My comments: Independence of the Seas - March 15, 2014

[Daghis]

I didn't do a live thread this time, although I could have since they did offer unlimited internet, and I wasn't planning on writing up a full review, but I did have some things that I thought might be worth sharing. Judging by my notes, I've got more to share than I thought, so I hope it's at least going to be useful to some.

 

1. Pre-embarkation (Surprise Foiled!)
   I'm only noting this because it'll be relevant in the next section. We were originally booked in a Promenade cabin. Three days before sailing, I saw that there was a great price drop on an E2 balcony cabin on the hump that would only be a few dollars more than what we paid. It took a couple calls and some explaining to the Crown & Anchor representative given that it was a residency rate and I'd also be able to use my Diamond balcony discount, but I did snag the upgrade for just $33.
    
   Anyway, Bryan, my friend with whom I've been cruising a bunch lately, had forgotten to print his luggage tags, so it was going to work out great! Well, until he decided at the hotel the night before boarding that he was going to use the hotel's business center to print the copies of the luggage tags he had saved onto a flash drive. So, I gave up the surprise and told him we'd just get tags at the pier. He was very happy with this birthday surprise.
   
2. Embarkation
   When we arrived at the pier, instead of the porters writing up luggage tags, they merely took the third page from our SetSail pass... you know, the one that has the mini luggage tag that says "This is not a luggage tag"... folded it up and stapled it around our bags' handles and that ended up being our luggage tags. It worked just fine.
    
   The wine I brought onboard was examined and logged after going through security.
    
   Check-in and boarding went smoothly, although the check-in representative noted that there were four SeaPass cards for our cabin, probably due to the last-minute upgrade. (We never did find out what happened to Robert and Joanna who had been in our cabin previously.)
   
3. Cabin
   The cabin (6636) was generally wonderful and the balcony was fantastic! We had wine on our balcony a few times. It made a great location for sail away since we were on the port side. You can even see us in the bottom-middle of this photo from sail away (I'm the one staring down at my iPhone to try and catch myself on the web cam):
   
   Our nearby neighbors, who shall remain nameless!, were having far more fun though:
   
    
   There were a couple minor issues that needed to be addressed including getting the beds separated, getting some soap for the bathroom (it was strange that it was missing), and one of our closet doors wouldn't stay closed.
    
   One of our bags arrived at the cabin pretty quickly, but the other didn't make it. We picked it up just before dinner from the naughty hallway (it wasn't a room, just an area on deck 1 near the elevators) where they had about a hundred bags flagged for further inspection. They confirmed that we just had wine in there and that was that.
    
   Also, as a note about the last-minute upgrade, some things weren't delivered to the cabin including our Meet & Mingle invitation, my Diamond pin (it did show up after inquiring about it), and perhaps some other stuff. We've encountered this same problem before after another last-minute upgrade two years ago, so we were ready for potential problems like these.
    
   Oh, and for those who count, we got two towel animals during the week. That's fine... I should have let our cabin steward know that she didn't have to bother if she wanted to save some time.
   
4. Cruise Compass
   A quick note about a change to the format in the Cruise Compass. (You can find the Cruise Compasses posted here thanks to APDMOM.) They call out the evening's live music in a separate section. It makes it much easier to browse for where you'd like to hang out in the evenings to listen to music you like.
   
5. Internet Packages
   As discussed in this thread, there were new internet packages onboard including:
   • Unlimited for two concurrent devices: $229.95
     
   • Unlimited for one concurrent device: $189.95
     
   • 24 continuous hours of access: $59.90
     
   • 60 minutes (as you go) of access: $29.95

Diamond members get one free hour (60 minutes, used whenever you like during the week) OR $29.95 off a package.

 

Internet speed was respectable and allowed for reasonable Skype with video calls back home, although the delay was a bit high at times.

[*]Ports

• St. Maarten
  I just bought some very yummy chocolates from The Belgian Chocolate Box and headed back to the ship.
  
• St. Kitts
  We took the St. Kitts Scenic Railway Tour. I highly recommend sitting on the upper level of the train as the lower level, where we sat, was mostly obscured by overgrowth.
  
• San Juan
  We walked around a bit looking for a lunch place and ended up at Los Yeyos who had some decently priced and reasonably tasting food.
  
• Labadee
  We just walked around a bit and headed over to Columbus Cove where we had lunch. We were joined by the guitarist from the onboard Rock the Boat rock group. I give him a lot of credit for talking with us as that encouraged us to stop by and see their show and we regretted not seeing them earlier in the cruise. They were fantastic!

[*]Shows/Entertainment

First, a general comment about our Cruise and Activities Directors. Mike Hunnerup, the Cruise Director, was okay, but nothing special. I thought that "Cuddy", the Activities Director, was far more entertaining and engaging. I'd like to sail with him as Cruise Director someday.

 

I'll also note that Cuddy put together an activity for the Meet & Mingle that actually got people to get up and, guess what?!, meet and mingle! It was fantastic! Kudos to Cuddy!

 

We saw Michael Harrison, a ventriloquist, and Angelo Tsarouchas, the late night comedian, who were both pretty good. Blue Jupiter, an a cappella group, didn't sound great to me, so we left rather early.

 

Rock the Boat, the onboard rock group playing in the Pyramid Lounge, was fantastic. They played to a nearly full lounge each night we were there and had people up and dancing for their entire set.

[*]Casino - Specifically, Club Royale

The casino fell far short of my expectations during this cruise for me as a Club Royale member. They didn't have a casino host onboard, and I was expecting a certain level of treatment as a Club Royale member that I wasn't given. I actually called the main Club Royale department while we were in San Juan to let them know. On the last evening, the casino manager approached me and apologized for the poor service I was receiving. He said that he had tried calling me earlier in the week and left messages on our cabin phone, but no messages ever showed up. He did offer to comp us dinner at Chops Grille, but we'd already had eaten dinner by that time.

[*]Food

I don't care for the current main dining room menus. Service was great, but the food was uninteresting to me.

 

Sorrento's and Café Promenade were okay. I missed the antipasti we've had at Sorrento's in the past, like prosciutto or Serrano ham with crostini.

 

Johnny Rockets was good as expected. We ate there twice. Their milkshakes are still fantastic! It's a fun place, especially when the servers dance.

 

Giovanni's Table and Chops Grille were both very good. After eating at Chops, I thought I might explode from all the good food that I couldn't even finish! :D

[*]Bars/Lounges

I posted about the drink vouchers for Diamond members. I used them every night!

 

Alicia and Anand in Olive or Twist were fantastic and took excellent care of us whenever we saw them!

 

My favorite bartender, Bojan, was on this cruise with us for the third time. We've become friends and I really love hanging out with him. Plus, he makes some fantastic drinks!

[*]NextCruise

We decided to book this cruise again next year, for the third time in a row! Since deciding to book it while onboard, we tried to take advantage of the onboard booking program, but the benefits are minimal, just $50 in onboard credit for an 8-night cruise in an inside cabin. We ended up canceling that and, instead, moved a previously used Open Booking to the March 14, 2015, sailing.

 

We did have the advantage of being able to scout out our new cabin, though. That was fun! We'll be down on deck 2 in a cheap category N cabin, but for $616/person, we're perfectly happy with that!

[*]Disembarkation

We arranged to leave the ship as late as possible as we didn't fly out until 2 PM. They ran out of #50 luggage tags, so the Guest Services person was kind enough to cobble some together by cutting out the 5s from #15 luggage tags and sticking them onto #10 luggage tags, turning them into #50s. :D

 

We got up early and ate in the Windjammer before 7 AM. It wasn't busy yet, so that was nice.

 

We hung out in the Pyramid Lounge from about 8 AM until 9:45 AM when they told us that we were in a "priority departure lounge" and could go ahead and leave, even though our luggage tag numbers hadn't been called yet.

 

We left the ship, snaked through the terminal for a while, picked up our bags, snaked through more lines in the terminal to customs, and then headed off to the airport. We were at our gate at 11:15, so about 90 minutes from start to finish.

 

If you're flying Southwest, I highly recommend eating at Pasha's. They have some restaurant seating that's somewhat removed from the bustle of the terminal, and their food was quite good.

 

All in all, it was a great cruise, and an excellent time to escape from the Polar Vortex for a while. We're looking forward to sailing on her when she returns back to the US for her long-term assignment next year. We've already arranged with some friends we've sailed with previously to join us on this cruise, so that'll make it even better!

[Daghis]

Oh, another comment that came to mind after I clicked [submit]. I really like the Diamond coupon for a free photo. Normally, I'd skip all the photo opportunities onboard. This time, I took advantage of several of them, and from the resulting set of photos, I picked my favorite and got to bring it home for free.

 

[MandyMooToo]

Great review, thanks!

[Debitoo]

Thanks Marc for the informative review. And, by the way, congrats on attaining Diamond! I can't wait for my turn!

[onthelake]

Do you have any idea if Cuddy will still be on board for the May 4 TA? We have enjoyed sailing with him in the past. Thanks

[Daghis]

And, by the way, congrats on attaining Diamond! I can't wait for my turn!

Thanks! I'm really happy to be Diamond. I'm glad that Bryan is now Diamond, too, in his own right (just got his 80th point on this cruise), so we'll be able to use the Diamond Lounge together on our next cruises.

 

Do you have any idea if Cuddy will still be on board for the May 4 TA? We have enjoyed sailing with him in the past. Thanks

Sorry, but I don't know the answer to this. I hope he's there with you!

[Darkwolfe]

I happened to be watching your sailaway. I had to wonder if your "super happy" neighbor might have lost a bet or something.

[Big_G]

Disembarkation:

 

We arranged to leave the ship as late as possible as we didn't fly out until 2 PM. They ran out of #50 luggage tags, so the Guest Services person was kind enough to cobble some together by cutting out the 5s from #15 luggage tags and sticking them onto #10 luggage tags, turning them into #50s. :D

 

Now that's service. :D

[cruzenmama]

Glad you has a great time. Mike was not our CD...it was a guy named Joff, but Cuddy was there and you are right, he is super!

 

I looked up an inside to go with you again, but couldn't get a price near yours, so unless it really comes down, you an Jill will have to sail without us.

 

JM

[Charger2008]

Marc,

 

We just might be joining you for that cruise but we are waiting for pricing to go down. It is about $1,000 more for a JS than what we paid for this one. I will just keep watching prices.

 

Really enjoyed meeting you both and enjoyed spending time with y'all on the ship. :D

 

Edna

[Daghis]

I looked up an inside to go with you again, but couldn't get a price near yours, so unless it really comes down, you an Jill will have to sail without us.

 

At the risk of being indelicate, do either of you qualify for 55+ rates? It looks like they may bring up the $616 N cabins as well.

 

We just might be joining you for that cruise but we are waiting for pricing to go down. It is about $1,000 more for a JS than what we paid for this one. I will just keep watching prices.

 

:(

 

It looks like the residency pricing (Texas is included in the list) stops at E2s. I hope better pricing can come your way. I'll keep an eye out for you in the roll call thread if things change.

[3disboysmom]

We were on the ship and at the meet and mingle with you. Agree with you about the menus - I had the sliders several nights (very good) when nothing else appealed to me. Liked the meet and mingle activity. We booked onboard but have since found a better deal for the cruise we booked online so we are changing our booking.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[dreamer976]

Hello, Marc - so glad you had another great cruise! Kept looking for your "live from" last week, but thanks for coming back and giving us this mini-review.

 

I did see your deck 6 neighbors on the webcam during sail away and said to myself "well, I guess Spring Break is in full swing!".:D

[jbrezen]

Glad you has a great time. Mike was not our CD...it was a guy named Joff, but Cuddy was there and you are right, he is super!

 

I looked up an inside to go with you again, but couldn't get a price near yours, so unless it really comes down, you an Jill will have to sail without us.

 

JM

 

I hope the rate comes down for you! Would love to see you again.

[kccrzr]

Thanks for your review. We have been considering a cruise on the Indy.

 

Agree with you on Mike Hunnerup - he was the CD on one of our cruises in the last few years. It seemed like he was just going through the motions (insincerely at that) for the nth time. We were much more impressed with the other members of the team.

[bbiggar]

The "happy couple" in the cabin next to yours is the same cabin we have booked.:eek: Where is this web cam that is spoken about and do you know what that thing is hanging from above the balcony is in the happy couples cabin?

[Darkwolfe]

The "happy couple" in the cabin next to yours is the same cabin we have booked.:eek: Where is this web cam that is spoken about and do you know what that thing is hanging from above the balcony is in the happy couples cabin?

 

That was http://www.portevergladeswebcam.com/...

 

Enjoy!

[Daghis]

do you know what that thing is hanging from above the balcony is in the happy couples cabin?

Huh, I hadn't noticed that before. I don't know what that is.

[Ceblake]

Do you know if they have a ship tour on board?

[Daghis]

Do you know if they have a ship tour on board?

 

 

Do you mean a "behind the scenes" tour? I don't know. I didn't see anything advertising it during the cruise, but during disembarkation, we noticed a gentleman carrying a woven bag that said something like "Independence of the Seas Behind the Scenes Tour". It's possible that he received that as part of such a tour during this sailing.

[Ceblake]

Yes. That's is what I meant. I read about it somewhere in one of these threads, but not sure what ship the person was referring too. Thanks for the reply!

[belmontcrew]

The "happy couple" in the cabin next to yours is the same cabin we have booked.:eek: Where is this web cam that is spoken about and do you know what that thing is hanging from above the balcony is in the happy couples cabin?

 

This looks like it could be a GoPro camera mounted to the top. If you look at the railing, there is another one there as well. They probably have one camera directed towards land and the other at themselves on the balcony. We could be lucky enough to see an up close version of this on Youtube in the near future.

[cruzenmama]

Do you mean a "behind the scenes" tour? I don't know. I didn't see anything advertising it during the cruise, but during disembarkation, we noticed a gentleman carrying a woven bag that said something like "Independence of the Seas Behind the Scenes Tour". It's possible that he received that as part of such a tour during this sailing.

 

I do remember Mike and Tami talking about the "behind" tour that I think may be a Diamond + thing...not sure. He did say they weren't doing it on our cruise because of too many sick people.

 

They did have a "Murder Mystery" dinner...does anyone know anything about this?

[APDMOM]

Thanks for the comments, Marc! It was fun meeting you and Bryan briefly at the M&M. We have crazy spring break dates for next year, since mine is 2 weeks before my son's...:eek: So, we will have to skip spring break. We are doing a week in December in stead to celebrate my parents' 44th anniversary.

 

Enjoy planning your future adventures!

[Starry Eyes]

"The wine I brought onboard was examined and logged after going through security."

 

As I recall, two bottles of wine are allowed per stateroom. If people have wine in their carryones, are they being pulled aside to have a special inspection? Are they logging cabin numbers for those with wine? Is that a slow process? I'd like to bring two bottles of wine, but if I arrive at a port at a busy time, I do not particularly want to be stuck in a slow moving line for inspection and logging.