Just off Independence of the Seas 3/10-16

[rrodriquez2]

Ask away!

 

Overall we enjoyed the trip but there were some real issues with this trip centering around the animal house atmosphere on the main pool decks. "Chug chug chug" are not the words I wanted my kids to remember from this cruise. I always assumed RCL was the higher class line which is why we booked it.

 

Room:

 

The safe was broken and a few of the dresser drawers were also broken. The mattress had an egg crate on it like I was back in college. Everything was clean, the balcony was beautiful. There are only two regular US plugs in the entire room that we could find. Suitable but a suite should have more JMHO. The room was made up pretty quickly upon our leaving each day. I'd describe the cleaning as adequate but not as superlative as other cruises we've had. We did have no water for one morning as a pipe burst and all water to the upper decks was cutoff for a few hours. It was fixed quickly.

 

Décor:

 

Outstanding. Not as bright as the Carnival ships. Just well done. This is a true promenade

 

Cruise Director:

I forget his name, John? Best I've ever had the pleasure of sailing with. Funny guy.

 

Dining:

 

I prefer the multi-option approach on the newer ships versus the crowds of the Windjammer. There were several lunches where finding a table was almost impossible and took sometimes 10-15 minutes. The food was excellent at all seatings and despite the normal mess-ups on night one the rest of the nights were great. The quality of the food was good, portion size seems to decrease each trip. Lots of college kids walking around in shorts on formal night. Sometimes caps and jeans too which is fine but don't kick out my kid from the buffet because you don't think their shirt is right.

 

Pool/Topside:

 

RCL needs to get this under control fast. Kids screaming "chug chug chug" AND using funnels in the pools and hot tubs in full view of security and other passengers needs to end fast. This is how reputations are ruined. A group was supposedly booted off the ship at Grand Cayman but it didn't stop and the last day on the boat was the worst. In the photos that I'll post later will be a picture of the 3 main hot tubs with dozens of kids in each, some with funnels for pounding beers in the middle of the day. This was so over the top and the staff just didn't seem to care. If they're going to book this as a spring break booze cruise they should market it as such so that parents and families can steer clear. This is Royal Caribbean not Mardi Gras, funnels in the pools on a ship this expensive? This isn't a few spring breakers having a few drinks this was a multiday full blown frat party in the pool area with hundreds of kids each day complete with frat chanting, the "other schools suc*s chants" etc. You could not use the middle area of the boat which pushed adults into the kids area and sadly pushed little kids out of the hot tubs in their area. It also had parents scrambling their kids into the adult only zone. Really they had no choice nobody in their right mind would subject their kids to that stuff. The drink package was the draw. Talking to the kids from one Midwestern school on the tenders this was a slam dunk based on the packages that allowed kids to drink all they could for under $50 while probably passing off lots of drinks to their friend. RCL needs to figure out how to limit this unless they want to have the reputation that their boats are the places to go if you're looking to funnel beers by the pool. I never in a million years thought this was what RCL catered to but maybe that's changed?

 

Ports:

 

Grand Cayman. Outstanding. We did a private snorkel trip and loved it. It's a great safe island. I like it more each time I go. Tenders were really efficient.

 

Jamaica. The port is great, I will post photos later. Outside the port is what you would expect. The Dunns falls tour was good but what's with the hand holding going up the falls? We actually found that to be less safe. Great overall but the same old caveats apply. Easy off and on.

 

Labadee. We call this fake Haiti because it's so isolated. Only a dozen or so people work in the resort from the island the rest come from the ship. The beaches are great. Parasailing was cancelled due to seas but as it turns out we still got billed for it even after we were told we wouldn't be so we have to deal with a charge now. Floats are $12 each. The food serving was oddly short. I believe it was 12 to 130 which had us storing food for our kids as they were scattered around the resort. Our favorite stop but if you don't like the beach you may be bored.

 

Shows:

Very good. The comedian was good to very good. The Once upon a time show was terrific. The lounge group was good. The deck band was also pretty good but guys turn it down a little it's deafening. I heard one guy complain and then they shut it off entirely in the kids section. Everyone liked the music but it went from a 7 out of 10 with the DJ or house music to about a 13 out of 10 with the band. So loud no conversations could take place. Good music just dial it back a little.

 

Gym:

You could work out for a full week and not miss your home gym.

 

Wall and Florider.

 

Nice. The florider is a definite attraction as was the wall.

 

Drinks:

We did the drink package. We found there is much confusion. We were almost charged at dinner for an $8 mixed drink as we were told it wasn't included. Yet Johnnie Black is? We later found out the person was misinformed but nobody really seems to know what is what. The drinks we got were very good. I felt bad for the bartenders this was a tough situation for them as the kids went from bar to bar to find better service. It really stunk to have 10-15 people being rowdy at the kids area bar because they didn't want to wait at the back bars.

 

Overall:

 

We've done a couple of cruises at this time of year. Canadians have this past week off from school. I cannot say I'd do another RCL cruise during this week I'd pick the lines that prevent 20 year olds from lodging with 21 year olds. Word is going to spread fast that RCL ships are the place to be for all you can drink partying with little supervision/prevention of underage drinking. It took a cruise that was a 9 down to about a 7 because we couldn't use the two main pools or 3 hot tubs at ALL this entire week.

[ryanc78]

Sorry you were subjected to this. We sail in 2 weeks and I can only hope that the drinking binges are over by then.

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Sorry you had such an experience with college spring breakers. I too hope RCI figures out how to stop the underage drinking.

[wolfcathorse]

Who was the captain..Capt Teo Strazicic or Capt Arnolf Remo. I'd like to confirm my Current Captains Con't thread

[ryanc78]

Who was the captain..Capt Teo Strazicic or Capt Arnolf Remo. I'd like to confirm my Current Captains Con't thread

 

Curious as to what difference that makes?

[riviera]

/Sorry about the problems you experienced. Not that this makes it better, but unfortunately if you cruise during spring break season this ends up happening.

Also, if RCCL finds a way to "stop the underage drinking" as one poster said, they need to share that with the everyone, because that is a BIG problem everywhere not just on cruise ships. We are sailing on Independence next year, (January 2014) so I am glad to see that most everything else went well for you.

[micmacmissy]

Wow, that is terrible that you had to experience that. I would NEVER go somewhere like Panama City Florida or Myrtle Beach or Daytona for spring break for exactly that reason- but I would NOT expect that atmosphere on a cruise ship! Well, maybe a 2 or 3 day Carnival cruise...but certainly not on this one!

 

How are these kids affording that expensive of a trip for spring break? And how does the staff let them get away with it? What a turnoff for all the other passengers, shame on RCI for that.

 

I read somewhere that once the ship is out of Florida, that the drinking age onboard is 18, not 21...maybe that contributed to the problem?

 

Either way, I'm sorry this affected your trip. You should definitely follow up with an email or letter to RCI.

[Tink78]

:( this sounds horrible, im sorry you had such a bad experience. Im off on my first ever cruise which happens to be the Independence (14 night Italian cruise) in July this year........my son will be 13 yrs old by then also my parents are joining us, this is not the image we have envisioned of a RCI cruise. Thinking maybe I made a mistake choosing RCI :(

[gingerpeaches]

:( this sounds horrible, im sorry you had such a bad experience. Im off on my first ever cruise which happens to be the Independence (14 night Italian cruise) in July this year........my son will be 13 yrs old by then also my parents are joining us, this is not the image we have envisioned of a RCI cruise. Thinking maybe I made a mistake choosing RCI :(

 

We've done the Italian Med Cruise, and I can promise you it is mostly families and older couples - no spring breakers. The last time we did 14 nights on Indy there were almost 2,000 kids on the ship (and it didn't feel like it, because the Adventure Ocean team do a fabulous job of keeping them busy). I think the spring break cruising phenomenon is unique to the U.S., where cruising is considerably cheaper than it is in the U.K. If college kids in the UK want to get wrecked on holiday they go to Ibiza.

[littlesteelo]

Yeah, just to also clarify that point as well, the whole spring break thing doesn't exist in the UK, and we have done two summer 14 nights on Indy with a third booked. You won't get anything like this on it. As other posters have said, it is mostly a family cruising affair in the summer.

[Tink78]

gingerpeaches - Thank you so much for your reply I was really worried for a moment then!! Im hoping the Adventure Ocean team is good, my son will be in the Navigators I really hope it gets his approval ;)

Becky

[crusinpeg]

What a difference a week makes! We were on the week before and it was definately an older crowd.

 

Very interesting first post.

[Daghis]

Who was the captain..Capt Teo Strazicic or Capt Arnolf Remo. I'd like to confirm my Current Captains Con't thread

I'm onboard right now, and we have Captain Arnolf Remø. (I assume that the Ø in his last name that was shown on the officers' information sheet wasn't a typo.)

[Ocean Boy]

It was very interesting to read your account and more interesting to see how one week can make such a difference. We were on the ship the week before you and the atmosphere was nothing like what you described at all. I guess timing is everything.

[Ocean Boy]

Who was the captain..Capt Teo Strazicic or Capt Arnolf Remo. I'd like to confirm my Current Captains Con't thread

 

Curious as to what difference that makes?

 

I think WCH made it pretty clear.

[Ocean Boy]

I'm onboard right now, and we have Captain Arnolf Remø. (I assume that the Ø in his last name that was shown on the officers' information sheet wasn't a typo.)

 

I suspected that the captains had rotated. I was watching Indy sail out of Port Everglades yesterday and the captain was no where near as entertaining with the ship's horn as Captain Teo was. He brought a smile to my face sailing out of every port that we stopped at.:):)

[woostercruise]

We were also on this cruise, but had better luck avoiding the college students. We have children so we never bothered with the main pool, so we missed the funnels in the pool. It is disappointing that they did not put a stop to that. Unfortunately, we live in a University town and our spring break will always be college spring break, so if we cruise spring break we don't have a choice.

 

It was still Captain Teo Strazicic, but I assume his rotation will be up soon.

[southstaffs3]

What a difference a week makes! We were on the week before and it was definately an older crowd.

 

Very interesting first post.

 

So we're we agree

[southstaffs3]

I suspected that the captains had rotated. I was watching Indy sail out of Port Everglades yesterday and the captain was no where near as entertaining with the ship's horn as Captain Teo was. He brought a smile to my face sailing out of every port that we stopped at.:):)

 

Totally agree

[maxs mom]

Yes.....Captain Remo just got on board yesterday. He is one of the best!

Tink78.....Please don't worry! Your Med cruise will be nothing like that!

I hope the crew learned something from this past week and will get things under control! We'll be on the next 8 night sailing.....maybe the Spring Breakers won't be able to do 8 nights! :rolleyes:

[Ocean Boy]

Yes.....Captain Remo just got on board yesterday. He is one of the best!

Tink78.....Please don't worry! Your Med cruise will be nothing like that!

I hope the crew learned something from this past week and will get things under control! We'll be on the next 8 night sailing.....maybe the Spring Breakers won't be able to do 8 nights! :rolleyes:

 

Wishfull thinking?!;):D

[devvt]

My husband and I were also on the Independence last week and, as others have pointed out, timing is everything. Spring break season has begun and will continue in some form until mid-late April.The type of behavior the OP described was probably in evidence on a lot of ships last week and will be for a while.

 

The OP is correct about the college crowd monopolizing the main pools - they were there in droves; however, we did not observe any "over the top" behavior like funneling beer on the days we were there. We also didn't notice inappropriate clothing choices on formal night (or any other night) - the college kids were all dressed very well. There were three guys in brightly colored speedos who paraded through the promenade the last afternoon - don't know what was up with that, but it was pretty funny!

 

If Labadee is "fake Haiti," then Falmouth must be "fake Jamaica." The new Margaritaville there is coming along well (bar, restaurant, and retail store are open and thriving) and should be quite a venue when it is completely finished.

 

It is my understanding that the food and beverage workers on Labadee are all ship crew; however, all of the other workers (cabana boys, beach attendants, etc.) are all Haitians - you can see them arriving in the Labadee water taxis.

 

Spring break - for good or bad - is a time-honored American tradition and cruise ships have now become one of the favored venues.

[Nottingham Newbie]

I suspected that the captains had rotated. I was watching Indy sail out of Port Everglades yesterday and the captain was no where near as entertaining with the ship's horn as Captain Teo was. He brought a smile to my face sailing out of every port that we stopped at.:):)

 

I agree with you, he was so funny. I loved his comment that the weather was hot and would get hotter!:)

[rrodriquez2]

My husband and I were also on the Independence last week and, as others have pointed out, timing is everything. Spring break season has begun and will continue in some form until mid-late April.The type of behavior the OP described was probably in evidence on a lot of ships last week and will be for a while.

 

The OP is correct about the college crowd monopolizing the main pools - they were there in droves; however, we did not observe any "over the top" behavior like funneling beer on the days we were there. We also didn't notice inappropriate clothing choices on formal night (or any other night) - the college kids were all dressed very well. There were three guys in brightly colored speedos who paraded through the promenade the last afternoon - don't know what was up with that, but it was pretty funny!

 

If Labadee is "fake Haiti," then Falmouth must be "fake Jamaica." The new Margaritaville there is coming along well (bar, restaurant, and retail store are open and thriving) and should be quite a venue when it is completely finished.

 

It is my understanding that the food and beverage workers on Labadee are all ship crew; however, all of the other workers (cabana boys, beach attendants, etc.) are all Haitians - you can see them arriving in the Labadee water taxis.

 

Spring break - for good or bad - is a time-honored American tradition and cruise ships have now become one of the favored venues.

 

I'll post the pictures of the funnel in the pool. I believe it also captures a uniformed security officer watching the entire thing so that was the most frustrating part. There was no sense in complaining. When an older guy complained about the blaringly loud music in the kids pool they resolved it by turning it off instead of down which bummed out all the little kids in the pool. One of the frustrations was that it DOES effect the rest of the ship because it does effect the crew. I felt bad for the bartenders and servers. As the week went on they figured out we were "good" and took care of us with the package. Prior to that we could wait up to 20 minutes for a drink at the bar.

 

For all of those that are saying we haven't seen this behavior before unless you were on the ship last week you've never had a spring break cruise with the all you can drink packages. Last week was the first spring break cruise with this package. They just started doing that this year on these ships.

 

We've done Carnival and never had this problem. I suggest those that are saying it's endemic to all lines look at the age policies. RCL does not require students under 21 to be with an adult or guardian. We heard the students repeatedly talking about why they picked RCL over the Carnival ship that was anchored in Cayman at the same time and that's the reason. It's a simple thing to fix to limit the situation if they choose at least during these cruise weeks. Add in the drink package that requires anyone over 21 to buy it in the same room and you can see a smart student would work it so that one person in each room would have the package and be able to feed drinks down to the others. If I was 19 or 20 it's much easier to go on a spring break and get drinks this way than any other way so I get it.

 

I'd think the person that didn't see any issues at dinner wasn't in the late seating or was on a higher deck. The college girls were extremely well dressed at dinner. The guys not so much. To be honest this isn't an issue for me I think people should wear what they want it is there vacation. It did frustrate people in the tables around us and people at our table. We saw the speedos to me that's funny. They were up on the track deck not long before the funnels came out.

 

The most frustrating part of the whole thing is usually the kids had tired themselves out by 6ish. But then staff would come around and rope off all the things they were in so there was never really an opportunity to sit in those venues at sunset.

[suebcoop]

My Mother was on last week and also this week. She is 81 and likes to hang out by the pool and people watch at times. Now I know why she said yesterday when I talked to her that she is having a wonderful time:eek::D;)

Sue