Live from the Independence 6 night March 22, 2015

Thank you so much for taking the time to post all of this. I am a seasoned cruise traveler with RCCL and Celebrity, and we will be on the Indy April 11th. We are traveling with our best friends who have a son - age 7 and daughter 9, so your reviews are perfect. I can't wait to share your posts with them as they have been a little worried the kids would not have enough to do. Haha, right. Enjoy the rest of your vacation. 15 more sleeps!!!!

When we cruised on Indy back in February, we were with friends that had a 9 year old daughter....she loved the Kids Club.

Paulette3028 · March 29, 2015

We get on tomorrow when you get off, loving the live review!

To the previous poster, we do spring break every year at this time with smaller kids and don't seem to ever have problems with the rowdy ones. They tend to still to the shorter cruise I've found, even for spring break. 8 nights is not the cheap, and that's what they are usually looking for.

Please let me know who the CD and Activity Manager is when you are on board.....

noodle · March 29, 2015

When we cruised on Indy back in February, we were with friends that had a 9 year old daughter....she loved the Kids Club.

Yes agreed, our kids loved everything and can't wait to go back. And do use the kids club. They loved it!

mcatmcat · March 29, 2015

You seen to have a happy family [emoji4]:-)

mcatmcat · March 29, 2015

Please let me know who the CD and Activity Manager is when you are on board.....

CD ricky Mathew but he is going on vacation next week according to his FAcebook

I'm so trying to find out who is going to take his position

Reallife · March 29, 2015

Thanks so much Noodle!!

I'm a bit confused to why you went to Coco Cay?? Why not Labadee?

westwood65 · March 29, 2015

Following your review. We are on the 6 day cruise in a couple of weeks. Just wondering what night was formal night? There was just one?

noodle · March 30, 2015

You seen to have a happy family [emoji4]:-)

Ha, that is just because I don't take pictures of them when they are bickering or the meatball is melting down because the tablet needs to be charged and he can't play with it. Seriously, they are happy kids though. They had their moments but were very good overall.

noodle · March 30, 2015

Thanks so much Noodle!!

I'm a bit confused to why you went to Coco Cay?? Why not Labadee?

I think they alternate coco cat and labadee on these 6 nighters. Not entirely sure but it was on our itinerary from the get go.

noodle · March 30, 2015

Following your review. We are on the 6 day cruise in a couple of weeks. Just wondering what night was formal night? There was just one?

For us they were day 2 and 6. The sea days.

MouseGirl · March 30, 2015

Thank you so much for the great review - I have a quick question regarding the cabana that you booked at the Royal Palms. I looked at your photo and am trying to figure out if there is any shade for the loungers that come with the cabana. I can see that the table is in the cabana itself, but wasn't sure if there is any sort of sun protection on the loungers. I can tolerate the sun for awhile but don't think I would last the entire day without an umbrella. Thanks again!

noodle · March 30, 2015

Thank you so much for the great review - I have a quick question regarding the cabana that you booked at the Royal Palms. I looked at your photo and am trying to figure out if there is any shade for the loungers that come with the cabana. I can see that the table is in the cabana itself, but wasn't sure if there is any sort of sun protection on the loungers. I can tolerate the sun for awhile but don't think I would last the entire day without an umbrella. Thanks again!

The cabana provided shade for two of the loungers and there were large palm trees that the other two loungers could be moved into the shade. We arrived fairly early so he brought us to one that he said had the best shade so if you rent one go early to get your pick. You can't keep an eye on young kids in the water from the cabana.

noodle · March 30, 2015

Jaimaica day photos

Enjoying the view before breakfast

IMG_20150325_043510445 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

Wildlife

IMG_20150325_074028703 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

IMG_20150325_080657231_HDR by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

Good jerk chicken, gross soggy fries

IMG_20150325_094432586 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

View from balcony cabin

IMG_20150325_115645166 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

noodle · March 30, 2015

Dinner Day 4 Jamaica

Shrimp salad

IMG_20150325_223436172 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

Caribbean lentil soup

IMG_20150325_223859518 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

Cherry Trifle and Poached Peaches

IMG_20150325_232616297 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

IMG_20150325_232842935 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

noodle · March 30, 2015

Day 5 Sea Day

We decided to take it easy on the last sea day and not do any pool time with the kids so this was a bit of a lazy day for us. The kids and DH were tired (we let Beanie stay in the kids club until 11pm) so I let them sleep in. I decided to have breakfast in the Windjammer since it was only me. It was so crowded and I think that I still prefer dining in the MDR as the food seems fresher and it is less chaotic. Food was fine, standard breakfast food, plus a bowl of fried rice from the Asian section.

Went down to the rooms and rousted the kids and DH. We went up to Olive and Twist to watch the family talent show. Olive and Twist is a bar high above the pool areas and has a sweeping view of the kids pool and the ocean. Would have never known it was there if I hadn't been looking for the talent show. The bartender here made me think of the adams family as he had a stone blank look on his face and was far from friendly. O-well, he dispensed diet coke just the same. Kids talent show was cute.

We went to the MDR for lunch where I had the tutti salad bar which was quite good. Lots of shrimp, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, corn, grilled veggies. Also ordered the chicken papadella pasta, dh had the gyro which strangely came with Italian red sauce on it but was still tasty, and kids had chicken strips and a special order grilled cheese sandwich.

We dropped the kids off at the kids club for the afternoon and headed to the casino to enter the slots tournament qualifying round. We decided against it when they said if you qualified you would have to return at 2:30 the following day. That would mean we would have to come back from coco cay and we didn't want to be tied to that if we were having a good day at the beach.

We decided to go the MDR for the Lafite wine tasting.

IMG_20150326_121056447 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

IMG_20150326_121504743 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

I think this was $20 per person. It involved a flight of 4 Lafite wines (1 white, 3 reds) with cheese to pair and taste with. The tasting was run by one of the wine experts on board and was interesting and done well. But don't get to talking with your neighbors at the table too much because she didn't like that. We were scolded several times. Oops.

We had tickets for the ice skating show this afternoon but decided the wine tasting would be more fun for us. So in the end we didn't go to a single show all week. We were always so exhausted from the activities we did with the kids that if they were in the kids club, we just chilled on our balcony or with a glass of wine.

So that was what we did until it was time to pick up the kids and get ready for our final formal night.

noodle · March 30, 2015

Final Formal Night

Corn Chowder

IMG_20150326_153719100 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

Mushroom Puff Pastry

IMG_20150326_153221597 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

Lobster (sorry I started eating before photo - very good)

IMG_20150326_155936210 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

Prime Rib

IMG_20150326_155941520 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

and I ate the Grand Marnier Souffle before I could take a picture. :)

After dinner we had drinks in the pub area of the promenade waiting for the Pirate Parade. I didn't get photos as we did video, but it was cute watching all the kids sing and chant a pirate song gleefully. Meatball and Princess were so happy and clearly enjoying the spectacle of it all.

Meatball and Princess as pirates

IMG_20150326_185801891 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

We picked up Meatball and Princess a bit before 10 and went to bed. DH went to retrieve Beanie at midnight after she begged and begged to stay late. We let her as long as she promised to not be difficult in the morning when we got up for coco cay. She promised and mostly held to it. She was delighted that she got to stay and won several "awards" and prizes in the various activities they did. Really can't say enough about the kids club. Met so many people with young kids that never utilized it. For us it is part of the reason we chose a cruise for this vacation. We get a few hours of time on our own and the kids are so entertained that it was an integral part of their cruise experience.

Tomorrow: Coco Cay

mcatmcat · April 4, 2015

Great pics

Zeldazero · April 4, 2015

Let me start by saying those were some great pics :) My wife and I along with 2 of our close friends will be going on the Independence in 20 days and we would like know if your remember the shows that were on the ship and if you were able to reserve the shows before your departure? They don't show on RCI's site and there are no shows to reserve yet..Thanks in advance :D

noodle · April 4, 2015

Thanks mcatmcat.

Not sure anyone is following this anymore as it isn't really "live." But I have one last day: Coco Cay. I didn't take as many pictures this day.

Coco Cay

We woke fairly early and went to the MDR for breakfast with all of our stuff for the day so we could go directly to the tenders. One thing I really like about RC vs. Carnival is you don't have to go and get a sticker for a boat number to get on a tender. It seemed very streamlined and we never did wait long for a tender. The photos below were taken on the way back in the tender.

IMG_20150327_093244293 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

IMG_20150327_093224199 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

We got on one of the first tenders to Coco Cay. It was windy and the seas were choppy so I can see why this stop gets missed quite a bit. We were in a bit of a hurry as Beanie and DH had 10am Aquapark reservations. We dropped our stuff at what I believe is called snorkel beach and DH and Beanie rushed to check in for the aquapark. As I walked down to the ocean with meatball and princess I noticed quite a few large sharp pieces of coral. Some so sharp I was afraid one of us would end up with a large foot gash. The swimming area wasn't much better so I decided to go to the beach closest to the aquapark and wait for DH and beanie. The little guys weren't too pleased with me as they had found a crab in the rocks and spotted an angel fish, but I dragged them kicking and screaming.

The wind was going pretty good so I think that was affecting our enjoyment of the day. We found some loungers and the kids started to play in the water. They didn't like this beach as much as Grand Cayman or Jamaica and I think there might be nicer ones further but at this point we had to wait for DH and Beanie and by the time they were done, I didn't feel like dragging the kids anywhere else.

The kids rounded up small hermit crab like creatures and played in the shallow water. Suddenly there was a group of people walking in the water parallel to the shore warning people ahead of the stingray they were following. It was a large stingray cruising just a few feet from shore so the kids and I followed it for a bit and we were all thrilled that we got to see one (I was particularly thrilled that I didn't pay for an excursion to see stingrays and still saw one).

Kids inspecting their crabs and various sealife in a bucket.

IMG_20150327_081336012_HDR by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

We were hungry for lunch and decided that the beach wasn't the greatest so we headed back to the ship to eat and use the pools. The island eating areas were quite hot and I thought this would be the most comfortable option for the family. At this point we had been on the island for a little over 2 hours, so we came, we saw, we left.

The only other private island I have been to was Half Moon Cay and I preferred that one as the beach was more like the perfect white sands of Grand Cayman.

We got back to the ship and went right up to the kids pool area. The bar area was serving up some hot dogs and sausages so the little guys ate that and DH and I brought food from the Windjammer to eat out on the deck al fresco. The kids pool was pretty empty so we spent the next couple of hours enjoying the wide open splash zone.

We rested a bit in our rooms and then got ready for our final dinner.

Beef Carpaccio tasted more like roast beef.

IMG_20150327_153525805 by dcsnoodle, on Flickr

Mighty cruise ships is coming on tv, I'll finish up later.

Live from the Independence 6 night March 22, 2015

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