanted to do something to give back to my parents, even if it was something small. We decided to buy the BOGO dining packages for us to visit Chops and Giovanni’s on the first and second night and treat them to some nice dining experiences. We kept this a secret for a few month but couldn’t hold it in any longer, so when we were about to step onto the ship, we told them about our gift.

 

For those of you who have questions about the BOGO dining process, I booked online and selected 6:30 as our dining time for the first night. When we were on the ship, I talked to a staff member on the Promenade who was set up to book dining times for people, and decided we would do Chops that night and Giovanni’s the second night, both at 6:30pm. It was a really simple process and we didn’t experience any issues.

 

So we reconvened outside Chops at 6:30 and were promptly seated. The entire meal took a little over two hours, so we did miss a few things we were hoping to do, such as the Welcome Aboard show at 7:40pm. We didn’t take pictures of our food but I do remember that there was PLENTY of it, and it was all tasty. My fiance got the crispy goat cheese salad and I did the french onion soup, he did the beef carpaccio appetizer and I did the colossal shrimp cocktail, he did the parmesan veal chop and I did the 6 oz strip steak. For the table sides we did creamed corn, garlic mashed potatoes, and something else that we can’t remember. I don’t remember there being any complaints about the food and we all cleaned our plates each time. The service was a little slow but nothing horrible, and honestly it was nice to take our meal a little more slowly instead of shoveling each course down. The first time my fiance and I did Chops in January 2015, we ate very fast and didn’t anticipate how much food there would be, so we felt very full and very sick afterwards. We warned my parents for this Chops adventure and made sure we came with empty bellies and were mindful of being full and not forcing ourselves. This time, we certainly left full, but not sick.

 

After dinner we went to the Pyramid Lounge for a music trivia game show, and then headed to the Love and Marriage Show in the main theatre. We LOVE this show, and even though the questions are usually the same, the answers always have us laughing so hard. In all honesty, two of the three couples they got for the Love and Marriage Show weren’t all that entertaining, and some of the answers that could have been a little more “risque” were actually slightly boring. We still had a great time, and our Cruise Director Jamie did a good job trying to make boring answers funny, but I wish the contestants had more flair this time.

 

We checked out The Labyrinth dance club and were slightly surprised to see a little bit older crowd running the dance floor. I think I had expectations that it would be full of 20-somethings dancing, but the average age was probably more mid-30’s to mid-40’s. We had no problem with this, it was just not what we expected. We stayed for a little bit and had a few drinks and dances, but the DJ wasn’t really playing music that we enjoyed and we left within an hour. We went back to our room to review the next day’s Cruise Compasses for our first day at sea and went to sleep.

Edited December 23, 2016 by morninsun86

[the_lovely_voyage]

To finish up Monday, aka embarkation day, here is a video that my fiance filmed. He used a mini tripod for his cell phone and did a time lapse over 30+ minutes. I tried to add music behind it but it didn't work too well. Enjoy!!

 

 

[YOUTUBE]9vCU1oqAtE4[/YOUTUBE]