Indy- not much info. any insight?

[cruisegal40]

Good morning all (East Coast Here)  Nothing much on this ship. No roll call for the May 27th cruise.  Not much activity on the FB page either.  Wondering how ship shape she is?  The reviews are not to good. First time doing a shorter cruise and hoping we like it. Any intel would be helpful.  TIA

[rockmom]

What are the 'not good' reviews saying?  I sailed on her in October and thought she was in great shape and the staff was wonderful.  I enjoyed it so much that I'm sailing on her again in 45 days. I will say that in October I was in one of the Jr. Suites that was added on when she was 'amped' and for this next one, I'm in a regular balcony cabin that I'm sure will have the older, dated decor.  That's not a big deal to me.  So I guess it depends what things you're concerned about.  

[Mick B]

Hi,

The Indy was my first ship back in 2008.

I have been back on her 3 times since including 1 after her refit. I have a 12 night cruise booked on her next year and I cannot wait.

She is still my favourite ship, even after the changes.

She has so much going on and was still in great shape back in 2019 when I last went on her. Would have gone on her again sooner if she had not been taken away from the UK.

The show in the theatre is Grease. It can get very busy and sometimes they have more than one show.

It has cantilevered hot tubs and an ice rink. Some new slides were added too.

The only thing that sometimes lets a cruise down are the people on board. I have had some great cruises on this ship and also I had one cruise that was full of idiots - and yes, they were sadly british!

 

Mick.

 

[leaveitallbehind]

Independence had its major refurbishment in May 2018 with a number of upgrades and enhancements, and just completed a standard maintenance drydock in February.  I would think she would be in very good condition.

 

BTW it seems that since the pandemic most roll calls are very quiet as their primary purpose used to be to organize Meet & Mingles.  RCCL has not reinstated those since the pandemic restart and most people use FB to organize their own activities. If that media is also quiet, it just may be a lack of interested passengers.

Edited March 8 by leaveitallbehind

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, cruisegal40 said:

Any intel would be helpful.

Read Indy related threads - pick Indy from the drop-down menu on the main page here at the RCI section.

[cruisegal40]

Thank you to those of you who have chimed in.  I feel sometimes the reviews can be skewed on those that will write what they DO NOT like. Now what was good.  Just wondering about her because not a lot of infor or threads.  Thanks for the suggestion Biker. I put her full name in the search and only 15 threads came up. I will try your way.

[Biker19]

11 minutes ago, cruisegal40 said:

I put her full name in the search and only 15 threads came up

Very rarely do posters put the full name of the ship in thread titles and sometimes they don't put the ship name in at all. The drop-down menu lists 91 threads.

[cruisegal40]

8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Very rarely do posters put the full name of the ship in thread titles and sometimes they don't put the ship name in at all. The drop-down menu lists 91 threads.

Very funny. I did that and only my thread showed up!  

[leaveitallbehind]

Another perspective I try to keep in mind when it comes to CC reviews or critical comments is that the CC members forum only represents about 6% of the global cruising public (2MM per CC / 31.5MM reported by the industry).  The number of posters who provide reviews or critiques is only a relatively small percentage of that membership.  This in actuality represents a relatively small sample size of those who post reviews out of the general cruising public. As a result I take these reviews with a definite grain of salt.

Edited March 8 by leaveitallbehind

[cruisegal40]

45 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Another perspective I try to keep in mind when it comes to CC reviews or critical comments is that the CC members forum only represents about 6% of the global cruising public (2MM per CC / 31.5MM reported by the industry).  The number of posters who provide reviews or critiques is only a relatively small percentage of that membership.  This in actuality represents a relatively small sample size of those who post reviews out of the general cruising public. As a result I take these reviews with a definite grain of salt.

Totally agree with you on this one.  It's usually the complainers that are the loudest.  Just looking for some more info on her and not much out there.  We were on Liberty years ago and my old brain can't remember a lot about that one. 

[PhillyFan33579]

I have cruised on Independence numerous times, including last September, October and December. I think she is a great ship with good shows, my favorite Playmaker’s layout and like all RCI ships, too many things going on around the ship to have time to do everything. I have several cruises booked on her including a B2B to the Norway Fjords and other places next year. 

[smokeybandit]

There is tons of info out there on every ship.

[fla33023]

Indy is our favorite ship. It is the perfect size and enough activities to keep 2 adults and a teen busy. We've always encountered friendly staff everywhere. We got to spend a rare 7-nights over Thanksgiving and will be back on shortly for spring break. Can't wait!

[jean87510]

17 hours ago, cruisegal40 said:

Thank you to those of you who have chimed in.  I feel sometimes the reviews can be skewed on those that will write what they DO NOT like. Now what was good.  Just wondering about her because not a lot of infor or threads.  Thanks for the suggestion Biker. I put her full name in the search and only 15 threads came up. I will try your way.

I did a review on the Indy back in August that was a 3 day from port canaveral. 

[cruisegal40]

16 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

There is tons of info out there on every ship.

Not so much lately. I did a search and only 15 threads appeared,

[cruisegal40]

5 hours ago, jean87510 said:

I did a review on the Indy back in August that was a 3 day from port canaveral. 

Thanks. I will check it out.

[moesyk4]

We sailed her last November and had a fantastic time. Plenty to do, good food and service were both excellent, and it was clean and well maintained. I actually much preferred our entertainment on that ship than our recent cruise on Oasis.

[TeeRick]

On 3/8/2024 at 3:09 PM, cruisegal40 said:

Totally agree with you on this one.  It's usually the complainers that are the loudest.  Just looking for some more info on her and not much out there.  We were on Liberty years ago and my old brain can't remember a lot about that one. 

We did Indy twice before and have a cruise booked on her in 2025.  Great ship and crew!

 

As for reviews, I approach it this way.

1) I look for the consensus comments (good or bad), the more specific the better.  The consensus or trend has to be from a number of reviews on different recent sailings.  I never listen to a single cruiser - some just have an axe to grind.  Highly subjective general comments on things like food are not anything I pay much attention to.

 

2) As a long-time member and poster here on CC, I sometimes give more weight to comments from members who I "know" from this board and have previously respected their opinions.  In fact some I have actually met on cruises.

 

3) no need to listen to me!

[cruisegal40]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

We did Indy twice before and have a cruise booked on her in 2025.  Great ship and crew!

 

As for reviews, I approach it this way.

1) I look for the consensus comments (good or bad), the more specific the better.  The consensus or trend has to be from a number of reviews on different recent sailings.  I never listen to a single cruiser - some just have an axe to grind.  Highly subjective general comments on things like food are not anything I pay much attention to.

 

2) As a long-time member and poster here on CC, I sometimes give more weight to comments from members who I "know" from this board and have previously respected their opinions.  In fact some I have actually met on cruises.

 

3) no need to listen to me!

This is true in so many ways. I do take the reviews with a grain of salt. Just booked yesterday for a 5 day at the end  of May. No roll call.  Only FB page.  Hmmmmmm

[cruisegal40]

I think I also read there is no need to reserve shows. Is this correct?  Only on the larger ships?

[Biker19]

Just now, cruisegal40 said:

I think I also read there is no need to reserve shows.

You can't reserve shows on the smaller ships. It is optional on the ships which do offer them.

[cruisegal40]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

You can't reserve shows on the smaller ships. It is optional on the ships which do offer them.

Good to know.  One less reservation to have to be made! Thank you for this.  I rather not have to.

[cruisegal40]

Anyone chime in on the check in process?  Still easy peasy?  Also what terminal will she go out of the the May 27th sailing? Any info on current show/times?