Independence of the seas 13th April Live Report

[pvsmyth]

Great job with the blog! Really enjoyed your Harmony one last year as we sailed her a few months later. This year we are back on Indy, so great to get a fresh perspective. One question for you to do with the Casino. Last year on Harmony the minimum table bet for roulette was $5. Whereas on our previous cruises on Indy and Liberty it was only $1. Just curious, as if it is now $5, I won't bother bring any dollars for just a bit of fun.

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Forums mobile app

[BourkeBlogs]

If you have a chance can you post the prices for the spa treatments?

 

 

 

I actually found a copy of the price list in the cabin which I hadn't scanned on yet, so here it is:

 

http://www.bourkeblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IOTS-Spa-List.pdf

[BourkeBlogs]

Great job with the blog! Really enjoyed your Harmony one last year as we sailed her a few months later. This year we are back on Indy, so great to get a fresh perspective. One question for you to do with the Casino. Last year on Harmony the minimum table bet for roulette was $5. Whereas on our previous cruises on Indy and Liberty it was only $1. Just curious, as if it is now $5, I won't bother bring any dollars for just a bit of fun.

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Forums mobile app

 

 

 

We actually had a go on Roulette a couple of days ago. The sign on the table said minimum bets of $1 so we got $20 of chips. However, once betting we were told we needed to place a bet of at least $5 a spin, which effectively to us is a $5 minimum, regardless of the one dollar chips.

 

We probably won't play again as we do it for a bit of fun although I may have a go on Black Jack later in the cruise, depending on the minimums. Hopefully it will only be $5 minimum.

[hdowney]

We actually had a go on Roulette a couple of days ago. The sign on the table said minimum bets of $1 so we got $20 of chips. However, once betting we were told we needed to place a bet of at least $5 a spin, which effectively to us is a $5 minimum, regardless of the one dollar chips.

 

We probably won't play again as we do it for a bit of fun although I may have a go on Black Jack later in the cruise, depending on the minimums. Hopefully it will only be $5 minimum.

 

 

That's a bit misleading and mean spirited. to me a $1 minimum bet means I can place a $1 chip (say on black) and that's it for the round. To say it's $5 a spin, whilst presumably possible to put 5x$1 on different blocks, is to me a $5 minimum

[Alysia]

This will be our 3rd cruise and like the last 2 I will be doing a live blog / trip report whilst onboard.

 

We have spent the last 2 nights in Miami after flying in from the UK on Tuesday.

 

After checking the MarineTraffic app, we have seen that ship is currently docked at terminal 25 at Port Everglades so we plan to get an Uber from our hotel down to the port. Our planned arrival time at the port will be around 11am which we know is a bit early, but we are happy to wait to board the ship, rather than just sat waiting around in the hotel.

 

I will be uploading all the menus from bars and restaurants and will upload these to:

 

www.BourkeBlogs.com/iotsmenus

 

I'll also upload all the cruise compasses from the 15 night sailing to:

 

www.BourkeBlogs.com/iotscruisecompass

 

In addition I will be uploading a number of videos from the cabin, ship etc throughout the cruise, assuming the internet we have purchased will be reliable.

 

If anyone has any questions or something you want to find out, let us know and we will do our best to answer.

 

 

Hi

 

We are going on the IOS transatlantic back to the US in October. Would appreciate if you could let me know how the internet is during the 8 days at sea. Thank you!

[BourkeBlogs]

Last night we ate in Chops Grille as we had purchased the 5 night dining package for $100 when onboard to have 2 meals at both specialty restaurants and the 5th being used for a galley tour on one of the sea days.

 

Our booking was at 18:30 and the restaurant was only about half full and it got no busier than this over the evening.

 

We were seated quickly and given menus although no one came to take drink orders for 15 minutes after that. Our food order was taken straight after the drinks and between the 4 of us we ordered a few different dishes between us.

 

We were served with a couple of large bread rolls to share with either mustard or unsalted butter.

 

For starters we had scallops and the grilled black pepper bacon:

 

 

We also ordered a soup each was was served after the appetisers, although we had expected the soup first.

 

 

 

I personally had the scallops and mushroom soup which were both excellent. The scallops were about 6 times the size of the ones in the MDR the previous night and had much more flavour to them. I believe the French onion soup and black pepper bacon were also great.

 

 

For mains there was the 9oz fillet, short rib and chicken.

 

 

For $10 extra you could order the shrimp main so you could have surf and turf. My partner and I shared the shrimp from this.

 

[BourkeBlogs]

All side dishes were ordered separately and were sharing portions.

 

 

The mains were all very good and the fillet was cooked perfectly medium as ordered. The extra cost for the restaurant is well worth it as the food is leagues above the WJ or MDR which you would expect for the cost.

 

Despite all feeling fairly full we did order desserts which were the mud pie, melting middle chocolate cake which was cooked to order so took around 10 minutes and a cheesecake.

 

 

 

 

The desserts were ok, although probably the weakest course of the meal as the others had been so good.

 

Overall Chops was a good experience with excellent food although the service was poor throughout and when the waiter did arrive at the table he was clearing plates while others were still eating which to me is poor etiquette and not great. We also had empty drinks glasses and were never asked if we would like more wine.

[BourkeBlogs]

After dinner we headed to the Headliner show which was a Vegas illusionist couple called Knight Magic. The tricks were pretty good and was a worth a watch.

 

It was also the 70s street party on the Royal Promenade from 22:15 which was fun and well attended. I wish I had known about this in advance as I would have brought some of my 70s fancy dress with me [emoji1]

 

After the Street party there was late night comedy in the theatre. It was an American comedian called Don Gavin. It was ok but I think British and American humour is quite different. It also was quite reserved for a late night comedian and I think the boundaries could have been pushed further.

 

We called it a night after that as we were both pretty tired and still feeling very full from dinner.

[BourkeBlogs]

So we are now on day 4 of our cruise so I thought I would share some of my initial views on the ship.

 

It's only the third cruise we have been on and this is the smallest and oldest ship from the 3 we have sailed on.

 

Despite being nearly 10 years old it's still a great ship with good facilities. Some of the furnishings are dated and tired although I imagine these will probably be replaced during dry dock next year.

 

Even though it is a smaller ship than our past experiences we have felt it is big enough with enough choices of places to go. However, we would have liked more speciality restaurants to choose from like those offered on the Quantum and Oasis class although based on the size of the ship this probably isn't realistic.

 

We are going to be on the ship for another 12 nights still but our first impressions are good and it was a good choice.

[dctravel]

Following for our upcoming sailing. Thanks for sharing your experience live!

 

I note on your blog that the drink package was offered on day 1 for $61/pp/pday. That is more than the advertised $55. Does anyone know if that type of markup is typical once on board?

 

dctravel

[Clarea]

Following for our upcoming sailing. Thanks for sharing your experience live!

 

I note on your blog that the drink package was offered on day 1 for $61/pp/pday. That is more than the advertised $55. Does anyone know if that type of markup is typical once on board?

 

dctravel

There's no "typical" for Royal. Also, the $61 might have included the 18% gratuity, and the $55 does not. Can't explain the discrepancy, because the $55 should be $65 with gratuity.

[pjd65]

Really enjoying your live blogging of this cruise :) We will be on IoS in early July and am really appreciating the uploads you have provided of menus and such. Since there is no cruise before ours with the same itinerary, I'm just watching threads like yours to get an idea of what to expect. We are new to RCL (several DCL cruises in the last decade or so and a couple Carnival in the very distant past) so I really appreciate all the information you have provided. Thanks.

[dougyfresh]

Thank you for such a thorough report! Wife and I are prepping for a transpacific later this week so it's nice to see details on things like Laundry specials and wine prices. Glad to see it looks like you are all enjoying yourselves; I might use this report to sell my wife on the 5 night specialty dining!

[suncoast89]

Thanks for the review and posts, we are sailing on the IOS out of South Hampton July 7!

[Mrs Cake]

Thanks for the review and especially the menus and price lists. We are sailing on the Indy on the 15th May. So looking forward to it :-D

[jonj]

Thank you for such a thorough report! Wife and I are prepping for a transpacific later this week so it's nice to see details on things like Laundry specials and wine prices. Glad to see it looks like you are all enjoying yourselves; I might use this report to sell my wife on the 5 night specialty dining!

 

Which ship will you be on?

[Clarea]

Which ship will you be on?

Likely Explorer, leaving Sydney for Seattle on April 22nd.

[BourkeBlogs]

Apologies for the lack of updates yesterday. This was due to 2 reason, the first being a hangover from too much the night before and the second being the internet was broken which we were advised was due to them having to change satellites in preparation for the Transatlantic leg.

[BourkeBlogs]

Sunday was a port day in San Juan, with the arrival time schedule for around 1 pm.

 

In the morning after having breakfast in the windjammer we spent some time sun bathing up on deck 12. Based on a number of posts around chair hogs we had expected it to be difficult to get a subbed however there were loads available so was not an issue. It was great to to be able to watch us sail into the port whilst sunbathing. There was also a server roaming so we were easily able to get served with soft drinks.

 

Before heading off the ship, after docking we went for lunch again in the WJ as the MDR has not offered lunch on this cruise, which I guess will change on the sea days. The food has be pretty good, the buffet is never going to be fine dining but the choices and quality has been pretty good each day. There is always a freshly carved roast of the day along with the usual salads, hot dishes, pizzas, burgers etc.

 

Leaving the ship in San Juan was straightforward with no queue to disembark. We had docked in the old town so could walk straight from the ship into the town. We walked up to the fort at the top which gave some great views and then had a walk around the town. It was a really nice place, with some historic buildings. It was a very hot day so we did go into a bar for a beer which was priced at a very reasonable $2 each.

 

After a few hours we headed back to the ship which was fairly quiet as most people were on land, had a coffee at Cafe Promenade then went for a sleep.

[crimson moon]

Enjoying your review. A quick question. We are sailing on Indy in July after not sailing on RCI for a few years. We have not done MTD on RCI before and I noticed you said in earlier posts that you made reservations (and also that Cruise Compass has a number to ring) Is this a necessity or can you, as on other cruise lines, turn up at a time of your choosing?

[Clarea]

Enjoying your review. A quick question. We are sailing on Indy in July after not sailing on RCI for a few years. We have not done MTD on RCI before and I noticed you said in earlier posts that you made reservations (and also that Cruise Compass has a number to ring) Is this a necessity or can you, as on other cruise lines, turn up at a time of your choosing?

Reservations are optional for My Time Dining. On some ships, reservations can save waiting time. Our experience without reservations for a party of two between 6:30pm and 7:30pm has been very little wait time, but these experiences have been on the smaller ships.

[BourkeBlogs]

Enjoying your review. A quick question. We are sailing on Indy in July after not sailing on RCI for a few years. We have not done MTD on RCI before and I noticed you said in earlier posts that you made reservations (and also that Cruise Compass has a number to ring) Is this a necessity or can you, as on other cruise lines, turn up at a time of your choosing?

 

 

 

There are 2 queues at the MDR for MTD on deck 3. One is for those with reservations and one for without. At the time we had booked of 18:45 there has been no queue on either line so even if you didn't have reservations you would have no issues being seated immediately. However, we have noticed when leaving the restaurant around 8pm there have been significant queues both for those with or without reservations.

 

You can turn up at any time of your choosing although dependant on the time will depend on the wait.

[kevinyork]

There are 2 queues at the MDR for MTD on deck 3. One is for those with reservations and one for without. At the time we had booked of 18:45 there has been no queue on either line so even if you didn't have reservations you would have no issues being seated immediately. However, we have noticed when leaving the restaurant around 8pm there have been significant queues both for those with or without reservations.

 

You can turn up at any time of your choosing although dependant on the time will depend on the wait.

 

 

 

Do you know when the reservations for Mytime dining opened up on the planner? We sail in Sep and it's not there yet.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[BourkeBlogs]

Do you know when the reservations for Mytime dining opened up on the planner? We sail in Sep and it's not there yet.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

 

I've just checked and we booked ours on 26th December, so around 4 months in advance.

 

It may have been available before then but I hadn't gone on and checked. At the time though, there was still plenty of time slots available.

[BourkeBlogs]

After San Juan on Sunday we went to the MDR for dinner. It was just the 2 of us this evening but we were seated at the same table and same waiters as the previous nights. It's the first time out of the 3 cruises we have been on where we have had the same waiters each evening. It's been really good as they get to know you so the service has been a lot more personable.

 

For starters I opted for the escargots and my partner the breaded mushrooms.

 

 

 

The starters were probably the weakest we have had so far. The escargots were overpoweringly flavoured with garlic, so much so that's all it tasted off and the breaded mushrooms were soggy and bland.

 

Fortunately the quality improved with the main courses of Musallam Raan and Linguini.

 

 

 

He waiter asked if I would like another meal as he felt the lamb was pretty small. I declined as it was perfectly adequate but I thought it was a nice offer. The curry was particularly good.

 

Both the white chocolate cheesecake and pear tart made tasty desserts.

 

 

We had planned on having an early night as we were both pretty tired. Unfortunately this didn't quite go to plan. We had a few drinks outside the dog and badger on the Royal Promenade then headed to On Air the karaoke bar to watch. We were sat at the bar in here and as soon as our drinks were getting empty we were asked if we wanted another one so we had more than planned. We then headed to the nightclub and had a pretty late night.