Live from Independence of the Seas

[vegasgal47]

Enjoying review! Will be on the ship the end of April. Thanks!

 

Interested in how embarkation and disembarkation went!

 

I've been reading not so good reviews on that.

[Peeker28]

Here is what is open for lunch on embarkation day:

 

Cafe Promenade - open at 11:00am

Sorrento's - open at 11:00am

Windjammer - open at 11:30am

Johnny Rockets - open at noon

 

Bars open:

 

Boleros - open at 11:00 am

Dog & Badger Pub - open at 11:00am

Champagne Bar - open at 11:00am

Pool Bar - open at 11:00am

They Sky Bar - open at 11:00am

 

All venues close 15 minutes before muster

[Peeker28]

Captain - Thore Thorolvsen

Cruise Director - Bobby Brown

Guest Services Manager - Nick Vranizan

Hotel Director - Christos Karavos

[Peeker28]

We decided to carry our luggage off, we left our stateroom at 8:20am and waited for an elevator, none of them were going down so we decided to take our luggage down from deck 8 to deck 1! Yuck I won't do that again!! There was a line around deck 3 but it moved rather quickly. We were completely through customs and outside by 9:00 am. Our experience was smooth

[dcgrumpy]

How is Bobby Brown?

[Peeker28]

We had such a great cruise! Indy is a wonderful ship, the staff for the most part was great. I talked to some passengers and they complained about the friendliness and the food. Both are subjective, I am not picky when it comes to food and the four of us loved everything!!

 

The staff, while not everyone was over the top friendly it never put a damper on our vacation. These employees work 11-12 hours a day 7 days a week for months and it's hard to be constantly happy every second of the day. We always had a great meal and our room was always cleaned.

 

Our belief, a vacation is what you make of it and we had the best time. The ship is awesome and was very clean. I wish the pool deck wasn't as crowded as it was on sea days but we always managed to find a place to sit. There were plenty of activities and the shows were great.

 

I am going on Anthem in June and will try to do another live review. I will work on trying to figure out how to upload pictures for the Anthem one.

 

If you have any questions please ask

[Peeker28]

How is Bobby Brown?

 

Not my favorite, but he was very entertaining. Everyone on the entertainment staff was great, no complaints.

[ratfam]

Thanks for your review we leave shortly on Indy and are pleased to hear the good things you have to say, we totally agree with you that vacations are what you make of them! You will love Anthem as well, we were lucky enough to sail last summer. The internet on Anthem is far superior to anything we have had on our other RCCL cruises, so I think you will finds pictures to be much easier to manage!

[2BSailin]

Thank you for the wonderful review - very helpful! We are sailing on the Indy three weeks from tomorrow so all the info is just what we need, plus making us all excited!!

[Peeker28]

Thank you for the wonderful review - very helpful! We are sailing on the Indy three weeks from tomorrow so all the info is just what we need' date=' plus making us all excited!![/quote']

 

Enjoy your cruise!! Indy is a wonderful ship

[fyrfyterwife]

Thank you for the wonderful review - very helpful! We are sailing on the Indy three weeks from tomorrow so all the info is just what we need' date=' plus making us all excited!![/quote']

 

We will be cruising on that same day. We are really looking forward to this cruise.

 

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

[fyrfyterwife]

Now that I am finally caught up with this review, it is day 3 of our short 5 day cruise. 5 days is way to short, I feel like the cruise is almost over.

 

This morning we had breakfast in the dining room, I had pancakes and bacon. Very good. I have had no issues with the food this whole trip so far.

 

I have never been to Belize and I have never been to a tender port. I told my husband I wanted to do a Royal excursion because I didn't want to get left behind. We chose to do the Barrier Reef snorkel and Starfish Island. We had to be in Studio B around 8:45 am. They made some announcements, we waited around and then finally time to go to deck 1. Once on deck 1 more waiting around, waiting around and then onto the boat for our excursion.

 

I do not get into the ocean, my husband does. I will say that no excursion will be perfect for everyone. People were complaining that they didn't get to snorkel as long as they liked, one person complained the water was too cold. Hey, I'm on a boat in the middle of the world life could be worse. My husband thought the snorkel time was just right. After everyone was on the boat it was time to head to starfish island. This is a really cute island, the weather was perfect, they had drinks and food. the bathrooms were modern and clean. Lots of chairs and a covered area to eat. They also had a nice play area for younger kids.

 

We walked around the island and saw a starfish in the ocean, pretty cool.

 

Once we got back on the boat we headed for the ship. Some people were going to go get on another tender and go into Belize but we were tired and hungry so Windjammer it was.

 

Currently still in our holding position in Belize. Everyone should be back on board by 4:30 pm. My DH is taking a nap as I type this and I am about to get cleaned up for dinner. Our plans tonight are to see the Headliner show staring Greg London. I will check in later and let you know how that is. Any questions, just ask and I will do my best to answer.

 

Do you think there would be enough time to take a tender over to Belize City and still get back on the ship after this excursion?

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

[Peeker28]

Do you think there would be enough time to take a tender over to Belize City and still get back on the ship after this excursion?

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

 

Yes, a few people did that. You are only on Starfish island for an hour. YOu have to get off the tour boat and check back in on the ship and then you can go on the tender to Belize

[FSUNole]

We decided to carry our luggage off, we left our stateroom at 8:20am and waited for an elevator, none of them were going down so we decided to take our luggage down from deck 8 to deck 1! Yuck I won't do that again!! There was a line around deck 3 but it moved rather quickly. We were completely through customs and outside by 9:00 am. Our experience was smooth

 

Were there any other ships in that day? Do you recall what pier you disembarked?

[Peeker28]

Were there any other ships in that day? Do you recall what pier you disembarked?

 

We embarked and disembarked at pier 25. On the day we disembarked there was a Silver Seas ship. The day we embarked there were 2 Princess ships, and Oasis. We left on a Sat and came back on a Thursday

[GrayMaineCruiser]

Loved reading your review, we will be doing Indy next January. Only cruised twice before so far, both on Enchantment so this will be a "big" ship for us. But after your review sounds like we should have a good time.

[Peeker28]

We prefer the bigger ships, my husband loved Oasis and we will probably go back on her in 2018.

 

There is a lot to do on Indy. My mom went to a few of the trivia days and she said she had such a good time.

[Robotcake]

Regarding Starfish Island, do you have to leave the island at a set time or can you go back to the ship at any time?

 

Thanks for the review. We head on the same ship and itinerary in a few weeks.

[Peeker28]

Regarding Starfish Island, do you have to leave the island at a set time or can you go back to the ship at any time?

 

Thanks for the review. We head on the same ship and itinerary in a few weeks.

 

 

We were on the island for one hour, you have to leave when the tour leaves. It was about a 20 min ride back to the ship from starfish island. If you want to buy any food or drinks it's cash only we waited and ate on the ship.

[Mark-Sheffield]

We are on Indy next month and somebody told me that the emergency muster drill has changed ? When we were last on Indy everyone ship wide had to go to the Promenade deck and report at their muster station. Has that changed to different venues around the ship ? Many thanks.

[Peeker28]

We are on Indy next month and somebody told me that the emergency muster drill has changed ? When we were last on Indy everyone ship wide had to go to the Promenade deck and report at their muster station. Has that changed to different venues around the ship ? Many thanks.

 

Our muster station was outside and it looked like most of the people went outside, I think we were on deck 4 and where we stood the lifeboats were right above us. It's cramped and one woman was complaining and kept rolling her eyes. It lasted about 5 minutes and that was it.

[Mark-Sheffield]

Our muster station was outside and it looked like most of the people went outside, I think we were on deck 4 and where we stood the lifeboats were right above us. It's cramped and one woman was complaining and kept rolling her eyes. It lasted about 5 minutes and that was it.

 

Many thanks for that, sounds like it was before.

[CP3o]

Thanks for your review. How were the beds on Indy? Seems like there are reports of old sagging beds, new rock hard beds, and soft memory foam beds on various ships.

[Peeker28]

I thought the beds were very comfortable, no complaints

[Tobleronebar]

Thanks for your review. How were the beds on Indy? Seems like there are reports of old sagging beds, new rock hard beds, and soft memory foam beds on various ships.

 

I was on her last week and we all loved the harder bed!