Refurbed Independence Western Mediterranean Review

[Cruise-y]

Which cabin did you stay in? We are booked in an aft JS (#1706) in December and am wondering if you're JS was an aft or side cabin.

 

We were in 9244. It was near the front right by the elevators. We never heard any elevator noise at all (a wall separates the room from the elevators) and we liked the location a lot because we didn't have to walk down half a long corridor to get to our cabin, like you do when your room is in the middle of the ship.

[Cruise-y]

Ports of Call, Cont'd.....

 

Nice: We did not do the ship's bus excursion to Monaco and Éze, even though we wanted to see them, because it included a perfume factory tour (with shopping there afterward) and also shopping in Monaco which we weren't interested in. Instead we hired a private driver to take us around. He talked us out of driving through Monaco because he said the traffic was horrid. He drove us to the top of the hills and we hiked a bit to a spot where we could look down and see both Monaco and Nice at the same time. He was knowledgable about the area and told us a lot of the history, and pointed out the sights from above which we could see easily - Monte Carlo, the famous casino, the royal palace and its wooded grounds all hidden behind high walls (we could see in, even their pool), the Oceanographic Museum, the road where Princess Grace crashed, the demarcation lines between France, Monaco and Italy, etc. - all nestled in the big green hills, surrounded by vivid blue waters with both ports full of yachts and sailboats. I guess it was better than driving past them in a bus. He also talked us out of walking up Éze, but we saw it from above as well. He had a great reputation and was very entertaining. It was fine - but expensive. I'd probably do the ship's excursion next time. He took us to a good Italian restaurant in Nice where we ate lunch outside (although I was hankering for French!).

 

Cadiz: We took a 2 hour walking tour in this quaint port city with a guide that took us along the ocean wall and around the Medieval town with its narrow pedestrian-only streets, pointing out sites and discussing the history. It was free but you were to pay the guide at the end what you thought it was worth. There were two huge groups of Spaniards on the walking tour who had Spanish-speaking guides and then a much smaller English-speaking group. It was fun and entertaining. Our guide recommended a great open-air restaurant on a little side street where we had wonderful seafood paella for lunch.

 

I'd never had a hankering to see Spain but I'm so glad we did. I enjoyed every port. I hope this helped anyone who is going to these locales and I'm happy to answer any questions.

 

To be continued, but maybe not until Saturday.... Food next.

[Cruise-y]

Cont'd.. Food

 

There are a lot of extra-pay venues for food on the ship that are new from the refurb - bar food in the pub (nachos, sliders, etc.), fish and chips by the pool, a candy store on the Promenade. I'm sorry we didn't try any of these so I can't report. I didn't see anyone eating at them but I'm sure they did and we just didn't notice. I thought the candy store was a waste of space. Way too much sugar, ugh. There's already an ice cream shop on the Promenade.

 

Great: We did Chef's Table and loved it. Lots of courses with a personalized invite and personalized menu. Excellent wine pairings with each course that were fully explained and discussed in depth by the sommelier. The table was set beautifully and made special. Three hours. It was all excellent and well worth it, in my opinion. The food quality was outstanding and I would definitely do it again. Highly recommend.

 

Pretty Good: We did Giovanni's twice and Chops once. We have eaten at Giovanni's on past cruises as well. The venues are very nice with giant windows and great views of the sea. Much nicer and calmer than the MDR, which is almost worth the price right there. Both were still good but I noticed a slight downtick in quality from the last cruise. My octopus starter had gone bad (the skin was sloughing off and it tasted fishy). My husband ordered a steak medium rare that arrived well done. A few other things I won't belabor. Minor of course - but definitely not as great as last time. The red velvet cake in Chops is good but it is dry and pre-frozen and is the exact same version that is offered in the Windjammer (in smaller bite-size portions). On the upside, however, the chocolate cake in Giovanni's is really good, as are the tuna sashimi, the steak tartare and the velvety carbonara (when it is cooked correctly). So I would still recommend them.

 

OK - As our third cruise on RCCL, I definitely noticed a downtick in the quality in the MDR and Windjammer as well. I'm sorry, I wish I could report otherwise but I'm being honest. We never order from the standard set menu (shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, grilled chicken, cheesecake) but instead always order from the rotating options that are much more imaginative and change nightly. The waitstaff was always exemplary. The starters and desserts were usually pretty good (sometimes very good) and I have no complaints there. It was the mains that suffered. The meat (even fish) was always overdone and dry. I (and several tables around me) had to send the duck back because it was so tough you couldn't even cut it with a knife. I should have done the same with the veal and steak Dianne. I noticed the same downtick in the Windjammer, with usually a pretty good variety to choose from - but just a lack of quality. Tough meat, browned lettuce in the salad bar (and iceberg only), minimal overcooked vegetables, boring fruit like (somehow flavorless) watermelon, cantaloupe and musk melon. Pre-frozen hamburger patties cooked long ago, sitting in a warming tray. Nothing was bad, mind you, but just not what it used to be. I wish RCCL would set up a poolside grill like other cruise lines do - it would alleviate traffic in the Windjammer and provide freshly-cooked burgers.

 

Saving Grace: They do set up a buffet in the MDR during lunch and it was really very, very good - like the Windjammer used to be - with a lot of salad bar varieties (including many types of lettuces - all crisp and fresh), cold grilled and marinated vegetables, tropical fruits, berries, etc. all presented in a very classy, calm venue. Unfortunately we only discovered this on the last day. The problem is you can't just roll in quickly from the pool with a cover-up and then roll back out again - you have to shower and dress presentably. And of course we were on shore during most lunches anyway.

 

Promenade: Can't remember the name of the venue, but there were free pastries and sandwiches that were ok but pretty heavy on the bread. Lines and very slow service so it was hard to partake. The free (frozen) pizza in Sorrento's is inedible, in my opinion. But lots of people were eating it so I guess I'm in the minority.

 

Food on RCCL is very subjective and I'm sure some will disagree with me. Feel free to weigh in. Other than Chef's Table, overall I was disappointed.

Edited September 1, 2018 by Cruise-y

[little britain]

The windjammer now had huge selection of lobster and prawns at lunch and dinner... amazing selection. They have really upped the selection and quality there. Have never seen this before.

 

On cruises from England there is a slightly different menu in the MDR at dinner which always has a curry or a pie alternative. Did you not try those?

 

 

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[Cruise-y]

The windjammer now had huge selection of lobster and prawns at lunch and dinner... amazing selection. They have really upped the selection and quality there. Have never seen this before.

 

On cruises from England there is a slightly different menu in the MDR at dinner which always has a curry or a pie alternative. Did you not try those?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Good call on the lobster. Thanks. Yes, on the day after lobster night the leftover cold lobsters are in the Windjammer and they are very good.

 

I love Indian food and was happy to see it served. I had it both in the MDR and the Windjammer and just thought it wasn’t as well executed as in the past - stale roti, etc. But I had just come from London where it is so outstanding so maybe that isn’t fair.

[rauber]

We were on Indy in June and in the Windjammer we asked for iced tea and got it every time even though it was not on show

[Cruise-y]

I think perhaps I lost everyone's interest with the wonderful ports of call, but hopefully it helped some with similar itineraries. A few had asked about crowding so I'll post a note on that as my final.

 

The ship was crowded, but not in the way I expected. Because it was a school holiday and because RCCL is emphasizing families with their refurbishments (laser tag, candy store, virtual reality, slides, etc.) I expected a lot of kids. But, there were not any more kids than usual (maybe even less), perhaps because of the port-intensive itinerary (I don't mind kids at all though). However, the ship was crowded. On the one sea day that was actually sunny (when we were in the Med) it was hard to get a deck chair and they all filled up. Most of the zillion chairs were pressed right together to make one giant bed, so you had to crawl in and out from the end - and were practically touching the stranger next to you. On sea days, the Windjammer was of course packed, with lines waiting to get in because no tables were available. The Promenade (with small sandwiches) was extremely slow (when there was no reason for it to be) so it also had long lines and thus wasn't a good alternative during meal times. The MDR was ok, but not as convenient as the Windjammer on pool days. It was hard to find a chair in most (but not all) of the bars at night. As my third RCCL cruise, I could tell a difference with the added cabins.

 

With all that being said, it wasn't unbearable. I didn't mind standing and strolling with my drink at night, we ate lunch late to avoid the crowds and we got up very early to get a deck chair. However, the experience wasn't as pleasant as it could have been - most especially the sea days - and in my case (we booked 3 months out in high season) it was very expensive. I've cruised other lines (same time of year) where the sea days were so relaxing and enjoyable - no stress to get up early to find a chair, no waiting in lines, really great food in the buffets, etc. RCCL seems to be giving up customer comfort as time marches on. I guess that's a bottom-line business decision but I probably won't be back for a 4th time.

 

Thanks for listening.

[cruziJenn]

I just want to let you know that I read your ports of call with great interest, especially that you found nice ways to enjoy them. Just to mention DH is a european history buff and he's made me one as well :) but I have dreamed for a long time about those seaside restaurants and even walking some of those narrow streets and maybe even finding a little jewel of a street cafe or shop along the way. And DH has done some of that himself. We have been trying to decide between a Med cruise or a driving tour of the Adriatic coast from Venice to Greece or maybe along the western coastline, the riverias. And so your descriptions of Nice and all of them brought me right around to daydreaming about that again :) so thank YOU for every little detail that you wrote about your port excursions!

[Cruise-y]

Thank you CruziJenn! I really appreciate your kind words. 😀

[LuCruise]

Nice review. We just booked Independence after being on Mariner. I'm like you and don't go on the new features, but can say that our kids loved them on Mariner (including the SkyPad..it was a blast for them so not a waste) .

 

Question about Ice Show. You have to reserve tickets or you have option of just showing up? Never heard of that.

 

We booked FNDR. We loved Chops on Mariner. Do yo recommend it or Giovannis? I see you tried both.

 

Thanks for your review.

[Cruise-y]

Nice review. We just booked Independence after being on Mariner. I'm like you and don't go on the new features, but can say that our kids loved them on Mariner (including the SkyPad..it was a blast for them so not a waste) .

 

Question about Ice Show. You have to reserve tickets or you have option of just showing up? Never heard of that.

 

We booked FNDR. We loved Chops on Mariner. Do yo recommend it or Giovannis? I see you tried both.

 

Thanks for your review.

 

Thanks, glad your kids liked the SkyPad! I didn't hang around to watch anyone using it so that's good to know.

 

On Independence, you did have to reserve (free) tickets for the ice shows (not through the Cruise Planner but onboard the first day). We didn't know that so showed up without tickets. There was a separate line for those without tickets. We stood in line and when there was about 10 minutes to go, the arena obviously wasn't filling up, so they let us in. The shows were all sold out, so I guess theoretically it might have filled up and we wouldn't have been let in, but it was not a problem. We did that for both ice shows and had good seats. There were two completely different ice shows on our cruise, and each one was performed twice, so with 4 total shows I think everyone could see it. On other ships they may do it differently (as one responder noted in this thread).

 

Chops and Giovanni's are different (steak or Italian) and I liked them both. So if you have to pick one it probably doesn't really matter. You can get steak at Giovanni's also. The steak at Chef's Table was the best - better than Chops.

[Lovetocruise2002]

Cruise-y...where do you reserve the "free" tickets from on the first day?

 

 

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[Cruise-y]

Cruise-y...where do you reserve the "free" tickets from on the first day?

 

We didn’t know about it so not sure. I assume they tell you in the Cruise Compass the night before but we obviously missed it. Maybe the activities desk?

[Captainclive.]

Thanks for your great in depth review.

 

We are booked on the Indy next August (Peak schools hols) as our 15 year old action man loves all things dangerous fast and high. We have done Oasis from the states both summers in the last 2 years, but as we are relatively close to Southampton it saves the hassle of airports and bags/ liquids etc.

 

To be completely honest when I cruise with just my wife we prefer smaller less crowded ships, as I do enough queuing when I'm at home so don't want to do it whilst on holiday, its a shame but most reviews on Indy post refit seem of the same mind that the real aim of it was to cram another 300 people on the ship, and that is reflected in more overcrowding.

 

I remember the daily battle to get a table in the buffet on Oasis, and I suppose I will get used to it again on the Indy.

 

Whatever happens we will make the most of it and enjoy our holiday, as there is no point in looking for reasons not to do so IMO, as it is soon over and then you are back at work.

[mastermind85]

Thanks so much for your review. Looking for a December cruise on IND as my first Royal Caribbean cruise this year and am really afraid of all the consistently negative reviews on the included food options. I don't need top shelf, but for me it needs to be enjoyable. When I was on the Carnival Glory two years ago we actually thought the food was quite good if not very good the vast majority of the time (surprisingly Carnival has seemed to improve in that category).

[lovetravel1114]

Thank you so much for this in-depth review Cruise-y.  

I am first cruiser on RCCL and have booked med cruise departing from Southampton end of July for 14 nights of which itinerary is quite similar to yours. All the information from your review, especially on the restaurants and port of calls, also warnings about bay of biscay(I was expecting warm pool days too!) are great help to understand and organize my upcoming trip. This cruise is to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday and 7 of us including 2 small children will be cruising together, and I found the multi generation cruise has so much things to think and plan! It was so good to find your review here and will try to share mine as well :) 

 

 

[Cruise-y]

Thank you for your thanks!  I appreciate it.

[Issyalex]

On 8/29/2018 at 3:46 PM, cruiselvr04 said:

Hmm. Booked this for next June. Bummer that the sea days won’t be sunny and warm. It’s the only one that fits our schedule though. Guess I’ll need to remember to bring a jacket and jeans for those days.

 

We sailed round BOB in Sept before and we were sitting on our balcony as it was lovely and warm with calm waters.

We are on Indy in June and expect to be sitting outside at some point. Mind you we are Scottish so any weather is warm for us! 🙈😂