Independence of the Seas- Nov. 28 Photo Review!

[the_lovely_voyage]

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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I just looked through all my Cruise Compasses and I don't see a white hot party. I've read that some weeks there are and some weeks there aren't. Not sure if this is true or how it gets decided. There are music and live bands everywhere, so you'll totally be able to find some good dancing music! The only night time open deck party I see is on Day 3, Labadee, from 10pm-1am with a few different bands and DJs on the pool deck. It was called "Dancing Under the Stars" and was themed so people wore "Tropical Attire". Hope this helps somewhat!

[B_Mc]

Love this review! Thank you!

 

 

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[luckyprincess]

I just looked through all my Cruise Compasses and I don't see a white hot party. I've read that some weeks there are and some weeks there aren't. Not sure if this is true or how it gets decided. There are music and live bands everywhere, so you'll totally be able to find some good dancing music! The only night time open deck party I see is on Day 3, Labadee, from 10pm-1am with a few different bands and DJs on the pool deck. It was called "Dancing Under the Stars" and was themed so people wore "Tropical Attire". Hope this helps somewhat!

 

Very helpful thank you!!!

[Tiffknee20]

Following! Taking this ship on a 5-Day to Mexico on the 14th! How was the night life? We aren't part animals, by any means, but the cruise critic reviews on here have me nervous! Everyone says the food quality has gone down, and the activities onboard are dull.

 

Any insight you could provide on this would be appreciated!

[the_lovely_voyage]

Following! Taking this ship on a 5-Day to Mexico on the 14th! How was the night life? We aren't part animals, by any means, but the cruise critic reviews on here have me nervous! Everyone says the food quality has gone down, and the activities onboard are dull.

 

Any insight you could provide on this would be appreciated!

 

My first comment would be- cruising is what you make it! If you want to have fun, you totally will!

We "stayed out" 2 of the 5 nights and the Labyrinth was definitely in full swing until late at night. I think one night we were out until 1am and there were still a lot of people in the club. I know that live music is widely available across the ship until late at night, such as Latin music in Boleros or some piano playing in the Schooner Bar.

We enjoyed a lot of trivia games and interactive gameshows and never felt bored or like the activities were a waste of time. We did feel that way when we took our one and probably only NCL cruise last year- they didn't have enough activities and they weren't that entertaining to us when they did- so I'd definitely say the Indy had a lot more going on.

 

The food- I think it's all opinion and personal taste. Sure, having the same breakfast choices every day in the Windjammer is a little repetitive, but as far as the quality of food in the MDR or specialty restaurants, we had no issues at all. As far as I can recall, almost everything tasted great. The one thing that stands out as being not great was a duck pate that I wanted to try. Not my style, that's for sure, but maybe other people loved it.

 

Enjoy yourself and have fun! There's plenty to do and see onboard. Go in with an open mind and it'll be easy to have a good time.

[Tiffknee20]

Thanks again! I agree 100%. If you want to have fun, you will! We're not that picky when it comes to food, so we should be fine.

 

Thanks again! Looking forward to it!!

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day Three- Labadee continued...

 

My fiance and I grabbed our camera and headed off to do some hiking around Labadee. We made our way to Adrenaline Beach to see the zip line, up some hills to overlook areas, and even discovered a structure that used to house the spa area but is now abandoned. It was warm and sunny, but not a terrible day for walking around and taking pictures. There were a few signs on the paths to help give direction, but it’s not easy to get lost either, so if you’re up for exploring, don’t worry about that. A few paths seemed a little treacherous near a few steep drop-offs but for the most part, things felt safe.

 

Just a guess that Adrenaline Beach not only gets its name from the zip line, but also from the HUGE waves that came rolling in:

 

Look, people on the zipline! Also, those waves were very large and knocked at least one guy over when he was standing about thigh-high. The water here was way more active than the calm waters over in Columbus Cove:

 

Adrenaline Beach was absolutely beautiful and I'm so glad we ventured to see it!

 

We found this lookout area with a conveniently placed rock to put the camera on a timer:

 

Another view from the lookout area on the hike:

[the_lovely_voyage]

Representing our state from 1900 miles away!

 

After hiking around for about 1-1.5 hours, we returned to find my parents in basically the same spots as we left them. Lunch was being served so we told my parents they could go grab food and we’d watch our stuff. When it was our turn for food, I was a little underwhelmed at the food selection. There were burgers, hot dogs, a few types of salads, some fruit, and a few dessert options, but nothing really stood out to me. The food wasn’t bad, but also not what I was interested in eating, but I did anyway. Also as a very random comment, the way Labadee handles glass beer bottle situations is very weird. I ordered a Corona Light, they opened the glass beer bottle and poured it into a plastic bottle with a funnel on top. Now, I totally understand they don’t want glass bottles on the beach as a safety precaution, but I also can’t help but think about the immense waste of materials that creates- a glass and plastic bottle for every beer opened? I’m sure they recycle what they can, but I feel like pouring straight from a keg into a plastic cup would at least be slightly better. Just my two cents.

 

We also tried to browse the markets for a little souvenir but I couldn’t handle the extreme pushiness of the vendors. I knew it would happen, I have been in other Caribbean markets, and I read via Cruise Critic that the markets on Labadee can be too much for some people. I was prepared. Or I thought it was. I basically did one pass through in about 2 minutes and was completely overwhelmed and over it. I get it- they’re trying to sell their goods and make money, no problem. But the constant comments and such is way too intense and I much prefer the less aggressive “Hi, let me know if you have any questions” approach that most stores (at least in Iowa) offer. Maybe it’s the Midwestern-nice thing, but I hate being mean to these market vendors and try to say “No thank you” and walk away quickly, which still feels pretty rude.

 

All-Aboard for guests was at 3, so to beat the line, we headed back around 1:30. This gave us time to enjoy some things on the ship before everyone piled back on. We went to the Solarium, got a few drinks, and hopped in the cantilevered whirlpools. The whirlpools were almost too hot, but we submerged for a few minutes anyways just so we could say we tried it. We also took a few pictures and I’m sure people thought we were crazy for having our phones, but they’re waterproof (and we were careful). The view was incredible and we would have stayed longer than 5 minutes had it been less hot.

A word of advice, there is not a flat ledge to lay drinks on (which seems odd). As seen in this picture, there is obviously enough ledge to put a drink if you balance it, but be careful. I didn’t realize it wasn’t flat, put my drink down, and it slid towards the hot tub slow enough that I caught it, but I’m sure there’s been drinks in the whirlpool before.

 

[Biker19]

When it was our turn for food, I was a little underwhelmed at the food selection. There were burgers, hot dogs, a few types of salads, some fruit, and a few dessert options, but nothing really stood out to me.

 

What? No ribs? That's usually my go to choice at CocoCay or Labadee.

[Crism]

Excellent review. Keep it up!

 

I hate to talk about the end already, but did you guys do walk-off or standard exiting with checked bags? Either way, do you remember what time the walk-off started? They advertise a 7am arrival into FLL which seems later than normal.

[the_lovely_voyage]

What? No ribs? That's usually my go to choice at CocoCay or Labadee.

 

Oops there were, I must have missed them! I just asked my fiancé if there were ribs and he said, "Mmhmm, they were really bad, they were boiled and not smoked"

Maybe we had a fluke batch

[BourkeBlogs]

Great posts, we will be on the Indy in April, so this is great to read. Thanks

[troykahack]

Oops there were, I must have missed them! I just asked my fiancé if there were ribs and he said, "Mmhmm, they were really bad, they were boiled and not smoked"

Maybe we had a fluke batch

 

How would you smoke them on a ship without an open flame?

 

Reason we don't care much for the flavor of the Steaks.

[dcgrumpy]

Did they have lunch by the pool on any of the days? Last year on IOS they had a poolside lunch on 3 or 4 of the 7 days. It was a different theme every day.

[goneclear]

How would you smoke them on a ship without an open flame?

 

Reason we don't care much for the flavor of the Steaks.

 

It appears the conversation was about lunch on Labadee which is not on the ship.

[troykahack]

It appears the conversation was about lunch on Labadee which is not on the ship.

 

But, to my recollection the items brought to the island for lunch are prepared on the ship.

[goneclear]

But, to my recollection the items brought to the island for lunch are prepared on the ship.

 

You are correct food does come off the ship but burgers, skewers , steaks and ribs are grilled on the land at the various different buffet stations. At least I have seen that being done on several visits to Labadee.

[Gradelady]

Doing a 5 nighter at the end of March on IOS with a group of 20 ladies...really enjoying your review!

[Biker19]

You are correct food does come off the ship but burgers, skewers , steaks and ribs are grilled on the land at the various different buffet stations. At least I have seen that being done on several visits to Labadee.

 

and the same at Coco Cay.

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day Three- Labadee continued...

 

After going in the hot tub, my fiance switched over to the Solarium pool while I dried off. The water was too cold for me to go in, especially after visiting the hot tub. After his quick dip and a refresh of drinks, we headed up to the mini golf course. A word of caution- we tried to play mini golf the day before during our Sea Day and it was INCREDIBLY windy. “Well, duh, you’re moving” yeah, I knew the risk I was taking, but my hair was going everywhere and it was overall uncomfortable, so we changed our plans. We took advantage of still being docked at Labadee this day to go play, since we wouldn’t be moving and there’d be less wind. Thankfully we were right and we got a full round of mini golf in. It was almost too hot in the sun without the wind, but we managed. We got a another round of drinks and laid up on a few deck chairs to enjoy sail away. While reading and drinking, we were also able to enjoy the music on the lido deck and get some more sun tanning in.

 

While struggling with our 18th failed selfie, a kind passenger offered to take our picture overlooking Labadee. He said he has a new baby and also struggles to get a good selfie, so he understood our challenge. Thanks!

 

A picture sailing away from Labadee:

 

We spent more time in the Schooner bar doing other trivia events and then met up with my parents to head to the dining room for My Time Dining. We made a reservation earlier that day for 6, I think, and when we showed up there was definitely a line of people waiting to get in. We probably waited no more than 10 minutes though, and once we made it to the front of the line, we were escorted to our table. I have pictures of the MDR menus for all the nights, and I can post those at the end of the review. We had a server named Ruth and she was from Trinidad and Tobago. She was very nice and funny, and we enjoyed dining in her section. I also made sure to write a positive review about her in my RCL cruise follow up survey.

 

There was more trivia after dinner and then we headed to see Greg London in the Alhambra Theatre. The bio about him in the Cruise Compass said he was a musical impressionist who has won “Las Vegas Entertainer of the Year” three times. The show was going to be a “modern musical rock show” and even though I wasn’t really interested, my parents and my fiance were, so I tagged along. I think my fiance and I both fell asleep within 10-15 minutes of the show starting. We were both really tired from being outside at Labadee all day, and I was pretty bored too. My fiance was enjoying it but was too tired to stay, so we decided to go back to our room.

If you’re travelling with a group of people and are spread out across multiple rooms, take advantage of the calling any house phone on the ship for free. My parents and I often left voicemails on each others’ room phones to set meet up times or tell each other about a change of plans. It was really convenient to leave a message instead of tracking each other down or leave post-it notes on the doors.

[the_lovely_voyage]

Excellent review. Keep it up!

 

I hate to talk about the end already, but did you guys do walk-off or standard exiting with checked bags? Either way, do you remember what time the walk-off started? They advertise a 7am arrival into FLL which seems later than normal.

 

Aww, you're trying to kick us off the boat already? :(

Just tried to check a Cruise Compass but unfortunately realized we didn't get one for that Saturday morning to debark. I just checked my cruise reservation info and they have 7am arrival as well. It very well could be 7am as the earliest time to get off. We did self debark and since we had a 3pm flight, were in no hurry to leave. We were probably in the last 10% of guests to get off the ship. My fiance says he thinks breakfast started at 6:30am, so 7am to debark could be accurate. Unfortunately I didn't keep the piece of paper that had a list of times and when to debark. I would say that I definitely remember 7:30 as a self-debark time, and 8am might have been when the standard group number debark started.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help!!

[the_lovely_voyage]

Did they have lunch by the pool on any of the days? Last year on IOS they had a poolside lunch on 3 or 4 of the 7 days. It was a different theme every day.

 

I've been on cruises that have done a poolside lunch, but from looking at my Cruise Compasses I don't see that advertised at all, and I don't remember any happening either. Sorry!

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day Four- December 1, 2016- Falmouth Cruise Compasses

 

 

 

 

[the_lovely_voyage]

Day Four- December 1, 2016- Falmouth, Jamaica

We docked in Falmouth alongside the Allure of the Seas, which was really awesome to see in person. My fiance and I walked around an outside to get a good look at the Allure and the port of Falmouth while enjoying a morning beverage. I have been to Jamaica once before at Ocho Rios, and remember the cruise line stressing the importance of extreme caution when leaving the gated port area. We took a Carnival-sponsored excursion and never felt unsafe (except for some of the crazy driving). While researching for Falmouth, I also read several things that said the port area is safe but leaving on your own isn’t recommended or necessarily safe. I looked at the Royal excursions and didn’t really see anything that stood out to me, in combination with the prices they were charging. After reading Cruise Critic and other website reviews, I decided on the company Jaital and doing their Hampden Estate Rum Tour. For four people, it was $69 each, for a 4 hour excursion including transportation, lunch, rum punch, a tour of the estate and rum-making process, and samples of rum. It had good reviews and we were all interested, so I booked it. We paid a small deposit upfront and the rest was due (in cash) the day of the tour.

 

Our Cruise Compass said dock at 8:30 off at 9, and while I think people were able to get off the ship a little earlier than 9, we weren’t necessarily in a rush. We were meeting up with our tour driver at 10:30am and wanted to get a little shopping in beforehand, so we got off the ship around 9:30. The Falmouth port area is very nice, has many shops to explore, was clean, and felt completely safe. We did a little bit of shopping before wandering to find the spot to meet our driver. In case anyone is considering this tour, here’s a piece of advice and lived experience.The e-mail from Jaital said meet your driver no later than 10:30 at the “INDEPENDENT PREBOOK TAXI AREA” so we went closer to the end of the port area near several parking lots and found this white sign no problem. We arrived around 10:15 and thought that maybe our driver just hadn’t arrived yet. We wait 5 minutes until I start to get a little worried. I didn’t see any other prebooked excursions picking up right at this sign either, so I had my fiance go ask a port security officer who had previously asked us if we needed help. She asked another security officer and they talked briefly before having my fiance follow one of them. A minute or two later I see my fiance appear from a parking lot down a little way, and he waved us over. We found our driver sitting next to a few other drivers, he stood up and said, “Which one of you is [insert my name here]?” since he knew my full name and had a name tag, I figured we found our guy (spoiler: we did, nothing went wrong).

 

We walked over to his van and we piled in. After going through the safety precautions at the security gate, we were on our way. Jamaica driving was just as crazy as I remember it and there were definitely a few scary moments, but we stayed safe. The lack of paved roads, presence of fast drivers, plus the huge pot holes and wandering animals make for quite the experience. Our driver’s name was Bradford and we had such a good time on the drive learning about Jamaica, Falmouth, and the lifestyle and culture. He had a lot of “scripted” things to tell us but also answered any questions we asked. We arrived to the Hampden Estate about 30 minutes after leaving the port area and were greeted by a few ladies working at the Estate, who would become our tour guides. They offered us this DELICIOUS rum punch and said we could take a few minutes to look around before things started.

 

Jamaican countryside. There are mountains/hills in the distance and this picture doesn't really capture it, but it was breathtaking. We saw so many beautiful things on our drive.

 

A bamboo forest that we drove through shortly before arriving to the estate:

 

A sign at the entrance to the main tour area:

 

The tour group consisted of the four of us plus a family of three who are from Canada but doing a long-term vacation in Jamaica. We had three tour guides as well. We received info on the history of Falmouth, the estate, the owners, the rum, and the process. We walked around and saw all the pieces of the rum-making process, then we had a tasty jerk chicken lunch. We then learned even more about the rum and how to properly do a rum tasting before sampling both of their rums. We didn’t receive as many samples as I would have expected or hoped, but my fiance pointed out that I also didn’t ask for more, so I might have been able to if I had. Oh well. When we were done with the experience, our driver Bradford was ready to take us back. Overall, we had a wonderful time seeing the countryside, learning about Jamaica and this rum estate, and tasting rum. I think $69 per person was a little expensive, but I wouldn’t have a problem recommending it if the tour sounds like your kind of thing.

 

A picture taken on our walk of the grounds:

[easyboy]

Enjoying your review and nice pictures.