Independence of the Seas - March 30, 2017

[jenniferop]

Some info on our Group – We drove down from Jax to Ft. Lauderdale Wednesday night and stayed at the Holiday Inn near the port. All of us are work colleague girlfriends; with a total of 4 cabins (7 people) 2 in an Ocean view, 1 Single in an Ocean view, 2 in an inside and 2 in a Balcony – I was in the Inside cabin with a friend and we never felt cramped or overcrowded – there was a couch and a desk, both good places to sit so you didn’t have to lounge on the bed – but honestly we were only in our cabins to shower, change or sleep.

 

We had to board at Terminal 29 but we had to Park at the Mid-Port Garage outside Terminal 25 then take a shuttle back to 29.

It was very confusing after we dropped off our luggage because the directions on getting to the garage were not clear – so we took a wrong turn, got very turned around and spent probably close to 45 minutes just parking and getting back to the terminal.

Arrival time was 12:30. We waited in line about 30minutes for our checkin and then boarded right after we had our cards.

When we boarded the ship we headed straight to our cabins which were ready at 1:15, we dropped off our carry ons and headed for the promenade on 5 for a sandwich at the cafe then we had pizza at Sorrento’s. Both were quick and hit the spot.

We then made our way to deck 12 for some people watching and softserve ice cream from Sprinkles.

Soon it was muster drill time, luckily we didn’t muster outside, we met in the lounge. (Actually now I can’t remember which one but someone will guide you)

As always there were the people that talked, used their phone, generally didn't pay attention and dragged out the drill longer than necessary.

We check our rooms for luggage after the drill, everyone else got theirs, but mine was missing. As my fortunate luck would have it, I had bought an outfit at Target earlier during a pre-boarding pit stop, so I had a new shirt to change into while everyone else changed their full outfit. My luggage did arrive after dinner. Yay.

We had traditional dining at 6pm in the King Lear dining room deck 3 aft. All our cabins were deck 7 forward so we just walked all the way down the hall and then took the elevators to 3 every night.

 

Night 1 was the Mojo Menu.

I had the shrimp cocktail, escargot appetizers, the Prime Rib entrée. Table 500 - Our waiters were Ketut and Bling

We had prompt service and attentive bar staff every night.

The Prime Rib was clearly cooked past med rare but not enough for me to send it back – the flavor was still good.

After dinner we did a trivia session in the Schooner bar and then headed to bed – no Welcome aboard show for us.

 

Day 2 was formal night. Sea day – Saffron Menu

We made it to the dining room for breakfast at 8:30am. Normal breakfast fare – I had the classic.

Then changed clothes for a day of laying out. The sky was a little cloudy, the sun played peek a boo which was fine with me I burn easily so I had long yoga pants on and a light jacket. Honestly we had no interest in being out near the pool so I don't know about chair hogs since we were on deck 12. Johnny Rockets opened at 11:30am for lunch and we made it over at noon. And good thing we arrived when we did, the entire water front was full so we ate inside and even that fill up quickly behind us. You get a starter and entree and a dessert for $6.95... Milkshakes are separate. We all ordered something different and shared. Be forewarned that the cheese sauce for the fries is tasteless. Not kidding– TASTELESS!! Everything else was great. Service was great. After lunch we headed to the ice skating show "Strings", which was really good. Then we showered and got ready for formal night pictures.

No more lobster dinner on 5 day cruises. I had the lobster bisque and bay scallops for starters, then the beef tenderloin for dinner. Tonight the cooking temp for the beef tenderloin was perfect and it was delicious. Someone else in our group got the shrimp raviolis and said they were yummy. After dinner we headed to the production Show of Grease at 9pm. We got there about 30 minutes early to secure our seats and had a cocktail while we waited. It was a 90 minute show – plan accordingly, the show was jam packed with great singing, dancing and acting. We all thoroughly enjoyed it! I would hear someone at Disembarkation talking to their friend while we were waiting to get off the ship (more on that disaster later) anyway she was saying that RC will get an earful from her in the survey about how disappointing Grease was – I turned and asked “you didn’t like it?” and she replied “no, it was horrible – it didn’t stick to the movie plot for some parts”. So I had to remind her that it was the Broadway play version NOT the movie version. I don’t think she comprehended what I was saying , I tried to explain that they are different but I don’t think she believed me and she will probably still complain…but I will give Royal a huge point in the Win column for entertainment. This show was done right.

 

Day 3 was Cozumel – Pomodoro Menu

We got up around 7:30am…against all of our better wishes but our tour time had changed from meeting at 11:30 to meeting at 9:15 at the end of the dock. So we grabbed a quick coffee and breakfast at the café promenade and then headed off the ship.

Our Tour was the ship excursion of the Cozumel Island Tour and Overview which was to include a tour of the Chocolate factory – this was explained online as "see the manufacturing process, participate in a demonstration and sample delicious artisanal chocolate."

When we got to the Mayan Cacao company we stopped in front of a wall with drawings on it and we were told a story of how the Mayan’s used to make chocolate, then we were lead into a VERY HOT cabana – the doors were drawn shut, there was no moving air, and we watched a video (while standing) of the chocolate making process. I almost passed out – now I’m from Florida (born and raised) I can handle hot days, I can handle humid days, but this was HORRIBLE. After the video we moved on to a small outside theater, thank goodness it had seats and ceiling fans, we watched a man hand blend different ingredients into a chocolate drink that was used to celebrate Mayan festivities. After that we were funneled into the gift shop then loaded back upon the bus for the next “picturesque” sightseeing spot. We were told it was great for seeing flamingos and birds – we when got there it was a road sidestop of merchandise and drinks – with a look out to the Sea for pictures – it was a very pretty view but no Flamingos or birds in sight and a ton of trash along the sea line. We only stayed for 15 minutes then got back on the bus for our drive back to port. The guide was really informative and I had no problem with his knowledge of the country but given the choice I would not recommend this tour nor would I do it again.

 

When we got back to port we ate at Margaretville, shopped a little and then got back on the ship. If was about 4pm by now and time for trivia (I love trivia) it’s my favorite thing to do on a cruise and I sucked one of my travel peeps into the fun with me. I won this one and got a highlighter as my prize (yay me). After that we all showered and got ready for dinner – I had the Arancini, Caprese salad and tapas plate appetizers with the tiger shrimp entrée.

After dinner we went to the 9pm show of the guest band that boarded while we were in Cozumel – I actually forget the name of the band but a terrible thing happened during the beginning of their second song. Someone (probably not with Royal after that incident)lowered the stage in the middle of their set and the guitar player didn’t notice the stage had opened and he FELL IN – like stepped to his left and went all the way to the bottom which I’m guessing was about 20-30 feet. It was really scary. I think the lead singer thought he was fine originally because he kept playing and singing but after about 1 minute he realized something was wrong – stopped the show, they all left the stage, finally the CD came out and told us the guitar player was fine that medical was attending to him for us to wait for the band to decide if they were going to keep playing their set. We stayed just so we could get an update on the poor man. Finally the band came out tells us the show must go on and they played a revised set list with the help from some of the house band horn section. They were great and we enjoyed the show. When we got out of the show we thought the ship was swaying alot and sailing at a faster speed for a leisurely sail day back to Ft. Lauderdale – which was about the time the Captain came over the speakers and said that due to a medical emergency were had turned around and were heading back to Cozumel to deliver the patient to the hospital. My cabin mate and I tried to stay up with some of our friends to watch the return to port and the evacuation but we gave up at 1am – the others stayed up until 2:30 and saw the guitar player removed from the ship and watch us sail away again. (later report was he broke his collar bone and a few ribs but would be fine)

 

Day 4 – last sea day – Pimento Menu

Today we woke up late, slept in and were all completely lazy. Breakfast was eaten in the windjammer – which I hate but we were so messed up with the time change and which watch was right that we were 30 minutes too late for the dining room. After breakfast some of us headed outside for more sunbathing and a few of us went to play trivia, do a selfie scavenger hunt around the ship, shop, have a pedi in the spa. We all went our own ways for the day only to meet up again for our last meal in the dining room.

Antipasti appetizer and the upcharge meal Surf and Turf – the Turf was EXCELLENT. The show tonight was the premier performance on this ship of the Once upon a Time, fairy tale show. It was really good but I wish they had turned down the mics on the band so that they didn’t drown out the singers; it was hard to hear the vocals over the music. Most of our group then when to the 70's disco party on the Promenade and had fun dancing late into the night.

 

Day 5 Disembarkation – the worst of all my cruises.

We were going to do self-disembarkation but then decided to go ahead and check our luggage and wait for our zone to be called. We had one last breakfast at café promenade and our Zone (14) was called at 9am. The info we were given the night before said that the elevators would only go to deck 3 and then we would have to walk down to 1 – so we step on the elevator pressed 3 got off and stood in line with the others. No order was to be had – people were cutting into line they were breaking up family groups – it was a mad house…then we STOPPED. We waited and waited and waited some more. Must have been 30+ minutes crammed in a very hot hall-way. As we stared to inch along barley moving up 2 people at a time for the next 15-20 minutes we can see that the elevators which were not supposed to be working on deck 1 were unloading people right into the path of people already in line and these people just pushed their way in – so we now have 4 elevators depositing people right into an already existing line of 3 decks full of people. By the time we got off the ship and though customs (use the mobile passport app like they suggest it cuts time off your wait, promise) it was after 10am –so we were in line for more than an hour – the longest it has ever take us to get off any ship. Also we docked at Terminal 25 which was different than Terminal 29 were we boarded. After you get off the ship you have to wait in line for customs and baggage – outside…dress accordingly it was hot.

 

And that’s it – our annual girls cruise was a success and 5 of us booked the Symphony for 2019 to sail with our hubbies.

Any questions? I didn't keep the Daily Compasses Sorry...no kids with us so can't speak about any of those activates, nor did we use the Flow Rider or rock wall.

[auburngirlie]

Oh my word. That's horrible about the guitar player! We just got off the Indy 2 weeks ago and I know exactly what you are speaking of on the stage. It goes up and down for Grease. Yikes! Prayers he is recovering. Our experience on Indy was similar to yours, except we had free lobster on the 4th night (not Formal night) and getting off the ship was a tad easier for us. We were Green Group 9 and we qued up around 930AM on deck 4 (I believe) and just waited, but it moved pretty quickly. There were also RC staff there directing line breakers, which was nice! Now the que in Customs was a mess, but we hired a porter and she took us through a quicker line (highly recommend hiring a porter in FL), so we missed that que. That ice show was awesome! Especially the tricks at the end! And we loved Grease too. We only made it till the 1 hr mark, but we enjoyed it!