Quick Review of Independence of the Seas May 27, 2022

[ineed-a-vacation]

Just got off the Indy yesterday.  Had good time because I was on vacation, but there were definitely some issues.  Not sure if anyone else has had this problem, but but weary if you win a Royal Up bid.  I bid the absolute lowest amount so I was not expecting an upgrade.  On our way to Florida, I received an email stating my bid had been accepted and we won an upgrade to a Balcony cabin.  So when we got to the hotel, we reprinted the boarding information with the new cabin number.  The next day when we went to check in for the cruise, they couldn't find us under the new cabin number.  They searched our names and found us listed under the original cabin number.  When we asked what was going on we were told we had to go to Guest Services.  Nothing puts a bad taste in your mouth like having to visit Guest Services right after getting onboard instead of enjoying your vacation.  We spent an hour in line because there were many people with issues after first arriving.  We were then assured our upgraded cabin was the correct one so we went to enjoy ourselves.  Several hours later everyone had received cabin keys but we did not.  So once again we had to spend 30-45 min in line in order to get cabin keys.  The ship hasn't left port yet and we've already visited Guest Services twice.  The rest of this day turned out good other than several times we ordered drinks only to be told that they were out of several things.  The things we know they were out of was white wine, Johnny Walker, all draft beer except Heineken and ingredients to make a mojito which I'm assuming was just the mint.  Maybe it's just me, but if you know you are out of so many drink items, should you still be charging people full price for drink packages? 

 Day 2 we go to Playmakers and enjoy some appetizers.  We didn't know to tell them that we have Unlimited Dining because every other restaurant had that information in the computer.  We ended up getting charged for our food.  Well now here's a third visit to Guest Services in order to get that fixed.  Luckily there wasn't a line this time but the lady helping us thought Playmakers wasn't included and had to ask a supervisor.  The supervisor assured her it was and instead of just taking off the charge she called Playmakers to find out why they charged us.  We were told it was our fault for not stating we had the Unlimited Dining.  10 minutes later, and it was fixed.  We also had several other issues with meals at the paid dining venues.  Johnny Rockets was understaffed and extremely slow.  Nothing like immediately getting your fries and onion rings, but having to wait 30 minutes just for water.  10 minutes after the water the burgers came and another 10 minutes we finally got melted milk shakes.  Chops and Giovanni's was not worth the money paid. If I didn't have the Unlimited Dining I would have been even more upset about those meals. We only ate in the MDR once and that was after the bad meal at Giovanni's and it was really good.  We wished we had just ate in there all weekend as opposed to eating at some of the paid options.  Izumi and the last night in the MDR were the two best meals we had.  Izumi was probably the best hibachi meal we've ever eaten. 

We didn't ever make it to see the ice skating show, but we did catch the juggling comedian Scotty Cavanaugh and the production of Grease.  Both of those were definitely worth watching and I highly recommend them. It was vacation, so we made the best of it, but just know they are short staffed and having lots of supply chain issues so experiences may not be what you are used to having.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, ineed-a-vacation said:

We were told it was our fault for not stating we had the Unlimited Dining.

Not only that you should have questioned the charge before you left the venue.

[ineed-a-vacation]

Just now, Biker19 said:

Not only that you should have questioned the charge before you left the venue.

We actually did.  After the waitress brought the bill and I saw the charges, I told her that we had the unlimited dining.  She wrote that on top of the bill and said she would take care of it.  It wasn't until about 4 or 5hrs later when we noticed it on our account summary that we went to Guest Services to inquire about it.

[TexasRon]

Our experience on Indy was much better and we made sure to say what went well (and not as well) on the survey.  If I had your experience, I would document it on the survey and probably email, or contact social media, Royal management about your cruise.

[lv2cruisgrl]

Thanks for your info we board her Monday!  Just hoping it's not a full ship.

[onefishtwofish]

We board her Friday and just got notified we got one of our Royal Up bids accepted and upgraded to a balcony - hope we don't have that same trouble!! Hopefully they will be able to restock before Friday on supplies!! 😚

Edited June 1, 2022 by onefishtwofish

[CaroleC]

25 minutes ago, onefishtwofish said:

We board her Friday and just got notified we got one of our Royal Up bids accepted and upgraded to a balcony - hope we don't have that same trouble!! Hopefully they will be able to restock before Friday on supplies!! 😚

Hope you don’t mind me pointing it out, however, your font (made worse by the colour) is quite difficult to read on a tablet. Just saying 😉

[onefishtwofish]

We board her Friday and just got notified we got one of our Royal Up bids accepted and upgraded to a balcony - hope we don't have that same trouble!! Hopefully they will be able to restock before Friday on supplies!! 😚

 

Hopefully easier to read now - appreciate the comment!

[cruisewiththekids]

How crowded did you find the ship? 

[Biker19]

16 hours ago, cruisewiththekids said:

How crowded did you find the ship? 

3900 on the 5/30 sailing.

[MillbrookMom]

On 5/31/2022 at 10:08 AM, ineed-a-vacation said:

Izumi was probably the best hibachi meal we've ever eaten. 

 

Can you please expand on this?  We are thinking of doing it on Oasis and would like to know more details please.

[Surfguyxxx]

17 hours ago, MillbrookMom said:

Can you please expand on this?  We are thinking of doing it on Oasis and would like to know more details please.

It's really good and the show they put on for you is a lot of fun.  All of your foods are cooked right in front of you with a chef that entertains with flair.  An eventful evening to be had.  

[ineed-a-vacation]

On 6/11/2022 at 6:56 AM, Surfguyxxx said:

It's really good and the show they put on for you is a lot of fun.  All of your foods are cooked right in front of you with a chef that entertains with flair.  An eventful evening to be had.  

I agree.  I've eaten hibachi at several restaurants.  The show is usually the same at most of the places I've been to.  This one was a little different.  It was very entertaining and the food is amazing.  Truly one of the best that I've ever had.  Taking another cruise is a couple of weeks and wasn't really considering doing it again, but because of this experience I am really considering it now.

[John&LaLa]

On 6/1/2022 at 2:25 PM, onefishtwofish said:

We board her Friday and just got notified we got one of our Royal Up bids accepted and upgraded to a balcony - hope we don't have that same trouble!! Hopefully they will be able to restock before Friday on supplies!! 😚

 

Hopefully easier to read now - appreciate the comment!

 

Not really. The comic font is horrible on any mobile device. Sorry