Live - Independence Italian Med (7/13-7/27) - European Vacation

[kernow]

Are you touring in the UK? Where are you going?

[h20skibum]

49 minutes ago, kernow said:

Are you touring in the UK? Where are you going?

Yes we are.  We booked our transfer tomorrow with International friends.  We are touring Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Windsor Castle before they drop us at our hotel in London.  

 

We are spending a few days in London, before flying back to the US

 

Someone had asked early on, how we would like sailing with a bunch of Brits. I must say, this has been one of the best cruises we have been on, and we have done a few. 

 

Everyone we met has been extremely friendly, and we were often a little late for supper when we were engaged in conversation with different people each night in the DL.  

 

 

[h20skibum]

Now we are waiting for the Steve Stevens Final comedy show. 

 

All the bags bags are packed, and we are ready to walk off in the morning 

[heatherb1958]

Enjoyed your review and photos, smashing quality from a phone until I googled the model and saw how much it was , 😆. 

 

We have sailed on Indie many times since August 2008 out of the UK , on TAs and out of the USA. She is loved by the Brits and the Rock Brittania night is a hoot . Other RCI ships sailing out of the UK try to emulate it but it is not as good, no flying bridge !.

I see AM Katie was in the screen shot of your YouTube video which I cannot view which is a shame as my friend’s daughter is activities crew and I wanted to see if she was performing . 

We are back on Indie in October so will see her in person then. 

 

Enjoy your last night onboard, our friends onboard have had a great time.

Getting off in Southampton is a doddle, no immigration. 😆.

Edited July 26, 2019 by heatherb1958

[Sherman793]

Thanks again for this review. It was very enjoyable and so nice of you to take time out of your vacation! Enjoy London!!

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

Now we are waiting for the Steve Stevens Final comedy show. 

 

All the bags bags are packed, and we are ready to walk off in the morning 

Thanks for the review and photos I enjoyed viewing them.

Hope you enjoy London and have a safe flight home.

[h20skibum]

Thank you for the kind words @heatherb1958, @Sherman793, and @grapau27, and thanks for joining us on our trip. 

 

I will probably post some more, as we travel to, and around London, so our families can enjoy a little of that.  

 

Steve Stevens was a fantastic comedian to end the cruise. 

 

 

[h20skibum]

Now, to follow up on something I posted early on, about a company in a little town in Western Pennsylvania, that had a tie to Royal Caribbean. 

 

I mentioned that they sponsored the fireworks show in that early video. The hint is in post #218.  

 

They are the largest ice cream cone maker in the world, and they supply the cones for Royal Caribbean ships.  We saw them all through the Caribbean, and wondered if they reached as far as here.  I guess they do.  

 

 

[suesnake2002]

Can you please continue with the after cruise tours??

[h20skibum]

1 minute ago, suesnake2002 said:

Can you please continue with the after cruise tours??

I plan to do that, and if anyone has questions, I would be happy to try to answer them. 

 

Also, if anyone has suggestions to do things easier or better, it will not hurt my feelings.  I just muddled thru things and tried to plan based on what I could find in my research.  It may help someone in their planning. 

[kernow]

I've really enjoyed the review, look forward to hearing about the after cruise part too.

[sgmn]

Thanks for a great review. We've just had our hottest day ever in UK but it's cooling down now. Hope you enjoy your post trip in London 

Edited July 26, 2019 by sgmn

[depplep]

Great review, enjoy England. My favorite country in the world.

[little britain]

@h20skibum Welcome to England.... sorry about the weather ☔️!

[parkyy2k]

I’ve enjoyed following your cruise journey, thanks!😎

[h20skibum]

3 hours ago, little britain said:

@h20skibum Welcome to England.... sorry about the weather ☔️!

Actually, the weather feels great, after some of those hot days in the Med. A little overcast, but I am still comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt

 

It took a little longer to get off the ship this morning, doing a walk off, than I anticipated. At 7am, the line for walk off snaked all the way through Playmakers and the casino, then back to the aft lifts. 

 

 

Took us about an hour to get off and to our bus.  We only have 10, so a nice small group for touring today. 

[Bizzie07]

Why did it take such a long time to "walk off".  We are on in a few weeks and trying to decide whether to self-disembark or take the RCL transfer to the airport as we have an early flight.

[h20skibum]

4 hours ago, Bizzie07 said:

Why did it take such a long time to "walk off".  We are on in a few weeks and trying to decide whether to self-disembark or take the RCL transfer to the airport as we have an early flight.

It was difficult to hear the announcement, because we were still in the line in the casino, but someone said they were having trouble with the escalators, so many had to use the lifts in the terminal. 

 

The escalators were working when we got to them, but they were keeping people spaced out, and said no heavy luggage on them.  

 

Many people were lined up at 6 am, when we went to breakfast.  

 

I had heard it was quick if you did a walk off here, and it was after you got to the terminal. 

[Bizzie07]

Thanks for the info.  I found out on another site that a lady who was using a walking stick took her large suitcase down the escalator and fell, taking out others on the way down!  Large suitcases on escalators .... not a good combination.

[AdventureTwins]

I'm on a Med cruise next August! This is fabulous. We were going to go on Indy, but they changed us to Anthem. 

[vettegal99]

I loved following along with you on your trip.  We're sailing out of Southampton in September on the Explorer.  Doing London before the cruise.  Thanks so much for the great photos and review.

[h20skibum]

I would highly recommend using International Friends if you want to do some touring after the cruise.  The guide we had was very knowledgeable, not only about the sites we visited, but also about every place we traveled through on the way to London.

 

Our first stop, after leaving the ship, was Salisbury Cathedral.  We arrived around 9 am, and spent an hour there.

 

There were hardly any people there at that hour.  We entered through this gate.

 

 

There were some elaborate gates on the way to the cathedral.

 

 

 

There was hardly anyone on the grounds at this hour.

 

There was a service going on, and the inside of the cathedral does not open for touring, until 9:30.  You could still tour the grounds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[h20skibum]

Entering and touring the Cathedral is by donation, and they suggest £7.5 each.  We made our donation and entered.

 

They have a scale model

 

 

A few photos from inside

 

 

 

 

The stain glass windows are beautiful 

 

 

 

 

 

The first person buried in the Cathedral, was William Longespee

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the intricate carving

 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by h20skibum

[h20skibum]

Stonehenge was about a half hour drive from Salisbury.  Unlike the cathedral when we arrived, this place was packed.

 

I seem to remember, from the National Lampoon movie with Chevy Chase, that you could drive right up to the stones.  Maybe that stopped when he tipped them over with his car😁

 

Now, you park and take a shuttle bus to the site.  We had prepaid our admission, so the tour guide picked up everyone’s tickets.

 

There was a line for shuttles 

 

 

It looks small when you approach, but the people look even smaller

 

 

From some of the vantage points, you can have the stones hide the crowds, as you walk the perimeter 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[h20skibum]

We had a couple hours time at Stonehenge, to visit the site, and to grab a bite to eat.

 

Our next stop would be Windsor Castle.  It was overcast, and threatening rain, but our luck held, and the rain didn’t start until after we left the castle. 

 

We had prepaid for entry, and the advantage for our group, was we got to skip the line.

 

Walking to the castle, we found this picture made from legos

 

 

We walked along the train station past this engine, called the queen.

 

 

Some views of the castle 

 

 

 

It looks like someone likes Star Wars