All things Independence of the Seas

[Elizanessie]

Sorry Liz, will have a glass of bubbly for you on sail away........:)

 

Thanks :D and I will raise a glass or six of bubbly on the Pre-Inaugural to all Independence cruisers :D

 

Anyone found a good web cam link for Southampton Docks? The one I found seems to be stuck at 2004 !!

[cruzobsessed]

as i am reading these posts.....it occurs to me that i am one of the only americans on this thread. i love reading your posts i am also thrilled that with so much choice in the cruising market.....that rc is capturing the u.k. market.

here's the thing.........i am what is affectionately known on other boards as a "cheerleader". in other words....rc can do "no wrong" (actually i am getting better and less obsessed:D ) anyway.....could you describe your explorer experience and why a certain type of passenger put you off cruising......AND what happened on the navigator?:eek:

just a brief description.........i am just curious. :rolleyes:

on another note......we just came off the brilliance and their version of the SEAVIEW CAFE sounds a lot like sorrentos and it was great. fresh pasta. pizza and panninis:)

[tomko2]

Wonderful thread! We sail on the IOS on Dec. 13th; very excited; our first Freedom class ship. We are booked in 1702 and will be anxiously looking for pics once the sailing start. Has RCI named the Godmother yet? I loved the suggestion of Dame Judi Dench -- classy lady.

Delighted that IOS will be berthed in Fort Lauderdale!:D

324 days til we sail.

Kathy:)

[Elizanessie]

cruzobsessed :D

 

Mmm Navigator....on our sailing I found..oh heck how do I put this without being rude....mmm....too many of the very much older generation (I am talking 80s+) who were used to P&O and weren't happy with the RCCL way of things. Such as "why are people who are in staying in lower deck cabins allowed to eat in the same dining room as ourselves from the higher decks?":eek: And gawd help you if you got in the way of the electric scooters/walking frames etc etc...oh and you daren't sit in the lounger in the solarium that they had occupied the day before:eek:

 

And then we had..oh help me....we had some younger Brits who overindulged in the drinkies and puked where they fell and were abusive to crew members....and rules..oh hey forget them...if they wanted their little anklebiters to jump in the hot tubs then gawd forbid anyone who said "it isnt allowed" because they were allowed to do it on another cruiseline so they could do it on RCCL ship!

 

Oh and we did have 11 Alphas and 4 Medivacs on our sailing,mainly due to the older pax and drunken pax.

 

Does that give you a wee idea....oh wait...very unhappy crew because they weren't recieving tips.

 

As I said...a learning curve for RCCL. I would most certainly cruise on a RCCL ship on the Med again if I got the chance. The ports on the Med & the rest of Europe as soooo worth seeing,loved everyone of ours and I think we had 9.

 

I am still a "cheerleader" for RCCL :D Loyal to Royal and proud of it.

[MSUSpartan]

We are booked on 3/7/09 Eastern Caribbean on the Independence. We've done Explorer, Brilliance, Jewel, & Majesty (also did Norwegian Sun) and are so exited about the Independence. We've all (about 20 of us) booked Promenade rooms (a first) this time. We're in romm 8623.

[English Rose]

Liz - what you described about 'those' passengers was exactly what I was concerned about on my Navigator trip to Cobh. Fortunately I was pleasantly surprised. This was August last year. I didn't see any of that and just mostly people like us. (We like to have a drink, but not to the excess as described). I was expecting to see the normal 'drunken' crowd and fortunately I didn't encounter any. Hopefully they all came and went and stay away....

[SPARKLE10]

Hi:

 

I can't believe I have two cruises booked on a ship that hasn't even sailed yet, but I do. :rolleyes: We were on the Freedom a year ago for New Years Eve, and really loved that ship. We haven't been on the Liberty yet, and now we will be on the IOS for two sailings this year. This will be our 43rd & 44th cruise, with most of them with RCCL. I know what to expect with the New Years Eve cruise, as we sail every New Years; but first, we are going on the IOS September 6th for their Italian Med cruise from Southampton. We've never been to any of these ports of call before and we're really looking forward to our first Med cruise. What kind of weather can we expect in Southampton the first part of September? I know if varies, but just some sort of idea would be appreciated. Also, we're staying at the Kensington Forum for a pre-night before we leave on the Independence of the Seas. Does anyone know if this is a good hotel or not?

 

Thanks....Happy Cruising....Sparkle 10 (Anita & Mike, Des Moines, Iowa);)

[English Rose]

Hi Anita - Cheryl from the roll-call here....

 

A lot of our customers use the Kensington Forum and have said good things about it. That's all I know. It's in a great location.

[cruzobsessed]

liz....your description was very........well put. i got the visual you intended;) now i want to know about the reason the explorer was so bad.

hi anita....cheryl #2 (from our roll call) here.

did i read earlier that KEN RUSH will be our cruise director? i just read on a liberty thread that he's one of the best in the fleet. YAY FOR US!!!

[bajanterry]

Hi everyone, I just found this thread today and it's fantastic. My DW and I are on the Sept. 6th cruise to the Med and we're very excited about it. So glad to meet others who feel this way as well. We need this same spirit and life in our Sept. 6th CC thread. We're hoping to meet some new friends on this cruise. We will be spending three days pre-cruise in London.

 

Thanks for all the comments, web-cams and everything else that makes the wait so exhilarating.

 

 

Regards to all and let's keep the thread alive and hopping.

[cruzobsessed]

RIGHT ON!!!!!:D

i think i just dated myself:p

[PamUK]

cruzobsessed :D

 

Mmm Navigator....on our sailing I found..oh heck how do I put this without being rude....mmm....too many of the very much older generation (I am talking 80s+) who were used to P&O and weren't happy with the RCCL way of things. Such as "why are people who are in staying in lower deck cabins allowed to eat in the same dining room as ourselves from the higher decks?":eek: And gawd help you if you got in the way of the electric scooters/walking frames etc etc...oh and you daren't sit in the lounger in the solarium that they had occupied the day before:eek:

 

And then we had..oh help me....we had some younger Brits who overindulged in the drinkies and puked where they fell and were abusive to crew members....and rules..oh hey forget them...if they wanted their little anklebiters to jump in the hot tubs then gawd forbid anyone who said "it isnt allowed" because they were allowed to do it on another cruiseline so they could do it on RCCL ship!

 

Oh and we did have 11 Alphas and 4 Medivacs on our sailing,mainly due to the older pax and drunken pax.

 

Does that give you a wee idea....oh wait...very unhappy crew because they weren't recieving tips.

 

As I said...a learning curve for RCCL. I would most certainly cruise on a RCCL ship on the Med again if I got the chance. The ports on the Med & the rest of Europe as soooo worth seeing,loved everyone of ours and I think we had 9.

 

I am still a "cheerleader" for RCCL :D Loyal to Royal and proud of it.

 

 

Liz

 

OMG! I am so pleased there wasn't (or I didn't see) much of that sort of behaviour on our Navigator cruise last June. I know there was problems on the following cruise with kids running wild but we hardly had any kids on board. We always try to avoid the school holidays when booking which does help.

 

However, I do feel reallly really guilty about something that I didn't do, and didn't even think about it until I read your post! Other than pre-paid gratuities, I didn't tip. As you know its not the 'norm' here in UK but I always do it when Im in the USA, it just never crossed my mind to do it onboard. I feel dreadful that I was one of 'those Brits' that made the crew unhappy:( :( . I must make sure that I have plenty of $ for this year so I don't make the same mistake again.

 

Also, what is an 'Alpha'? We had one medivac on our cruise when a crew member was taken seriously ill and they had to divert the ship to get closer to land so they could get a helicopter out to us. I've never heard the term Alpha used before.

 

Thanks

 

Pam

[Radio]

I have posted a "Live" from the Liberty of the Seas earlier this month (Jan 5,2008)

 

There are many photos and comments. . .

 

Just click HERE for the post.

 

 

Radio

;) ;)

 

 

 

I loved my cruise on Liberty of the Seas

 

 

 

.

[cruzobsessed]

radio.....so glad you've joined us here:)

fellow independence nuts.........radio's live post from the liberty is quite possibly the best live thread i've ever followed. you want to get excited read his review. tons of great photos and written in a way that is fun to follow.

[Elizanessie]

Thank you Radio for posting :D I wasn't sure if you had received my email or not.

 

For anyone who is new to cruising with RCCL, the Liberty is sister ship of the Independence, so Radio's photos and fantastic reports will give an idea of what the ID will look like....oh and wish you were there.

 

Pam :D

 

An Alpha is "Alpha Alpha Alpha" the announcement made on the ship when there is a medical emergency.

 

With regard to the tips...dont worry,if you did the prepaid gratuities then you were fine. A lot of Brits removed them and didn't tip in any way,hence the unhappy crew. We didn't have that many kids on our sailing but they still were allowed to run free it seemed and upset pax by jumping in the hot tubs and splashing people,the parents being too busy topping up their tans and watching the footie to notice what was going on.

 

Cheryl #2 :D

Don't know how long Ken will be on the ID but I will try and find out for you when I am on the ship in April.

 

Welcome to everyone who has joined us...and lets keep the info etc coming in..and keep the excitement going...hey now that isn't hard for this ship.

[4everafter]

Hi All! I love this thread because no one is active on the THANKSGIVING INDEPENDENCE thread at all! this will most likely be our last trip until Genesis but thats ok. Ken Rush was the CD on Liberty in Sept and he is as great as every one says. My son is 10 and Ken would visit Ocean Adventure everyday just to say hi to the kids!! I never would have imagined that the CD would be interested in what they were doing. keep posting and I'll keep chime-ing in!!

[coxswain]

Pam i forgot my review ( more a complaint ) was removed - i think it had become an embarrassment to CC and RCCL ( lots of posts - and thousands of people reviewing it )

 

Here is the reply from RCCL to our complaint http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=600345

 

 

 

 

jj......

[4everafter]

I just peaked at your link, soo sorry about your trip on Navigator. that was my first ship back to cruising for our 2nd honeymoon and we couldn't have had a better time.

Similar story, While we were on Liberty there were almost 1000 ladies from Brazil getting quincenieta (?) (spanish cultures 15 yr bday for girls) and I don't have to go into it but there were girls EVERYWHERE!! we didn't have a problem but other CC members were close to irrate with the situation. there were teenagers everywhere. Co-incidently we had a major mix up with second seating and wound up at the first seating (the CC group was all 2nd seating with them) and we always get a GS (because I like to be cozied up with my kids so I know what they are doing at all times) so we didn't even see them coming and going but almost eveyone complained! it seems like a simple curfew should be enforced and I had always assumed that we were liable for damages but that would have to be enforced as well.

that being said, I let my kids go back and forth to stuff by themselves, it is almost impossible not to. I'll let you know if my opinions change after our Navigator Spring Break cruise coming up:rolleyes:

[scotsman]

EXPLORER OUT OF PORT LYBERTY Nov 2006 :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

The Guest Relations managers Quote was where did these people leave there trailers :eek:

This was the cruise from hell, RCCL gave us a $400 refund

[Ms_Kalamity]

We will be siling the Independance March 09, can't wait to see what kind of reviews we will be getting for her once she starts sailing. I know I will be watching this thread, thanks for starting it.

 

Jane

[scotsman]

Liz

Look at http://62.49.203.251/npagebuild/Local/pagebuild.cgi?PAGE=../std-files/eye_live1.conf&SITE=cam1&SUB=../br_oggle/vars.sub

for southampton live cams

[cruzobsessed]

so i watched (for the 100th time) on our travel channel a a special about the freedom. of course we were glued to the t.v.

did i hear correctly that every cabin is wireless? if yes (yay) how does that work?

[bajanterry]

Hey Radio, thanks for the tip on your Liberty Live thread. I started reading through your commentary/review and couldn't or haven't stopped yet. LOL, LOL

 

This will be our first cruise on a Freedom class ship and we're quite excited about it. We thought the AOS was a monster by itself, but the IOS is even larger. Can't wait. Thanks so much for all your information; I know it relates to the Liberty, but I'm sure it can be translated over to the Indepandence.

[seahags]

...is it time to leave for the Inaugural yet?????????:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

SOOOOOOO looking forward to this trip!!!!:D :D

[cruzobsessed]

wow i found us all the way back on page 5:eek:

can someone answer my question regarding wireless cabins? is it true and if yes...how does it work?