3/1-3/17 Indepandance of the Seas

[bell777]

I have cruised over 18 times all but 3 with RCL and the rest with Carnival. I consider myself knowledgeable in cruising based on the above but my review is just based on my personal experience and everyone is different.

 

I booked my cruise with RCL directly being Diamond Crown and Anchor member I thought I would get the perks up and personal. I booked 3 Promenade rooms on deck 6, more about that later. As usual booking was no problem as I knew what i wanted and the cost based on the internet.

 

Customer service booking as i said was great but when i called back on other occasions regarding getting obc for guest referrals I was given the run around until the day before the cruise. And when i called because of a drop in price no honor there , it was excuse after excuse. So needless to say I was getting nervous about the customer service on board since on land was bad. I did find the service on board great other then yes, GUEST services, more about that later.

 

NEXT

[bell777]

So we chose to go with Park and Go and pay online to get a discount rather then to park at the port. Parking as usual was easy and fast and they shuttle my husband back to the port where he had dropped us off with the luggage as to avoid all of us from having to ride the shuttle. As usual everything was fine and the car was save dusty and fine.

 

We arrived at the port round 1130 and the line was already long. Customer checkin was clueless as to what they are doing and the lines just keep getting longer and longer. Finally after registering in cash for 6 of us, it took over 30 minutes and so we went to the 3rd line to get on board. Being Diamond member i expected to be ahead of the hundreds of people in line but no one said anything so I asked and then OH yes this way and we were given a separate area with no WOW factor of a cup of water or reception recognition.

 

Finally on board 130 and went to the Windjammer for lunch.

[bell777]

The Promenade room was great. I love to people watch and it was clean and the gentleman that did our room was very polite and nice. I asked for ice and everyday i had ice in the bucket. I had no problems my daughter however had to go to guest service 3 times to ask the a/c be repaired to no avail. Once again customer or guest service was terrible and rude to her. Her cabin outside of that was great but a hot room makes for an uncomfortable situation. I found the bed a bit hard for my liking but not terrible. The college kids next door were a bit loud but kept it down after 12 midnight so not too bad.

[bell777]

We had assigned seating on deck 3 at 6pm which was great for us as we are early birds. The dining room normally took around one to one and half hours to complete and the dinner were hit and miss with the food being average but always room temperature never hot and desert not so good except the ice cream. Lobster lovers you can only order one and once the dining room is done eating you can request a second and if they have enough then and only then can you have a second. And if you order the appetizer scallops order 2 they are the size of a nickle and you get 2 I guess seafood prices have gone up. None the less the food and service was good and the assistant was great and funny.

Edited March 19, 2016 by bell777

[bell777]

The main reason i booked this cruise was because we love the Promenade and all the amenities on the ships. This did not disappoint the basketball court was a full court for my son and his friend. The Solarium pool was great and nice and cold and clean. The Flowrider was a blast to watch. The evening pool movies was fun but the kids playing at 9pm were loud and it made it hard to listen to the movie. The main pool was way too full of kids and college spring breaker but as long as we had the solarium i was happy. For those whom want a chair there are plenty but the pool area chair hogs are there early but the other decks have plenty of chairs.

[bell777]

Casino, we love to play but to lose so fast so quickly is not cool. The machines are very very tight we lost all our monies and then some except on hit on the ladybug. The only thing we won on was roulette yes thats right roulette. I won 150.00 and my husband won 275.00 all was given back to the machines and then as a casino perk we received on handy dandy t shirt and 14.00 machine credit I hope we didn t break the bank. Very disappointed with the casino.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the review.

[PraetorianGuard]

I was on the 3/12 cruise. Are waiter told us to order multiple lobster and brought them right away.

 

The College kids were a bit annoying at times. They would come sit at a table in casino and disrupt past. It was fun watching them come sit at a table and ask for ten dollars on their seapass card. You can't get that little and why waist time for one hand. We had big group below is on a suite bit the were very quiet

[Newbcruiser1]

Thanks for your posts!

 

Sailing on the Indy transatlantic cruise in May!

 

Can you answer a few questions if you have a moment please?

 

- were the mattresses the new ones (I guess you'd only know based on the lack of dips in them from wear and tear). Was just on the Anthem and really enjoyed the new mattresses, and the fact I could sleep in the middle of the two beds without feeling a ridge (I'm sailing solo).

 

- how deep were the pools? I'm vertically challenged and a non-swimmer so I won't get in unless they're shallow enough for me to comfortably stand. Were they heated?

 

- do the pool decks still have that awful green or blue turf-type surface or is it all flooring now? (Don't ask how this is relevant! Lol! The turf surface kind of grosses me out thinking of the inability to clean it, and the squishiness when wet).

 

- any trouble getting a table in the Windjammer when you wanted one?

 

- any tips?!

 

Thanks in advance!!!

[Keith1010]

Enjoying your report/review.

 

Keith

[Mark-Sheffield]

Enjoying your review :)

[bell777]

Reply to Newcruiser1

 

The beds are not new at all.

 

Pool was on the deep end 6 feet and i think 4 feet on the shallow side.

 

The Windjammer was full mainly on the first day and the last morning and because the tables are not cleaned and we ended up just picking up the plates and moving them to another table in order to be able to sit and eat. The other days there was always a table available and they really push the hand cleaner before entering which i thought was great.

 

There is plenty to do just keep an eye on the daily agenda as you can miss shows and events easily, bring a highlighter and highlight what you want to see daily.

 

Drinks are very expensive thank goodness for the free drinks in the Diamond Club as the beers are almost $8 each with gratuities 6.5 + 18% and the drinks are 10.95 plus 18% and thats the drink of the day so its probably more for another drink.

 

I alway bring disinfecting spray for the room when we first get there in the event that the previous cruiser was sick. I do this in winter only as many people were sick and coughing and unless you have a balcony the last person there being sick could make for a bad week. I also bring my own pillow case if you ever look at the pillows without the case you will know why.

 

 

 

I

[bell777]

Continuing of cruise review

 

The second day was formal night which i think is great since we were out to sea all day. We did the usual eat , sleep, casino, people watch and sport. Make sure you get the info on the skating show so that you dont miss it. Took some pictures listen to music and bit dancing at the Bolero club which was great they had some 3 little old ladies about 70-80 line dancing they were great, The waiter there was nice and made great drinks and then time for a night stroll and a outside movie.

[bell777]

Best is yet to come Cozmel.

 

We arrived on time and the weather could not have been better. Getting off was not too bad and we took a taxi to Chankanab Park. This park is expensive but well worth the price to me the taxi was $4 a person and 21.00 to enter the park but you can get a $2 coupon online. They have a great massage special of $35 for 2 people under a tiki on the beach for 25 minutes. The drinks and food were very well priced and the water OMG was beautiful clear lots of fish but make sure you can swim if you enter by the rocks as it goes straight to 6 feet and then another 10 feet away goes down to 20 ft. (bring your own snorkling gear as renting is expensive) and yes there are other swimming areas were the water is not so deep,

 

I will post lot of pictures of this beach later as i have to go but it is now up there with one of my favorite places to go.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[bell777]

Cozmel photo

 

 

 

[bell777]

Sorry about the photo but i seem to be having a tough time with the posting of photos.

 

So after swimming and getting a massage we were very hungry and wanted to experience a nice authentic restaurant and off to LA MISSION in downtown we went. The exchange rate is 1 us for 18 pesos and the food is well priced. We ordered way too much food as the food portions are huge. We ordered 6 of us chicken burritos and beef burritos and fried snapper bunch of other stuff couple of beers a pina collada ,6 sodas and 2 orders of chips and guacamole. After all said and done total us $94 for all of us. The whole snapper is not on the menu but i thinks is was us $13. The large lobster is $21 i believe.

[bell777]

Cozmel has lots of nice shops and negotiating is always a must but fyi costa maya has better prices on the silver items and cigars.

 

I have to mention that when we left on the taxi from the park to la mission my daughter left her 800.00 phone in the taxi and the staff called relentlessly until they located the cab we were riding in and they returned our phone and delivered it not even in the states can you expect this kind of honesty. thank you so much. Everyone was well tipped and thanked from the bottom of our hearts. Cozmel will always have a warm feeling of kind people for us.

 

So we shopped purchased some silver and trinkets and back to the ship where we went and sent some time in the solarium pool and back to the room for shower and nap.

[bell777]

On to Costa Maya were I have never been and was worried about which place we would end up.

 

We ate breakfast and went to Mahalal Beach. The taxi ride was $3 dollars there and $2 back not sure why the difference but okay if thats the fee so be it.

This is not Cozmel so dont expect the same it is an up and coming island which tries hard and fight for your dollar. They are nice but the constant asking if you want to buy is a bit annoying but just say no and they just move on and are not aggresive towards you like some of the other islands.

 

From all the station we decided to go with Crazy Lobster as it was the one with the most crew. We did walk all the way down and purchase little bits of something from other vendors. Later we got a table with a side hammock free of charge. The beach was nice and not a lot of seaweed unless you go in deep but no were near as nice as Cozmel but still nice and free. More about Crazy lobster and photos

[Clarea]

Cozmel has lots of nice shops and negotiating is always a must but fyi costa maya has better prices on the silver items and cigars.....

We have found the same with regard to silver prices.

[bell777]

Crazy lobster was hit and miss i did not like the fact that when you ask for prices they say difference prices depending on who you ask. Example when you walk by they say 25.00 for an hour and when we sat and ask the guy taking drink orders he said 35.00 for an hour same company, so beware, ask first, negotiate second.

So they have a bucket of 5 beers for $5 carona, xx or sol keep them coming. We also got a coco loco which was good but much better in Cozmel. We also order some food and guacamole which was good and the service was fairly good as well. My husband and I both had a massage but it was just ok as they kept talking to each other which made for interrupted tranquility.

 

The prices on the silver is very good but you must negotiate to get it down. We only encountered one rude vendor which got mad when we walked away and start yelling in spanish and guess what i knew exacting what he was saying and it wasnt nice. Crab

 

They play music and offer internet but is doesnt work.

 

Back at the port the massages are 55.00 a person and they have live music and lots of shops and a pool very nice but once again you are in port and pay more for everything.

[bell777]

Regarding previous post on lobster. You either had a better waiter or last seating at dinner.

Edited March 20, 2016 by bell777

[PraetorianGuard]

We had first seating. It waiter Ricky was awesome.