Independence Of The Seas B2B with over 100 pictures

[Spaniel Lover]

Studio B

 

I was delighted to see a feature on Independence Of The Seas that I had come to appreciate on Allure Of The Seas last year... the multi-purpose entertainment venue known as "Studio B". Some people simply call it the ice skating rink, but it's really much more than that. Really, it's a theater... with stadium seating... and a center stage. Pull away the cover to the stage, and there's a real ice rink underneath there... which allows them to put on some pretty cool ice skating shows!

 

 

Years ago, when I first read about cruise ships with ice skating rinks, it sounded like kind of a dumb idea to me. After reading lots of positive comments about the ice shows online, I decided to actually attend one on Independence Of The Seas. Wow! I get it now. It was a great show.

 

 

Not only was the ice skating Olympic-quality... most of the performers were former Olympic ice skaters... but there was really great music in the show, too. I definitely enjoyed it... and I was glad that this was one rare case where Royal Caribbean didn't try to nickel and dime the passengers. Admission to the show was free.

 

 

The pros aren't the only ones who get to use the ice rink. If you know how to skate... you'll be pleased to know that there are some times set aside for passenger skating, too.

 

 

As I mentioned earlier, Studio B is about so much more than just ice skating. When they cover the ice rink, the room becomes a big arena with a huge stage in the center. It becomes the most perfect possible venue for the late-night adults-only audience participation show known as Quest.

 

 

If you're easily offended, don't attend Quest! But if you've got a bit of a raunchy sense of humor, and you like to let loose and have some fun... this is the game show for you. Personally, I would never get on the stage and participate in this kind of thing... but I always get a few laughs from sitting in the audience and watching!

[Spaniel Lover]

Music

 

There was a little something for everyone as far as music was concerned on our cruise. There was a reggae band that played out by the swimming pool. There was a classical duo (piano & violin) that performed a very classy show up in the Olive & Twist lounge on deck 14. A solo act (guy singing and playing guitar) performed in some of the bars. As usual on a cruise ship, there was the traditional piano bar singer. The stage shows and headliner acts had a real orchestra playing along. But my favorite musical act of all... which I thought was the best cover band I had ever seen in 30 cruises... was a four-person band called Synergy.

 

For you to really appreciate how good Synergy was at entertaining the passengers, I need you to watch two short videos which give you a glimpse in to their act. In the first video, we see the opening song from one of their performances. The lead singer plays it fairly straight and performs the song from the stage like most bands would... albeit with a lot more spunk and personality!

 

[YOUTUBE]1JDCtlKO_-I[/YOUTUBE]

 

In the first video, you learn that the girl can definitely sing and put on a show. But in the 2nd video, you really see the true brilliance of her performing style. You see, this girl doesn't generally sing her songs from the stage. She loves the audience too much too stay up there! She likes to go out on the dance floor and perform with them... or to go in to the audience and sing from among them. Watch the 2nd video and you'll get a little taste of it...

 

[YOUTUBE]JSEX-RFQJ-U[/YOUTUBE]

 

I totally enjoyed Synergy and caught as many of their shows as I could. The frustrating thing for me was that I didn't discover them until almost the end of the first week of our two-week cruise. So, I missed most of their shows the first week. But it was a real joy to catch their shows that 2nd week. They were definitely the best cover band I've seen on a cruise ship. They beat the heck out of those Filipino cover bands they use on the Carnival ships!

[Spaniel Lover]

Labadee, Haiti

 

Normally you wouldn't think of Haiti as a vacation hot spot. It's one of the poorest countries in the world, with a whole lot of political instability and about the worst living conditions you'll find in the Americas. But Royal Caribbean has developed a little portion of Haiti as their own little private vacation paradise. And paradise it is...

 

One of the best days of our 14-day cruise was spent right here under the palm trees of Columbus Cove.

 

For most passengers, a day at Royal Caribbean's private destination at Labadee will basically be a day at the beach. Swim in the warm Caribbean waters and relax on a lounger. Buy some drinks, if you'd like, or just enjoy a free barbecued lunch. For those interested in a little more excitement, rent a jet ski, go snorkeling, or play on the inflatable toys at the water park:

 

 

There's also a gigantic zip line, a bobsled ride, and a waterslide! If you'd rather take it easy and you're willing to shell out a few bucks to be served, rent one of the bungalows overlooking the water.

 

 

You've got to be careful about sunburn at a place like this. Even if you cover yourself with sunblock, you can get a pretty nasty sunburn after spending the day here... if you're not careful. There are several distinct areas within Royal Caribbean's Labadee development. I recommend going to the one furthest from the ship... it's called Columbus Cove. The most important thing it's got going for it is a lot of trees and a lot of shade... to help you keep from getting sunburned. Also, because it's the furthest from the ship, it's the least crowded. The beach at Columbus cove is really nice. There are no waves, and the sand is soft and plentiful. No beach shoes needed in the water at all. There are bathrooms, and a restaurant serving a free barbecue lunch. It's not really that long of a walk from the ship... but there's a tram that can take you there if you don't want to walk it. Also, Columbus Cove is where that water park is located... so if you've got kids, this is a natural for you.

 

One of the most popular beaches at Labadee is called Adrenaline Beach. It's the beach where you can watch the people come screaming down off the hill on the zip line. That's definitely fun to watch! The problem, as you can see from this next picture, is that the loungers are all out in the direct sun. So, wear lots of sunscreen, cover yourself up after a while... and if you can afford it, think about renting one of those luxurious day beds!

 

The rocks of the breakwater help protect swimmers at Adrenaline Beach from the strong currents.

[Spaniel Lover]

Falmouth, Jamaica

 

We had been to Falmouth once before, and had such a good time on a shore excursion to an all-inclusive resort that we decided to do that exact same shore excursion again.

 

The main pool at the Hilton Rose Hall all-inclusive resort

 

We boarded a bus at the cruise ship terminal, which took us to the Hilton Rose Hall resort. It's a great place to spend the afternoon! It's all inclusive... so you can eat or drink as much as you want whenever you want. They had a breakfast buffet going when we got there, although we skipped it since we had eaten breakfast on the ship. At lunch time, there were several dining options. I drank rum & cokes for quite a while, but stopped about 90 minutes before we had to leave... because I've learned that lesson the hard way on shore excursions before! Never drink too much just before boarding a bus for a half hour ride back to the ship. That's a painful ride if you need to use the bathroom!

 

In addition to the main swimming pool which you saw in the previous picture, they also have a fairly big "lazy river". Grab an inner tube, and float around the river. It's fun and relaxing. Just be careful about sunburn. There's a beach, too... although it's not really a great beach. Too many little rocks and too much grass growing up out of the sand. The lazy river, the main pool, the restaurant, and the bar were all I needed. There are lockers if you want to lock up your stuff while you float around the lazy river, too. Last time we were here, I noticed a woman bathing topless at poolside. Must have been a European guest! There weren't any topless sunbathers this time.

 

Later, back at the ship, I snapped this picture as the ship sailed away from the port facility at Falmouth:

 

[Spaniel Lover]

Grand Cayman

 

Grand Cayman is one of those classic destinations that cruise ships visit all the time. I've been there a whole bunch of times before, but this was the very first time I've been there when we were the only ship visiting that day. On my previous visits, it has sometimes seemed like there was a whole navy full of cruise ships docked off shore. But this time, we were the only ship there.

 

 

On previous visits, we've gone to Stingray City (twice)... gone snorkeling... did a Snuba excursion... visited the turtle farm... and explored the area around the pier. This time, we decided to try something that would get us out a little further, for a closer look at some of the rest of the island. We signed up for a Jeep tour.

 

 

Basically, it's four people to a Jeep. You can work it out among yourselves who is going to drive, or if you want to rotate drivers, or what. If you're just a couple, you're going to get paired up with another couple. Or, if you want, you can ride in the Jeep with the lead driver... which is what we elected to do. They drive on the left side of the road in Grand Cayman, and the last thing I wanted to do was to take any kind of risk that might lead to a vehicle accident and some financial liability. So, I was perfectly happy to just be a passenger. And I came to find out that riding in the lead Jeep with the pro driver is the most fun of all... because he drives like a crazy man! You'd think he'd be trying to set a good example for all the people following him. No. He drove like a maniac. And that made it fun!

 

The first stop on our little Jeep adventure was a very secluded beach within Barker's National Park...

 

Barker's National Park on Grand Cayman island

 

If we could have stayed here for an hour and done a little swimming... it would have been great. But all we did was stand around and look at it for a few minutes, and get lectured on the history of the island.

[Spaniel Lover]

Next, we drove to a classic Grand Cayman tourist trap. A little part of the island called Hell. The primary thing to do in Hell is to send off a post card to your friends back home letting them know that you were writing from hell. I couldn't think of a more boring way to spend a half hour of my vacation. I guarantee you that I will not be returning to hell.

 

 

The one thing Hell had going for it was a large infestation of Iguanas.

So, at least I got a good iguana photo out of the visit...

 

 

Our next stop was what was described in the tour literature as a visit to the "Tortuga Rum Cake Factory". I was excited about this, as I totally LOVE Tortuga rum cake. I thought it would be cool to see the actual factory and how they are made. Turns out that the real factory is in an industrial part of town and that's not where we went. We went to what was apparently the very first building that they started making the rum cakes in many years ago. Now it's been converted to a rum cake store... not really much different than the rum cake store we could have visited right next to the pier for free. Now you'd think that if you travelled all the way to Grand Cayman and drove all the way to the original location of the Tortuga Rum Cake factory, that you'd be able to get a good deal on some rum cake, wouldn't you?

 

Imagine my shock to discover that the prices were actually the same as what they were getting for Tortuga rum cake in the airport gift shop in Houston and the gift shop aboard Independence Of The Seas. Which, by the way, was a dollar more than the price of buying that very same rum cake at Amazon.com with free shipping included.

 

 

As far as I'm concerned, the Jeep adventure shore excursion was the biggest waste of $200 I've ever made in all of the 30 cruises I've taken.

[Spaniel Lover]

San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

As our ship pulled in to San Juan in the early morning hours, I was delighted to see an old friend waiting for us at the docks... the Carnival Splendor. I had sailed on her in 2010, about nine months before a terrible incident in which a fire in her engine room totally disabled her and left her adrift off the coast of Mexico. The poor passengers on that particular cruise had to go without working toilets for several days before she finally got towed back to San Diego. The ironic thing was that, during the week that incident occurred, I was not very far away... on a different Carnival cruise ship. In planning my November 2010 vacation, I had to chose between the Carnival Splendor and the Carnival Spirit. I had just been on the Splendor in February, so I chose the Spirit. Damn good thing! I would not have wanted to be on that poop cruise.

 

The other thing I find interesting about the Carnival Splendor is that she is a sister ship to the Costa Concordia, which famously ran aground on Giglio island in Italy, thanks to the world's worst cruise ship captain, Francesco Schettino. The Carnival Splendor was originally designed and ordered as a Costa ship. She is nearly identical to the Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa, Costa Fascinosa, and the ill-fated Costa Concordia. At some point during the construction, executives within the Carnival Corporation decided that Carnival needed a new ship more than Costa did... so the Costa ship under construction was handed over to Carnival and became the Carnival Splendor. Whenever I saw those crazy pictures of the Costa Concordia aground off Giglio island, I would think about my cruise on the Carnival Splendor... and wonder "what if?"

 

So, a lot of things came to mind when I saw the Carnival Splendor docked in San Juan that morning.

 

 

San Juan is another place I've visited several times before in my previous cruises. However, in all those previous visits I somehow never managed to do one of the most classic tourist activities one can do in San Juan... tour the historic forts that protected the city back in the old days. I'd seen the forts before... you sail right past them when you cruise in and out of the harbor at San Juan... but I had never gotten around to actually visiting them before. My vacation time is very precious to me. I mostly like to spend it in a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, or on a very warm beach somewhere. Touring historic sites is not really how I normally like to spend a vacation day. But this time, I was going to do it.

 

One of the reasons I especially wanted to visit the historic fort known as "El Morro" is that I'm a big fan of the Greek composer/musician, Yanni. He did a concert there on the grass in front of El Morro back in 2011, and made it available as a PBS pledge-break concert as well as a Blu-ray and a DVD. I'm a fan, so I thought it would be cool to see this very unique place where Yanni did his concert.

 

Before the cruise, I did a little research online so that I could find my way around town and get to El Morro as easily as possible... and hopefully without incident! In a previous visit to San Juan, I fell for a con artist's story at the pier and ended up giving a guy $20. He had some abrasions on his face and approached my wife and I with a sob story about being an American visiting San Juan and getting mugged a few blocks away. He said he needed some money to catch a cab back to his hotel. I believed his story and gave him $20. Upon returning home and mentioning this story to some folks at Cruise Critic, I discovered that he was a well known con artist who had been working this same con for a LONG time at the pier with cruise ship tourists. That was a few years ago... I'm older and wiser now! But this time I was planning on venturing pretty far away from the safety of the cruise ship... so I was hoping some good research online would help prepare me for what was ahead.

 

It turns out that there are two historic forts in old San Juan, and both are part of the national park system. If you pay for admission to one (I think it was about $5) you can have free admission to the other. The best part is that there's a free trolley bus that will take you there... right from the pier where the cruise ships dock.

 

So, we got off the ship in old San Juan and went looking for the free trolley. I guess I should have researched it just a little more... because I was a little unclear on exactly where you picked up the trolley. I thought in our previous visits to San Juan I had seen it picking up people right there at the street next to the cruise ship pier. Turns out that was something else. It took me a confusing few minutes of walking around to finally figure out that the pick-up point for the free trolley is actually across the street from the cruise ship terminal... on Calle Juan Antonio Coretejas. It's marked as trolley stop #1 on this map.

 

Eventually, we found the trolley stop and within about a minute, the trolley showed up! Nice timing. We hopped aboard, and within a few minutes were dropped off at the closer of the two forts that I wanted to visit: Castillo de San Cristobal.

 

 

I think we got there somewhere around 9:45 AM and the fort didn't actually open up (remember, it's operated by the National Park Service) until 10 AM. So we found a shady spot (it was quite warm that day) and waited for the fort to open. Eventually it did, and we started poking around and exploring the various nooks and crannies. It was kind of fun! Not something I want to do on every vacation, but fun for this one time. Eventually we made our way up to the top of the fort and were delighted to discover we had a pretty good view of the cruise ships from up there...

 

The zoom lens on my DSLR makes it look like we were a lot closer to the ships than we really were!

 

 

From the top of San Cristobal, we could see exactly how to get to our next destination,

the fort known as El Morro... which stands at the entrance to the harbor.

 

It looked like it wouldn't be much of a walk, but since it was a very warm day and I knew exactly where to pick up the free trolley in front of San Cristobal, we figured we would just catch the trolley. The only question was... how often did the trolley run? We didn't know, but we figured we'd find a shady spot and wait for a while. We could always elect to walk if the shuttle didn't show up for a while. So, we waited. And we waited. And we waited some more. No trolley. So, we decided to walk. I figured that Murphy's law of touring San Juan meant that about a minute after we walked away from the trolley stop, the trolley would show up. But surprisingly, we walked all the way from San Cristobal to El Morro, along the exact route the trolley takes, and we never saw a trolley the entire time!

[Spaniel Lover]

So, finally, we made it to El Morro... a place I had seen from the deck of cruise ships several times when cruising in and out of San Juan... and also a place I had seen in the famous Yanni concert. Also, in my pre-cruise research, I had seen a million pictures of it. But actually standing there was pretty darned cool... I have to say!

 

In the foreground, the Cementerio Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis... with El Morro in the background.

Note the lighthouse on top of the fort... added in 1909. El Morro dates back to the 1539.

 

Notice the white coloring of the structure at the cemetery. Now imagine the entire fort looking white like that. We see El Morro (and San Cristobal) now as dark, discolored brick structures... but back in the day, they had a beautiful white veneer on them. It's long since fallen off, and it would be too costly and difficult to re-do... so the forts look very different now than they did back in the day when they were a very beautiful white color!

 

This is the corner of El Morro closest to the harbor entrance. On the left, you can actually see

the red and green navigational buoys that the cruise ships use to say in deep water when transiting.

Imagine all those breaks in the wall with cannons mounted beside them, back in the old days.

 

I won't bore you by sharing a whole bunch more pictures of El Morro. If you want to see more, Google is your friend. Or, better yet, take a cruise and go visit El Morro in person! I got a particular thrill out of standing there and imagining Sir Francis Drake attacking El Morro (unsuccessfully) by sea in 1595. The gunners at El Morro ended up shooting a cannonball through the cabin of Drake's flagship... and a metal chain was drawn across the narrow harbor entrance to prevent Drake's ships from entering. He was defeated and many of his ships sunk.

 

In 1898, during the Spanish-American war, US Navy warships actually attacked El Morro. They shelled El Morro for almost a full day. Six months later, after the treaty of Paris ended the war, Puerto Rico became US territory.

 

After exploring San Cristobal and El Morro, we made our way back to the cruise ship terminal, via the beautiful little streets of old San Juan. The forts sit up on a hill, and the harbor sits at sea level, so it's an easy walk down hill, as you can see in this next picture. The trick is finding that particular street that runs all the way down the hill to the harbor.

 

 

The streets of old San Juan are a little confusing, and Kellyn could tell that I didn't know with 100% certainty exactly how to get back. As we made our way down the hill, Kellyn said something that made me laugh so hard! All the street signs in San Juan are in Spanish. So as we were walking from the fort and trying to find the little street you saw in that last picture, which leads right down to the water, she spotted a sign that convinced her we were heading in the right direction.

 

Kellyn: "This must be the right way, because I remember seeing that street sign on the way here! This must be the way we came!"

 

Me: "That says ONE WAY STREET in Spanish!

 

Eventually, we made it... and later that day, as Independence Of The Seas sailed out to sea, I snapped this picture of El Morro standing guard over the harbor entrance, with San Cristobal in the background:

 

[Spaniel Lover]

A Close Encounter With

Quantum Of The Seas

 

Once all the passengers made it back on to Independence Of The Seas after a day in Puerto Rico, the captain made an announcement over the PA system that rocked my world! He said that as we made our way out of the harbor, we'd be passing Quantum Of The Seas... whose arrival in San Juan had been timed so that they could dock at the pier that we had just vacated. This was big news to me, and set me in to a furious rush of gathering camera gear so that I could make my way up to a good vantage point on deck and get some photos and video of the newest Royal Caribbean ship. (Anthem Of The Seas was put in to service a week or two after that.)

 

 

Getting a look at Quantum Of The Seas was a big deal to me, because I had come pretty darned close to sailing on her that week! Remember that last year, I sailed on Allure Of The Seas. While onboard, I decided to take advantage of the special incentives that they give you if you book another cruise while you're still onboard. So, I booked a 12-day cruise on Quantum Of The Seas... the exact same cruise which brought Quantum to San Juan on this particular day. But when I got home from my cruise on Allure, there was something that just didn't sit right with me about the cruise I had booked for April 2015 on Quantum. It was one hell of a lot of money!

 

I've been on a lot of cruises and I'm pretty good about making sure I'm getting a good value for my vacation dollar. A 7-day Caribbean cruise in a balcony cabin on Carnival would typically be around $2000. Put two of those back-to-back to make a 14-day cruise, and let's say you're in for $4000 on Carnival. Time it just right so that you're sailing at an off-peak time of the year, and you could even get a much nicer cabin (such as an aft-wrap) for two weeks on Carnival for well under $5000.

 

But if you want to sail on Royal Caribbean's newest ship, don't expect any bargains. Prices for Quantum Of The Seas have been SKY HIGH. The 12-day cruise I booked for April 2015 in a regular balcony cabin on Quantum was going to be $8000. Eight thousand! That's a lot of dough... and the more I thought about it, the more I hated the idea. So, finally, I called up Royal Caribbean and asked to change my reservation over to Independence Of The Seas. I went from a 12-day cruise on Quantum for $8000 to a 14-day cruise on Indy for only $5000. Still... it was more than I had ever paid for a balcony cabin on Carnival, but compared to $8000 for Quantum, it seemed like a much better deal. So that's how I came to sail on Independence Of The Seas, and that's why I got pretty excited when our captain announced that we'd be passing Quantum Of The Seas on our way out of the harbor!

 

I put a little video together of our close encounter with Quantum Of The Seas. The truth is that it's really a video love letter to an amazing looking ship! Take a look...

 

[YOUTUBE]rBStN2NtKzk[/YOUTUBE]

 

For me, the coolest part about seeing Quantum Of The Seas in person was getting a look at that crazy red bear up on the top deck! It seems like a very strange design choice to me!

 

 

But if you want to talk about strange design choices on cruise ships, I have to refer you to the Carnival Spirit... and the big bird sculpture that sits out next to the swimming pool... looking like a big vulture ready to pick at the carcasses of any elderly passengers who fall asleep at the pool and don't wake up!

 

Weird artwork by the swimming pool on Carnival Spirit

[Spaniel Lover]

St Kitts

 

I was excited about visiting St Kitts because it was the one port of call we'd be visiting during this cruise that was new to me. I'd been to all of our other destinations before, except St. Kitts.

 

Something that you probably don't know about me is that I'm a bit of a rail fan. One of the things I really liked about a vacation in Alaska last year was that we got to spend several days on the Alaska railroad. Just recently, I took my interest in railroads to a new level and spent several thousand dollars on a bunch of G-scale model railroad equipment that I sometimes set up around the house. (For short periods of time, until Kellyn and I get tired of having to step over them. We've got a very small house!)

 

So, when I saw a railroad excursion on the shore excursion list for St Kitts, it seemed like a fun idea to me! In fact, it turned out to be a pretty good way to see the island, as the tour literally takes you in a big loop all the way around the island... full circle. The train only makes it about 3/4 of the way around the island, and then you take a bus the rest of the way. But it's a pretty great way to see St Kitts, since you end up going all the way around.

 

I failed to capture a decent picture of the train, but I snagged this next photo off of their web site... so you could see it.

 

Picture courtesy of the St Kitts Scenic Railway

 

It's a double-decker car with an open-air section up on top with great views, and an air-conditioned lower section... in case it gets too hot on the top deck for you. There are also bathrooms in the lower section. There's a seat for each passenger both up above and down below.... so you do not have to choose either/or... you can sit in either place any time you want. It wasn't uncomfortably hot when we were there, so Kellyn and I ended up staying up on the top for the entire ride.

 

Like I said, it gave us a good look around St Kitts... and what I learned about St Kitts is that there's not much there for me! It's not one of those places like Jamaica where there's mile after mile of beautiful sandy beaches. It was quite mountainous, and where the land met the ocean tended to be quite rocky. I didn't actually see one beautiful beach on the entire loop around the island.

 

Out of all the ports I've visited in 30 cruises, and all the shore excursions I've gone on, St Kitts and the railroad tour would probably rank in the lower 20% of my list.

 

Upon returning to the ship, however, I did see something that was pretty cool! Celebrity Silhouette was docked next to us in St Kitts, and that gave me a chance to really look her over well.

 

 

I've never been on a Celebrity cruise, so I really don't know anything about them. But after taking a close look at the Silhouette, I discovered something that was really interesting to me! They offer a few special staterooms, called Royal Suites, which not only have a big comfy day bed out on the balcony... but a Jacuzzi, too!

 

 

Except for financially, I can totally imagine myself in a Royal Suite... enjoying that day bed and especially the whirlpool Jacuzzi out on the balcony. At least I can imagine myself using the Jacuzzi when we're out at sea! But if that was your suite, and you were docked next to another cruise ship, would you be out there on your balcony filling the tub in your bath robe? While a guy with a big zoom lens was shooting pictures from the other ship?!? I didn't stick around long enough to see if she got in that Jacuzzi... but I have to assume she did. Perhaps she was just showing off... trying to make all of us Royal Caribbean people jealous!

 

By the way, if you're wondering what it would cost to cruise in the Royal Suite on Celebrity Silhouette... I looked it up. A 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise for two people next April in the Royal Suite will set you back $11,000. Or, in other words, you could do four different 7-day cruises on Independence Of The Seas for less than the cost of one 7-day cruise in the Royal Suite on Celebrity Silhouette. But I have to admit... I like the idea of my own private Jacuzzi on the balcony!

[Spaniel Lover]

In Command

 

There are two different captains currently assigned to Independence Of The Seas, and they work a rotation so that one works while the other takes a vacation break. For our cruise, the Captain was Henrik Loy, known onboard as "Captain Henrik".

 

 

Certainly one of the youngest cruise ship captains in the world, Captain Henrik is a joy to sail with. He's from Bergen, Norway, and speaks English extremely fluently... unlike some of the Italian captains we've sailed with in the past. So, he spends a lot of time talking to the passengers. There are numerous events where you can meet and chat with him, including a Q&A session in the main theater where you can ask him anything you want. He's also featured in numerous videos that explain technical features of the ship and which fill you in on details of the ship's itinerary. These videos play on the ship's television network and can be seen in all of the cabins. He also does an announcement over the ship's public address system each afternoon, focusing on details of where the ship is going, any interesting things we'll see along the way, and what the weather will be like. Thinking back over all the cruises I've been on, Captain Henrik would rank as my #1 favorite captain.

 

 

Our Cruise Director was Jamie Fentiman. He's from the United Kingdom, and so I was very excited when I heard his first announcement over the public address system on the first day of the cruise. For my money, nothing sounds smoother over the PA system than a Cruise Director with an English accent!

 

That brings up a story from one of my Carnival cruises...

 

Some people couldn't give a hoot who their Cruise Director is... but I'm not one of those people! For me, having a good Cruise Director is important. It can make a big impact on the overall tone of the cruise and whether I look back on that cruise as a polished gem or a pig with lipstick. Most of the Cruise Directors I've sailed with have been really good at their jobs... real pros that knew how to set a fun tone. The absolute best of the best is an amazing lady on the Carnival Sunshine by the name of Jaime Deitsch.

 

On the other hand, there was a Cruise Director on another Carnival ship that just drove me up the wall... his announcements over the public address system were so annoying. It was like he was trying way too hard to be Chris Rock or Jamie Foxx or something. So, one day we were on a cruise with Mr. Annoying Announcements Cruise Director and we were in port, docked next to a Princess ship. Ship PA systems are quite loud, so when two ships are tied up at the same dock, you can easily hear any announcements from either ship's PA system. Our guy came on over the PA system and made one of his typically annoying announcements, thinking he was the next Fresh Prince Of Bel Air. Right after that, the Cruise Director from the Princess ship made an announcement... with a beautiful English accent and just oozing with class and smoothness. I was sure that the passengers on that other ship were rolling their eyes over our guy and how poorly he fared in comparison to their ultra-smooth English CD.

 

So, Jamie Fentiman on Independence Of The Seas pretty much had me at hello with that great English accent of his!

[Spaniel Lover]

Welcome Back!

 

When our cruise was over and Independence Of The Seas tied up at the dock in Ft Lauderdale, we were treated to a very beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic ocean...

 

[Spaniel Lover]

A SUMMARY

 

Looking back over the two weeks we spent on Independence Of The Seas, some things were the best we've seen in 30 cruises, and some things were far from perfect!

Let's see if I can summarize it...

 

 

The Best

 

The buffet: We enjoyed it more than any other cruise ship buffet. It was perfect for us, at least at lunch and dinner times. Good food, with lots of variety. Bonus: fortune cookies at dinner!

 

Synergy: The most entertaining cover band I've ever seen on a cruise ship.

 

Ship announcements: Captain spoke excellent English and was easy to understand. Cruise Director never made announcements to the cabins or hallways in front of the cabins. A volume control at the desk ensured that it was easy to listen to an announcement if you heard one happening outside your cabin.

 

Our balcony: It was the biggest balcony we've seen on a standard balcony cabin. The only times we've had bigger balconies, we've paid extra for them.

 

Solarium: Pool temperature was kept wonderfully warm during our 2nd week.

 

Jacuzzis: The two big Jacuzzis near the solarium, cantilevered over the side of the ship with fantastic views, were among our favorite ship features.

 

Bow access: This was the only cruise ship we've ever been on where passengers had access to the bow of the ship. We loved the views from the bow when the ship was coming in and out of a port.

 

Cabin safe: The cabin used a keypad for access, rather than the magnetic card system used on older Carnival ships.

 

Electrical outlets: Two electrical outlets at the desk.

 

Balcony door: Sliding door versus conventional door design... so no bungie cord or door stopper is required to leave the balcony door open.

 

Deck 14: Excellent views from the Olive Or Twist lounge, and protected from the wind.

 

Gold card perks: Passengers in suites, or who have cruised with RCCL so often as to be among the elite, get some nice perks... like a reserved section of loungers overlooking the pool, a private beach area at Labadee, and a nightly cocktail party.

 

Casino: Least smokey cruise ship casino I've been in. They must have excellent ventilation in there.

 

Buffet staff: Extremely fast to clear tables. On Allure Of The Seas, we often had trouble finding a clean, empty table in the Windjammer.

 

Italian restaurant: Lunch at Giovanni's Table is excellent, and only sets you back $15 per person.

 

Afternoon snacks: The buffet opened at 3:30 PM for afternoon snacks. I liked being able to make a plate of nachos.

 

 

 

 

The Worst

 

Internet access: It was horribly slow, and expensive. They need to install the same technology used for Internet access on Allure Of The seas.

 

Breakfast: Who came up with the bright idea to make omelets with Mozarella cheese? Mozarella is for pizza. An omelet should have Jack or Cheddar.

 

Laundry: No self-service laundry on Royal Caribbean ships.

 

Water slides: No water slides on Royal Caribbean ships.

 

Electrical outlets: No electrical outlet near the bed.

 

Reserved loungers: An entire section of loungers near the main pool were reserved for Gold card holders... and they went completely unused almost every day of the cruise. This is a waste. Other passengers would love to use those.

 

Buffet hours: Windjammer didn't open for dinner until 6:30 PM. Should be 5:00 or 5:30 at most.

 

Entertainment: Very little comedy, compared to Carnival. Headliners and other shows fared poorly compared to Carnival shows.

 

Johnny Rockets: The burgers are nowhere near as good as the Guy Fieri burgers on Carnival, and those Guy Fieri burgers are free, too.

 

Ice cream: Ice cream is served in the buffet at dinner, but is not kept in freezers or even packed in ice. Within a few minutes of the restaurant opening, the ice cream is melting. If you get there an hour or more after the restaurant opened, and the ice cream has been unrefrigerated that whole time, it's a total mess.

 

Food: An almost total lack of Mexican food onboard. What Mexican food there was, was a joke.

 

Steakhouse: On formal night, extra charge increases to $40 per person. Special aged beef on the menu is ridiculously priced.

 

Under the bed: There was so much junk stored under the bed (such as a comforter) that our luggage wouldn't completely fit without sticking out.

 

Drink prices: $28 including tip for two margaritas. On Carnival, that would buy you a whole pitcher.

 

No glass dome: None of the swimming pools or outdoor spaces have a retractable glass dome that can be closed during rainy or windy weather.

[Spaniel Lover]

Jim, You IDIOT!

 

We have an acronym that we use with increasing frequency in my family. It's "JYI"... and it stands for "Jim, you idiot!" It seems that the older I get, the more frequently the JYI moments are occurring.

 

During our first few cruises, it was probably normal that I made a few rookie cruise mistakes. For example, on one of our first cruises, I somehow managed to forget to pack any socks! Luckily, I discovered it on embarkation day and was able to run to a Target store and buy some the morning of the cruise. That's only a mildly stupid mistake... I was just learning at that point... and after that I started using a very detailed packing checklist when preparing for a cruise.

 

But now, with as many cruises as we've been on, it's just plain embarrassing when I have one of those JYI moments. On some of our recent cruises, I've had some really stupid ones!

 

Over the last year, I've managed to break about three different pair of prescription glasses on cruises! At one point, after breaking my regular pair, I had to wear prescription sunglasses for the duration of a cruise... which is very weird. Imagine going to dinner, or a show, wearing sunglasses. Awkward! After that, I started packing a backup pair of prescription glasses with me on cruises.

 

That was just one of many JYI cruise moments, though! On the Carnival Sunshine, I dropped a $1500 camera lens on to the floor of my cabin... and thought for sure I had shattered the lens when I saw bits of broken glass on the floor near the lens. It turned out that I only broke a $50 filter that had been mounted on to the front of the lens... and the lens itself was undamaged. You'd think that would have been enough of a wake up call to make me more careful with my lenses. Nope! Last year, in Labadee with Allure Of The Seas, I managed to drop a $600 camera lens on to a cement patio... in plain view of a crowd of people, too! It's one thing to have a a JYI moment privately... much worse to do so in front of a crowd. Jim, you idiot! But once again, I got very lucky and only broke a $20 lens hood mounted on the front of the lens... and managed not to damage the lens itself at all.

 

I also managed to forget to bring my wallet on a cruise once! Left it at home, in a drawer! Now you'd think that would practically be a vacation-ending mistake... but it actually wasn't. I had a passport with me... and all the cruise documentation and airline boarding passes... and my wife had her purse with several credit cards... so we managed to make it through without any real problems. But that was certainly a close call!

 

So, that brings us to this cruise... and another very close call. At the Ft Lauderdale airport, the day before the cruise, I managed to drop my laptop computer... on to a cement walkway! Luckily, the damage was very minor and my computer continues working just fine to this day.

 

I also managed to forget that Royal Caribbean ships don't have self-service laundry facilities onboard the way Carnival ships do. When we do back-to-back cruises on Carnival, we just pack enough clothes for a week and do some laundry in the self-service laundrette after the first cruise. So, I didn't quite have enough underwear with me to last two weeks. Luckily, I was easily able to buy some at the CVS store across from the cruise ship terminal in San Juan.

 

The other bit of bad luck we had was with our flights to get home after the cruise. It was going to take three flights to get from Ft Lauderdale to the little regional airport near our house... and the first flight got delayed so much that we had to scramble and change our reservations for the other two flights. By the time we finally got home, it was after midnight... and our luggage didn't make it until the next day!

[ohbuckeye]

Really enjoying your review- the pictures are great and I love your writing, anxiously awaiting more. My dh and I were on Indy last year on the Eastern route- I so agree with your observation of long dinners, our 30th is in June and we have to come up with "games" to play at dinner sometimes! Will have to try Windjammer for dinner next cruise.

[Spaniel Lover]

Our Future Cruises

 

Perhaps you're wondering what we've got coming up.

 

Later this year, we'll be returning to our favorite Carnival ship... the Carnival Breeze. We'll be doing back-to-back Caribbean cruises in a spa balcony cabin.

 

After that, we're tossing around the idea of flying down to Cabo San Lucas and staying in an all-inclusive resort for a week. I just can't decide if I'd really like that or not! I really like the way a cruise ship takes you to multiple destinations during a week. I worry that I might get bored staying in one spot for the entire week. Plus, I doubt that an all-inclusive resort would have the kind of entertainment that I'm used to on a cruise.

 

In 2016, we've got some really cool cruises planned! In the first quarter, we'll be cruising on Norwegian Cruise Line's brand new ship, the Norwegian Escape... and to make it even better, we'll be staying in The Haven! We did a cruise in The Haven on Norwegian Getaway last year, and it was the best cruise of all the ones we've ever been on. So I'm REALLY excited about getting back in to The Haven on Norwegian Escape. I'd actually cruise on NCL a lot more often... except for the fact that they offer very little variety in their itineraries. If Norwegian Getaway did some different itineraries from time to time, I'd have surely been back by now. But it's pretty much just the same ports over and over, every week. Boring. But forgetting the itinerary issue... Norwegian Getaway is the finest cruise ship at sea right now, as far as I'm concerned. I can't wait to experience Norwegian Escape in 2016.

 

In the second quarter of 2016, we'll be returning to Royal Caribbean to finally experience the Quantum-class. We'll be on Anthem Of The Seas... for way less than it would have cost us to sail on Quantum Of The Seas this year. Waiting a year definitely paid off.

 

In 2017, I'm sure we'll be sailing on the brand new Carnival ship, the Carnival Vista. I think those Havana staterooms at the back of the ship, with their own private pool area, look pretty cool! I hope they're not all booked up by the time I'm finally ready to book.

[Spaniel Lover]

Downloads

 

If you're researching the idea of taking a cruise on the Independence Of The Seas,

here are a few documents you might want to download:

 

Independence Of The Seas Deck Plans

Cruise Compass daily newsletter - 1st 8 days

Cruise Compass daily newsletter - Final 6 days

Information for consecutive cruisers (B2B)

Departure information for the last day of the cruise

 

 

A word of caution about the deck plans:

Even though the deck plans included here were the latest version available from Royal Caribbean as of May, 2015... I still noticed that they are out of date! For example, they labeled the disco on decks three and four as "The Raven" when in fact the name of the disco was changed some time ago to "The Labyrinth". Also, I don't think the deck plans for deck 14 are correct. They show a "Viking Crown Lounge" which I don't believe exists anymore. Correct me if I'm wrong!

[1northstar]

Really enjoyed your pictures and review. Well done !

[coldflame]

Insanely awesome photo journal and review. No exaggeration: the best user-submitted travel log/review I've seen in these forums. Thanks much for taking the time to write about your experience and the contextual photos.

[Spaniel Lover]

Packing List & To-Do List

 

Here's my official packing list.

Perhaps this will help you think of things to pack for your cruise.

On a few of the unusual items, I'll provide a link to the exact version I recommend at Amazon.com

 

Passports

Airline boarding pass

Cruise boarding pass

Luggage tags

If driving, printed directions to the hotel & cruise terminal

Wallet (I actually forgot this on one cruise!)

Swimsuit

Flip-flops

Waterproof beach shoes

Sunglasses

Underwear & socks (incredibly, I actually forgot to bring socks on one cruise)

One dressy outfit

Shirts

Pants

Shorts

Sweatshirt

Deodorant

Q-tips

Hair brush

Nail clippers

Razor

Medications

Toothbrush & toothpaste

Sun block

Hand lotion

Travel-size Kleenex for the airplane

Lint remover

Lawry's seasoning salt

Laptop computer or tablet computer, including charger

Digital SLR Camera

Waterproof camera

Camera tripod, or selfie-stick

Binoculars

Wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer

6-outlet power strip

MP3 player

Noise-cancelling headphones

Cell phone & charger

Wrist watch

Clothes hangers

 

My pre-cruise to-do list:

Stop newspaper and mail delivery

Book shore excursions

Send an email to family members with my travel plans & itinerary

Turn off water to the house to prevent the chance of a pipe break

Turn down (or turn off) the water heater to save energy

Make sure garden sprinklers are on

Make sure house is locked and alarm system is active

 

On the last day at work:

Update voice mail message to indicate my return date

Update out-of-office email message, and turn it on

Make sure my temporary replacement has an updated desk guide

Put a sign at my desk indicating my return date

 

[Spaniel Lover]

What Camera Do I Use?

 

Whenever I post these cruise reviews, I always get questions about what camera I used to take the photos.

 

For everything except any underwater photography, the camera I use is a Canon EOS-70D digital SLR camera. That's probably too much camera for most people... so if you're in the market for a very high quality digital SLR camera, the one I actually recommend for most people is the Canon Digital Rebel T5i. If you get one, make sure you get the T5i with the 135mm lens, not the cheap version with the 55mm lens.

 

I also like to have a Canon EF-S 10-18mm lens with me when I'm on a cruise ship. This is a wide angle lens, which is extremely useful when trying to shoot in small spaces (for example, my cabin tour video) or when shooting something very large (like a cruise ship, when you're standing on the pier next to it.)

 

I also bring along a tripod with me, to allow me to shoot long-exposure shots in low-light situations. It's also handy to have for shooting "selfies". I've got a tripod that is just the right size to fit inside my big suitcase but which is heavy duty enough to be stable. It also has a fluid head, which is something that's very important to look for in a tripod if you intend to use it when shooting video.

 

One important technique that I use, since I'm looking to getting the highest quality photos possible, is to shoot in RAW format rather than JPG. This preserves the photos with the highest possible quality, and gives me the greatest ability to tweak them after shooting them. However, it does require a lot of extra work. Any photos which I want to share (via email, Facebook, or on this web site, for example) have to be converted from RAW to JPG. This takes some time and effort, but it's worth it to me in order to get the best end results. Just about all the photos you see on this page have been tweaked to some extent to give them the best finished look. For most photos, I do some sharpening and color correction. On some photos, I have to do even more tweaking than that to get them to look just right.

[Spaniel Lover]

That's it!

 

That's the full story of my recent back-to-back cruises on Independence Of The Seas. I had a real nice time, and already have my reservations made for Anthem Of The Seas next year!

 

I'd be happy to try to answer any questions that you have.

 

If you're interested in reading any of my reviews of the other cruises I've been on, just follow the links in my signature, below.

[luv2sail7]

Great Review! DH and I are doing our first B2B on this ship in January 2016.

One question - did you do the special lunch that they arrange for the B2B'ers?

I know you mention you normally do buffet only.

Thanks again for all your wonderful pictures and perspective! :)

[Trich64]

Awesome review!! My husband and I were on the same first half of your B2B... Your pictures are beautiful and detailed comments are bang on. Thank you for all the work you put into this....

[Spaniel Lover]

Great Review! DH and I are doing our first B2B on this ship in January 2016.

One question - did you do the special lunch that they arrange for the B2B'ers?

I know you mention you normally do buffet only.

Thanks again for all your wonderful pictures and perspective! :)

 

We were going to take part in that special lunch for the consecutive cruisers, but decided at the last minute not to.

 

All of the consecutive cruisers were back onboard somewhere around 11 AM, as I recall... and the lunch wasn't going to be until Noon. We thought about waiting until noon for lunch just to see how special the special lunch turned out to be. But in the end, we just decided to eat at Windjammers when they opened at 11:30 AM and before they got very busy.

 

I was enjoying the almost completely empty ship and watching the first new cruisers come aboard. I felt like I would have missed seeing that if I had been locked up in the Romeo & Juliet dining room with the other consecutive cruisers.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Spaniel Lover