(Slightly less so) Cheapo dad's trip report on Independence of the Seas

[harryfat1]

After stuffing our faces, we made it back to the cabin to get ready for the tour but not before going off to Studio B to see Santa. Walked out there and Whoa Nellie, it was as if half of the ships kids are in line with lines going way outside the door.

 

 

 

The way they had things set up was all the kids stand in line to get a picture taken with Santa after the helper provides each kid with a gift (think mall Santa with presents).

 

 

The line goes all the way from Santa at one end of Studio B to the other end and out the door. Dang. Forget that. Not worth it.

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

So as we were about to give up, we saw a MUCH MUCH shorter line to the side by the On Air and decided to ask what that line was about. Well, as it turns out, you have a CHOICE of being in the longer line with Santa and have picture taken or bypass all that non sense and just grab a free gift and bail. Oh, yeah, sign me up for that! So that’s what we did.

 

Now the wrapping is about as generic as it gets but at their age, they don’t care.

 

Come over to this side, guys

 

 

 

Oh, just in case someone reading this is thinking of getting greedy and think you can double dip and get 2 presents by doing both lines, nope. RCI is way ahead of you. Each kid has to bring his/her sea pass to get a present and they mark up your sea pass to note that you got a gift as well as checking a master roaster sheet printout with every kids’ name/cabin number on it. So you can only get one.

 

Gives a new meaning to Santa Claus is coming to town and checking his list twice…

 

 

One present per kid

 

 

Eggnog

 

[harryfat1]

Oh, one final note on the present from Santa/RCI. The shorter line’s gift is twice the size of the line with Santa. They must think the bigger kids don’t want to see Santa anyway so the assumption is the shorter line is for older kids and as such, they need a bigger present.

 

Prior to this cruise, I have never been on any Christmas sailing so I didn’t really know what to expect. People on CC were pretty vague in their description of Christmas Day event on ship “Santa comes and gives presents to kids”. Not much detail was given by others until this trip report. So if you reading this as a planner for your upcoming Christmas, look around for a second line if you don’t need to see Santa but still want a free RCI gift.

 

Make sure you don’t miss out on this as RCI seldom, if ever, give out free souvenir stuff. Well, technically it’s not free as cheapo dad had to pay a premium to be on Christmas cruise so this is included as part of the premium.

[harryfat1]

Alrighty, with Santa’s present all tucked away back at the cabin, it’s time to get off the ship to do the tour at St. Maartens. For today, we chose to go with Bernards. The company is highly rated on Trip advisor as being in the top 3 tours.

 

Just as with San Juan that we visited yesterday, St. Maarten was smashed by hurricanes in 2017. Many cruises from September to December 2017 were cancelled/altered as a result of the damage to the island. There were some really hotly argued threads on whether or not RCI or any ship should visit “so quickly” after the storm. People from our roll call cancelled the cruise right before final payment as they were worried about the visit.

 

Heck, we didn’t know if our December sailing would be visiting the island until RCI announced it in their web site that we would be going. As matter of fact, I believe our sailing on Indy were the second RCI ship to go there after the Grandeur’s visit the week prior.

 

Many excursions were canceled on the RCI web site and the beach stops were changed to places people never heard of before. I waited until almost two weeks prior to sailing o book this excursion as I wasn’t sure what shape the island would be like as there were very little info coming out of the island either on Trip advisor or at the ports of call page at CC.

 

I emailed Bernard to ask about the tour and even he himself wasn’t sure how much revision he will have on his new tour post hurricane damage. But he assured me that we will have a good time and his staff will show us the island. Only after that did I book it. For an anal pre planner person, booking a tour two weeks prior to sailing is about as “last minute” as I would get.

 

OK, officially the ship docks at 9 AM and since our watches have already been moved up one hour to island time for our sailing, it was easy to tell time. The instruction was to go to the white tent toward the back of the cruise ship compound (but do not leave the gates). The tour would start 30 minutes after the ship docks (which implies 9:30).

 

Here was the picture of the cruise terminal area as seen from Windjammer earlier this morning.

 

[harryfat1]

So off the ship we go and here is the picture of us next to the tiny Marella Celebration. Oh, yeah, our butt is much taller than her butt so we are good (I like them big and round). Only after coming home did I realize that the ship next to was once upon a time a HAL ship. Having sailed on HAL twice previously, I feel like I have an attachment to their “dam” ships.

 

 

 

So we follow the direction to try and find the meeting place to start the tour. One thing I do appreciate here is that there are no aggressive tour operators trying to sell their services to you. Maybe we were too early for them as the place looks pretty empty at 9:10 AM per the time stamp on my cell phone.

 

 

The visitor center is over at the building to the right and you can see the people are trying to put up a “welcome” sign of some sort as they are just getting set up for the morning. As we just kept walking toward the back of the cruise area, past the shops and made it to the back parking lot. Had to ask couple people for directions but finally got to the white tent for the start of the tour.

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

We paid the guy on the left and he gave us a sticker #2, which I believe meant tour #2 from his web site (#1 is shopping and #2 is beach stop). Actually, he only gave me ONE sticker for the whole family. So I guess I better not get separated from the family for the whole tour as they don’t have a sticker. But once you see we have our family uniform on for Christmas Day, it’s not hard to spot us, if you know what I mean.

 

After paying, we just sat and chilled. Well, not exactly chill literally as the tent has no AC but at least we have a place to sit and away from the sun. Compared to other tours where they just had people stand and wait.

 

[cruisemeister8]

Here is the picture from the Freedom last year. All drinks were full. Indy's juice drinks are anemic in comparison.

 

 

If you look the difference between water and juice, the water cups are much more full. Given that the water in theory should be cheaper, I still think it's the cost factor that is limiting the drinks

 

While I love your cost factor analysis of ounces (or calories), I'm going with the ice theorists on this one. The full cups on Freedom are suspiciously full of ice!:confused: Now we have to go back to the spreadsheets to figure out the cost savings on serving watered-down beverages. :D See, it all starts with the watered-down OJ in the morning. Conditioner the passengers to that taste (because heaven forbid anyone pay the big bucks extra for the fresh-squeezed kind) and you can pass off watered-down drinks all day long. Now RCI is saving the big pennies because they can get away with dialing down the ratio to save on soda syrup for every squirt of the beverage gun. And let's not even start down the road about the strength of the adult stuff over the rocks. ;) Ah yes, more rocks in the beverages, more pennies in the pockets for every ounce of bulk concentrate not consumed! And the proof is in Harry's pictures from year to year! LOL! See what a public service your posts provide!

 

And now that I think about it, what kind of an embarrassing relative is the fresh-squeezed OJ? We know the dispensers are there. But we never see any review that admits to buying it.

[cruisemeister8]

 

 

Said the guy in the kitchen to his wife, "Honey! We've invested all this time reading this guy's review leading up to the big reveal on Christmas Day, and he doesn't even tell us what the present is!!!! Write and get our money back from CC!" LOL.

 

My guess is it's a t-shirt or a cup.

[suesnake2002]

Said the guy in the kitchen to his wife, "Honey! We've invested all this time reading this guy's review leading up to the big reveal on Christmas Day, and he doesn't even tell us what the present is!!!! Write and get our money back from CC!" LOL.

 

My guess is it's a t-shirt or a cup.

Thank you for asking. I felt this big build up and then. And then and then....nothing. a lump of coal

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

[micmacmissy]

So as we were about to give up, we saw a MUCH MUCH shorter line to the side by the On Air and decided to ask what that line was about. Well, as it turns out, you have a CHOICE of being in the longer line with Santa and have picture taken or bypass all that non sense and just grab a free gift and bail. Oh, yeah, sign me up for that! So that’s what we did.

 

Now the wrapping is about as generic as it gets but at their age, they don’t care.

 

One present per kid

 

 

 

Okay- they couldn't have stuck the presents in a basket or a bin? Just thrown on the floor? That looks awful.

 

How can you keep us in suspense???? What was in there????????

[harryfat1]

Said the guy in the kitchen to his wife, "Honey! We've invested all this time reading this guy's review leading up to the big reveal on Christmas Day, and he doesn't even tell us what the present is!!!! Write and get our money back from CC!" LOL.

 

My guess is it's a t-shirt or a cup.

 

Thank you for asking. I felt this big build up and then. And then and then....nothing. a lump of coal

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

Okay- they couldn't have stuck the presents in a basket or a bin? Just thrown on the floor? That looks awful.

 

How can you keep us in suspense???? What was in there????????

 

Haha, I didn't want to say anything as in case someone is reading it for the upcoming year, I didn't want to ruin the surprise. You don't like it if you know what is under the tree, right? Maybe not with this anal CC crowd.

 

It's a Royal logo plastic cup. Comes in two different color options. Orange or green.

 

Do note that my nieces stood in line to be with Santa (they said they waited for like 40 plus minutes) later that day and their cups were half the size. Maybe RCI assumes the bigger kids will bypass the Santa line and therefore put all the bigger cups in that line instead.

[Canadian1]

So as we were about .....

 

Oh, just in case someone reading this is thinking of getting greedy and think you can double dip and get 2 presents by doing both lines, nope. RCI is way ahead of you. Each kid has to bring his/her sea pass to get a present and they mark up your sea pass to note that you got a gift as well as checking a master roaster sheet printout with every kids’ name/cabin number on it. So you can only get one.

 

Gives a new meaning to Santa Claus is coming to town and checking his list twice…

 

 

I get the stickers to show they have gotten a gift. Maybe the list is for all the kids that didn't go, they will send the gift to their room? [emoji6]

 

Just hopeful thinking!

 

Thanks for sharing what the gift was.... ah to be a kid again.....

[AmyJA]

Thank goodness...suspense over........I'll be able to sleep tonight.

[Canadian1]

Thank goodness...suspense over........I'll be able to sleep tonight.

[emoji106]

[seaair100]

Love all of it,ahahaha.Tx,Harry.

[vavasmom]

Do note that my nieces stood in line to be with Santa (they said they waited for like 40 plus minutes) later that day and their cups were half the size. Maybe RCI assumes the bigger kids will bypass the Santa line and therefore put all the bigger cups in that line instead.

The prior two years, they had different gifts for different age groups

[micmacmissy]

A...cup??? Wow, Santa. That's lame!

[Dixie1337]

And now that I think about it, what kind of an embarrassing relative is the fresh-squeezed OJ? We know the dispensers are there. But we never see any review that admits to buying it.

 

I got one every morning! It's delicious and included with the drink package :)

[harryfat1]

I get the stickers to show they have gotten a gift. Maybe the list is for all the kids that didn't go, they will send the gift to their room? [emoji6]

 

Just hopeful thinking!

 

Thanks for sharing what the gift was.... ah to be a kid again.....

 

Not sure what they do if the kids doesn't show up to collect their gift.

 

The daily compass says they have between 8:30 to 10:30 to pick up the presents. I would assume if you don't go, it's snooze and loose and you get nothing but maybe you can get them at the kids or teens camp if Royal is nice about it.

 

Someone else will need to chime in what happens if they didn't go there on time.

[harryfat1]

Thank goodness...suspense over........I'll be able to sleep tonight.

 

[emoji106]

 

Haha, maybe you folks need to grab few kids under 17 and sail on the upcoming 2018 Christmas cruise so you can get the RCI presents yourself the way you are all anxious over them.

 

Like the old saying goes, it’s not the destination but the journey itself that is important. I was trying to lay out the process of getting the present rather than the present itself to show how a parent with older kids can save time if they search out for the shorter line as I never read any trip reports where people talked about 2 lines and skipping the longer lines.

 

All I ever read about Christmas day is people fawning over “You will love it. Santa will visit with presents…” No one ever mentions the super long lines with 200+ kids waiting for Santa to take picture one family at a time or a way to bypass it so I was focusing on that.

 

Didn’t think everyone is excited about the present itself. As micmacmissy said, the workers just threw it on the ground as if it was garbage so how important can it be?

 

Another reason why I didn’t say anything is that if you go on the principle of just telling the story as it was happening in real time back then, we didn’t know what was under the wrapping when we got them. We just left the presents in the cabin and went to the tour with the thinking we will open later that night.

 

Thus technically as of 9 AM on Christmas Day, we didn’t know what was inside as we didn’t open them until it was after 11 PM on day 5 after the 70’s dance party so you folks spoiled the story line…;p

[harryfat1]

The prior two years, they had different gifts for different age groups

 

Oh, Barbara,

 

No, No, No! You can’t just say there are different presents for different age groups at different years and walk away. CC folks demands detail accountability!

 

You must go and immediately start a spreadsheet analysis to lay out what each age group got in what year and explain how and why they were different. After that, you need to take a picture of each present by year by age group in case somebody out there does not believe you actually got them.

 

People on CC demand that you show them proof.

 

If that is not done by the end of the evening, there will be countless sleepless folks in Washington and Canada and every other city tonight and every other night until the task is done.

 

And then they will blame me for you not completing this and them not able to sleep. So please do start on this ASAP…;p

 

Thanks,

 

Harry

[vavasmom]

Harry - I admit that I failed to gather the detailed data. ;p;p

 

My daughter is now an adult (so I don't have gift pictures) but we watched Santa giving out presents on the Grandeur on 2015 and saw the gifts throughout the day on the Independence 2016. On Grandeur, the event is in the Centrum so we sat and watched it while having my morning soda/her cup of coffee. The excitement of the kids was contagious. Unlike this year we had sea days both times. We saw stuffed animals for the young children, coloring books for the elementary kids, small messenger bag (like kids C&A used to get) for the tweens, and water bottles for the teens

 

BTW - I agree about vacations to build family memories. I am lucky my 22 year old still likes to vacation with me. She is about to graduate from college and will be moving out of my home this summer.

[cruisemeister8]

I got one every morning! It's delicious and included with the drink package :)

Thank you, that's good to know that it's included! Mmmmm! Fresh OJ is the best.

[harryfat1]

Harry - I admit that I failed to gather the detailed data. ;p;p

 

My daughter is now an adult (so I don't have gift pictures) but we watched Santa giving out presents on the Grandeur on 2015 and saw the gifts throughout the day on the Independence 2016. On Grandeur, the event is in the Centrum so we sat and watched it while having my morning soda/her cup of coffee. The excitement of the kids was contagious. Unlike this year we had sea days both times. We saw stuffed animals for the young children, coloring books for the elementary kids, small messenger bag (like kids C&A used to get) for the tweens, and water bottles for the teens

 

BTW - I agree about vacations to build family memories. I am lucky my 22 year old still likes to vacation with me. She is about to graduate from college and will be moving out of my home this summer.

 

Very nice to have older kids that still like to vacation with you. Fingers crossed my kids will feel the same years from now or else I will be sitting at the art auctions by myself on sea days.

 

Yeah, our Christmas sailing day was a port day so we had to rush off the ship. Would have been a different vibe if it was a more leisurely sea day. For us, it was hurry up/grab and go affair.

[harryfat1]

(OK, so where were we in the trip report? Oh, yeah, we were inside the tent)

My wife and I have been to St. Maarten many years ago before the kids were born, so we recognize some of the areas but this is the first visit for the kids. They didn’t have this cruise terminal back in the 90’s when we were last there.

As we sat and waited, I realized I forgot to bring my Canon zoom camera in my back pack. WTH?

Really? How did that happen? No idea. I left it on the counter last night to charge the batteries after taking all the fort pictures from San Juan. Somehow this morning with all the Santa related excitement, I just left it there on the table as we rushed out of the cabin to meet up with the tour.

Sigh. Another sign of getting old as I am forgetting the basic stuff like cameras on vacation. Oh, well, I will make do with my cell phone and the wife still has the SLR and the boys have their gears as well.

 

We had to wait close to 30 minutes at the tent area as we got there early at 9:20 for the 9:30 meeting time but I think some people were late and they tried to wait for them as long as possible. Finally at 9:50, they called group 2 to get into the bus.

 

We got the “mailman” as our tour guide. The dude is famous with many rave reviews on trip advisor. He gave us an overview of the tour before we headed off – basically we will do a circle of the island by starting on the Dutch side and the head over to the French side before circling back.

 

In theory we were supposed to meet up with the 4 people that were late further down the trip but they never showed.