Not Wowed by Indy

[fla gang]

After cruising on the Oasis the last two years and having a great time we tried the Independence. Our dining room experience was a 5 out of 10. Stateroom attendant was as good or better than any we have ever had. Ports were a lot of fun. We enjoyed the beach area at Labadee.

Debarkation was very slow!

Next year Allure, here we come!

[tallnthensome]

After cruising on the Oasis the last two years and having a great time we tried the Independence. Our dining room experience was a 5 out of 10. Stateroom attendant was as good or better than any we have ever had. Ports were a lot of fun. We enjoyed the beach area at Labadee.

Debarkation was very slow!

Next year Allure, here we come!

:confused: So besides the dining room being so-so and getting off the ship it was good? You need to sound angrier then that.....

[Paulette3028]

After cruising on the Oasis the last two years and having a great time we tried the Independence. Our dining room experience was a 5 out of 10. Stateroom attendant was as good or better than any we have ever had. Ports were a lot of fun. We enjoyed the beach area at Labadee.

Debarkation was very slow!

Next year Allure, here we come!

 

What was so terrible in the dining room that caused a rating of 5 out of 10?

 

The cruise line has no control over what you do in port, but it is good to hear you felt the ports were a lot of fun.

 

You mention that you enjoyed their private beach area at Labadee, even though you did not give it a rating, nor any details.

 

Glad to hear your stateroom attendant was very good.

 

Debarkation is something that they don't have a lot of control over, if there are not enough Customs Agents, which would slow it down.

 

What exactly did you need to have to be "Wowed by Indy" that you did not have?

[dcgrumpy]

Was there anything besides the food and debarkation that left you less than Wowed?

[fla gang]

We had early seating in the dining room and they were very slow. Had to tell them every night what we wanted to drink which was the same every night. Servers never interacted with us until the last two nights. People at other tables told us they had very prompt servers.

Even the breakfast service in the dining room was slow. We were on the Vision last Sept. and they were on the ball on that ship. One of the best of our royal cruises. Debarkation on the Oasis was much more organized that our Indy cruise. We felt that our dining room assistant server was not helping the head server very much.

[CVU]

Indy is our favourite ship!!:)

Spent many many B2Bs on her. No complaints here!!!

 

Oasis and Allure are in a different terminal. Sometimes it is good disembarking but not after a TA!!!!! Disaster!! try getting off about 1 PM? Just read the thread from Oct. about Oasis TA.

Edited May 11, 2015 by CVU

[Trekker954]

What was so terrible in the dining room that caused a rating of 5 out of 10?

 

The cruise line has no control over what you do in port, but it is good to hear you felt the ports were a lot of fun.

 

You mention that you enjoyed their private beach area at Labadee, even though you did not give it a rating, nor any details.

 

Glad to hear your stateroom attendant was very good.

 

Debarkation is something that they don't have a lot of control over, if there are not enough Customs Agents, which would slow it down.

 

What exactly did you need to have to be "Wowed by Indy" that you did not have?

 

 

Give Customs a break. Its not always them. This past Sunday's disembarkation off Independence was delayed due to a US Coast Guard operation.

[ColoradoGurl]

After cruising on the Oasis the last two years and having a great time we tried the Independence. Our dining room experience was a 5 out of 10. Stateroom attendant was as good or better than any we have ever had. Ports were a lot of fun. We enjoyed the beach area at Labadee.

Debarkation was very slow!

Next year Allure, here we come!

 

Did you dislike it because the dining disappointed you, or because there was such a big difference between the two classes of ship that you didn't enjoy the smaller one? Can you elaborate? Is it that you found more to do on the larger ship and felt bored on Indy? I used to think I would never try the bigger ship but having read so much about them on here, I feel like I'd probably like to try the Allure at some point, but have wondered if it's best to try the Freedom before I do, so I won't be disappointed doing it the other way around.

[depplep]

Such a shame you weren't wowed by Indy. It's one of my favorites. We're on Oasis for the first time this fall so I'm really looking forward to it. My parents were on Vision last August to Bermuda and thought that ship had the worst service out of all they had been on. Service seems to be hit or miss which isn't a good thing.

[dschultz56]

We were on Indy 2 weeks ago. Did My Time Dining and our waiter and assistant waiter were fantastic. Engaged us in conversation and those around us every night. They knew which wine we were going to order after the first night and got it and soon as we were seated. We thought it was great service.

[Paulette3028]

Give Customs a break. Its not always them. This past Sunday's disembarkation off Independence was delayed due to a US Coast Guard operation.

 

In no way any 'blame' being placed by me....but just a realization to the OP that some things (that example) Royal has no control over....just like the situation with the US Coast Guard operation....Royal has no input into the timing.

[KellyBeseGuess]

Give Customs a break. Its not always them. This past Sunday's disembarkation off Independence was delayed due to a US Coast Guard operation.

 

 

This... Disembarkation was crowded due to the coast guard needing to be on board for a drill they do every so often.

[KMagz]

There's something for everyone out there. We preferred our 2 Indy cruises better than our Allure and Oasis cruises. On Indy 2 weeks ago we used the Luggage Valet service which made our debarkation less of a hassle. Terminal 29 is not a thing of beauty but it is functional.

[KellyBeseGuess]

Also were you just off the May 3-10 cruising?

[ken4556]

We were on the last 8-day cruise on the Indy, Apr 25 to May 3, and had a great time. We were on first seating and had a great server and even better head waiter. The service was slow a couple nights, not because of our server, but the kitchen was slow. The food was very good with great portions (hello Holland America).

 

We really enjoyed the ship and would go back on it in a second. We enjoyed everything from the crew to the entertainment to the ports. It was 10 out of 10 cruise!

[help04me]

After cruising on the Oasis the last two years and having a great time we tried the Independence. Our dining room experience was a 5 out of 10. Stateroom attendant was as good or better than any we have ever had. Ports were a lot of fun. We enjoyed the beach area at Labadee.

Debarkation was very slow!

Next year Allure, here we come!

 

 

I was on the ios was wasn't wowed either but will be more specific

I went to the main dining room once and it took 2 hrs and 15 minutes I did not go back

I didn't care for celine dion impersonator and frankly was looking forward to the journey tribute band I had heard about

the cover band Rock The Boat had just left for another ship

the ventriquist was great, Once upon the time was the same ole same ole

under the big top was just ok

comedian did an good job The adult comedy show was almost pg 13

the ice show strings didnt seem that impressive

love and marriage show had a couple that was boo ed but was fun

if you are reading this you would assume I hated this cruise

trust me still an awesome time just from an entertainment factor it was weak

just one mans opinion of course

[Spurschick]

We had early seating in the dining room and they were very slow. Had to tell them every night what we wanted to drink which was the same every night. Servers never interacted with us until the last two nights. People at other tables told us they had very prompt servers.

Even the breakfast service in the dining room was slow. We were on the Vision last Sept. and they were on the ball on that ship. One of the best of our royal cruises. Debarkation on the Oasis was much more organized that our Indy cruise. We felt that our dining room assistant server was not helping the head server very much.

 

Whilst some people like to have the same to drink every night others don't. Our drinks waiter last year assumed DD wanted the same mocktail the second night she had the first night and was trying to be helpful by giving us the service you sound like you were expecting. But she hadn't actually enjoyed it that much the first night and was looking forward to something different but they didn't check first what she wanted. We had to reorder a new drink which wasted the time of the waitress. From there on out they checked what the order was first. Even though I have preferences, it doesn't mean I want the same thing day after day.

 

If they bring it assuming you want the same every night they could be wrong, if they don't bring it they aren't doing their job:rolleyes: Some people want variety, others don't.

Personally I would never think it was poor service unless I had specifically said I wanted the same drink every night. I don't consider asking what drink you want as poor service.

 

Whilst you say restaurant was slow, how slow is slow?

 

Generally first night runs closer to 1:45 mins

Always slow first night.

 

After that can normally run at 1hour 30 if not longer. If you want it faster all you have to do is ask, but they generally try to work on serving all the tables in their section at the same time. So if there is a slower table in your section, service will generally be slower.

 

BTW how slow is debarkation?

 

I have had slow in the past but nothing as slow as sailing into galveston;)

Edited May 12, 2015 by Spurschick

[mcatmcat]

After cruising on the Oasis the last two years and having a great time we tried the Independence. Our dining room experience was a 5 out of 10. Stateroom attendant was as good or better than any we have ever had. Ports were a lot of fun. We enjoyed the beach area at Labadee.

 

Debarkation was very slow!

 

Next year Allure, here we come!

 

 

I agree 100% with you. I'm Emerald and I know exactly what to expect from Royal. Sometimes I think we had the same dinning staff. I was seating next to the kitchen exit on the 3rd floor and our waiter wanted to be fast but he got no help from his assistant. In two different occasions I was the 4th couple to enter the dinning room and by the time the rest of the people that came after me had their main course my assistant waiter was maybe taking away my empty appetizer plate and I don't eat slow.

 

My waiter was so busy they he didn't have much time to interact with us. On the contrary all the tables with different waiter were interacting with them all of the time. My appetizer was in my table at 915pm no matter what leaving the dinning room at about 1015 or 1030pm and I was in a table of 2

 

Last but not least, my previous cruises were oasis and allure before jumping to Indy. I rather sail again in the navigator or majesty. I like the freedom class, Liberty is great but I wasn't that satisfied with the Independence :-(

[strachan01]

I was on Indy in Feb/March on a B2B, we did think the MTD service was a little below par compared to that for the Liberty, I guess it all depends on luck of the draw! We did feel sorry for our waiters as they were covering around 7-8 tables of 2, with some couples complaining a fair bit with food quality and wait times between courses!

 

Other than the minor hiccup with MTD we loved the Indy!

[Paulette3028]

I was on the ios was wasn't wowed either but will be more specific

I went to the main dining room once and it took 2 hrs and 15 minutes I did not go back

I didn't care for celine dion impersonator and frankly was looking forward to the journey tribute band I had heard about

the cover band Rock The Boat had just left for another ship

the ventriquist was great, Once upon the time was the same ole same ole

under the big top was just ok

comedian did an good job The adult comedy show was almost pg 13

the ice show strings didnt seem that impressive

love and marriage show had a couple that was boo ed but was fun

if you are reading this you would assume I hated this cruise

trust me still an awesome time just from an entertainment factor it was weak

just one mans opinion of course

 

You were on Indy the week following our cruise. We had Rock the Boat as part of the entertainment on their final sailing. Unfortunately, when you are looking forward to a particular band/group, you can be disappointed if they are not onboard with you. Rock the Boat was outstanding -- they lived up to what I had heard about them, before we boarded. Since we do not like Celine Dion, we had no intention of going to see the impersonator -- and took in other activities instead. Some people who went said it was good and others did not like it....as I would expect. You can't control how the Love and Marriage show goes with the variety of couples involved. I have seen enough ventriloquists and jugglers, so I never go to those shows -- but that isn't the cruise lines fault. The production shows are always interesting enough -- I am not expecting a Broadway show, and if you have sailed on Allure or Oasis (I did Allure), it can be easy to be disappointed. I look at the production show as a musical interlude, and enjoy it for what it is.

 

On our cruise we had a musical group called Mo5aic. They were on Allure the previous summer and they were outstanding -- so we had a wonderful surprise to have them on Indy. There show was the exact same thing on both cruises, but we enjoyed them both times.

 

There was very little that I did not enjoy on Indy. Everyone has (what I consider) small issues in the dining room. What is important is how you handle them to assure that they don't continue.

[fla gang]

I have been on Many Royal Caribbean cruises! Also Carnival,Disney and Princess. They all have good and bad. I will continue going on Royal. My cruise on Carnival Dream had horrible dining room service , but the ship was a lot of fun. Caribben Princess had awesome dining room service and food quality, but the ship was a little boring to me. Disney was probably the best dining room experience of all my cruises. The only problem was no casino, but you could bring all of the booze you want onboard without smuggling.

That being said, one could find faults with any cruise at any time. My experience on Indy will in no way stop me from cruising with RCCL!

[papcx]

 

love and marriage show had a couple that was boo ed but was fun

 

 

 

[emoji43]

 

You have to tell us why!