Rare perfect match Posted March 31, 2016 #201 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Great review and pictures, Jim! We sailed the 8 day itinerary last year right around the same time as you did. We are currently preparing to sail on Indy's sister, Freedom, so I was looking for reviews to help me get excited. :D As if I needed any help getting excited! :eek: Regardless, your review did the job! I am glad someone found this review and posted on so it made it's way onto page 1 for me to find and read. Thanks for sharing! :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caroline135 Posted March 31, 2016 #202 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Brilliant review, thanks very much Jim ( & to whoever bumped it up the forum for me to find! ) Easily the best review on here. Six months to wait until our first time on Independence & your amazing photos and writing are really useful & adding to the excitement [emoji3] thanks again Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genmasjoy Posted March 31, 2016 #203 Share Posted March 31, 2016 I just happened to see this review. Great job, thanks for all the information and photos. We are taking a four night cruise on Independence in December which will have two sea days and on in Cozumel, so it was good to see there's plenty to do on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydogs Posted March 31, 2016 #204 Share Posted March 31, 2016 We really like the Independence . Did a 7 day in July and will be sailing on it again next week. Your photos were great and brought back many fun memories. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTFCcruiser Posted April 1, 2016 #205 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Wetting my appetite joining the the Indi' for a TA on the 1st May, counting the sleeps to departure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cc-riderslc Posted April 2, 2016 #206 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Excellent review Jim Zim. I enjoyed every minute of it. Really liked the comparisons you made to other cruise lines. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISO_Vids Posted June 26, 2016 #207 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Echoing previous responses, a fantastic review, undoubtedly the best I've read on here. Many many thanks for your hard work. You've helped me out twofold.....though my husband and I have sailed previous RC cruises, we have our first on Indy in September this year (10 night Canary Islands), but also have one booked on Indy for April 2017 for Carribean & TA. So I now have a feel of the ship and it's amenities, but also know what to look out for in the Carribean Islands for next year. Thanks again and enjoy your future voyages, be they RC or otherwise. Gill x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cocacola86 Posted June 27, 2016 #208 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Love your reviews, were booked on the Magic in a spa balcony cabin, next April than we booked the Vista in a harbour inside for April 2018. Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texascat Posted July 4, 2016 #209 Share Posted July 4, 2016 Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and photos with us!!! I can't wait to go on my Independence of the Seas cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickypeg Posted July 11, 2016 #210 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I will be on her in Feb 2017 with 10 lady's. Can not wait.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed11703 Posted July 17, 2016 #211 Share Posted July 17, 2016 What a great review! Loved the pictures. Eddie from Long Island, NY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shocked91 Posted July 18, 2016 #212 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Our Cabin, Stateroom 7386 Cabin 7386 on Royal Caribbean's "Independence Of The Seas" We stayed in a regular balcony cabin... or, as Royal Caribbean calls it, a "superior ocean-view cabin with balcony". It seemed fairly roomy and compared well to the balcony cabins we've had in other cruise ships. The big couch was a handy place to sit to watch a little TV and was also great for spreading out our suitcases when unpacking or packing. The desk had plenty of room, and two electrical outlets... one more than Carnival ships of this era. My only complaint about the cabin was that it was difficult to store our suitcases under the bed because the cabin steward had stashed a whole bunch of stuff down there (a big comforter, for example) which took up a lot of room. The balcony was exceptionally roomy... comparable to an "extended balcony" on Carnival's Spirit-class ships. I liked the way the balcony dividers worked. If you're travelling in a group with multiple cabins together, you can have the stateroom steward slide the balcony dividers open to create a big balcony that your whole group can share. On Carnival, these balcony dividers swing open, and it's a little awkward. Here, the balcony dividers slide open... which makes more sense. Also, notice that the glass door to the cabin slides open and closed rather than swinging open and closed like it does on Carnival. Again, Royal Caribbean's design makes more sense, as it is easy to leave the balcony door open without needing a bungie cord or a door stopper to get the door to stay open. Here's a look at the bathroom in our cabin: The bathroom was adequate. Not luxurious by any means, but it got the job done. I liked the sliding glass door on the shower, rather than the shower curtains that Carnival uses in their showers. The shower was the bare minimum size that I can accept. I had an issue with the showers in the standard balcony cabins on Princess... they were just too small for me. I absolutely will not stay in a regular balcony cabin on Princess again, because of those annoyingly small shower stalls. Royal Caribbean's were just enough bigger that it was OK. They don't hold a candle to the super-luxurious shower I experienced on my cruise on the Norwegian Getaway, but it's not a fair comparison because that was a more expensive cabin. Loving your review and photos.Do you know if the curtain pulls right across the cabin?Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klever Posted July 26, 2016 #213 Share Posted July 26, 2016 These are some of the best cruiser photographs I've seen on Cruise Critic. Beautifully done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanditoes4 Posted October 20, 2016 #214 Share Posted October 20, 2016 As you can see from my signature this will be #4 for me, but my sister is coming with me and it's #1 for her. I've been hunting and hunting CC for a picture review and yours is the ONLY one out there!!! I want her to fall in love with cruising and if your pictures and review don't do the trick then I'm going to have to pick another sister next time, because she'd be nuts if she doesn't fall in love after looking over your review!! We sail Feb 6 2017....this has made me even more excited to get on the ship. I've never been on a large ship so this is going to be a blast!! Thank you Thank you Thank you for taking the time to put this together, it was amazing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmarkwald Posted February 9, 2017 #215 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Amazing job! I think you should start working for the cruise line and do this on all the ships! And then the inevitable updates! I know it's dated, but the info and pictures were amazing. There are a few things I would mention - and this is simply My opinion! The dining - I always do dinner in the main Dining Room - maybe a specialty a week, depending. but NEVER the My Time Dining - that's when you get in those little 'table for 2' spots. I can have dinner with my wife 365 days a year - I don't need to be confined on a ship - I agree with you on that. But I do early dining and ask for a large table. I have met and stayed friends with the most amazing people that way. And, I always order at least two different entrees. just in case.... Multiple starters - same reason, and on lobster night - 5 lobsters, keep the veggies. They are small. I actually got those tips before leaving on my very first cruise. The other thing I do with respect to dining is I ask what the Filipino and Indian dishes are for the say. The table waiter will bring over the maitre'd and he will arrange that. There are many times when thye will bring a large plate of naan bread, huge bowls of rice and several big bowls of assorted curries, etc. Sometimes awesome! People at other tables just stare and cannot figure out why we are being treated special. All you have to do is ask. That brings me to another point. Royal Caribbean allows you, immediately upon boarding, to remove the 'automatic gratuities' from your Seapass account - unless you're on the My Time Dining... They will provide you with envelopes just like in the old days, and you can give it to the applicable people personally. I have found that there is a certain level of expectation for tips when someone doesn't even do any thing for you. Classic case is the maitre'd as I mentioned above. On a cruise a couple of years ago he promised me faithfully, for about 5 days, he'd take care of us on one thing or another. He did nothing. I eventually gave up asking because i knew he was just giving lip service. He got NO tip. Instead, my poor waiter, who kept going to ask him daily, got the tip for service above and beyond. I suppose I got to the point where I had a certain level of expectancy for the service and when the bar was set higher and higher, an encounter with someone who clearly wasn't of the same calibre as earlier staff may have jaded me a bit. But, for every one of those staff members, there are dozens lined up begging for the work. They work hard, and I enjoy givign them the cash they need when I leave the ship. Anyway, great writeup! thanks for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sg1phileshipper Posted February 9, 2017 #216 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Very in-dept review and gorgeous photos. Thanks, Jim. Cindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roofire Posted February 9, 2017 #217 Share Posted February 9, 2017 This is the one if the most thorough and enlightening reviews on this forum. Thank you for taking the time to but this together. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pellaz Posted February 10, 2017 #218 Share Posted February 10, 2017 I'm glad this review popped back up so I'm "following" it so I can find it later. I'm just off Indy last Monday and want to compare its appearance on a "normal" cruise to what it looked like on our music charter, with the two pools drained and covered and a huge outdoor stage erected over that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finhead99 Posted February 10, 2017 #219 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Thank you for your post very informative. My wife and I are booked on RCCL IOTS the December 7th 4 day cruise to Cozumel, our 30 year wedding anniversary. Sailed on the RCCL MOTS last November 2016. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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