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Independence... We're Here!!

whitshel

By whitshel,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

Posted
Posted
Are you on a 6 or 7 night cruise? I was just wondering how many formal night on a 6 night. We are on this ship Feb 24th for 6 nights.

 

I'm pretty sure 2....OB can you confirm?

 

I am pretty sure it is 2 on the 6 nighter. I know it is on the 8 nighter.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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Hey OB!

 

Not only is it my first time on this ship...it's also my first time on anything larger than a Voyager Class....my fam and I were always "small ship" people. Can't wait to see Indy and roam her decks! I am getting so excited too!

 

I know, I should have booked the 8 night...I would've been onboard with you. Are you packed yet? lol!

 

I'm not but I was over at my parents for dinner yesterday and my mother told me she was getting her clothes ready. It always makes me feel so good to be able to do this for them. It really contributes to my enjoyment of the cruise. That reminds me, I have to get their passports and do their on-line check-in. It will be here soon!!:):)

 

You are in for a treat. As much as I like the Voyager class ships, the Freedom class ships just have that little something extra. Your days as a "small ship person" may be over! ;)

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LuckiStac13*Majesty*

LuckiStac13*Majesty*

Posted
Posted
I'm not but I was over at my parents for dinner yesterday and my mother told me she was getting her clothes ready. It always makes me feel so good to be able to do this for them. It really contributes to my enjoyment of the cruise. That reminds me, I have to get their passports and do their on-line check-in. It will be here soon!!:):)

 

That's very nice of you. I'm sure it brings lots of joy to them. I go with my parents each time as well...it's a tradition and we all get so excited, for every single one.

 

Too bad we won't be onboard together, your journey will begin as mine is ending. You should be able to see me on the webcam though!

 

I'll be interested to see if these clear plastic luggage tag holders arrive in time. I've been so used to the sticky tags...will be weird!

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

Posted
Posted
That's very nice of you. I'm sure it brings lots of joy to them. I go with my parents each time as well...it's a tradition and we all get so excited, for every single one.

 

Too bad we won't be onboard together, your journey will begin as mine is ending. You should be able to see me on the webcam though!

 

I'll be interested to see if these clear plastic luggage tag holders arrive in time. I've been so used to the sticky tags...will be weird!

 

are you doing the "pink boa" thing??:eek::eek::D

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whitshel "Live from...." Rare

whitshel

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Day 2, the weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. Chops last night was great, this was our first time at Chops and it didn’t disappoint. We booked this online before we left, they had first night specials for 30%off, so it was $21 per person. We had Maria as our waitress and she was fabulous, we are actually going to give her a WOW card. All the waiters seems pretty personable, but not as much as Maria, she was just great, cracking jokes, laughing etc….So it seems like there is no problems with the service at Chops.

 

We have 6632 an E2 on the hump, I thought it was going to be the 1st cabin on the hump but it actually is the second. We also have 6631 promenade room across the hall for the kids, (6630, an E1 is actually the 1st on the hump) 6631 is actually directly across from 6630 but it’s still close enough for us to book them in a separate cabin. It was hard to tell from the deck plans. We also have 6634 and asked our room steward Ray(spelled some other way) from Indonesia to open the balcony divider and no problem, he had it open within the hour.

 

20130107_134922.jpg

 

6632 and 6634 with partition open

20130108_183002.jpg

 

The ship really looks spectacular, I don’t see any wear in the room or public areas, there are crew members out cleaning everything. Now for the service, like I said before I don’t get it, the “off” that we have been reading about, I don’t see it, I really don’t. Now again we haven’t sailed RCCL since 2007 but we don’t see any difference with this crew than any other crew we have sailed with(even the Eclipse crew). We haven’t visited everyplace on the ship but have been to most main areas, shore excursions, guest services, windjammer, pool deck, solarium and even a couple trivia games and everybody has had smiles and greets and seems happy. We have not been to the CL, or the DL so I cant comment on those, sorry….And like most RCCL cruises the passenger mix is very diverse which always makes for a fun crowd.

 

20130108_080342.jpg

 

Yes the band at the pool is called Extra Band, cruise director is still Joff Eaton (haven’t seen him yet) but his crew is out and about making sure people are having fun.

 

Oh, and the best part of the day, we won $217 at BINGO, WOOHOO. Actually my daughter was playing but I bought the card, that will help with the bar bill a lil.

 

Tonight is the first night in the dining room (formal), we actually have a group of 10 and we were pleased to see that they have us at the same table, no shuffling etc. Tomorrow is Grand Cayman and Nativeway’s Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour. We’ve done this twice before and like it so much we’re doing it again but bringing the family along. Let me know if you have any more questions (I’m actually typing this on word then I will copy and paste so I don’t use up internet minutes with my slow fingers.)

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keishashadow

keishashadow

Posted
Posted
OH! I am so relieved to hear these good things so far. We are sailing upon your return on Sunday and all of these bad reviews are a bummer. Enjoy your cruise, hope you have a great time!

 

indeed, I really needed to read this thread!:)

 

Will be aboard our 1st RCCL sailing on her Sunday.

 

Thanks for the info re the 1st night discount @ Chops.

 

Re formal nights on the 6 day, I was told the two sea days.

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FishOn55

FishOn55

Posted
Posted

 

 

Tonight is the first night in the dining room (formal), we actually have a group of 10 and we were pleased to see that they have us at the same table, no shuffling etc. Tomorrow is Grand Cayman and Nativeway’s Rays, Reef and Rum Point tour. We’ve done this twice before and like it so much we’re doing it again but bringing the family along. Let me know if you have any more questions (I’m actually typing this on word then I will copy and paste so I don’t use up internet minutes with my slow fingers.)

 

Would you mind giving some extra information about Nativeway's Rays, Reef and Rum Point Tour? It must be fantastic since you're doing it again for the third time!

 

Where exactly does it go beside Stingray City?

 

Thanks for taking the time to post while you're onboard.

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whitshel "Live from...." Rare

whitshel

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Day 3, Grand Cayman, we did Nativeway which was great as usual. There are no tender tickets to get off the ship which I was kinda surprised at. You just go to deck 1 and get on a tender. Our tour was at 9:15 so we all met at 8:15 in the lobby on deck 6 and made our way down. No problem, got on the tender without waiting in line. The only problem was we probably waited 30 minutes on the tender before it left. Oh well what can you do? Found Nativeway quick and we were off to the boats. The tour was was a lot of fun, sun, clouds and rain all mixed in together. There were 5 ships in today and you could really tell, 18,000 people bombarding this little island. This is the 3rd time we did Nativeway and we had 27 people on our boat, the most we’ve ever had. I will say this, the lines to get back on board were crazy, and crazy for all the ship. Our line seemed the longest, wrapping many times throughout the shopping area but it moved the fastest. Again the slow part was getting off the tender and on the ship. Just wanted ya’ll to be prepared

 

Dinner was formal night last night and it was really good. Most of us ordered the Fillet of beef which was fantastic. A couple of our group ordered the fish skewer, they said was kinda bland. The waiter and asst waiter were very good, tonight is Italian night. I know the rest of you will be getting the new menus starting next week, so really no need to talk about the food too much. Other food around the ship is basic Royal fare, Café Promenade is good, great place to grab a snack. Sorento’s is good as well, same pizza as ships with just the Café Promenade plus some salads, cheeses and meats. The windjammer is the windjammer, pretty good and gets the job done.

 

Once again, don’t let the poor reviews fool you, this cruise so far has been great. One bar did run out of Blue Moon yesterday but they offered to go get me one from another(of course I just got a Corona then). They also don’t serve iced tea in the windjammer for breakfast, we asked for one and they said they would bring it out to our table, and they did. That’s the type of service we’ve been getting. They are also very fast at cleaning after folks in the windjammer, plus asking to get you refills on your beverages etc….

 

Ok, that’s all for now… Ill talk to ya’ll later (can you tell there are some Texans on board):D

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whitshel "Live from...." Rare

whitshel

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Would you mind giving some extra information about Nativeway's Rays, Reef and Rum Point Tour? It must be fantastic since you're doing it again for the third time!

 

Where exactly does it go beside Stingray City?

 

Thanks for taking the time to post while you're onboard.

 

Your Welcome....

 

We always do the Rays reef and rum point tour. It consists of a boat ride to stingray city, then a short trip to the reef to snorkel and then a trip to the other side of the island to Rum Point for lunch which is included in the fare. We had about 2 hours at rum point to lay on the beach, swim etc... They have a restaurant (thats were your lunch comes from) and a couple bars. We got back to the port around 3pm for a lil shopping. Price is $62 per person and like I said includes lunch.:D

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LuckiStac13*Majesty*

LuckiStac13*Majesty*

Posted
Posted
Day 3, Grand Cayman, we did Nativeway which was great as usual. There are no tender tickets to get off the ship which I was kinda surprised at. You just go to deck 1 and get on a tender. Our tour was at 9:15 so we all met at 8:15 in the lobby on deck 6 and made our way down. No problem, got on the tender without waiting in line. The only problem was we probably waited 30 minutes on the tender before it left. Oh well what can you do? Found Nativeway quick and we were off to the boats. The tour was was a lot of fun, sun, clouds and rain all mixed in together. There were 5 ships in today and you could really tell, 18,000 people bombarding this little island. This is the 3rd time we did Nativeway and we had 27 people on our boat, the most we’ve ever had. I will say this, the lines to get back on board were crazy, and crazy for all the ship. Our line seemed the longest, wrapping many times throughout the shopping area but it moved the fastest. Again the slow part was getting off the tender and on the ship. Just wanted ya’ll to be prepared

 

Dinner was formal night last night and it was really good. Most of us ordered the Fillet of beef which was fantastic. A couple of our group ordered the fish skewer, they said was kinda bland. The waiter and asst waiter were very good, tonight is Italian night. I know the rest of you will be getting the new menus starting next week, so really no need to talk about the food too much. Other food around the ship is basic Royal fare, Café Promenade is good, great place to grab a snack. Sorento’s is good as well, same pizza as ships with just the Café Promenade plus some salads, cheeses and meats. The windjammer is the windjammer, pretty good and gets the job done.

 

Once again, don’t let the poor reviews fool you, this cruise so far has been great. One bar did run out of Blue Moon yesterday but they offered to go get me one from another(of course I just got a Corona then). They also don’t serve iced tea in the windjammer for breakfast, we asked for one and they said they would bring it out to our table, and they did. That’s the type of service we’ve been getting. They are also very fast at cleaning after folks in the windjammer, plus asking to get you refills on your beverages etc….

 

Ok, that’s all for now… Ill talk to ya’ll later (can you tell there are some Texans on board):D

 

You're awesome for posting from the ship. Really glad you're having such a good time.

 

Let us know what you think of Portofino...I want to eat there when I'm onboard.

 

Have you listened to the Calypso band yet? Any good?

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puckstoper9

puckstoper9

Posted
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Thank you for the review so far. We are on the Feb 10 sailling and was starting to get worried about all over the negative reviews. I know that there are a lot of people that seam to find flaws in everything. I am really happy to see a positive reveiw.

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Merion_Mom

Merion_Mom

Posted
Posted

I am not surprised to read that there were unhappy crew when the ship was sailing out of Southampton, and I am not surprised that it took a while for them to adjust to cruising out of the U.S. But I am equally not surprised to read that the transition has been made and there are now smiling faces and an air of happiness on board the Independence.

 

BTW, for anyone who has not been to Grand Cayman:

 

It is a British territory, and is known for its "off-shore banking" industry, its primary economic driver, followed by tourism.

 

There are just under 600 banks and trust companies in the Grand Cayman, including 43 of the 50 largest banks in the world. Because of this large financial presence on the island, Grand Cayman is known as the money laundering capital of the world, banking, investments, and insurance drive the economy in Grand Cayman.

 

Because of this situation, this is where wealthy people "park" their money to avoid scrutiny and taxation "at home", wherever home is. Many also have homes on the island. (I guess so that they can visit their money. ;))

 

My point is: this is NOT the port stop for "good deals" or "bargains" in shopping.

 

Enjoy the natural beauty, the snorkeling, the diving, the beaches, the rays, the reef, the beach, Hell. Just don't go expecting good tourist shopping. It's a great place to relax and SKIP the shopping.

 

:)

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