(Slightly less so) Cheapo dad's trip report on Independence of the Seas

[harryfat1]

Day 10 – December 30, 2017

 

Miami tour/time to go home

 

 

 

Before I forget, here is the "As you depart" info. Or as I call it "Good bye. Good riddance. We got all your vacation money. Now get off of our ship ASAP so we can entertain the next set of suckers with money to burn. Don't trip on the gangway on the way out as our liability insurance won't cover ex passengers..."

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

So you can see from the list that group 1 is for people that have tours booked. We are supposed to meet at the theater at 8 AM, so that implies we need to get up butt early and eat breakfast and get ready.

 

Here is a crappy picture at 6:18 AM through the dirty stained porthole as the ship sailed back into FLL and not yet docked as you can see we are maybe another 100 feet from the pier. So the captain was able to go fast at 21+ knots to get us back by the 7 AM scheduled time.

 

Woke up the rest of the tired fam and dragged everyone out of bed and headed for WJ

 

 

Now that we are back to the real world, it's important to know what day of the week

 

 

 

Last breakfast at WJ

 

[RickinStl]

Hi, Pat,

 

Thanks for the compliment.

 

I think I am an "acquired taste" in terms of what people view my writing style. I'm like the escargot of trip writers. Some people will say "Ewww, Hell no" or they find it interesting. Not too many middle grounds.

 

Thanks for reading all my trip reports. I think you need to go on a cruise soon if you read all of them as you evidently have time to kill, my friend.

 

As RCI rewards their followers with point system for coming back, maybe you can earn Cheapo points (or peasant points) for reading every one of the reports such that if I ever get to 10 trip reports, you will earn a certificate for a buffet at WJ...

 

That's the funniest thing I've read on here.. I've been following this for over a month.. Harry, you're one of the most sarcastic people I've ever read.. and I've loved every post and pic you've posted.. On my review/report/brag about the Empress next month I hope that I can capture what you have put into words..

 

Thanks

Rick Homeier

[harryfat1]

So we are back at FLL.

 

For those that actually remember way back on day 1 of this trip report (seems like a 3 years, no?), we boarded the ship at terminal 18. But coming back, we are at terminal 29 as terminal 18 is for Allure/Harmony on weekends.

 

Of course, that meant if you are parked by terminal 18, you have to take a shuttle back to that parking lot. We had this discussion at our roll call pre cruise as people were wondering how to get from one terminal to another.

 

When we disembarked, one woman next to us looked out and became disoriented as said the area didn't look familiar as when she embarked 10 days ago. I told her we are at a different pier and she wasn't too happy to hear that and had to find someone to help her.

 

So the take home lesson here is go to to the Port Everglades web site about 7 to 10 days before your ship sails to have an idea on what terminal your ship will be docked and plan accordingly.

 

 

Pretty crowded at 7 AM

 

 

Last breakfast pic. Guess as we are being kicked off the ship, they stopped having strawberry toppings for waffles/pancakes on the last day. Instead, I had to settle for the plain syrup.

 

 

Have no fear, plenty of taxi waiting in line at 7:15 AM

 

 

[harryfat1]

That's the funniest thing I've read on here.. I've been following this for over a month.. Harry, you're one of the most sarcastic people I've ever read.. and I've loved every post and pic you've posted.. On my review/report/brag about the Empress next month I hope that I can capture what you have put into words..

 

Thanks

Rick Homeier

 

Hi, Rick,

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

At the end of the day, if you boil away all the pictures and sarcastic comments, what we all have here are just a re-telling of our vacations. A glorified version of "Days of our lives". That is pretty boring on its face value so I just figure I spice it up a bit with some silly comments.

 

Have a great cruise next month. If you still remember me by time you get back, drop by here and give me the link to your trip report. I have yet to read a trip report on the Empress. Does she still go to Cuba?

[harryfat1]

OK, so after breakfast, time to go back to the cabin to gather all our stuff and head for the theater for the 8 AM meet time.

 

The gal on the ship told us to lug our suitcases into the theater with us and then take that off the ship. I don't think so. I'm lazy. I rather just walk off the ship with each of us carrying our backpacks and nothing else. Makes easier for walking.

 

Walking through the empty casino

 

 

Made it to the theater at 7:45. Got our sticker and was told to grab a seat and chill out. Now that we are back to US, we can take our phones off airplane mode and check all the email/texts we missed the past week.

 

Oh, did I mention that I downloaded the Mobile passport app for the phone? I completed our travel info while at breakfast and submitted that to CBP.

 

 

 

[lbjen]

Oh, I didn't know Carl's Jr. has a rip off version. What do they call it?

On road trips, there aren't too many In N Out Burgers on the Interstate, but instead we get the typical boring big name chains so it's good to know of a copy cat version out there.

 

It’s called the California Classic Double.

[harryfat1]

Around 7:50, our tour group number was called and we were told to follow the leader to head out

 

Don't know who was this perpendicular to us

 

 

So as we head out on deck 4 walking toward the gangway, these people followed the direction of the excursion gal and dragged their suitcase with them to the theater and now are dragging it off the ship. I'm lazy. I'll pass.

 

 

OK, remember how happy everyone was 10 days ago when we walked the gangway to get to the ship to start the vacation? Same gangway 10 days later but the mood is 180 degrees opposite

 

[harryfat1]

So we went down to the bottom and collected our suitcase in group 1. Someone had group 4 but was told that group 4 has not be cleared yet so they can't get their suitcase. Be sure to get group 1 tags if you are on the tour.

 

After grabbing our suitcases, we went though customs. There wasn't that long of a line at that time as it was only the tour people and self disembark, but by doing the mobile passport thing, we were directed to go to the right lane and waled straight up to the agent counter with no one in front of us. After having the system scan my phone with the app open, we were cleared quickly.

 

Then came outside and boy was it COLD. Our bodies got used to the heat from the Caribbean islands and didn't realize southern Florida (or the whole region) was experiencing a big cold spell at the time. Of course, we were all in shorts and freezing our butts off as it was around 58 degrees and we were not ready for the cold. We tried to grab a long sleeve shirt with thinking it will warm up soon but it never did. It was almost 20 degrees colder than when we departed 10 days ago.

 

One more pic of Indy

 

 

[Clarea]

Very sad to see the photos of you leaving the ship. This has been a very enjoyable review! Thanks very much.

[harryfat1]

Very sad to see the photos of you leaving the ship. This has been a very enjoyable review! Thanks very much.

 

Hi, Bob,

 

You are welcome. Glad you found the trip report enjoyable.

 

Actually I want to thank you as well since much of the info I provided on pre cruise planning (like emailing to request table assignment) came from you in one of your posts in the past.

 

I know I speak on behalf of all the RCI forum readers here that we appreciate all the hard work you put in providing valuable info day in and day out.

[harryfat1]

For anyone that reads CC on a regular basis, you will likely see every week, someone will post this type of question, "Can I safely catch a 9 or 10 AM flight out of FLL?"

 

So why would someone ask that every week? Is this because they know ahead of time their cruise vacation will suck and they can't wait to get home?

 

Nope, that's because the airfares to fly out of FLL/MIA on weekends is cheaper before 10 AM and after 5 PM. Most of the cruisers prefer the lunch or early afternoon flight home as they like to wake up on the last day of the cruise, have leisurely breakfast and then get to the airport at mid morning and catch a flight within the next 4 hours.

 

Simple supply and demand means earliest and latest flights will be cheapest. So that's why so many people ask about leaving earliest as possible to get off the ship. That's too aggressive for me to pick an early flight so we opted for the later flights.

 

But later flight also means we have to find something to do instead of sitting at the airport all day long staring at our shoe laces. So we opted for the "Hop On Hop Off" (HOHO) Miami tour. We had a choice to choose the HOHO or an "Guided Miami tour". Orgianlly I as favoring the guided tour as it's easier if they take us to places but the fine print said the guided tour is only around 4 plus hours and they drop us off at the airport for lunch.

 

Well, that doesn't work as our flight is at 6 so we don't need to be at MIA that early so we opted for the HOHO instead.

 

In the old days, RCI used to allow cruisers to review the excursion they offer so people can see what other people have to say. But sadly, they stopped doing that so when you book the tour, it's somewhat blind faith on everything will go perfectly. And of course, you know in real life, nothing is ever 100% as expected...

 

So after getting off the ship, we were more or less standing with the group waiting in the cold misty weather. Then the HOHO people came over and tagged each of the suitcases as they have people that will tour MIA but fly back from FLL so they have to separably track all the suitcases.

 

Then thing got confusing as we were told to head for the bus but since there were more than 1 bus, we didn't know which one as there were no drivers inside the bus when we got there. Being frozen butt cold, we opted for the one with covers and like everyone else, just left the suitcase by the side of the bus.

 

Just get in and sit down and be away from the cold

 

 

Those people look cold on the other bus...

 

 

As we were waiting, more emergency vehicles show up. This is not a healthy sailing with people being sick at every turn...

 

 

[harryfat1]

So after sitting around for 20 minutes, they finally have the bus driver and the tour guide show up to sort things out. Some people had to go over to the other bus as that is a different tour. Of course, it would help if they had someone/anyone to guide people on what to do. Unfortunately that is to be the theme with this tour company.

 

Oh, forgot to attach the picture of the workers tagging luggage. Of this blob mess of people, the 2 people in red baseball cap are the workers. Total disorganized process

 

 

So around 8:50 AM, we finally pulled out. Saw these Chiquita containers. I assume they are bananas inside?

 

Bye, Indy. It was a great cruise.

 

 

So are we ready to head for Miami? Ha. Only if life is perfect. Nope. We swung by terminal 18 to pick up Harmony people that signed up for the HOHO from their cruise.

 

 

So as the bus waited, I took a picture of these doors as they were the exact same doors that we walked through back on day 1 of our cruise as we used terminal 18 to board. In essence we have come a full circle. This was 9 AM. No line. Zip. Nada.

 

So for those planning to get to the pier early, just note that if you get there before 9 AM, you are a tad too early. But as you see from our cruise picture at 9:50 AM, there was already a long line, the sweet spot is somewhere between that as they open the door at 10 AM to process the people.

 

 

 

After we gathered all the Harmony people, we headed south on the Freeway for Miami. On the way there, I recognized the FLL airport area and snapped a quick pic of the hotel we stayed at on day 0 way in the back. Seems like eons ago...

 

[harryfat1]

As there was no traffic on a Saturday morning a day before New Year's Eve, we made it to Miami before 10 AM. Miami looks just as cold and gloomy as FLL.

 

 

Check out how those 2 flags being blown by the wind. So it tells you that it's not just cold, but windy cold

 

 

 

[Johnamac123]

....

Edited February 26, 2018 by Johnamac123

[harryfat1]

So we were dropped off at the Bayside market and was told all the HOHO lines start and end here. We can transfer to another line (4 in total). As we had a 6 PM flight, we had to catch the 3 PM shuttle. Think there is a later one at 5 PM for people with a later night flight.

 

So part of the deal is that they store the luggage for us while we tour the city. We were told the next HOHO for Miami Beach will be waiting for us. If we wanted another line (think it was the downtown line), there is a wait for that to arrive. Seeing we didn't have to wait, sounded like it would be easy to do the Miami Beach one as that place is world famous.

 

 

 

 

 

Considering it was butt cold, I wanted to sit downstairs of the double decker bus. But of course my wife wouldn't go for that as she insisted on being on top to get unobstructed picture view for her pictures. So we all went top side instead.

 

It does look nice up top - if you have warm weather, which you typically expect from Miami. Except for that day...

 

 

[lbjen]

Harry I feel like you’re setting us up for a luggage mishap here...

[Clarea]

Hi, Bob,

 

You are welcome. Glad you found the trip report enjoyable.

 

Actually I want to thank you as well since much of the info I provided on pre cruise planning (like emailing to request table assignment) came from you in one of your posts in the past.

 

I know I speak on behalf of all the RCI forum readers here that we appreciate all the hard work you put in providing valuable info day in and day out.

I appreciate the kind words.:)

[cricketgirl]

OK, time for the last dinner at the MDR. Tonight’s menu is the “S” word mushroom. I can’t spell it out as the software will * it out thinking I was using the 4 letter S word instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmmm, well I see they've changed it to Shrimp Goyza and I'm happy to see it's an option on the menu this time. Am improvement for sure! :)

[Sobro]

Harry - I have an extra day on the graph to represent the disembarkation day and your trip home. On your 9 day cruise, this would be day 10. If you stay an extra day (like I think you did for your Allure trip), I added yet another day. You actually had two pre-days...your travel day that started in CA, and your day on Florida. The last "day" on each graph (with the uptick) is all the extra posts that happen after you officially get home in your story. There are always a lot of extra post asking questions and thanking you for your efforts.

 

I updated the graph now that you've officially started day 7. You were 30 posts ahead of my estimate for day 6, and the predicted total is now 1776. No pressure.

 

Post count at 1445. Where do I go to complain and get some OBC?

[joand452]

We did this same tour on December 10, after our Carnival Vista cruise. It was freezing! Of course, we didn't have any appropriate clothing. Only my husband was smart enough to drag his winter coat from home (outside Washington, DC) onto the ship. I had a sweater underneath a "gym-"type zip up, with another sweater on top. The couple traveling with us had even less -- she was wearing capris and ballet flats. I at least had socks and sneakers with jean capris. We had to sit up top, too. Otherwise, what's the point!! Traveling over the bridge was the worst -- so windy! But I'm still glad we did it. Now I'd like to spend a couple of nights in South Beach -- do they let old people stay there?

 

I'm looking forward to the rest of the story -- hope you didn't have as long a walk to your terminal as we did.

[luv1cruise]

We did this same HOHO tour at Thanksgiving. The weather was beautiful (sorry to make everyone jealous)! We got the Go Miami Card so admission to some attractions were included with the bus ride. The buses are not on any real schedule (although they are supposed to be). At the Bayside Market, our bus was pulling in & the bus we needed to get on was trying to leave. If we didn't get on there, the wait was 2 hours until the next one! I ran ahead & made them wait (but the bus driver wasn't happy about it). They need better organization & scheduling!

We spent 2 days doing the HOHO tours on all 4 routes. There was 1 stop that we went by at least 4 times (coming & going) that they NEVER stopped at, it was a designated stop but I couldn't even tell WHERE they were supposed to pull over. We skipped that one. LOL

[RickinStl]

Hi, Rick,

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

At the end of the day, if you boil away all the pictures and sarcastic comments, what we all have here are just a re-telling of our vacations. A glorified version of "Days of our lives". That is pretty boring on its face value so I just figure I spice it up a bit with some silly comments.

 

Have a great cruise next month. If you still remember me by time you get back, drop by here and give me the link to your trip report. I have yet to read a trip report on the Empress. Does she still go to Cuba?

 

 

I will.. and Yes.. We are going to Nassau, Key West and Havana.. My Wife and I are really looking forward to it..

[hoopslover]

Thanks for your wonderful review. Have no idea what I will do every night now that you are almost done. We are also from California where In n Out is king. Our fries are usually excellent (unless they are cold) If that happens, they go back for a fresh batch.We will be b2b on the Jewel in April and go to some of the same ports and are using some of the same tour guides. Until next time.

 

Donna

[bobmacliberty]

Post count at 1445. Where do I go to complain and get some OBC?

 

If history is any indication, this thread is FAR from over. Harry still has the rest of Miami and the return trip to CA left to go. I agree with the previous poster that there may also be some sort of luggage story still to come. Then there's typically 300-350 additional posts spread out over several weeks as people continue to offer their thanks to Harry and ask questions. We won't be done until sometime in Spring.

 

If you're not satisfied with this response, you can wait in line at Cruise Critic Guest Services to get your On "Board" Credit (get it?...Cruise Critic discussion "board"?...never mind)