All things Independence of the Seas

[Albert Ross]

Some news for Independence cruisers in particular those in the UK.

 

http://www.steveredgrave.com/charity/partners.htm

 

Now we know what will be happening on the ID on 30th April-2nd May 2 night sailing.:D

So with this news I reluctantly withdraw my suggestion that Victoria Beckham is the Godmother and am guessing that they may go with a sporty theme; so I now suggest Paula Radcliffe or Kelly Holmes perhaps??? [or Liz of course....] Or Mrs Steve Redgrave?

[I LOVE SUITES]

Hello,

We shall be on the Independence on the 9th August, is there anyone else?

[Cruiser-T]

We are planning Independence 3/7/09, just wondering if we should hold out until Genesis? Do we know what the major differences will be?

[Elizanessie]

We are planning Independence 3/7/09, just wondering if we should hold out until Genesis? Do we know what the major differences will be?

 

Hi Cruiser-T :D

 

At this time no-one knows what the differences will be between the Freedom Class and Genesis...wish to heck we did know but we sadly we dont.

[Host Kat]

Hello,

We shall be on the Independence on the 9th August, is there anyone else?

When you have a chance, please go to the Need Help Using The Boards? Ask Here! Forum and read the Sticky thread titled What is a ROLL CALL and how do I find mine? at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44773.

 

I sincerely hope this information will be helpful! Lots of in finding your Roll Call and the other Cruise Critic members sailing with you!!

Kat

[Andrew9999]

Hello,

 

We shall be on the Independence on the 9th August, is there anyone else?

 

 

 

Hi

 

Please do come and join our roll call - just click the link below.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...1&goto=newpost

 

We are a friendly bunch!

 

Andrew.

[PamUK]

This might be old news (but it was new to me:D ), I was reading a review from the Mariner and the OP said that Graham Seymour was the CD but he was transferring to the Independance when she comes into service. We had Graham on the Navigator last year and we thoroughly enjoyed him, he was very funny.

 

Pam

[tomko2]

We will be on the Independence in Dec. 8 nights.; really looking forward to our first trip on this class of ship. We have a D1 Aft on Deck 10.

We love to be on the look-out for special/secret objects or places on a ship, e.g. Restroom off Windjammer on the Explorer with fabulous window; statues on top floor (13) in elevator shaft on Radiance class (Fishermen on BOS, Flamingos on JOS); secret staircase along aft hallway which serves as short cut from Deck 8 (through Spa) to Windjammer on the Legend.

What should we look for on the Independence?

Kathy:)

[MSUSpartan]

We will also be on the 3/7/09 sailing!

[janroach]

We are going on Independence of the Seas on July 12th for 2 weeks. Anyone else going ????

 

Jan

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

I know this group is growing slowly but steadily, however I am still surprised to find that there are relatively few of us so excited about this ship... Do new ships take some time to build trust before folks will book her, or do you think some shy away because they are often a higher priced cruise than older ships?

We are booked during a busy school break week (here in the US), but we are the only family on the roll call with kids. I know not everyone who cruises is a CC member, lol, but it seems like most of the roll calls are really slow.

Or maybe it's because our trip is just under a year away, idk...

Any thoughts?

[MSUSpartan]

Oh, we are very excited about this ship! I think it's just because it's still a year away for us.

[hawkfanI]

Oh, we are very excited about this ship! I think it's just because it's still a year away for us.

I can't agree more even though we're less than a year away. Another might be that there's just not that much info on her out there yet. It's hard just to find pictures. I think once she's completed a few voyages people will be talking more about her. We are really looking forward to our time on her. We now have a group of 10 and are hoping to grow some more!!

[I LOVE SUITES]

When you have a chance' date=' please go to the [b']Need Help Using The Boards? Ask Here! Forum[/b] and read the Sticky thread titled What is a ROLL CALL and how do I find mine? at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44773.

 

I sincerely hope this information will be helpful! Lots of in finding your Roll Call and the other Cruise Critic members sailing with you!!

Kat

 

Thank you for that Kat

[Elizanessie]

Keep your eyes and ears peeled midweek for some Independence news ;)

[mattwright]

Keep your eyes and ears peeled midweek for some Independence news ;)

 

What a tease! :D

 

I just booked an 8-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Independence the week after Thanksgiving. Now I'll be as eagerly following all the latest news and info about her as the rest of you!

[Kesaelcele's gramma]

Hello Indy Cruisers-

 

Just decided to book the after Thanksgiving Cruise in the Caribe!! Sorry we are from California and love the sun. In fact would rather go to caribe than Hawaii. Med cruises are great too! And who would of thought a 100% Swedish lady with the name of Linda Mae Miller would of been a Viking Cruise person. Cruised over 27 times. have done all voyager, radiances (some twice), and vision class.

 

I think the price, itineraries, and wait staff on the Princess are great (3), but to be able to build the best and most sleek looking ships it must come from Scandinavia!!!:)

 

We have chosen not to do a Freedom Class Ships because of to many kids? Has that been a problem for any of you? I know Princess only allows so many kids of a certain age on the ship. But they do have the class of RCI ships!! Could someone help me out with the kid thing, and if it bothered anyone? I know the ships are being made for families.

 

Thank you so much for doing a great job on the information from this thread!!;)

 

LindaMae

 

Finally, another American!!! I was starting to think that only Brits are sailing on this ship!(Not that that is a BAD thing, I was just feeling lonely)

 

We are doing the Indy's first TA in November and can't wait!!! It will be our third TA, and those are my FAVORITE cruises! We are really excited to be on the Indy's first TA, making history!!!

 

I've never sailed a Freedom class ship, but have done most of the Voyager class and Radiance class ships. The issues with lots of kids seem to happen mostly on the shorter (7 day) cruises, or during Spring Break or summer vacation. We just got off a 9 day on NCL and there were VERY few kids (but alot of older people w/ wheelchairs and walkers). We did one Spring Break cruise about a year ago, and I'll NEVER do that again (of course we followed the cruise with a trip to Disneyworld that was wall to wall people, and that was WAY worse than the cruise!!)

 

All that said, I've never seen some of the problems with kids that I've read here that others have had. Yes, I've seen the kids running down the halls, etc. and playing with the elevators, but they haven't bothered me near as much as the drunks by the pool or in the shows, or the old ladies who wield their canes like lethal weapons! I guess people can be a pain no matter what their age!

 

If you are looking for a cruise with fewer kids, I would suggest going during the school year and taking the longer cruises. Very few families on 10 night or longer cruises, in my experience.

The only Princess cruises I've taken were 10 days or more, so I don't know if they generally have fewer kids or not- is it policy with Princess to limit the number of kids? I've never heard that!

 

I know that the Freedom class ships do 7 day cruises in the Caribbean, so I would guess that would mean more kids. If you really want to try them out, take a look at the Indy's Canary Island cruises or the upcoming TA in November. We did the Navigator TA last November, and after the first two days we had lovely sunshine, and warm weather all the way across! (I came home with a very nice tan!) The cruise was 13 days, and the few kids onboard were mostly 3 and under, with a few teens. It was a GREAT cruise!!!

[Elizanessie]

I had to get this from Seatrade as it is the only place with this info at this moment in time.

 

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and two UK charities, the Steve Redgrave Fund – a partner of Sport Relief - have teamed up for a two-year fundraising relationship. The announcement was made from a rowboat on the Olympic 2012 venue Dorney Lake. However a much larger vessel, the 160,000gt Independence of the Seas will be used to support the partnership and will be the starting platform of an on-going relationship.

 

This marks the first time Royal Caribbean has partnered with a major UK charity and many of the Independence of the Seas’ launch activities will include focused fundraising activities for the Steve Redgrave Fund, with an ethos to improve opportunities for children and young people across the UK. Included are a private viewing of the ship’s naming ceremony, a dedicated charity dinner with auction as well as a fully inclusive two-day cruise.

‘There will be few fundraising events held in 2008 which can boast such a fantastic venue,’ noted Olympic Gold medalist Sir Steve Redgrave

Royal's Susan Hooper, svp, md, EMEA said: ‘With our largest ship in the fleet being launched in Southampton in April 2008 and then being based in the UK for her first ever season, it is vital to ensure that we have strong links in the UK community and maintain our commitment to the region. Our investment in the UK is much more than hardware.’ RCI is also working together with the two charities to find a godmother for Independence of the Seas. This is the very first time that the brand has carried out this activity in the UK and with the assistance of the Steve Redgrave Fund and Sport Relief, the cruise line will look to find an appropriate woman with which to bestow the honour of officially launching the new vessel.

 

Source:seatrade

[Elizanessie]

UK TV viewers set your tv's timers for-

 

Sunday 5pm

 

Ideal World TV

freeview channel 22

Virgin 747

Sky 634

 

This will be similiar to the last show where they talk about Indy which was on a few weeks ago ;) :D

[Elizanessie]

Heck that took 3 attempts to get that posted :o

[English Jane]

Liz,

What WOULD we do with out you?

 

Please speak to your friends at RCI and ask if Brits can enter the 'name the Genesis ships' competition.

 

Jane

x

 

I've sky+'d it!

[scotsman]

Hi from Gran Canaria

Had to catch up on this board

 

Liz I was talking to a guy by the pool this morning who is a fellow RCCL cruiser, according to him Helen Mirren was named as the godmother in Spanish newspapers last week (we will just have to wait and see)

 

I take it the postman has not been delivering any invites yet ?

 

Will check back in a few days, time to head back to the pool

[Elizanessie]

Hi from Gran Canaria

Had to catch up on this board

 

Liz I was talking to a guy by the pool this morning who is a fellow RCCL cruiser, according to him Helen Mirren was named as the godmother in Spanish newspapers last week (we will just have to wait and see)

 

I take it the postman has not been delivering any invites yet ?

 

Will check back in a few days, time to head back to the pool

 

Helen Mirren is for the Ventura ..the Godmother has not been decided yet.

 

Invites were delayed but should be out very very soon.

[scotsman]

Thanks for that Liz

[scotsman]

Thanks for that Liz