Independence of the Seas - Recap & Review (1/23) - Photos/video/scans

[singitalto]

Do you remember what drinks they have in the Cafe Promenade? We have the Refreshment package and it includes coffee and teas. I'm a big Starbucks Chai drinker, just wondering if they have something like that???

Edited February 7, 2017 by singitalto
typo

[ultimatecruisemaster]

Do you remember what drinks they have in the Cafe Promenade? We have the Refreshment package and it includes coffee and teas. I'm a big Starbucks Chai drinker, just wondering if they have something like that???

 

I don't know about chai ... but Cafe promenade did have various premium espresso drinks. Mocha, lattes, cappuccino etc... hot or cold.

[ultimatecruisemaster]

We are on the March 20th sailing too with the same itinerary. Very excited as this is our first cruise. Thanks for the review and pictures!

 

You're welcome! I hope the compasses and menus have helped you. You'll have a blast!

 

I'm finally at day 5... I'll finish up the review shortly, haha....

[ultimatecruisemaster]

Another photo dump of miscellaneous ship images!

 

Pool area at movie time. Film was Jack Reacher.

 

Early morning, empty promenade

 

Casino

 

Boleros, during the day

 

Internet cafe area

[gnocchi_mommy]

This was great! Thanks for sharing, we sail on the 11th and can not wait!

[waterbugohio]

Great review.

 

Any pictures or comments on Grease?? Can't wait to see it.

 

Also, does anyone know how long the different groups stay onboard?? Would love to see the Beatles band, but we have 5 more weeks till we sail.

[ultimatecruisemaster]

Great review.

 

Any pictures or comments on Grease?? Can't wait to see it.

 

Also, does anyone know how long the different groups stay onboard?? Would love to see the Beatles band, but we have 5 more weeks till we sail.

 

Thanks! We actually opted to skip Grease. Even though it did play a couple times... there were other things going on that we wanted to check out instead. Also... my girlfriend is a big musical theater fan... so she has already seen about 10 different productions of Grease already.

[poleman88]

Love your pictures and video! Thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Hi Keegob (Heather), we are from Newfoundland as well and would like to get a chance to meet you on Serendae in 4 weeks. Cheers!

 

 

Scott & Karen

[Marina Harvey]

Thank you so much for a such detailed information and all the wonderful pictures! We are going on Indy on March 25, 2017 and we are Canadian too;))))

 

This will be my first experience on smaller ship and first ever cruise for my daughter, so I really wanted her to enjoy it and have very positive feedback...

 

On Oasis and Anthem class we always had pre-booked entertainment so we know our schedule and what day is what show. How does it work on Indy? Do we need to be way in advance to get good seats? Did you find it was a bit crowded? What shows did you go to and would recommend? Thanks!

[jimp1266]

Day 2 was formal night! So, after a nap we got dolled up and ready for dinner. I started to get hooked on the pumpkin seed rolls, and ordered the lobster bisque and the shrimp ravioli. Was surprised when the ravioli came out... and it was only two pieces. From then on, I asked the waiter the serving sizes. Indulged in two desserts tonight, creme brulee and the souffle.

 

Great review! We are cruising on Indy next month and I was curious about how "dressed up" were your fellow passengers on formal night? Did you notice any tuxedos or suits? We have cruise many times with Royal but our last three cruises were on Norwegian which is very casual.

[ultimatecruisemaster]

Oops! Sorry folks... was busy getting back to regular life .. and didn't notice these new questions here. Will also try to finish up the last day of the recap & review shortly.

[ultimatecruisemaster]

Great review! We are cruising on Indy next month and I was curious about how "dressed up" were your fellow passengers on formal night? Did you notice any tuxedos or suits? We have cruise many times with Royal but our last three cruises were on Norwegian which is very casual.

 

 

On formal night, there was a lot of people dressed up. A couple guys in tuxes ... and lots of men in suits. I wore a suit, and my girlfriend wore a formal dress. Guys could probably get away with just shirt and tie too, though.

 

When walking around the ship on formal night... it was definitely the casual people that stood out.

[ultimatecruisemaster]

Thank you so much for a such detailed information and all the wonderful pictures! We are going on Indy on March 25, 2017 and we are Canadian too;))))This will be my first experience on smaller ship and first ever cruise for my daughter, so I really wanted her to enjoy it and have very positive feedback...

 

On Oasis and Anthem class we always had pre-booked entertainment so we know our schedule and what day is what show. How does it work on Indy? Do we need to be way in advance to get good seats? Did you find it was a bit crowded? What shows did you go to and would recommend? Thanks!

 

There was no pre-booking of shows that I know of. We just planned our day in advance, then went to the theatre/venue at show time.

 

Most shows in the main theatre were easy to get seats for. It's a very large theatre. We'd typically show up 5 or 10 minutes early... and could still get two seats together in the middle, floor section.

 

We showed up to the Ice Show 5 minutes late... and still found a couple seats, too. We did have to do a little scouting though. Generally, I'd say... show up 10 minutes early and you'll be fine.

 

We went to a lot of shows... and really did enjoy them all! We did ... the Welcome Aboard show, Strings (Ice show), Once Upon a Time (Dance show), The Quest (game show), Love and Marriage (game show) and a late night comedian.

[judcost]

Thanks! We actually opted to skip Grease. Even though it did play a couple times... there were other things going on that we wanted to check out instead. Also... my girlfriend is a big musical theater fan... so she has already seen about 10 different productions of Grease already.

 

 

Hey I love your review and took a few notes. Labadee will be a beach day for us i notice on you map there's a few beaches, which one would be best and less rocky (Im going with kids 2, 4, 8) ?

 

Do you have any must do? no to be missed?

 

I might wanna catch a few comedy late night shows, while they are sleeping, do you remember if they have a few ?

[juliea344]

Hey I love your review and took a few notes. Labadee will be a beach day for us i notice on you map there's a few beaches, which one would be best and less rocky (Im going with kids 2, 4, 8) ?

 

Do you have any must do? no to be missed?

 

I might wanna catch a few comedy late night shows, while they are sleeping, do you remember if they have a few ?

 

 

Nellie's Beach, Columbus Cove, and Barefoot Beach (suites only) have the calmest waters.

[donnamp98]

Great review, pictures, menus and cruise compass! We are going on Indy in a few weeks! So excited! Thank you very much for all the information. I have been planning our dinner times around the events from the Cruise Compass that you posted. So excited to hear about day 5! :D

[dcgrumpy]

Great review, pictures, menus and cruise compass! We are going on Indy in a few weeks! So excited! Thank you very much for all the information. I have been planning our dinner times around the events from the Cruise Compass that you posted. So excited to hear about day 5! :D

 

 

FYI. We were just on Indy a couple of weeks. Most of the Compasses I saw before our cruise showed Grease performances on both night 4 and 5. I planned on going night 4. For some reason our cruise only had 2 performances on night 5, none of 4. We had a 7:30 reservation at Chops on night 5. We had to go to the 6:00 Grease show and then run upstairs to Chops.

 

So be prepared to switch things around. LOL

[waterbugohio]

Have a question for you. I know you posted at the beginning that you didn't get the alcohol package. But wondered if you saw or heard of anyone buying a "bucket or cooler" of beers??

Hubby is a beer drinker and the alcohol package is to expensive since he doesn't drink a lot. However several years back we bought a beer cooler. Got the cooler to keep and refills came out to Getting one beer free

 

Debating if we want to pack it. Not sure if they will still honor them.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[grandmarnnurse]

Have a question for you. I know you posted at the beginning that you didn't get the alcohol package. But wondered if you saw or heard of anyone buying a "bucket or cooler" of beers??

Hubby is a beer drinker and the alcohol package is to expensive since he doesn't drink a lot. However several years back we bought a beer cooler. Got the cooler to keep and refills came out to Getting one beer free

 

Debating if we want to pack it. Not sure if they will still honor them.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

We've sailed 2 Royal ships--the Indy and the Oasis--and we were able to buy "buckets" of beer (not really buckets, but an insulated cooler). My hubby would buy it, so he could bring some beer back to cabin. It was a cheaper alternative to a drink package, as I don't drink enough to warrant the cost of a package, and he only drinks beer.

[dcgrumpy]

Have a question for you. I know you posted at the beginning that you didn't get the alcohol package. But wondered if you saw or heard of anyone buying a "bucket or cooler" of beers??

Hubby is a beer drinker and the alcohol package is to expensive since he doesn't drink a lot. However several years back we bought a beer cooler. Got the cooler to keep and refills came out to Getting one beer free

 

Debating if we want to pack it. Not sure if they will still honor them.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

They did have the coolers of beer 2 weeks ago. I didn't pay attention to pricing though because we had the drink package.

[waterbugohio]

We've sailed 2 Royal ships--the Indy and the Oasis--and we were able to buy "buckets" of beer (not really buckets, but an insulated cooler). My hubby would buy it, so he could bring some beer back to cabin. It was a cheaper alternative to a drink package, as I don't drink enough to warrant the cost of a package, and he only drinks beer.

 

They did have the coolers of beer 2 weeks ago. I didn't pay attention to pricing though because we had the drink package.

 

Thanks

 

So wonder if we need to bring our old cooler?? That was the promotion at the time. And I know for awhile you had to bring te cooler back to get the discounted price.

[donnamp98]

FYI. We were just on Indy a couple of weeks. Most of the Compasses I saw before our cruise showed Grease performances on both night 4 and 5. I planned on going night 4. For some reason our cruise only had 2 performances on night 5, none of 4. We had a 7:30 reservation at Chops on night 5. We had to go to the 6:00 Grease show and then run upstairs to Chops.

 

So be prepared to switch things around. LOL

 

Thank you for this information! I will definitely keep my eye out for changes! I hate that you cannot see the Cruise Compass ahead of time!

[auburngirlie]

Thank you SO much for this awesome review! Great pics and video!

[ultimatecruisemaster]

Thank you SO much for this awesome review! Great pics and video!

 

No problemo! Glad you've enjoyed it!

[ultimatecruisemaster]

Oh boy... well, getting back to regular life has been really hectic... so this review has taken a lot longer than expected, haha. But here we go... finally... day 5!!

 

Day 5 - At sea

 

Started day five at the Windjammer for breakfast. A lot of the usual, including bacon, sausage, smoked salmon, biscuits and gravy, and a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream. After breakfast, we went to the sports deck to play mini golf. The course and the equipment was in pretty good shape. There was a group of unsupervised children that we had to play around... but no big deal. Next, we went to the pool area for the belly flop contest. We cheered on some of the competitors from Michigan and Canada. Director John Blair did a good job of running the event. Lots of laughs. We had fun. If you haven't seen it before, put it on your list of things to do! The crowd cleared and we spent some time in the sun, by the pool.

 

While walking through the ship... we heard some singing! It was the acapella group that I head read about in the meet and mingle group. Quite a crowd was gathered in the Royal Promenade putting on a performance. We stuck around to enjoy their show. Afterward, we went for a couple more rounds on the Flowrider and the rock climbing wall. Girlfriend aaaaalmost made it to the top this time.

 

Lunch was at the Windjammer. Had some chicken cacciatore, salad, moussaka and made my own fries supreme with the taco toppings. We lounged around the pool and hot tubs again, and I took an excursion around the ship taking photos.

 

For dinner tonight, I had the spanish tapas plate and the lamb shank. We then went to the photo gallery to decide what pictures we were going to purchase. After scoping out all our prints and checking our photos on the machines... we decided on a package with 4 digital photos for about $90(-ish?) dollars. The package also came with a leather(like), folding picture frame for 8x10's.

 

On our way back to the room, we walked through the promenade as the 70's disco party was going on. We opted not to attend... but took a slow stroll through the crowd, to our room. We went to Studio B to try to skate... but found out the session we wanted was full. So, we signed up for the next session. We killed some time at the arcade playing ski-ball and air hockey. At skating time, we made our way to the rink and got our skates and helmets. Most of the skaters were beginners. Saw a couple falls here and there. We're seasoned skaters, and made our way around with a couple of other experienced folks. No cameras allowed on the ice, but the staff would take your photo. After, we stayed and chatted with the staff who were also the performers from the ice show.

 

Promenade was still very busy, and we stopped at the cafe for some snacks. Final business for the night was the adult comedy show. We thought the comedian was great. He worked with the crowd a lot, and had a hilarious sound effects bit. Again, pleasantly surprised with the caliber of entertainment on the cruise. And our final day was sadly coming to a close......!