Live from the Independence of the Seas

[mikkleme]

Eight Night Eastern Caribbean January 23, 2010

We arrived in Miami two days prior to the cruise and rented a car for the drive to Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express on West State Road 84, a good choice. The hotel included a free breakfast and a free shuttle to the cruise port. We were going to begin the cruise on a Saturday and there were 9 cruise ships (including the Oasis) in Port Everglades. The hotel begins the shuttle at 10:15am (first come first served). We delayed going to the lobby until 12:30 after reading the reviews on cruise critic. It saved us some aggravation. The hotel lobby was crazy until then and we’re told that the port gets backed up until then as well. Embarkation was a breeze. We stayed in no line for more than 2 or three minutes. Being a Platinum member moved us right to the front.

We were on the ship at 12:50pm and our room was ready. We dropped off our carry-on luggage and off to the Windjammer. The food was very good. We then explored the ship until the sail away party. A few pictures of us leaving the port and we had to hustle to get ready for our 6:30 My Time Dining reservation. We didn’t get all of our luggage until 6:00pm..

We enjoyed our meals. I had prime rib and the wife had Sea Bass. The prime rib was very good. The wife thought the Sea Bass was a little bland. We both enjoyed the hot and sour shrimp soup. The service was excellent. We did not feel rushed as some people have experienced.

We missed the show. There was only one show (7:30). I wasn’t too excited to see it anyway. We could have hurried our meal a little and made it but we didn’t want to rush. Trivia in the Schooner Bar, a few drinks at the Dog and Badger a little time in the casino and then we retired to the room (promenade window) to watch the 11:00 parade.

Day 2 Sea Day

Picked up tickets to 9pm Tuesday Ice show (Freeze Frame). The tickets are picked up at tables set up on the promenade. We selected Tuesday at 9pm.. Absolutely beautiful weather but a little windy on the upper decks. No problems finding deck chairs in the sun. The areas around the pools filled up very quickly. I’m a bit of a people watcher. The mood of the ship for the most part is relaxed. Not a lot of participation from the cruisers when the staff tries to get them going during the sailaway and pool activities. I’m not saying this is bad, as I said earlier I am a people watcher.

Lunch at the dining room and the afternoon in the sun for my wife.

6:00pm dinner. Falcao was our waiter again and did a very good job. My wife had seafood brochette and I had the beef filet. You could cut my filet with a fork. It was very good as was the skewer of seafood. Lobster Bisque soup was quite tasty as well. Casino time in the evening.

Day 3 Sea Day

Windy on deck as we head directly into the trade winds (according to the Captain.) It was very warm and plenty of people sunning themselves on the pool decks (deck 11). We ate a light lunch trying to save room for Dinner.. We dined at the Portofino Restaurant. They have modified the menu so we wanted to try the new items.. We were not disappointed. I had the T-Bone steak and the wife had the Tuna Steak. Both were cooked perfectly. We both had the lobster bisque soup and the shrimp cocktail. They were excellent as well.

We closed out the evening with “El Gaucho” in the theater. Pretty good show. We had seen him before so I guess that took a little away from the performance for us.

Day 4 St. Martin

Quick breakfast at the Windjammer. Grabbed a cab at 9:30pm just outside the gates for Orient Beach. $6.00 per person each way. No problems getting a cab going either way. We were dropped off at the beach and payed $20 for two chairs an umbrella and a small table. The beach is nothing short of spectacular. The beach has some topless beachgoers but nothing that would shock many. However if you walk past the rocks that jut out into the bay you are entering a new dimension. Full nudity, male and female, is in order. My wife and I had to check it out. (we did NOT participate). You will see everything from beautiful to ugly, skinny to fat and from unremarkable to completely bazaar. The one that we will talk about for years involved a man wearing nothing but a Christmas ornament (at least it wasn’t mistletoe). We laughed about it for some time.

Surf and Turf in the King Lear Dining room. It was good for both of us, followed by the Freeze Frame Ice Show. The Freeze Frame show I would put into the don’t miss category. The performance is excellent and the special effects and rink are incredible. A little time in the casino and off to bed early.

Day 5 St Thomas

Quick breakfast at the Windjammer. Shopped in downtown for a couple of hours and then off to Magen’s Bay. We booked the tour thru Royal Caribbean. All it really included was the ride to the beach with a quick (but spectacular) photo session from on top of the mountain overlooking Magen’s Bay. We had exactly two hours on the beach. It would have been cheaper and given us more flexibility to have taken a cab on our own.

Dinner at 6pm in the King Lear dining room. Server Falcao and Adrian have provided excellent and consistent service. My Time Dining is not exactly what I thought it was. We sit at the same table every night. We have the same waiter and assistant every night. Our tablemates change a little but over time we see the same tablemates on multiple occasions. We vary our dinner reservations but always eat between 6:00pm and 7:00pm. Wife had the Oriental Duck and I had the Angus Sirloin. The Sirloin had good flavor but was a little tough. DH was trying the Duck and it just didn’t appeal to her. I am becoming impressed with our staff. They are working their tails off. My Time Dining leaves them with the same number of guests but not all eating the same course at the same time.

Day 6 San Juan

Room Service for breakfast. Off to explore Old San Juan on our own. We have been here a couple of times before so we understood the lay of the land. We had previously been to fort “Del Morro” before so this time I wanted to explore the “other” fort in town “Castillo de San Cristobal”. We enjoyed the fort and the time we spent in San Juan. It’s a very good shopping port. A nice mix of high end outlets, (Polo, Coach etc) and some local shops and outdoor flea markets. There is a Casino directly across the street from the ship. Leaving at 2pm just seems a little too early to leave port.

Formal Night in the King Lear. I was a little over zealous and ate the prime rib and a lobster tail. Both were very good. With the cruise nearly completed I can say that I haven’t had a bad meal yet. The entertainment for the evening was a group that impersonates the Temptations. I would rate them as fair to good. Most of the songs were done very well but a few of them were not so good. They do seem to enjoy themselves and have a lot of energy.

 

Day 7 Haiti – Labadee

We got up early to watch the ship pull into port. It was magnificent. The island itself is spectacular. Many people wanted to watch the off loading of the relief supplies for the earthquake relief. There were 125 pallets (according to the captain) that were off loaded. It seemed as if it was mostly bottled water. We docked at about 8:15am and people began streaming ashore at about 8:50am. The island has changed quite a bit since we were here last. (2 years). The port seems to have lost some of its charm and character. It seemed too crowded and it seemed to me that it is becoming almost artificial. We did have a good time and a day at the beach in the beautiful sunshine is always a good thing. But it seems like they have moved the beaches and access to them around. There is sand where there was never sand before. I would liken it to the Animal Kingdom at Disneyworld or many of the venues in Las Vegas. Very nicely done but you always know it isn’t quite real.

Dinner in the King Lear. My wife and I both had the Lamb. It was very good. The entertainment was the Royal Caribbean production show “Once Upon a Time”. It was very good. The singers were excellent and the stage and special effects were very professionally done. I would highly recommend this show.

 

 

 

I will follow up in a couple of days..

[frosty52]

Thanks for the report. We board next Saturday so this report is very timely for me.

[CruiseSlacker]

Thanks for your review. I will board the ship this Saturday. Did you try the Flowrider? Long wait?

[MiamiSpartan]

We board on Valentine's Day...starting to pack....:p

[Flonightey]

Thanks so much for all of this great info....We are in final countdown mode as well....Its nice to see that you find the food at least quite satisfactory! I was getting a tad bit nervous after all of the awful ratings. Looking forward to your followup! Thanks again...

[depplep]

Great detailed review, we board in 48 days. I'm already packed.

[fumelkin]

Thanks for the review we board 3/20, glad to hear you had a goot time!

[insulationbabe]

Hey there Michael - thanks for the review - we go on the Indy next month on the 20th - done the Liberty a couple of times, but looking forward to this ship

The group you mentioned are called Spectrum by any chance are they - we saw them on the Liberty last November and we thought they were very good - one of the comedians was friends with them (Don Barnhart) so we hung out with them after the show in the pub and had a great time

We are hoping for some headliners as it is an eight day cruise - we've seen the Platters review, Beatlemania, etc and really enjoyed their shows as well

Thanks again:)

[UCONN Women Rule]

Great detailed review, we board in 48 days. I'm already packed.

 

Hi there - we'd love to have you join our thread - come on and meet some of the people you'll be cruising with!

[cranejwr]

Thanks so much for the review. Very helpful in all areas....will take some of your tips with me and especially found the MTD helpful.

[gemz]

Thanks for the review. Will be sailing with InsulationBabe in 3 weeks!

 

I'm surprised they're doing ice show tickets. Liberty didn't have them in March '09. It saved time as we didn't have to go lineup for tickets.

[nenner1]

We were there with you! What a wonderful cruise! We were delighted with the ship, the staff was very good and we found the food very good! The people (cruisers) were all so polite and friendly!!

 

Thanks for posting your report, I will do the same soon! :D

[livingis2me]

Thanks for the review. Will be sailing with InsulationBabe in 3 weeks!

 

I'm surprised they're doing ice show tickets. Liberty didn't have them in March '09. It saved time as we didn't have to go lineup for tickets.

I was in the line for the tickets during this same cruise. I got in a long line for tickets just as they began to distribute them. Luckily the line moved quickly and I had my tickets within 10 minutes.

[tracysue]

so you do not have to "reserve" them? you just go down to a table the 1st day?

and

can you get as many as you need? we have 2 parties traveling together... with 3 in one, 4 in the other...? do we all have to be there to get them?

 

Thanks so much - great review!

[Beach Girl]

Thanks for the great review Cruising February 20th Really looking forward to the cruise It will be nice to get out of the cold weather in PA

[efiinut]

Interesting on the entertainment. The Gaucho's were on our Australia- New Zealand cruise over Christmas and New Years this year on the Rhapsody OTS. The second time we had seen them. We are going on the Indy on Feb 20 also. So I guess we might make it three times. (NOT)

 

Also the Temptations act was on our Jewel OTS Panama cruise last Jan. In fact the leader of the group and I sat next to eack other at the single deck blackjack table and we talked quite a bit as we played. I enjoyed there act.

[scrustyrock]

Just another thanks for the fantastic review, can't wait for the next installment.

[mikkleme]

Day 8 At Sea

A Crown and Anchor Breakfast for Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Plus members in the King Lear. The breakfast was very good and we met some wonderful people there. Jill and Matt

The wife layed out in the sun all day. I spent some time in the casino and relaxing on deck. I like the last at sea day to unwind but it is sad to see it all come to an end. Dinner at Portofino to go out on a high note. Portofino was excellent however we had already been earlier so that took a little away from the experience. Everything packed up and put in the hallway by 11pm.

Debarkation

I dreaded the debarkation process from what I had read on the reviews. We went to the Pyramid Lounge to wait for our color to be called. We went at 9:00am and they called our color at 9:05am.. The only problem I saw was with people trying to get their own luggage off the ship. Getting an elevator seemed to be an issue. We took the stairs and were off the ship in less than 5 minutes. A porter helped us with our luggage and we waited another 5 minutes for customs and we were outside. We had intended to grab a taxi to the airport but after reading about the delay in getting a taxi we booked a bus transfer. We were on our way to the airport at 9:30am.. (Thanks for the taxi tip CC) The Debarkation process was quick and painless.

 

Cons -

The new trend on the Indy, and I assume all RC ships, is to save the best seats at the ice show and the theater shows, a beach at Labadee and the top deck of the ship to “Suite Guests ONLY”. It creates a class system that will foster resentment and will hurt RCI in the long run. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with RCI proving extra perks for the suites, in fact I think they should. But to hold the seats in the front and have the suites guests walk past all of the people that have been waiting a half hour in line will foster resentment.

The windjammer was extremely crowded upon boarding and during debarkation. You could find a seat but you usually had to ask a couple if they minded if you joined them. Almost everyone we dealt with was accommodating. I am not sure that there is anything that Royal C could do about it being crowded at these times. Just the nature of cruising.

Pros -

Numerous.. The staff was amazing. I had the best room attendant I have ever had. Thank you Ali.. He was always there with a genuine smile. He made you feel like he enjoyed his work and wanted you to enjoy your stay. I think he knew every time we left the room. The My Time Dining was better than I had anticipated. We docked at every port so there was no waiting to debark. The entertainment was very good as was the food. The entire staff was upbeat. Even the weather cooperated.

One of the best cruises I have ever been on.