Independence of the Seas- Nov. 28 Photo Review!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review. Following.

[the_lovely_voyage]

Hmm turns out the music on that time lapse did work. Weird. But cool!!

 

I know some of you following along have cruises on the Indy in the next few weeks and I'm really gonna try to get a huge chunk done in the next week. Sorry it's taking longer than expected!

[Crism]

Thanks for the review! Did you/do you know if the Main Dining Room had a Lobster night? We're doing the 5 night next month and are curious.

[the_lovely_voyage]

Thanks for the review! Did you/do you know if the Main Dining Room had a Lobster night? We're doing the 5 night next month and are curious.

 

Yes! It was on Thursday/Day 4/the night of Falmouth. I had it and it was delicious. Was really glad that the waitress opened the lobster for me though, since I would have had no clue where to start. :o

[CP3o]

Yes! It was on Thursday/Day 4/the night of Falmouth. I had it and it was delicious. Was really glad that the waitress opened the lobster for me though, since I would have had no clue where to start. :o

 

Was there an extra charge for lobster?

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day Two- Day at Sea

Again, sorry for the green highlighting.

 

 

 

 

[the_lovely_voyage]

Was there an extra charge for lobster?

 

Nope, not on Day 4 dinner, with the Jasmine menu. It was part of the "Fisherman's Plate" offered in the regular part of the menu. Broiled lobster tail, garlic butter, and seasonal vegetables.

 

There were always these premium options for an up-charge as well:

 

[MayorAdamWest]

Awesome review, thanks for sharing!

[the_lovely_voyage]

Tuesday November 29th- Day 2- At Sea:

Not sure if it was due to the time of year, because of tropical storm Otto to the West of us, or just random but the waves were very noticeable today, and it continued to be noticeable the rest of the cruise. None of us are really prone to seasickness, but we all noticed the motion of the ocean and sometimes it was a little unnerving. I was definitely under the impression that the bigger the ship, the less you feel the waves, but since this was the biggest ship I’ve been on, I’m not so sure that’s a true statement.

 

We started out our first day at sea by going to the Windjammer for breakfast. There’s a fairly good selection of foods, and it wasn’t hard to find a seat at 8:30am. Both sides of the Windjammer offer the same types of foods, so if one side is busy, check out the other side. Also, we didn’t realize how long the venue was, but once we did, we figured out the buffets stretch out for a long time, which means there’s a lot of food available.

 

Not a bad view for breakfast:

 

 

It was my birthday a few weeks before the cruise and my fiance gave me onboard credit towards a massage, so I had made a reservation for that first sea day to really get into the relaxation mode. I went to the spa at 8:45am while my fiance wandered the ship and took pictures. For my massage, my masseuse was named Jevelyn and she was really good. I absolutely achieved a high level of relaxation and am so thankful I was able to have a massage, since it had been a year since my last massage (also onboard a cruise ship). There were a few minutes during the massage that there was a lot of banging and thumping noises outside of the room, which was a little annoying since massages should be serene and peaceful. Not sure if they were restocking or what, but it wasn’t great to hear. And then there was of course the Elemis pitch to buy massage oils that I politely declined. I knew that the sales pitch was coming but it’s still a rough way to end a relaxing massage.

 

My fiance took this while roaming the ship during my massage:

 

 

After my massage, my fiance and I went to the Schooner bar for morning trivia and didn’t do so hot, but still had fun. Turns out there was a big showing for 10am trivia, so get there early if you want a seat. This goes for all the trivia events- a lot of people showed interest and it was frequently standing-room-only at these events. Also, the Schooner bar doesn’t start serving drinks until 11am, but if you take a short walk into the next room, which was the casino, that bar was fully functioning bright and early, so that’s where we got our drinks to enjoy during morning trivia. Trivia at the Schooner bar definitely became one of our common activities, and by the time the cruise was over, we had won Royal keychains, pens, and reusable shopping bags. Woo! (Jeez- How many times did I say “trivia” in that paragraph?)

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day Two continued...

We walked around the ship after trivia and eventually met up with my parents for lunch at the Windjammer at 11:30. I’m a somewhat picky eater, so I’ll throw that out there as a disclaimer, but I didn’t find a whole lot of food that appealed to me. My fiance and my dad had no problems piling their plates full though, so it just varies by personal preference. There are several different types of food, such as grill, soups, Asian, salad bar, meat stations, and more, so I’m sure that most people will have no problem finding something in the Windjammer.

 

Here's my fiance lounging in the Solarium and trying to look really cool:

 

 

Also, girls just wanna have fun-damental rights (one of my most favorite shirts) and a giant bottle of champagne. Finding this bottle is now a "tradition" since we found it by accident on the Enchantment of the Seas and knew we had to find it on the Indy:

 

 

After lunch we must have walked around and had a few drinks and enjoyed the sun. We headed to the ice show, Strings: A World Adventure of Ice, for the 2pm show but arrived at 1:35pm to get pretty good seats. In preparation for the trip, I thought I read that ice shows were assigned by muster drill, but this wasn’t the case. I’m not sure when they changed that or why, but it wasn’t a big deal. There were people that weren’t able to find seats and I’m guessing they were told to come back at the 4pm showing later that day. I was very impressed by Strings, but was initially worried that my dad and maybe even my fiance would think it was boring or not their type of show. To my pleasant surprise, they both really enjoyed the show, as did my mom and I. There are definitely moments during the show that you’re nervous for the ice skaters, and I think that suspense and adrenaline helps make the show exciting.

 

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Solarium near the windows, since laying out on the deck while the ship is moving was way too windy. That's actually one of my bigger complaints about the Indy is that the Solarium wasn't covered, and therefore was very windy during sailing times. It was uncomfortable to lay out and enjoy the sun when the wind made it colder, knocked half-empty drinks over, and was constantly blowing my hair around. We loved the covered Enchantment Solarium and wished we had that again. Or at least part-covered, as some of the newer ships are. The Solarium pool was colder than desired and I wasn't brave enough to ever swim, but my fiance did get in one of the days and said it wasn't warm but was bearable after a few minutes. It was also pretty hard to find a seat in the Solarium so keep that in mind when scouting for a place to enjoy the weather.

 

Edited December 24, 2016 by morninsun86

[luckyprincess]

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]

 

That video was awesome!

[SevenWonkas]

How much is the BOGO deal for specialty dining,and how does it work?

 

 

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[the_lovely_voyage]

How much is the BOGO deal for specialty dining,and how does it work?

 

 

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When we bought it, it was $30 for two dining venues, per person. Check your Cruise Planner if you currently have a cruise booked to see if they're offering it for your sailing and what the cost is. It basically allows you to try two dining venues for a very cheap cost, aka a great deal. You can chose what dining venues you visit, and I think you can do two of the same venues if you weren't interested in the other (since Indy only has two specialty dining restaraunts). I know that bigger ships with different venues provide more options, but I've read that the BOGO works a little differently in venues that are a la carte pricing. For us, we bought our BOGO online, picked a time to dine the first night, then set up our second night dining choice onboard.

[SevenWonkas]

Perfect. We're going on independence in February for a 5-night. Looks like it's the same cruise as yours. We're on the road right now and it's a pain to log into the site via iPhone, so I appreciate your response . We wanted to do Chops anyway, so now we just have to decide if we want to do both. (While Giovanni's will essentially be free, we do have to account for gratuities. We always tip equal to what the same restaurant on land would be). This helps a lot Thanks!

 

 

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[cjefffg24]

Loving your review and the Compass pictures. We sail away on January 23, exact same cruise, so loving all the information. Keep it coming!

[Jmw148]

Following.

 

:)

[Dpeeps]

Thanks for the review....really enjoying it so far! Will be sailing the same itenerary on the Independence in 10 weeks!

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day Two: At Sea

 

One of the few "nice" pictures of us from this cruise:

 

After lounging out in the fresh air for a while, we went to music trivia in the Schooner Bar, did pretty okay, and enjoyed a few drinks. Then we got ready for dinner and met my parents outside Giovanni’s for dinner at 6:30. Since we had a reservation, we were seated right away, although it wasn’t incredibly busy for 6:30pm either. My fiance and I knew what to expect for Chops the night before, but Giovanni’s would be new to all of us. Before I start picking out the things I didn’t like, I’ll just say that yes, we had a lovely meal and are glad we went. Nothing went “wrong” or was bad, there were just things that made the experience less than fantastic. Also, I know that when people ask on Cruise Critic “Chops or Giovannis?” most people respond Giovanni’s. I think my fiance and I would both say Chops. It’s to each their own and now we know.

 

Our waiter was very hard to understand- his accent was very thick and even though we tried and he tried, there was still a communication barrier.That added to our confusion about how to order our meal. We had asked a few questions to clarify menu items and the answers we received didn’t seem to make sense. Also, some things are “per due” or for two, and others are individual servings. Our waiter recommended doing several plates for the table, but we all wanted our own things and were unsure if it was “okay” to order individually instead of for the table. It was a more stressful ordering experience that I would like, so that probably cast a shadow on the whole experience. The food was delicious and we have no complaints about that, we just feel that we liked the food at Chops more.

 

After Giovanni’s we all made our way to the Alhambra theatre for the 9pm showing of Invitation to Dance. I grew up loving musical theatre- both watching performances and working in the theatre crew of my high school and I love music- having played clarinet and bass clarinet for 11 years. The shows on cruises always entertain me and inspire awe. So naturally given all that, I loved this show, and so did my fiance, to my enjoyment. We headed to Finish That Lyric gameshow afterwards and had fun watching the contestants forget words to some pretty famous songs. To be fair, I didn’t volunteer to play and if I had, I probably would’ve gotten all my answers wrong too. We didn’t stay out late tonight because we knew we’d have an early morning at Labadee, so I’m pretty sure we all went to bed after the gameshow was over.

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day Three- November 30, 2016- Cruise Compasses

 

 

 

 

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day Three- November 30, 3016- Labadee, Haiti

 

My fiance and I have wanted to go to Labadee since Spring 2015 when a friend of mine visited and posted pictures of the island and the zip line. Having just done our first Royal Cruise in January 2015, we were definitely open to cruising Royal again and looked up sailings that went to Labadee. At the time, Oasis was a big visitor and the price and length of sailings were something that weren’t feasible for us. We put it on the bucket list and sort of forgot about actively pursuing it. When we started looking in November 2015 for our next cruise, we stumbled upon this sailing, and it really was a perfect fit. Two new ports, a new ship, and a great price- done!!

 

Fast forward to this cruise, and we were incredibly excited to finally see Labadee for ourselves! I can’t thank Cruise Critic enough for all the preparation and tips you all provide. I honestly don’t think I would feel nearly as comfortable planning cruises and venturing to new places if it weren’t for the pictures, reviews, and feedback from other cruisers- so thanks :)

 

I knew that we’d head straight to Columbus Cove, the farthest East part of the area near the Aqua Park. Many people reported there being lots of seating options, a nice beach area to wade into the water, closely located to a bar and buffet area as well as bathrooms. All of this was discovered to be true! I’m so glad that we headed here early in the morning to get good spots and enjoy the day. We ordered room service so we could eat while getting ready instead of dealing with the Windjammer and elevators and crowds. It worked out for us but for some reason, my parents called our room saying their room service card never got picked up (they had it out before midnight and the deadline in 3am). They headed up to the Windjammer and we were still able to meet up at 8 to head off the ship. We were definitely on the island by 8:15 since that’s when my phone and camera photos start with timestamps. The process to get off was incredibly easy and we didn’t encounter any lines.

 

The view from the dock:

 

The Labadee sign that I somehow didn't know existed:

 

A view of the Arawak Aqua Park from our walk to Columbus Cove:

 

The walk to Columbus Cove wasn’t bad, but it was confusing. There were some signs guiding us but it certainly could’ve been more clear. A few times we were unsure of if we were heading in the right direction and asked a staff member once to confirm where we were going. Some of the walk was paved, some was on sand, and some was up and over rocky terrain. There might have been a completely paved route but I think we took a more direct way. My advice would be to have your Labadee map with you or study the map before hand to make sure your walk is easier than ours was. I also knew to expect people to ask us where we wanted to sit and they would move beach chairs to our spot. I came prepared and had a few dollars ready for our chairs and had my mom ready with a few singles as well. I don’t necessarily agree with this practice, I’m willing to move my own beach chair, but I’m not gonna fight a few bucks so I just let it happen. Based on my timestamps, we were on the Cove beach by 8:35, which means it was about a 10-15 minute walk from the main shop/info booth area to Columbus Cove.

 

The tree-covered mountains were beautiful to look at and a nice contrast next to the blue sky and blue water. It was such an amazing and relaxing sight to see, and I definitely would not be opposed to returning. The water was a little chilly until you got used to it, but I didn't go in over my waist. I'm not much of a swimming fan, but other people were having fun swimming and lounging in the water, so I'm sure the temperature was fine. My fiance and I enjoyed a few Labadoozies (admittedly not as fantastic as I created them to be in my mind), read, and sun bathed for about two hours before going on our next adventure: hiking around Labadee (covered in my next post). My parents stayed and "held down the fort" on the beach.

 

A view from our beach chairs for the day:

[nr23]

Thank you for taking the time to write this amazing review! I've been on many cruises and have learned a few new things from your posts! Thanks and have a happy new year!

[klass2]

I'm enjoying your review. [emoji4]

 

I'm also a Hawkeye. Originally from Iowa, moved around as a kid, went back to UIowa for college and moved around a a bit afterwards. Currently living in the Chicago burbs.

 

Looking forward to reading more.

 

 

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[luckyprincess]

Op can you tell me if there was a white party? Thats usually held on the deck late at night with a dj and everyone dresses in white. If not that did they have other open deck dance parties? My fiancee is an amazing dancer so I would love to squeeze this in!

 

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[the_lovely_voyage]

Thank you for taking the time to write this amazing review! I've been on many cruises and have learned a few new things from your posts! Thanks and have a happy new year!

 

It's fun to remember the trip and appreciate things all over again, so my pleasure! I'm glad to help!

 

I'm enjoying your review. [emoji4]

 

I'm also a Hawkeye. Originally from Iowa, moved around as a kid, went back to UIowa for college and moved around a a bit afterwards. Currently living in the Chicago burbs.

 

Looking forward to reading more.

 

 

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Sounds like we traded places; originally from the Chicago suburbs, came out here to go to UIowa and stayed put after graduation. I love Iowa, and it seems like it'll be a place to call home for a long time.

Glad you're enjoying the review!