Live from the Independence 6 night March 22, 2015

[noodle]

So glad you made it to FLL! Looking forward to following your family as we are two weeks away from the same 6 day cruise. Have an amazing vacation!

Thanks for following!

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your live report and great photo's.

[gator_2002]

We will be joining you on this cruise. At the airport now waiting on our flight to miami. See ya on the Indy!

[noodle]

Thanks pathfinder. I left my good camera at home so all photos are from my phone, a Motorola droid turbo. It is the best phone camera I have ever had. Something like 18 megapixels.

 

Gator, see you on board.

[takevtr1]

following.

sailing the Indy on 8/9/15.

[micmacmissy]

Day 1 of the Noodle family almost not making it on vacation. We made it to our plane as one of the last passengers to board and with 3 hungry kids. But we made it.

 

This is Princess about 15 minutes before she spilled an full cup of apple juice onto her lap soaking herself thoroughly.

 

Ants in the hotel room....this involved repacking what had been unpacked and carting it all, the food, and the kids to a new room, while mommy was headed for a breakdown..

 

It's actually GOOD that all this happened. You're getting all the vacation snafus out of the way before you board the ship...the rest will be awesome!

 

Our kids' first cruise was this ship/itinerary...they loved it! Have a great time, I look forward to your week!

[romegal]

Hope you have a wonderful sail-away! We will be on Indy with our kiddos on 5/31 for 7 nights to the Western Caribbean so I'm very much loving the pre-trip and glad I found this just in time for your departure!

 

Sorry about the ants. :eek:

 

Wishing you wonderful weather, calm kidlets, and many happy cocktails on the seas.

[depplep]

Thanks for following. Hopefully I can figure out this picture thing to make it more interesting. I am resigning myself to not be able to do this all via my phone as the flickr app doesn't seem to give me the right link to use. But I think I have figured out how to post on here via the regular websites. So if my husband will not hog the computer to work remotely, we should be in good shape.

 

Testing by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

 

Love this photo!!!

[noodle]

Thanks to all who are following along. Sorry I am not responding to all individually but I'm just going to blame it on being in charge of three kids.

 

We are onboard and enjoying lunch in windjammer. Arrived at around 10:45 and security opened about 20 minutes for security to open. Scan us and we were checked in and walking on board about 20 minutes after that. I found some roast beef and mashed taters along with salad. It is delish so far.

[noodle]

Love this photo!!!

Thanks. Our friends dog loves to ride the boogie board in their pool and I had to take his picture. Such a funny dog.

[Summerknight]

Following. Bon voyage

[crusinot]

Loving your review so far! We are on Indy 6/28/15. Woke up to snow here in upstate NY this morning! Looking forward to pics of sunshine and sandy beaches!:D

[TryingCruising]

Enjoy your vacation! I'm excited to follow along from the frozen northeast!

[mcatmcat]

I hope you enjoy your cruise

 

Would you do me a favor if you find free time onboard ? Only if you are free and have nothing to do can you go to stateroom 8283 starboard ( right side of the ship) and tell me what is next to that stateroom ? I booked stateroom 8283 and I was wondering if the blank space next my room belong to a service room, a storage room or maybe just empty space

 

Thank you !!!!

[buck7]

Following.

We'll be on Indy 3/28.

[Merc]

Following..... can't wait to read more, We will be on Indy 9/6/15!!

[cathykb]

Following along. You have a beautiful family!

[noodle]

I'm not able to get the computer connected to wifi yet so pictures will have to wait.

 

We had a great embarkation day. Kids LOVE the H2O zone and they thought the windjammer was "the best food ever!" Hotdogs, French fries, plain pasta, and all the jello you could take down, nothing wrong with that.

 

About 2pm we found our staterooms. We have a balcony cabin on the 8th deck and an inside cabin dirextly across the hall. Due to the kuds ages we had to split DH and I into separate cabins. Doesnt really bother us as this is a family trip and while we want to have fun and enjoy ourselves too, we can manage to sleep in separate beds for a week. The balcony cabin is starboard side so we had a nice view out across the waterway to the ocean. A lot of boats to wave to and a beautiful view. Kids were impressed.

 

We walked around the ship and were also impressed by the promenade. We liked the ambiance of the pub and vintages. Fun that you can have such distinct atmospheres. I want to try some of the tapas in vintages later this week.

 

We headed up to the kids club and signed the kids up and got their cards punched and lanyards attached. Kids were all pumped up to come back. Princess and Meatball are 4 and 5 so they are together in the 3-5 age range called aquanauts. Beani is in Voyagers for 9 to 11 year olds. They allow voyagers to sign themselves out if parents give permission. Uh, no. I still think that isbfar too young to be wandering around a ship by yourself but call me silly.

 

After that business we toured the sports area on deck 13 where the basketball court, flowrider, and rockwall all are. Pretty neat area. They were blasting Lay Me Down by Sam Smith. DH commented, nothing says flowrider like a little Sam Smith.

 

We headed back to our rooms to wait for muster (beanie grabbed a slice of pizza on the way) and relaxed for a bit on the balcony. Kids watch cartoon network in Spanish on the stateroom television. Time for muster. We were in the main dining room deck 4. Rather painless as we didntbhave to sit on a sweltering deck with complaining kids. Dh and the two little guys are in a separate muster but right next to us.

 

Grabbed some drinks and went to our balcony for sail away when the captain announced we would be leaving late as a celebrity ship was blocking our way and they were still waiting for several passengers. O-well. Got ready for dinner.

 

We have 6pm early dining and were seated at a 6top by ourselves. Dh joked that a solo cruiser was going to show up for that last seat and be bummed they weren't at a table with other solo travelers or at least mostly grown ups. Never happened. Midway through our dinner the kids were done and bored so I took them up to thekids club that opened at 7pm (it will open earlier the rest of the cruise). I returned to a variety of desserts and a shot of the day. I don't drink shots but apparently our drinksbwaiter thinks I should. Some sort of chocolatey coffee shot. It was a bit harsh but OK. We have the premium drinks package so he thinks the shot is needed to take full advantage of it. Sure. I will post pictures of the food later and what we thought of the then. It was overall good not great.

 

After dinner we want and took care of signing up for the internet and explored the promenade further. Had drinks in schooners bar where a piano player singer was entertaining. He was pretty good so we sat and enjoyed until they were about to start trivia. About 9pm we headed to the kids club and picked up the kids and they all looked like they were having fun. Beanie is shy and said she didn't talk to anyone but she liked the activities they did and had fun. I hope she makes a friend. Princess has already made several as she has never met a person who wasn't a future friend and the Meatball just acts like a minion (despicable me fan) until he makes someone laugh.

 

Well we were Tuckered and headed to our rooms and went to bed.

 

Today is a sea day. Hopefully will get computer connected today and I can post some pictures.

[Paulette3028]

We were on Indy, several weeks ago and loved it......had a ball. The entertainment staff was fun.....if you find Tom from the Entertainment staff -- he did several of the Karoake events -- say "Hello" from Ken and Barbie; he nicknamed me Barbie.....he was a great guy....so personable and made the activities (others beside karaoke) fun.

[noodle]

I went to our appointment for future cruises and booked for next year. I didn't get full details on the new program but can tell you it is a single deposit per stateroom not per person. So for our family of five in a family ocean view we paid $150 deposit. We get $100 on board credit now (can choose to apply to future booking) and $50 onboard credit for the future booked cruise. Deposit non refundable by taking credit for this sailing currently on. Price went down from what I was quoted before the wow sale. We booked it. :)

[milkman32]

Following

[noodle]

Thanks for the kind comments about the family. Still having trouble connecting the computer to wifi. Will try and see if I can figure another way to post pictures. Sorry. Been very smooth seas and we are really enjoying the cruise. I will post a full update on today's activities later. I notice a lot of people wonder about wifi costs: We did the two devices unlimited for $120 for the cruise. $20 per day. Can connect multiple devices but only two at a time. Both DH's iPhone and my Motorola have connected just fine.

[noodle]

First sea day. Headed out around 9 and went to the main dining room. Enjoyed standard breakfast fare there. DH had a quiche that he said was quite good. I hurried out to our appointment with the next cruise people and booked the Navigator eight night eastern for next spring break and then headed back to the room to get kids ready for the pools.

 

We spent several hours at the h2o zone and the kids had a blast. My biggest concern about the navigator is there is no comparable kids water play area but I like the itinerary so we will give it a go.

 

We wanted to have lunch in the MDR but it was getting close to the end of the lunch service for there so we headed back to windjammer. It was packed! We wandered around for about 5 minutes when a gentleman that looked like an officer or manager at least asked if he could help us. He opened up chops as a seating area for us and soon there were others dining in there as well. I have enjoyed the windjammer food but probably prefer the MDR just because it is easier for me. It is a pain to fight the crowds getting food and drinks for 3 young children and then myself.

 

After lunch we relaxed on our balcony for a bit and then went to look at the shops before bingo. As we passed the cupcake shop I noticed my kids names written on paper plates at the table they were doing the cupcake decorating class. Apparently I signed them up for 2 while I thought we were at 4. They were just getting started so no problem. The instructor did a nice job with kids and they all enjoyed it. They made monkeys. Of course I would love to show you their messy cupcake art but until I can get the computer connected to the WiFi I am out of luck.

 

So we didn't have time left to shop because of the cupcakes so we headed to bingo in the theater. They have a new (to me) electronic contraption that will play the cards for you. Kids play free so they each got their own cards (the old fashion paper kind you poke the holes) but if their card wins the parent can claim the prize. I liked that. The kids might make us some money. It didn't happen. But we had funa and the younger two were quite upset one of us didn't win. Not at all like bingo at home. Had to explain to them about odds and the hundreds of others in the room. :(

 

Bingo ran late so we were in a hurry to get ready for formal night.

[noodle]

Princess loved that we got dressed up. She felt like the night was so special and that the service at dinner was even better because it was formal night. Meatball wasn't all that thrilled about the shirt, tie, and vest he was forced to wear. This is where I would insert adorable pictures of kids all dressed up but you know, no computer on the WiFi. I promise I will get you all some photos later. I have lots of food Picts too.

 

We really enjoyed tonights menu. Had the scallops au gratin, lobster bisque and beef tenderloin which was melt in your mouth deliciousness. So so good. Also enjoyed the chocolate souflee and cheesecake. Dh ordered the duck also and we both tried it. I preferred the beef. Kids all had the chicken tenders which i tasted and they are really good. We were trying to do the My family time dining where the kids club picks up the kids at 6:45 but Beanie's meal took longer. We had told our lovely server that she was allergic to shell fish including shrimp. After she ordered the chicken fingers the head waiter came over and explained that the chefs were preparing a fresh batch of oil to ensure no cross contamination with fried shrimp. I appreciate how thorough they are with regards to allergies. Also of note is meatball had a plate of watermelon waiting for him when we arrived since they know he really likes watermelon. I do like having assigned seating for reasons like this.

 

Dh took kids to the club after our mains and returned to enjoy dessert. We were delivered a shot called a blue eyed blond from our drinks server with a twinkle in his eye. He really enjoys passing out extra booze.

 

After dinner we saw the captain in the promenade addressing the crowd. He said there are over 52 countries represented on this sailing. Quite impressive.

Had wine in vintages before going to gather the kids at 9. When we arrived the younger two were squeezing with delight at some gooey science experiment they were doing so they asked to stay a little longer. Went to grab Beanie and she had a very disappointed face when she saw me. Again I don't think she mad any friends but she was really enjoying the activities. They do an amazing job with the kids and definitely are a big part of why cruises are so much fun for kids. We eventually got them to leave and come back to our cabins.

 

Today is grand cayman and we are really looking forward to a beach day. Used room service cards so hopefully it will arrive as scheduled and be edible. I saw someone post a very unappetizing photo of room service eggs so we avoided those. I will let you know how it goes.

 

Hope to add photos soon.

[mickev99]

I am with you on not letting the kids check themselves out at that age. Mine will be 10, 10, and 12 when we cruise in July (yes, twins), and last cruise they were all in the 9-11 group. I'm not thrilled (yeah, actually I'm kind of freaking out) that they 12 year old will be in the group without much supervision, and possibly mixed with the 15-17 year old group. I do not think it's appropriate for my 12 year old to be hanging around with high schoolers. I am hoping that they will let her go into the 9-11 group with her sisters. They all get along (most of the time) and want to be together. We'll have to see.

Enjoying your review!