Live - Independence Italian Med (7/13-7/27) - European Vacation

[h20skibum]

The Captain’s welcome aboard party was after dinner, and the captain made his introductions. 

 

Here is a short video

 

https://www.pscp.tv/w/b_1MIzEzNzU1Mzc5fDFQbEtRTFZNbFJxeEXoSy8OGGOJMUAvD_eMf7kn8FaQk0ahxsgJnf9A_dkkKg==?t=1s

 

One thing I will say about formal night over here, is that it is still observed in a big way.  This sailing had at least 80% of the men in tuxes or dark suits.  I would have felt out of place if I had not brought my tux. 

 

 

We even saw young boys of 7 or 8 with tuxes on. And, of course there were a fair amount of kilts. 

 

 

 

[h20skibum]

The comedy show, with Phil Walker, was much better, 

 

 

 

[h20skibum]

They started a karaoke competition, with the top 9 to vie for the title at the end of the cruise.  

 

My money net is on Bill.  I think he has maybe done this before, because he has a great stage presence. 

 

https://www.pscp.tv/w/b_1MQzEzNzU1Mzc5fDFMeXhCQUxYVk5rSk46EezBKpCQ9Q0sOhMDSMova-6--KmeS-kMIaPSw4hBAA==?t=1s

 

If he gets famous from this video, I will have to ask for some kind of discovery fee😁

[cinnamon]

Following along. 

Very interesting to hear an American view of what has become a British product, sailing out of Southampton. I would love to know why you chose this cruise, rather than flying to Rome or Barcelona, as most people from over the pond do. 

[jmnathan]

Following this keenly as we sail on Indy straight after you on the 27th.

[Redrobo]

4 hours ago, h20skibum said:

 

 

 

 

We even saw young boys of 7 or 8 with tuxes on. And, of course there were a fair amount of kilts. 

 

 

 

 

 

I suspect the Kilts were due to the schools in Scotland breaking up for summer generally two weeks earlier than those in England.  

[Camino]

Following this interesting thread :-)I will be on the next sailing on Indepencence otS.

Could you tell me something about the entertainment in the following days? Is it very british? We are from Germany and so it may be difficult to understand comedians...

[Sancho_proudfoot]

I have always found that on sailings out of Southampton a very much higher proportion of people dress formally on formal nights than any other embarkation point.

 

IME, sailings out of the US have the fewest tuxes, with the Australia/Far East next. As many Brits will take the European sailings the proportion is higher.

 

There are always Scots in kilts on UK sailings, and most of them go for the full Highland kit.

[tcmagnum]

On ‎7‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 11:39 AM, h20skibum said:

I can’t believe no one has ventured a guess on what the connection is between a company in a little town in western Pennsylvania, and Royal Caribbean.  I won’t give up the answer too soon, but I may hide the answer in one of the photos during the cruise. 

 

So so now is a good time to show where we are headed on the cruise. 

 

 

And our schedule. 

 

 

With a couple of sea days to begin, I will have time to catch up on our trip here, plus some of our planning.  

Looking forward to hear all about this cruise.  We are looking at this cruise for a few years from now...

[tcmagnum]

On ‎7‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 9:54 AM, h20skibum said:

I am not sure what was going on at the Holiday Inn, but this guy brought his own inflatable friend. 

 

 

 

Ummmm….Ok... I want to ask, but don't want to ask.

[Rickshaw, Cabs & Taxis]

Thanks for these posts, we will be sailing straight after on the 27th so will be following with interest.

 

 

[h20skibum]

On 7/16/2019 at 10:04 AM, cinnamon said:

Following along. 

Very interesting to hear an American view of what has become a British product, sailing out of Southampton. I would love to know why you chose this cruise, rather than flying to Rome or Barcelona, as most people from over the pond do. 

 

We chose this cruise, because we booked onboard the Allure 16 months ago, and were looking for a cruise that sailed at least two weeks.

 

This one caught our eye, because it sailed to many of the ports we wanted to visit.  Plus, we wanted to spend a little time in London after the cruise. 

 

We have enjoyed meeting many from the UK, and for some reason, they seem to think we are the ones with the accent😁

 

I would not hesitate to do another cruise from Southampton. As far as sailing from Barcelona, there are always future cruises.

[h20skibum]

On 7/16/2019 at 10:56 AM, jmnathan said:

Following this keenly as we sail on Indy straight after you on the 27th.

I hope you have the beautiful weather and calm seas we have had so far. 

[h20skibum]

20 hours ago, Camino said:

Could you tell me something about the entertainment in the following days? Is it very british? We are from Germany and so it may be difficult to understand 

 

The comedian’s have been British, so naturally their humor is in a British style.  As Americans, we may not get some of the humor that may relate to living in the UK. 

 

Just like many who travel to the States, they may not get our comedians. 

 

The comedian’s show on the third night was better than the first. 

[h20skibum]

16 hours ago, tcmagnum said:

Looking forward to hear all about this cruise.  We are looking at this cruise for a few years from now...

 

You may have to look at Anthem, because Royal is pulling Indy out of Southampton.  That is a shame, because Indy is a wonderful ship to do this itinerary 

[h20skibum]

So I fell a day behind with our day in Gibraltar.  At least I have a sea day now to catch up. I may have to go talk to the captain, to see if he can add a sea day between each of our upcoming ports.  

 

I wouldn’t mind adding another week to the cruise 😁

 

I was up in time to catch a little of the sunrise, but there were still some clouds.

 

 

Gibraltar is in the direction of the sunrise 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by h20skibum

[Camino]

Thank you for answering my question :-) We will try

[h20skibum]

Everyone is on deck, as we make our first port in Gibraltar

 

 

[h20skibum]

We really enjoyed our time in Gibraltar.  I know some have visited here many times, and they only get off to buy things, because they are cheap.  

 

We were here to experience something new.  We did not have a tour booked for this port, so we got a taxi at the end of the terminal, to do a tour of the rock.  They put 6 others in with us, and were were off before the tours with Royal were leaving. 

 

This was perfect, because we didn’t feel crowded at any of the stops. 

 

Our first stop, on the way up the rock, was at the Pillars of Hercules.

 

According to Greek mythology Hercules had to take on twelve tasks. One of these tasks was to bring the cattle of Geryon from the west to Eurytheus. On his journey Hercules had to cross the Atlas Mountains. Rather than climbing over these mountains, he used his great strength to smash through them and as a result, he brought the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean together. 

 

After he had achieved this task, the result was what is now known as The Pillars of Hercules. 

 

This became the Rock of Gibraltar on the northern side

 

 

and Jebel Musa in Ceuta on the southern side.

 

 

 

[Sancho_proudfoot]

.....and for anyone who thinks Spain should get Gibraltar back, Ceuta is a little Spanish enclave in Morocco, which the Moroccans keeping asking to be given back

 The Spanish always say  : "No".

Edited July 17, 2019 by Sancho_proudfoot

[cinnamon]

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

 

We have enjoyed meeting many from the UK, and for some reason, they seem to think we are the ones with the accent😁

 

I would not hesitate to do another cruise from Southampton. As far as sailing from Barcelona, there are always future cruises.

Thanks for your reply. 😀

We have often holidayed in the US, owning Timeshares we visit annually plus going on many American cruiselines. Whenever someone says to me “I love your accent” I always reply, “Ah, I speak English, you have the accent”. 😅. Said with a smile of course.

[parkyy2k]

Enjoying following your journey, I am on this ship in September 😃

[h20skibum]

We continued up the Rock to St. Michael’s Caves.  The road is very narrow as you can see in the short video I uploaded. 

 

 

 

The cave is open to visitors and makes a unique auditorium for concerts, ballet and drama.

It has been in use as a theatre since the early sixties with capacity for 600 persons.  

 

Some of these photos may be a little dark, because of the changing lighting. 

 

 

 

 

At some period during the history of this cave, part of a stalagmite became too heavy on one side and fell, possibly thousands of years ago. It now lies on its side at the far end of the main chamber, cemented through the years by nature to the floor of the cave. In 1972 a slice was cut off from the top end which revealed the interior structure of the stalagmite in a most dramatic fashion.

 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by h20skibum

[h20skibum]

It doesn’t look like the video link worked, so I will try again

 

 

internet has been really slow the last day.  These are not the speeds we are use to seeing on O3b ships 

 

 

 

 

[h20skibum]

We continued our way up to see the apes. 

 

They hung on the car windows

 

 

would jump on you you when you got out. (This is not me, but we have some nice pics of us with the apes)

 

 

 

And one, even appeared larger than our ship, way down there