back from the Independence of the Seas (6 night)

[lowestar]

Hi,

 

Well, we just got returned on Saturday from our first Royal Caribbean cruise. We were on the Independence of the Seas (6 nights, stopping in Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel). We have been on Princess in the past (Sea, Star, and Coral). Our kids (now 7 and 10) have been on all of the cruises except the Star Princess.

 

We love Princess, but after going on Royal Caribbean, I have to say we loved it too! I think this was the kids' favourite ship because of the H2O zone, rock climibing wall, skating rink, etc., etc.!

 

I think we want to stick with Princess or RCL because we now have future cruise deposits with both lines :D, but now it is hard to imagine going on a non-Freedom class ship because of those features (especially the H20 zone). I have never understood picking a cruise by the ship instead of the itinerary until now ;) It is just the Freedom class and Oasis class ships that have something like the H2O zone right? I can't afford the Oasis right now, so maybe the next one will have to be on the Liberty or Freedom?

 

If anyone has any kid-related questions about our cruise on the Indy, let me know!

 

Tara

[cb at sea]

For me, the SHIP is the destination...I mean, you're not in port long enough to do more than get the "flavor" of the place....it's the ship I pay to use, so I want a good one!

 

All of the Freedom class ships are quite similar....just the decor will be different!

[sharktums]

Did your kids use the kids program? Did they like it? Did you like it? How were the counselors? We'll be on the Indy in a few weeks and my three year old will be using the club for the first time!

[lowestar]

Yes, both my girls used the Adventure Ocean program. My oldest (10) was a Voyageur and my youngest (7) was an Explorer. I believe your three year old would be an Aquanaut!

 

They both loved the kid's program. They mainly went after dinner and did evening programs, but they had things going on during the day for both port and sea days too. My girls probably didn't do things during the day only because we had excursions planned, and on sea days they were in the H2O zone, skating, etc.

 

They each received their own Compass the night before outlining what was happening the next day.

 

The counsellors were amazing (kids and my opinion!).

 

A couple of the counsellors from Adventure Ocean were there to greet the kids right after we got on the boat, and put on wrist bands for the Emergency Location. I thought this was great because they were introducing themselves without us having to hunt for them later, AND I loved the idea of the bands. They had our location stamped on them, so if the kids were in AO during an emergency, they would take the kids to the same location as we would be at. It just felt very welcoming!

 

Kids wear wrist bands while in AO with little tracking things on them. I felt really comfortable with my kids in the program.

 

They did one Johnny Rockets dinner with the AO program too.

 

Lots of varied activities. I absolutely can't say anything bad about our experience.

 

The highlight for my kids was on the last night where some of the counsellors got "slimed" from the votes of the kids. Oh, and they have nicknames (e.g., Lightening Lee, etc.) which really helped the kids get to know them.

 

My kids could go if they wanted to, but didn't have to if they didn't want to, and they always wanted to go in the evenings!!

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Tara

[sharktums]

Thanks so much!

 

My daughter actually got a band on our January cruise because she saw all the other kids getting them and the counselor was super nice and said that of course she could have one even though she wasn't three. She also said she has given many stuffed animals and dolls wristbands as well!

[misc]

Hi lowestar, I'm glad you had a good time. How were the pools. I hear that the Independence has the ability to heat the pools, but they often don't in the Caribbean. Did your kids use the pools? Was the H2O Zone water warm?

[cantw8togo]

We were on the same cruise too and our kids, 2 DS 6 & 9, loved the pools, hot tub and the sports deck. The H2O zone water wasn't that warm but perhaps, refreshingly cool to bracingly cold depending on your point of view. There is a circular pool with a current of water that goes around (think of a circular lap pool) that our kids loved. The top 10 inches of the pool are glass and our eldest loved to wear his swim googles and look out the window while under the water. I got a couple of great pictures of him doing this. Although there aren't any life guards, they do have staff that make sure that kids are being supervised. We saw a group of kids alone in the hot tub and the staff sked them where their parents were.

 

They went to the AO once in the evening but they were disappointed that they didn't get to play hockey that was listed on the compass. As well, they joined the 6 -8 yr olds with the 9 - 11 yr olds during the time that they went. Our eldest wasn't too happy when we picked them up saying that he had had enough of hanging out with the younger kids. The counsellors that I spoke to seemed genuinely happy to be there with the kids. Our kids have never been ones to be too excited about camps and organized activities so it shouldn't surprise me that they didn't want to go that much and would rather hang out with us. Our youngest loved the basketball court and the ping pong and our eldest loved the flowrider and the rockclimbing wall. They also went skating on the last day too.

 

Our kids were usually so tired by the time that dinner was over that they just fell asleep right away. Our youngest fell asleep during dinner twice!

 

This was our first cruise with RCI and our fourth cruise with various cruise lines. Although we had a great time in some regards, we had several issues with the dining and the way that they deal with food allergies. I can't say that RCI has become our favourite cruise line.

 

N.

[misc]

Thanks for the info on the pools, and also for the insight on all the fun activities on board!

[lowestar]

I didn't go in the H2O zone or the pools, but I asked my two daughters about the temp. My 7 year old said "It was fine, but when you went in the hot tub and you got in the pool it would be very cold." My 10 year old said "It was cold when you first got in, but after a few minutes you got warm."

 

I remember cruisinmama talking about the Indy not heating the pools on a similar cruise, so I was a bit worried. I thought we had pretty warm temps (I think she had cooler temps when she went), so maybe that helped?

 

N. - Were you on the Mayan Experience Tour? I remember a couple with their two boys on that tour, and someone asking about dairy because of allergies. I am sorry that RCI didn't meet your expectations :(

[misc]

Thanks Lowestar. Yes, I was remembering cruisinmama06's review of the Indy. We are on the March 20th sailing so hopefully it will be warm and a brisk jump in the pool will be refreshing.

Although, at this point, with all the snow we have here in the D.C. area, picturing myself on a beautiful ship sounds like heaven--even with a chilly pool. :)

[cantw8togo]

N. - Were you on the Mayan Experience Tour? I remember a couple with their two boys on that tour, and someone asking about dairy because of allergies. I am sorry that RCI didn't meet your expectations :(

 

Yes, that was us. Our youngest found the ruins part of the day a bit long and I hope that his whining didn't disturb the others too much :o. Both boys enjoyed the afternoon lunch a lot and said that they liked the hibiscus tea the best. Making the tortillas was interesting too. Gabbyfamily was on the tour as well, and they told me that they learned about the tour on CC. I spoke to one other family who said that they found out about it through an internet search, but I think that a good chunk of David and Ivan's business is through CC.

 

We are disappointed that RCI wasn't as wonderful as we had hoped, as the dining issues really dampened our vacation. It did get better towards the end once we knew how to navigate the system, but it took a while to figure out who the competent staff were. Despite our precautions with our son's allergies, he still had a reaction and thankfully he is not anaphylactic. I have yet to contact RCI regarding our experince and to offer them some constructive criticism in the hopes that others don't have to waste so much time getting the info that they need, and so that staff know how to deal allergies properly. (Our 6 yr old son was given a fruit plate with yoghurt on it from the regular line rather than a specially prepared one, and was told to just not touch the yogurt. :eek: Needless to say, it was sent back.) Live and learn.

 

N.

[Scarlett Fever]

Did your kids use the kids program? Did they like it? Did you like it? How were the counselors? We'll be on the Indy in a few weeks and my three year old will be using the club for the first time!

 

We'll be on Indy the second week of March with a 3 1/2 year old. We've cruised before but this is the first time with our child. I look forward to hearing the details of your cruise with your family.

My biggest questions are:

- Dining with kids. Mostly the evening dining. We chose the open dining option because it seemed easier but I wasn't sure how kids do in the dining room. Are families seated together? On past cruises, I have always looked forward to dinner in the dining room each night but not with a child. I'm aware of my childs limitations in adult settings and don't want to infringe on anyones enjoyment.

- Excursions. We've been to all the ports - Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya - but not with our child. Is there much to do excursion wise with kids?

 

I'd like to hear the good, the bad, wish list, any advice you can offer before we go in March.

Thanks!

- Yvette

[crusinmama06]

Tara - yes, we had a cold snap last year, it was 66 degrees one day and 68 the next -- (and that was while we were in Mexico :(). So you had warmer weather? :)

 

cantw8togo - Did you start a separate post about what happened? I'd like to read about it if you did.

[sharktums]

^^Yvette,

 

We have always liked to do the Traditional Dining as the wait staff gets to know your children and has ready what they like and keeps away what they dont' like! On our January Mariner Cruise they would give her markers, and always had rolls ready for her, then her ice cream would come out as soon as she finished her Mac and Cheese and French Fries!

 

We've always had five or more of us traveling together so we've always had a private table and never been put with other random people. From what I understand you can also email rcldining and request your own table no problem.

 

For excursions, the only official ones we've done with our little one are beach days or marine animal parks. Both of which we just hold her on our lap on the bus, then have a nice day. No issues or problems.

 

I'll post when we get back, but it sounds like you'll be getting on the ship as we get off!

[lowestar]

We have also always done Traditional dining with the kids. The waiters have been so great with our girls. Definitely always having a drink ready for them after the first night when they see what they like. Ours did little tricks with them, etc. They were always willing to bring things out more quickly if necessary if the girls were anxious to get to the kid's program for an earlier time. We have never had table mates for dinner other than other people we were travelling with. The staff always seems to love kids on cruises!

 

Belize - My youngest daughter (7) and I did the Wildlife Adventure Tour (or something like that) through RCL. It was a 2-hour river boat ride where we saw tons of wildlife ... manatees, alligators (or were they crocodiles ... I always forget!), howler monkeys, birds, insect bats, etc. We then at a wonderful lunch at the Old Belize Inn. Next we took a coach to the Belize Zoo and we saw lots more wildlife ... all kinds of wild cats, snakes, etc. Highlight was seeing lots of their national animal, the tapir. My 7 year old loved this tour. There were some other young kids on this tour, including a little boy of about 3 who also seemed to really like it. My older daughter (10) went on the tour of Lamanai with my husband, and loved it, but there is no way my 7 year old would have lasted through that one!

 

Costa Maya - We did the Mayan Experience with Native Choice (independent tour). We saw the ruins in Chackkoben (sp) and then the highlight for us was visiting a Mayan family where they served us a traditional Mayan meal (minus the hot spices!), taught us how to make tortillas, danced for us, and showed us their home etc. Definitely our favourite part. Both kids loved this one.

 

Cozumel - we just did a beach day. We went with Nachi Cocum because I liked the idea that they limit the number of people on the beach. It was so relaxing and not crowded at all. Water was very calm.

 

Have fun on your trip!

[cantw8togo]

cantw8togo - Did you start a separate post about what happened? I'd like to read about it if you did.

 

No I haven't started a separate post about this, however I have written about our experience on a couple of threads. The following is a cut and paste comment that I posted on a thread about dealing with allergies.

 

 

We are just off the IOS and had to deal with our son's dairy and shellfish allergies. He is not highly sensitive (anaphylactic) so cross contamination is not a huge issue for us. We had MTD due to us booking two weeks before we sailed and we found it a bit frustrating until we figured how to navigate the system.

 

We sent an email to RCI shortly after we booked outlining what we needed and received a standard email back stating to contact the Dining Room Manager when you board.

 

What they don't tell you is that MTD is usually in a separate area of the dining room with separate staff so you need to speak to someone from this area. When we checked in, we made a reservation for that night and the person took note of the allergy but told us to speak to the Head Waiter when we came from dinner. There are several Head waiters each with their own section, so they don't know who you need to speak to until you are seated. It is a great idea to ask to be seated in area with experienced staff as that was part of our problem (Our son was given a fruit plate with some yoghurt on it and was told to just not touch it. :eek: ) In hind sight, I should have asked if we could have looked at that nights menu and preordered for that night.

 

After having some issues with certain waiters, our Head Waiter reserved a specific table for us for each night. Although we too tend to be spontaneous and like to be flexible, we kept the reservation for the same time each night to make it easier for the kitchen staff which in turn, I would think, minimize mistakes.

 

I believe the MDR is open for breakfast and lunch but I think the staff is shuffled around so you wouldn't get the same waiters each time.

 

In the Windjammer, you need to speak to a Sous Chef (assistant chef)and you can tell them apart because they wear a white chef's jacket with blue piping trim down the front (not to be confused with others who wear a blue neck scarf). It took us 20 minutes and 3 staff to find out that you don't need the Head Waiter, Dining Room Manager or the Head Chef.

 

The Sous Chef will walk you through the various food stations and discuss what is safe and what can be quickly altered. For example, vegetables are served with butter, but you can request plain steamed veggies or they can dress them with oil and salt. They can also make a pizza for you without cheese. Of course, all of this takes time and the Windjammer was quite busy when we went so we never took advantage of the customization. It might be easier if can go during the off peak times when it is open.

 

 

Despite our efforts to avoid dairy and shellfish, he still had a couple of reactions, although to be fair, one of his episodes could be from something he ate on shore. Thankfully he isn't anaphylactic.

 

One thing that was a bit annoying is that you get used to certain things being safe to eat such as the round sourdough buns, but one day the bakery made them in a square-ish shape which caused some confusion as to whether they were the same as the round ones. It can take a long time for the staff to find out if they are in fact the same thing. Meanwhile you are standing there waiting for an answer, not wanting to leave in case you can't find the busy staffer again; the rest of your lunch is getting cold, and the rest of your family is almost finished their meal by the time you have your answer and by the time you find out where they are sitting. This is just for one item. It was too time consuming to inquire about different items at different stations. Sometimes it is the little things that add up to big aggravations.

 

To sum up what RCI needs to improve when dealing with food allergies, they need to:

 

-Tell customers to contact the Head Waiter when you go for dinner. It would save half an hour of tracking down someone who just tells you to speak to someone else when you come back for dinner. At the time felt like a bit of a brush off.

 

-Make sure that all wait staff is trained in how to handle allergies. (Don't serve it to customer and tell them not to touch it.)

 

-All staff in the Windjammer should be able to direct a customer inquiring about allergies to a Sous Chef. (It shouldn't take 20 minutes and 3 staffers to get there.)

 

-The kitchen needs to be consistent about presentation of certain key products to avoid confusion. ( Would be helpful for those with gluten, egg or other allergies too.)

 

-Diversify the kids menu and the dessert menu to include more dairy free options. I don't think there was anything on the kids menu that was dairy free and the only dessert option is jello. I shouldn't have to pay extra for dairy free desserts in other areas of the ship just because the dining room doesn't offer them. Ben & Jerry's makes a great fruit sorbet and Johnny Rockets offers apple pie, both dairy free, why can't the MDR? (The fruit sorbets that are served in the MDR are technically sherberts as they contain dairy.)

 

I apologize for such a lengthy post but for some people, this is a life and death issue. I'm just grateful that for us, it is more of an inconvenience and source of frustration. Unfortunately, dining became such an issue for us that it put a damper on our vacation, and it has lowered our impression of RCI.

 

N.

[crusinmama06]

cantw8togo - Thank you for reposting that! There are a lot of great tips in there. I hope Royal takes some of your suggestions and implements them.

[cantw8togo]

cantw8togo - Thank you for reposting that! There are a lot of great tips in there. I hope Royal takes some of your suggestions and implements them.

 

You're welcome. I have been meaning to write to RCI, but I have yet to do so. Writing comments on CC has helped me formulate what I need to say. I'll make it a lot less wordy when I do. :D

 

To Scarlett Fever, we did RCI's semi submersible boat tour of the barrier reef in Belize. It was quite interesting, although on the day that we went, the water was a bit murky so visibility wasn't as good as it could have been. You spend about 20 minutes getting to the boat directly from the ship and about an hour looking at the reef and fish. There were some younger kids who did get a bit squirmy, but you could go back up to the deck of the boat if you needed a change of scenery. You could also bring a small toy to keep a keep them occupied if need be. We got back to the Indy by 10:30ish which still left enough time to have an early lunch and then tender into the port for a bit of exploring.

 

In Costa Maya, we did the Mayan ruins and lunch, and in Cozumel, we took a taxi to Paradise Beach. http://www.paradise-beach-cozumel.com/beach.php?ln=en They don't have a cover charge for use of the chairs and the beach, although they do expect you spend about $10 per chair on food and drink. There is a $12 charge if you want to use the big water toys. I liked that you only pay for what you want to use.

 

I was also contemplating going to Chankenaab, but it is more expensive to get in. They do have dolphins and manatees which you might find interesting. http://www.cozumelparks.com/

 

I had read that the beach at Nachi Cocum dropped off quite suddenly which isn't ideal for little ones. Lowestar, did you find this to be the case?

 

Hope this helps.

 

N.