Independence Med Spain cruise June 28th-July 12th repoooooort

[Sinppu]

The last two days of the cruise were both sea days.

We took it just about as easy as is possible.

Eat. Drink. Sleep. Repeat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I have finally given up trying to pretend to know what the foods are. You all can see exactly as well as I can what they are... and recognize them.

[Sinppu]

I watched the Rock Britannia from our window and I have to say it a second time -Brits know how to party.

Plus they can sing. In tune.

 

 

 

We participated in the progressive trivia and came finally 12th.

We were quite proud of ourselves.

Especially as we scored 19/20 in the Countries and Capitals quiz right after.

Nerds...

[maxs mom]

Hey Sinny! I somehow missed this review. (Well I WAS on a cruise....good excuse...right?) Glad to see that you enjoyed the Indy.....one of my favorites! Great job!

[Sinppu]

Hey Sinny! I somehow missed this review. (Well I WAS on a cruise....good excuse...right?) Glad to see that you enjoyed the Indy.....one of my favorites! Great job!

That's not an excuse!

It is a very good reason [emoji3]

Thanks for stopping by!

[Sinppu]

The last show featured Rob Alton's acrobatics and juggling and while he was funny, his show was a bit too long.

 

A few last shots from the show:

 

 

 

And the last sunset.

 

Time to pack.

I'm very much for saving the waves.

And for the life of me I can not comprehend do all passengers REALLY need this much paper???

 

As most if it can't even be used again although maby of the daily offers were exactly the same and still we got a new leaflet every day? Not impressed. Sorry, Royal.

[Sinppu]

We got an upgrade the last morning:

Oceanview cabin!!

 

 

Our last day was spent pilgrimaging.

I'm a huge Jane Austen fan and I went to visit Winchester Cathedral where she is buried. It is a 30-minute coach ride and I do recommend it. They have guided tours and the guides were amazing, enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

 

 

 

The village and cathedral are also very interesting if you fancy history.

 

And well... they have the most aptly named pub right at the coach stop.

[Sinppu]

This was our 14-day cruise!!!

It was amazing and in no way too long.

Going to the ports DIY and without any planning can be done, as you can see ;)

 

Next up is our 30-day cruise with HAL to Hawaii and French Polynesia.

We have a friend who works on Statendam and that is why we are having an affair behind Royal's back [emoji15]

 

There will definitely be a report but not sure will it be live or a bitter "We're already at home sobsobsob".

Something in between.

 

Thanks for reading everyone, see you soon.

[Bradiego]

Great pictures and review. We are the TA on Nov 1 and very excited, even more after reading about the ship and seeing the pictures!

[Clarea]

Thanks for taking the time to post yet another thoroughly enjoyable review Sinny.:)

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

FANTASTIC review!! So witty! Thanks for taking the time to share!!

[Irish Cath]

Thanks Sinny, really enjoyed your review, just so sad that it has come to an end. :(

[Miryam1234]

 

we are having an affair behind Royal's back [emoji15]

 

There will definitely be a report but not sure will it be live or a bitter "We're already at home sobsobsob".

Something in between.

 

 

Thank you very much for this ride, which I have enjoyed thoroughly! I am eagerly waiting for your report of the behind Royal's back affair. I do not consider it proper cheating, if you promise to come bakc to tell us about it!

 

Miryam

[Sinppu]

Thank you very much for this ride, which I have enjoyed thoroughly! I am eagerly waiting for your report of the behind Royal's back affair. I do not consider it proper cheating, if you promise to come bakc to tell us about it!

 

Miryam

I will indeed come back!!!

And to Royal also, have three more cruises booked already [emoji3]

[Jules.]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a lovely review :) The photographs are really good, did you use your phone for some of them ( ie the flower photo where you are pictured taking a photo with you phone and then the next photo along is of the flower? )

I am looking forward to cruising with RC for the first time next month and we will be going to Vigo for one of the ports, it looks like it will be a joy to walk around there. I will be cruising with my mum ( who I always cruise with) and this time my husband is coming along too, yippee, plus our youngest son who will be nearly 11. Both are cruise newbies and so I am hoping that they will become as hooked on cruising as mum and I are. We have booked two inside guarantee cabins and lucked out with two promenade cabins on deck 6 which are only 10 cabins away from each other.

BTW I have a lovely Finnish friend called Petrii :)

Edited September 1, 2014 by Jules.

[dancinman66]

Thoroughly enjoyed your review

Most extraordinary and put together so well

 

Much appreciated

Greg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Sinppu]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a lovely review :) The photographs are really good, did you use your phone for some of them ( ie the flower photo where you are pictured taking a photo with you phone and then the next photo along is of the flower? )

I am looking forward to cruising with RC for the first time next month and we will be going to Vigo for one of the ports, it looks like it will be a joy to walk around there. I will be cruising with my mum ( who I always cruise with) and this time my husband is coming along too, yippee, plus our youngest son who will be nearly 11. Both are cruise newbies and so I am hoping that they will become as hooked on cruising as mum and I are. We have booked two inside guarantee cabins and lucked out with two promenade cabins on deck 6 which are only 10 cabins away from each other.

BTW I have a lovely Finnish friend called Petrii :)

Hey Jules!

Thank you for your kind words [emoji3]

I did indeed do as you guessed, many of the photos are taken with my camera phone, Samsung S4.

Vigo was really nice and not at all industrial and boring as some people thought.

I hope you all have the greatest time.

[bobert]

Excellent excellent review! Thoroughly enjoyed your experiences and living or reliving my own from the Independence. Thank you for taking the time and sharing. It is well written reviews like this that make it feel like they are the second best experience to actual cruising.

[av8tr21]

Excellent review! I haven't been on here in a while, but started perusing the forums earlier tonight…and now it's 11PM EST! Thoroughly enjoyed reading and seeing all of your photos…you have a wonderful eye and perspective! I'm a photographer, so I'm always thinking of ways to make my travel photography more interesting. Have a cruise on Explorer of the Seas coming up, so I will definitely plan on writing a review. It's been a couple years since my last cruise…took a break and did quite a bit of land-based travel.

 

Went to Hawaii in January, so if you need any suggestions on Oahu, please let me know!

 

Enjoy your Hawaii & Tahiti cruise! I have family members who have a residence on the ship, "The World", and they recently spent 54 days between March and May sailing the South Pacific from Papeete and finally winding up in Sydney. A beautifully unique part of the world…it's on my list!

 

Thanks for taking the time to write a review, you did a fantastic job as always!

Edited September 2, 2014 by av8tr21

[kwazi07]

Thanks so much for the review. It was one of the best reviews I have read and I really want to go on a Med cruise. The only thing that is stopping me is the cost to fly over :( We are thinking about Indy to Western Caribbean for November 2015 or 2016 (yeah, I know. Far out. But we have to visit the in-laws next year :( ) She looks awesome! We are also thinking about Brilliance as well because it is cheaper than Indy. Again,thanks for the review and be sure to post one for your MONTH LONG :eek: HAL cruise!

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[kwazi07]

Enjoy your Hawaii & Tahiti cruise! I have family members who have a residence on the ship, "The World", and they recently spent 54 days between March and May sailing the South Pacific from Papeete and finally winding up in Sydney. A beautifully unique part of the world…it's on my list!

 

This is unrelated to the thread but how do they like it? I saw the ship in Tampa and it seemed interesting.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Sinppu]

WOW!

Thanks everyone and anyone for the well-deserved praise I got [emoji12] [emoji6]

Writing the reviews is always a lot of fun (as if the cruising part wasn't...)

I will surely write a review from HAL in November so if you are interested in that, go take a peek on the HAL boards in about two months time!

I also have an Instagram account where I will be posting a lot of photos: sihteenmki

Take a look if you like!

[Miryam1234]

Sinny, would you share with me, do you book cruises through cruise line directly or do you use some travel agency? A Finnish one or are we Finns allowed to utilize US based or any web-agency?

So far, I've only done reservations through cruise line but I saw a discussion about UK cruisers using US agencies, and that got me wondering if there is a way for Finns to get OBC or any other perks, too....

 

Just wondering if you know, since you have more cruises behind than me... (don't know if we are allowed to ask these questions either) :D

Thanks

Miryam

[Sinppu]

Hey Mir [emoji6]

I've only used the website.

Haven't yet looked into using US travel agents because many times you can have the perks only if you have a valid North American address.

Been satisfied so far [emoji3]

[Miryam1234]

Oh well, maybe I just need to settle with that.

Little bit jealous to the American cousins.

 

Still, thanks for the review and info! Looking forward to the next one.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Hailzmick]

Just read your review in an hour. What a funny, awesome review.

I originally saw Med cruise & thought it might be the same ports we are doing in May- but we're not doing one the same... I still kept reading cos it was ace!!!

I'm doing an ongoing review at the moment of Radiance.

Hopefully I'm a bit entertaining lol.

Hailey :-)