Independence of the seas 13th April Live Report

[BourkeBlogs]

We did Maho last month off Oasis. We walked to town and got the public minibus @ $2pp. On our return we waited across the road and got the bus back to town. Very easy and inexpensive.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

 

$2 is good value. Good thing to know for next time, thanks

[BourkeBlogs]

As a quick point, one thing I have noticed is you need to keep a close eye on your onboard account. We keep getting spurious charges for things, today's being a $320 internet charge instead of a one day internet refund for when this wasn't working. After speaking to guest services they said they will need to speak to their financial team to rectify, as we had paid in advance for the internet and not whilst onboard.

 

Our family travelling with us had also been charged a total of $540 for dining package instead of the $170 the charge should have been for along with a number of bar charges which weren't theirs.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

Thanks, I've never seen that before. I wonder if it had something to do with the unique itinerary.

 

 

Bob, we had that last time out on the Navigator - Promenade level of MDR was buffet, but one level up was a la carte, with full waiter service. That was a straightforward round trip Mediterranean cruise.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Sancho_proudfoot
Typo

[Clarea]

Bob, we had that last time out on the Navigator - Promenade level of MDR was buffet, but one level up was a la carte, with full waiter service. That was a straightforward round trip Mediterranean cruise.

Thanks, maybe it's something they offer for non-US based cruises.

[Sarah1974]

What ship was that? Curious because ever ship we've been on has had breakfast on one deck only.

Bob,

Sailing from the UK (maybe things are different!) on the Independence mainly

[sky0000547]

I was on Independence last year ex Southampton and i think it had the same setup for breakfast with ala carte on a different deck. I don't have the cruise compass to confirm though. It does look likely that this is a UK setup.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

Thanks, maybe it's something they offer for non-US based cruises.

I'll let you know about the Indy in a few weeks time,lol

[gooners1968]

I was on Independence last year ex Southampton and i think it had the same setup for breakfast with ala carte on a different deck. I don't have the cruise compass to confirm though. It does look likely that this is a UK setup.

 

We have had the same setup the last 2 years out of Southampton, on Explorer and Indy. Much prefer the buffet!

[BourkeBlogs]

I was on Independence last year ex Southampton and i think it had the same setup for breakfast with ala carte on a different deck. I don't have the cruise compass to confirm though. It does look likely that this is a UK setup.

 

 

We have found about the a la Carte breakfast. It is available on deck 5, however this isn't published in the Cruise Compass as it's only available for Diamond and above so unfortunately not an option for us.

[BourkeBlogs]

After leaving our last port we he headed to the MDR for dinner.

 

For starters we both opted for the mushroom soup, which was similar, if not the same as what was served in Chops.

 

 

The waiters recommendation for main course was the mixed grill which I opted for and my partner went for the salmon.

 

 

 

Both meals were fine, but bot nothing special.

 

I opted for the chocolate tart for desert which again ok.

 

 

One thing I have noticed is a lot of the cakes have more of a mousse like consistency rather than a baked consistency that you typically get in the UK.

 

We had a relatively quiet evening sat outside the Dog & Badger on the Royal Promenade and listening to the guitarist / singer in the pub. We didn't go to any shows or anything.

[BourkeBlogs]

Yesterday was our first full sea day. We had booked the Bottomless Brunch / Galley Tour which was scheduled to start at 11am. We had chosen to do this as part of dining package but they were also pushing this very heavily in the dining room the night before, both by coming around the tables and making announcements over the PA system for this.

 

As we would be eating an early lunch we didn't bother with anything too much for breakfast so had a coffee and a pastry from Cafe Promenade. The danishes from here are fantastic, as they taste freshly baked.

 

We went up to the the MDR on level 4 where the brunch was being held and even at around 10:45 there was quite a queue as this seemed to be a popular event.

 

When we entered the restaurant we were served with either champagne, Buck's Fizz, peach Bellini or orange juice. We were then taken to a table laid out with a selection of snacks.

 

 

There was also a 3 course menu.

 

 

Due to the volume of people the galley tour was conducted in groups of around 20 people at a time. Once our order had been taken we were taken into the galley after putting on our paper hats.

 

 

Although we had been been on the all access tour on Anthem and seen the galley there, it was interesting to see it on this ship.

 

As we entered the the galley the first area was the cold starter preparation area.

 

 

They had also covered up most of the surfaces in the kitchen and decorated them with various items.

 

[BourkeBlogs]

The next section was the bakery. Although there is a galley for each of the 3 MDRs the bakery is on level 4, the patisserie on level 3 and the room service kitchen on level 5.

 

I expected the bread rolls to be frozen then just baked off on the ship, however we were informed they bake 24,000 bread rolls a day all from scratch.

 

 

The next section was the dishwashing section where they can wash a plate a pace of around one per second.

 

 

The next area was where the hot meals are prepared, of which they were preparing our lunches at the time.

 

To be continued..... the internet is really bad and it's took me 40 minutes to upload those photos so I will continue tomorrow.

[Sammy1]

Thanks from us also for your very informative blog!

We'll be sailing on the Indy to the Canaries in June.

Can you please confirm that the 5-night dining package is $100 per person?

And was this deal posted somewhere as you boarded?

It seems like an incredibly good deal.

 

Thank you, and please keep the info coming!

Sam

Edited April 22, 2017 by Sammy1
typo

[cruisingbajan]

Enjoying the review. Thanks for posting.

[BourkeBlogs]

Thanks from us also for your very informative blog!

We'll be sailing on the Indy to the Canaries in June.

Can you please confirm that the 5-night dining package is $100 per person?

And was this deal posted somewhere as you boarded?

It seems like an incredibly good deal.

 

Thank you, and please keep the info coming!

Sam

 

 

 

Thanks

 

The 5 night package is $100, a 4 night was available for $85 and a 3 night was $70.

 

The deal was advertised everywhere when we got on. It was being pushed heavily in the Royal Promenade, entrance to the WindJammer, and people coming round the WJ and MDR in the evening trying to sell it. You could also go to either Chops or Giovannis to sign up, so you won't be able to miss it.

 

We could have booked in advance on the cruise planner, although I believe it has worked out very similar or if not cheaper booking onboard. The advantage being you don't get automatically assigned a restaurant on night one or 2 so you are free to choose your dates and times once onboard.

 

We thought it was a good deal, as despite there only being the 2 speciality restaurant the food and service in these has been leagues above the MDR and of exceptional quality. The environment is also much more relaxing and great for spending time with friends or family. In addition you can also use one of your choices for the galley tour or cupcake decorating class.

[BourkeBlogs]

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!

 

 

 

As we are now well into the Transatlantic part I can let you know about the internet. It's bad, really bad. For the last few days I haven't been able to upload photos or anything and when I have it's taken about 20 minutes for each one.

 

We have just been to see the internet person and she advised it's much worse than they had expected and in reality they don't expect us to be able to do anything apart from really basic stuff with no videos or images.

 

They have a got a technician on board trying to improve it but they don't think it will be any better until they get into Southampton and are able to target a different satellite.

[Alysia]

As we are now well into the Transatlantic part I can let you know about the internet. It's bad, really bad. For the last few days I haven't been able to upload photos or anything and when I have it's taken about 20 minutes for each one.

 

We have just been to see the internet person and she advised it's much worse than they had expected and in reality they don't expect us to be able to do anything apart from really basic stuff with no videos or images.

 

They have a got a technician on board trying to improve it but they don't think it will be any better until they get into Southampton and are able to target a different satellite.

 

Thank you for the update regarding the internet. This is not good news for me :( During the crossing, I wanted to do some work which requires access to different websites. Before anyone says anything, I know I shouldn't be working while on a cruise. My family has told me this many of times. Plan "B", load my kindle with books instead!

 

Hope you are enjoying your cruise! Thanks again!

[BourkeBlogs]

Thank you for the update regarding the internet. This is not good news for me :( During the crossing, I wanted to do some work which requires access to different websites. Before anyone says anything, I know I shouldn't be working while on a cruise. My family has told me this many of times. Plan "B", load my kindle with books instead!

 

 

 

Hope you are enjoying your cruise! Thanks again!

 

 

 

Yea it won't be ideal for working.

 

For us it's not a massive issue, I can't upload pics and stuff on here, but at least we're not trying to work with it.

 

I think we're also going to ask to cancel our second device as it's not worth keeping at the moment and one will be more than enough.

 

However, one thing to note is that we did a TA before on Anthem and the internet was pretty good on that. So not sure if it's slower because this is an older ship or just the positioning of the satellites at the moment.

[Alysia]

Yea it won't be ideal for working.

 

For us it's not a massive issue, I can't upload pics and stuff on here, but at least we're not trying to work with it.

 

I think we're also going to ask to cancel our second device as it's not worth keeping at the moment and one will be more than enough.

 

However, one thing to note is that we did a TA before on Anthem and the internet was pretty good on that. So not sure if it's slower because this is an older ship or just the positioning of the satellites at the moment.

 

Good point! Actually we are going on the Anthem in a couple of weeks but doing the crossing on the Indy. We did a Baltic cruise on the Navigator and the internet at times was not good! They told us that we were out of the zone where internet would be good. At least you set my expectations before the cruise so I won't be surprise with the poor internet. My husband will be happy since I won't be able to work. At least someone will be happy! :)

 

Thank you!!!

[traveltilidrop]

Thanks for all of the info! We will be doing the TA on Indy next year in May, so all of the pictures and information provided has been very helpful and has given us an idea of what our TA experience to Southampton will be.

[slg1979]

Thanks for all of the info! We will be doing the TA on Indy next year in May, so all of the pictures and information provided has been very helpful and has given us an idea of what our TA experience to Southampton will be.

 

 

The TA next year is showing sold out... we are booked on it as well... wonder what's going on?

 

 

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[traveltilidrop]

Either it is sold out or Royal is making changes to the prices and is listing it as "sold out" while doing so. If it is sold out, I am glad that I jumped on when I did. Royal had a good sale and it appears that many people booked the cruise as a result.

[slg1979]

No its not sold out.. it's been cancelled. They're going to redeploy the sailing, hoping it'll be longer w more ports.

 

 

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[StlGal]

Have you been to the Champagne Bar? If so, can you please get pictures of the menu? Thank you!

[BourkeBlogs]

Have you been to the Champagne Bar? If so, can you please get pictures of the menu? Thank you!

 

 

 

We have been to the Champagne bar but unfortunately due to the internet issues I can't upload any images or PDFs to my site.

 

I'll upload these when either the internet gets better or we return home.