Review: Independence 12/19 sailing (detailed!)

[blonde375]

Just disembarked today from the Independence of the Seas 5 night sailing to Belize and Cozumel. Following are my family's thoughts and opinions of the week's adventure. Please feel free to ask me any questions!!! I always learn so much from these boards, I'm happy to try to contribute in return!

 

This was our first cruise as a family. DH has cruised one other time on the Grandeur to Bermuda and our DS (16) and his best friend (16) are cruise newbies. Me, I've been a few times as you can see from my signature. We are Diamond C&A members.

 

We booked this adventure just 45 days before sailing, an adventure in itself for me as I am the consummate planner and usually prefer at least 6-8 months notice! For the first time, I booked our cabins through travel agents due to some on board credit and soda package offers through American Express and cruises dot com for a rebate. I was able to snag balcony cabins on deck 7 next to each other, 7686 and 7688. I booked myself and DS in one cabin and DH and son's buddy in the other. This gave us two Diamond balcony discounts and satisfied Royal's rule on under 18 in a cabin with an adult. Once onboard on Saturday we were able to change our keys at Guest Services to get the boys in one room officially since the cabins were directly next to each other. Easy peazy.

 

We flew in late Friday night and took the hotel shuttle to the Sheraton in Dania, FL. Just minutes from the airport the room included the shuttle service and I booked a rate that included breakfast for the four of us. The shuttle was prompt and although very crowded it served the purpose. The hotel was clean but the bathrooms did show some wear. I would definitely use this hotel again for a pre or post cruise stay.

 

We used a shuttle to the pier on Saturday morning around 12:30pm for $30 total. We gave our luggage to a porter and walked through the Diamond boarding line security area and right to a waiting agent. I do think that having 2 separate reservations slowed our process slightly as agents on either side of us helped multiple families while ours checked us in. Sea pass cards in hand, we took the walk up the gangway. The boys were saying "awesome" and we had yet to actually step foot on the ship!!! As our Sea Passes "dinged" for the first time, we were told that the cabins were ready approximately one hour after arriving at Port Everglades.

 

We headed to Guest Services to adjust the teenagers' room keys, bought the Royal Replenish for the boys and the Premium drink packages for DH and me. One small glitch that took 2 days to fix was upgrading the boys' package from the AmEx complimentary soda package to the Royal Replenish. So be sure to keep an eye on your account if you are expecting any adjustmentsy or credit.

 

We dropped our carry-ons and went to Deck 13 to sign the sports waivers for the boys. This line did take at least 30 minutes. The Sports Deck was already hopping with basketball and Flow Rider swimmers.

 

I broke normal protocol and skipped the Windjammer and tried Cafe Promenade for lunch thanks to many of you on these boards. No crowds on the Royal Promenade yet!!! Shrimp Roll and a Curry Chicken wrap found its way to the Dog and Badger Pub and finally our Welcome Aboard cocktai, Bloody Mary BLT!! Time was flying by and Muster Drill was called. At 4:30pm we waved goodbye in the direction of the POE webcam (haha) from a very windy helipad.

 

Given a sold out ship, I expected to have to wait for our luggage to arrive. Pleasantly surprised that our luggage was all accounted for and in our cabins by sail away. We unpacked, cleaned up and headed out to enjoy our first evening on board.

 

Next up: day 2 and entertainment overview, dining and more!

[SF]

Looking forward to your other reviews as we are sailing Independence again in March. :)

 

Do you happen to know how much the internet is for an extra day? We do get two days free but may need some extra time.

Edited December 25, 2015 by SF

[alexkrn46]

Will be on the ship in February thanks for your review.

[JamesEM]

Following along.

[FinallyCruisinIn2014]

Looking forward to the rest! We sail this itinerary next weekend!!

[Esahuma]

Thank you for this - we are doing Indy B2B out of Galveston Jan 2017

 

Merry Christmas to each of you- may your day be filled with family - friends - fun and all your heart's desires!

[blonde375]

Looking forward to your other reviews as we are sailing Independence again in March. :)

 

Do you happen to know how much the internet is for an extra day? We do get two days free but may need some extra time.

 

DH purchased wifi on Day 3 after we returned from Cozumel. He paid $35 for the remainder of cruise for 1 device. He said the connection "sucked". He was using his iPhone 6s+. he really thought he wasted the money. People were complaining at Guest Services about it.

[blonde375]

Looking forward to the rest! We sail this itinerary next weekend!!

 

I will do my best to write more tonight! Christmas is getting in my way...in way to in-laws as I type!!

[Plunkebe]

Really enjoying this review. Looking forward to the rest. Thank you for sharing.

[blonde375]

Thanks for reading!! Hope everyone has had a great Christmas Day!

[blonde375]

Day 2 started out as cloudy and rainy with a little rockin' and rolling. After breakfast in the MDR, the weather had cleared enough to warrant grabbing a chair at the pool. The main pool deck was very crowded and the chair savers were out in full force. I opted for the Solarium and was lucky to find a chair. The bar servers were attentive and timely. Around 1pm I wandered over to the main pool and found a couple chairs for me and DH. We watched the NFL football games on the big screen. For us, this was a much desired typical sea day....pool, sun, reading, sleeping and drinking! Lol. Our boys spent the day on the sports court playing basketball and golf and ping pong in the teen "living room". We didn't see them all day! We headed to the cabin around 5:30 to relax and clean up for the evening. This was formal night and based upon what I had been reading on these forums, I was surprised to see so many people dressed up! It was really nice! The ship decorated so festively, families dressed up and taking pictures, it made for a very enjoyable evening. The boys obliged and donned ties and patiently waited in line for our special photos. We enjoyed dinner together and then they returned to the teen area and DH and I danced the night away in Boleros.

 

Next up: Belize and zip lining

[blonde375]

Food/Dining:

I have always chosen late seating for dinner. However, after now traveling with DS, I think My Time Dining will be a better fit next time. 8:30pm was great for DH and I but the boys thought it was too late and it cut into a lot of the Teen activities that were planned. Our requested table for 4 was granted and a nice window location assigned on Deck 4 Macbeth dining room. Our waiter and assistant waiter were very good. The boys were impressed when they were greeted by name each evening and when their drink choices were remembered. Ahh, the littles things about cruising that make you feel special!!

 

We ate breakfast Sunday morning in the MDR....not impressed. DH had cold pancakes and bacon and sausage. My omelette was definitely better than his, but the process was very slow. We opted for room service or Windjammer for the rest of the cruise. Morning room service was always on time and hot. Love having a wake up call with coffee delivered!!

 

Cafe Promenade was great for grabbing quick breakfast for ports or for quick lunch/snack. Good muffins, croissants, bagels in the morning, wraps, sandwiches and cookies, desserts in the afternoon/evening. Specialty coffees were available but I never did order any since I had access to the Diamond Lounge and the lattes there wore enjoyable for me.

 

Dinners were all tasty. I, my DS and his friend enjoyed our selections each evening much more than my DH. Not that he thought anything was inedible by any means, just never blew him away. Highlights were the Shrimp Ravioli, Lobster Tail, Beef Tenderloin, Escargots, Bay Scallops AuGratin, Lamb Shank, Prime Rib, Lobster Bisque, Caprese Salad, BB Creme Brûlée, Strawberry Cheesecake, Molten Chocolate soufflé, Grand Marnier Soufflé, and the cheesy rolls. Ben & Jerry's ice cream was a hit with the boys as was the pizza at Sorrentos.

 

I am gluten intolerant and find that the ship does their very best to accommodate this in the MDR. Each evening I was shown the next evenings menu and made my selection. I enjoyed every evening's dinner except for the eggplant Parmesan...it was tough and very dry IMO. The only place I feel the GF options fall short is for dessert.

 

Bar service was good overall in all the lounges and by the pool. We never experienced a wait or felt neglected. We also didn't notice a change in attitude or service once the server saw that we had the beverage package. We also noted that the drinks were definitely well made; not slight on the alcohol at all. Favorites cocktails included BLT Bloody Mary in Dog & Badger, Pedro Collins in Schooner Bar, Ocean Breeze and Captains Bahama Mama (drink of the day), Hennessy Manhattan, BBC, and Mango Lava Flow.

 

Side notes: breakfast in MDR was always on Deck 3; My Time Dining was on Deck 5 of the dining room, Ben & Jerry's was not always open, Johnny Rockets burgers were good but really greasy (even in the opinion of the 16 yr olds!)

[blonde375]

This was our first time to Belize. It is a tender port. Tender tickets are required if you are not on a ship sponsored shore excursion. This was new for me. Tickets were distributed at 8:30am in the pyramid Lounge on deck 5. Passengers started lining up prior to 8am; I got in line at 8:05am and still ended up getting group 9. I do not know how many people were in each group, but I do know that there were at least 11 groups. Tendering began at 9am and started with groups 1,2 and 3. Our Group 9 wasn't called until 10:45am. The Cruise Director was announcing that they were given 7 tenders, fewer than they expected and that it was creating the delay in moving the passengers.

 

So word of advice, if going ashore on your own or booking private tours, line up earlier than 8:05am to get your tickets. And, only 1 person from your party needs to line up.

 

We had booked a cave tubing and zip lining combo tour with Cavetubing.bz. None of us had done either of these activities before. Vitalino Reyes was very helpful, responsive and thorough throughout the inquiry and booking process. He mentioned that the tendering process can be slow and other than "come off ship as soon as you can", we had no set time to meet. Our tour was to be 5 hours, $75 each including lunch.

 

When we finally got onto shore, the guide was waiting in the yellow polo shirt as promised. We were told that the river was too high and that the National Park officials had closed the river/caves to tubing. Our price was reduced to $50 and we headed on our way in a van with Manuel as our guide and another party of 5. The ride was approx 1 hour to the jungle to the zip line area. Once there we were suited up with our gear. The adventure begins with climbing a steep set of steps that are a combo of stone and wood. This climb takes you to the first platform. The guides were very good with making sure that the we were informed and understood what we were doing. After the first line, you climb to the next platform, and then the next, and then there is a suspension bridge to cross a ravine and then the line takes you across the river. Very cool!!. Pack bug spray!! I admit that I was scared on the first two lines, but I did have a great time and was enjoying it by the end. The boys absolutely loved it!! Manuel then took us to lunch at the main park area of Cavetubing.bz. Spicy chicken, rice and beans were served with rum punch or soda and water. Lunch was short as we were pressed for time. We headed back to port and got there with 20 minutes to spare. Last tender was at 4pm. We had no time to shop or see anything else, but the pier area looked nice. Back on board we headed up to Diamond Lounge for hors d'ouvers and sail away.

 

We caught the last 15 minutes of the headline show, Finis. Wish we could have seen the whole thing as he was very good. An impressionist and vocalist, he was very talented. Then dinner and dancing the evening away and walking on deck....perfect ending to a great day.

 

Next up: Cozumel snorkeling and beach

Edited December 26, 2015 by blonde375

[yogimax]

Great review! What is the AMEX complimentary soda package?

[Clarea]

Enjoying the review. No photos?

[Keith1010]

Enjoying the review.

Keith

[blonde375]

Enjoying the review. No photos?

 

Bob, I have to get them uploaded, hopefully today. Will post a few.

How was Brilliance?

Edited December 26, 2015 by blonde375

[blonde375]

Great review! What is the AMEX complimentary soda package?

 

Our booking with Amex provided priority boarding for our family, complimentary Johnny Rockets cover charge for 4, and two youth soda packages and $200 onboard credit. Honestly, we didn't even know of the perks when we chose to book the one cabin with them. DH did it to utilize points to pay for that cabin. The incentives were still offered even with paying with points which was also something new for me.

[blonde375]

Entertainment on board:

The Welcome Aboard show included a comedian, Jim Colliton, who was very funny. The headliner was Finis. He was very talented and put on a good show of vocals and impersonations. We did not attend any of the production shows or the ice show. The singer/guitar player, Damian Joyce, in The Dog and Badger played a nice set list. The Schooner Bar piano player, Simon John, was very good, but I was disappointed in the crowd there every evening...quiet and reserved, unlike some Schooner Bars I've experienced. No sing-a-longs any night we were there. The Boleros Lounge band alternated between Hot Sands for an island sound and the Latin band, Dominican Quartet. Both very entertaining and kept us on our feet on the dance floor. The late night DJ dancing was in The Labrynth. Good tunes, but small crowds each time we went. Olive or Twist band, Undercover, on Deck 14 fell short for us. Although very talented, the band just wasn't our style. We really liked the DJ dance club when it was up there on Grandeur and when I was on Radiance. If there was a dance night up there this trip, sadly we missed it. The Quest was as hilarious and raucous as always, definitely a must see.

 

The boys spent all their time on the sports deck courts, mini golf, rock climbing wall, arcade and Xbox tournaments in the teen living room. Security would send the teens back to cabins or at least hallways at 1am

[Clarea]

Entertainment on board:

The Welcome Aboard show included a comedian, Jim Colliton, who was very funny. The headliner was Finis. He was very talented and put on a good show of vocals and impersonations....

We've seen Finis Henderson a couple of times and still think he's one of the best shows we've ever seen on a cruise ship.

[blonde375]

We were up early to meet our snorkel tour at 9am. We got to see our approach to Cozumel as well as Carnival's, Princess, and Liberty, Brilliance, NCL and at least one more. We booked a 3 reef snorkel with Cozumel snorkel dot net. We received good communication and directions on where and who to meet once we docked. We met Carla at 9am in front of Martis Sports just a short walk from the International Terminal entrance. There was another group of 9 from our ship waiting for her as well. It appeared that there was a mix up with their reservation due to the time change or lack of time change now in Cozumel. It also appeared that this company was having a bad day....boats that wouldn't start, employees not showing up on time. Once we walked through a hotel area to get to a small pier right by the ships, we waited over 90 minutes for a boat. It was a fiasco. I had researched to find a less crowded tour that had a boat large enough to still have a bathroom on the boat. However we kept being offered panga boats; the group of 9 also there that morning were sent off ahead of us without us in a boat that held at least 13. I do feel that Carla did her very best under the circumstances and given that we either waited or didn't go at all, we waited it out. Instead of being on a smaller boat with few people we ended up on a catamaran with over 40 pax. Once we got going, the snorkeling at the the first reef just south of the cruise ships was great. A little crowded in water but not uncomfortable. However, then we had to go back to the pier to pick up an additional 10-15 passengers. Now head out again to the second snorkel stop to be told that the boat didn't have enough life vests for us to snorkel. Given this was a drift snorkel in deeper water, my family didn't feel comfortable not using a jacket. The last reef stop was El Cielo. The boat stopped and we had to jump off the boat if we wanted to get to El Cielo. Finally on our way back to the pier, we had made arrangements to be dropped at Paradise Beach. We arrived there, found 4 chairs easily, it was about 2:30. We ordered large margaritas, 1 small margarita, nachos, steak tacos, buffalo chicken wrap, and pizza...$108. Nice, clean bathrooms and shower area. We left about 4pm in a taxi ($15) to have some time to shop at the pier.

 

Back on board, we headed to the Diamond Lounge for sail away. Dinner was lobster night in the MDR. Tonight was The Quest in Studio B.

 

Next up: last day at sea

[blonde375]

On our last day at sea, I hate to admit that I became one of those chair hogs. The first sea day taught me my lesson! Lol. I grabbed a couple towels and two chairs then headed to Windjammer for some quick breakfast with DH. The spa was advertising a special on a 5 step treatment so after breakfast I checked in at my chairs and then decided to see it they had an appointment open. DH went back to cabin to work and the boys were getting ready for the 3 on 3 basketball tourney. I walked into the spa and was told they had an opening immediately....never had that happen!!! The treatment was very nice and I enjoyed the conversation with the therapist, Megan. 90 minutes later I was back on the pool chair where I remained for the rest of the day!! Perfect sea day!!

 

Back to the cabin after sunset and one last visit to the Diamond Lounge, we headed back to do the dreaded packing. We cleaned up for one final evening of last minute shopping, picking out photos, dinner and dancing. The boys headed out after dinner for one last evening with their new friends.

 

I always stay up as late as possible on our last evening. It's almost like I feel if I don't go to bed, it won't end. Our balcony was the perfect place to while alway the hours...the moon was full and the clouds had cleared from the sky, the lights on the shore flickered in the distance. Hard to believe it would be Christmas Eve when we awoke.

 

Next up: debarkation and final thoughts

[blonde375]

Our Stateroom:

Not as bad of a location as I was worried about. 7686 and 7688 are D3 balcony cabins on the port side aft about 2/3 of the way down. I was concerned about the smaller size cabin for DH. I have always stayed in this size cabin, but DH had only experienced a JS. He said it was just fine as long as we always had a balcony! ;););) Having done a aft balcony out the back of the Grandeur I was prepared for the long walk. This was closer than I thought to the stairs and the aft elevators. Deck 7 was nice as it was centrally located between the pool deck and the Promenade on deck 5. Room was always clean, no complaints. We never really saw our cabin steward. The balcony was an average size with 2 chairs and a table. The frosted glass partition between our balcony and our son's was easy to slide open. Nothing will ever beat that JS aft balcony that we had on the Grandeur but this was just fine. The boys liked the balcony as well and when asked whether they'd prefer an interior for the sleeping darkness, they promptly said "no". Great...we created Balcony Snobs on their first trip!! No looking back now!:eek:

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to post a review.

[blonde375]

No one is ever happy on this day, and the crowd on this trip was no exception. We went for breakfast with the throngs in the Windjammer. By 8am, seats were hard to come by. We had received #8 luggage tags so I knew we had a while to wait. Diamonds were supposed to wait in Pyramid Lounge but we just hung out in the less crowded Promenade. Time was crawling by and yet only self debarkation was being allowed to leave ship. No C&A staff kept those waiting in the lounge informed so I went to guest services to check on the delay. We had a 12:25pm flight out of FLL and I was starting to get anxious. Guest Services said that there was an issue with the ship porting and then customs, but they certainly weren't keeping us informed.

 

We finally started the walk down the stairs about 10am. As we gave our sea passes to "ding" one last time, my DH's set off an alarm. We were escorted to the side and told to wait for Guest Services to escort us to customs. No reason why, not even a comment of it being a random security check. Escorted through customs to our luggage, we were then taken to the customs office where we were asked if we had declared everything on our customs form...... Mind you, no one had even checked our customs form yet. Turns out that the sea pass card had been flagged because DH had purchased a watch. It was the large purchase amount on the sea pass card that had created the flag. Basically customs making sure that you were declaring everything. Once that was cleared, we were in a taxi in minutes and at the airport and through security by 11am.

 

I felt like the whole sea pass card alarm was a really stinky way of RCCL reporting the purchases to customs and customs basically expecting people to be dishonest. Here's a suggestion, US customs, how about checking the customs dec form before assuming that someone hasn't declared their purchase!!