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

[cruzenmama]

"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.

 

we were told, when they logged our wine in, that it was due to Spring Breakers

[leaveitallbehind]

Very good review, Marc. Also great pic of you! BTW they did cancel the D+ and the full behind the scenes tour on our sailing as JM mentioned as a result of having 6 staterooms in quarantine resulting from some reported illness (not necessarily specified as noro). Explained as standard with that level of concern.

 

Looked as well at your 2015 cruise but that would likely require not doing our planned Halloween cruise :eek:. Would really like to cruise with you and Jill again as well - we will cross paths again.

 

....and congrats again to you - and now Bryan - on Diamond!

Edited March 27, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[Daghis]

"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.

 

Once they saw the bottle in my bag when they X-rayed it, they directed me over to a security table where the bottle was examined more closely (presumably to verify that it really was wine), and the woman at the table logged that I had brought one bottle of wine and noted our cabin number.

 

Since we got to the port early, there was no line at the wine-logging table. It took maybe a minute to deal with it.

 

we were told, when they logged our wine in, that it was due to Spring Breakers

 

Ah, that makes sense. I don't know whether they'd coordinate bottles brought in carry-on versus those being checked in. When we picked up our other bag from the "naughty hallway", they simply verified that it was a wine bottle and let us take the bag back to our cabin. They didn't seem to check that we'd already brought one bottle onboard earlier.

[Daghis]

Very good review, Marc. Also great pic of you!

Thank you very much!

 

Looked as well at your 2015 cruise but that would likely require not doing our planned Halloween cruise :eek:. Would really like to cruise with you and Jill again as well - we will cross paths again.

I certainly hope so. I'm looking forward to it!

 

We did end up canceling our $369 price-mistake October cruise on Freedom of the Seas. (Well, we moved that NextCruise booking to the March 2015 cruise on Independence of the Seas.) Bryan and I realized that we just had too many cruises booked and the costs, despite the low fares, were adding up too quickly.

 

....and congrats again to you - and now Bryan - on Diamond!

:D

 

Thanks again! I'm really happy to be Diamond. It's a great tier and one that we'll enjoy for many cruises to come! :D

[Charger2008]

Once they saw the bottle in my bag when they X-rayed it, they directed me over to a security table where the bottle was examined more closely (presumably to verify that it really was wine), and the woman at the table logged that I had brought one bottle of wine and noted our cabin number.

 

Since we got to the port early, there was no line at the wine-logging table. It took maybe a minute to deal with it.

 

 

 

Ah, that makes sense. I don't know whether they'd coordinate bottles brought in carry-on versus those being checked in. When we picked up our other bag from the "naughty hallway", they simply verified that it was a wine bottle and let us take the bag back to our cabin. They didn't seem to check that we'd already brought one bottle onboard earlier.

 

They sent us over to the "wine inspection table" but completely forgot about that when they started asking about our Flowboards and whether or not we were "allowed" to bring "surfboards" on the ship. One woman said they would be taken away and we could get them back at the end of the cruise. I was like "OH H**L NO . . . "

[Charger2008]

Thank you very much!

 

 

I certainly hope so. I'm looking forward to it!

 

We did end up canceling our $369 price-mistake October cruise on Freedom of the Seas. (Well, we moved that NextCruise booking to the March 2015 cruise on Independence of the Seas.) Bryan and I realized that we just had too many cruises booked and the costs, despite the low fares, were adding up too quickly.

 

 

:D

 

Thanks again! I'm really happy to be Diamond. It's a great tier and one that we'll enjoy for many cruises to come! :D

 

We made Diamond this cruise too - WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO :D

[sns101098]

They sent us over to the "wine inspection table" but completely forgot about that when they started asking about our Flowboards and whether or not we were "allowed" to bring "surfboards" on the ship. One woman said they would be taken away and we could get them back at the end of the cruise. I was like "OH H**L NO . . . "

 

Neither my husband nor his sister were pulled aside because of their wine. My husband had one bottle and she had two. I, on the other hand, got sent over. The fellow pulled it out and checked the seal but never made any type of notation anywhere. We arrived at the port shortly before the doors were opened and were some of the first in. Interesting how different people on the same cruise were handled so differently.

[belmontcrew]

Neither my husband nor his sister were pulled aside because of their wine. My husband had one bottle and she had two. I, on the other hand, got sent over. The fellow pulled it out and checked the seal but never made any type of notation anywhere. We arrived at the port shortly before the doors were opened and were some of the first in. Interesting how different people on the same cruise were handled so differently.

 

I agree. We were on this cruise and took four bottles of wine as we had two rooms booked. They asked why we had four, but did not ask us to show our set sail for both rooms. We are not pulled aside and logged in either. We had another family traveling with us who had two bottles in their checked luggage. Luggage was delivered to their stateroom very early in the day...no trip to the naughty room.

[DonnaK]

Hi Daghis! Always interesting to read your comments, and I'm glad you had a great cruise!

[Starry Eyes]

Neither my husband nor his sister were pulled aside because of their wine. My husband had one bottle and she had two. I, on the other hand, got sent over. The fellow pulled it out and checked the seal but never made any type of notation anywhere. We arrived at the port shortly before the doors were opened and were some of the first in. Interesting how different people on the same cruise were handled so differently.

 

That is interesting.

From the sound of it, if I arrive early, the wine check (if required) will be quick. But if we arrive later, who knows....

[Daghis]

Hi Daghis! Always interesting to read your comments, and I'm glad you had a great cruise!

Thanks! And I'm glad that during this year's spring break cruise, I didn't have to go to the medical center! That makes it a terrific cruise! :D