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Independence of the Seas July 26th Review

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INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS JULY 26TH 2008 - MEDITERRANEAN TREASURES

 

PEOPLE TRAVELLING- me, early 50s, from the UK, My niece C, early 30s from NYC, A, also early 30s and from NYC and her Mom, G early 60s from NJ. We joined up with two friends from our Jewel of the Seas cruise in 2007 P and S early 50s from UK.

 

PRE-CRUISE

We all arrived from our various airports or driving and the 4 of us stayed at Highfield House hotel in Southampton- very reasonable price and pleasant rooms with very pleasant staff. Price included breakfast.

 

DEPARTURE DAY

Two of us drove to the port, the others took a taxi as we had too much luggage for one car. We arrived at just before 11 and dropped our luggage, went to park the car and as we were leaving the car park met S and P who were just arriving. They left us to check in before us and we waited outside for G and A. Their taxi was a long time in coming but at last they arrived and we checked in quickly, stood for the welcome onboard photo and we were onboard by 11.45.

We had sailed Navigator and Mariner previously and so knew the basic layout of the ship but we spent some time wandering around admiring the ship. We eventually went to out staterooms to leave our carry on bags. A and G had a promenade view room on deck 8 and we had a junior suite on deck 9 on the hump. Great room. We then went to the Windjammer for our first lunch onboard- we had been talking about the great salads you can ‘make’ for hours. We met S and P and bagged the very large round tables. After lunch our bags had started to arrive so we were able to unpack a little before the safety drill.

 

THE SHIP

Lovely ship- we noticed the difference from the Voyager class as there seemed to be so much more room- for example the corridors seemed so much wider. The art work was amazing going from weird orange painted squares to some we really liked and took pictures of. The ship’s crew were so friendly, the friendliest and happiest we have encountered after 8 RC cruises.

 

Although we are diamond members we didn’t use the Diamond lounge much as our friends are only Platinum or Gold members but we did enjoy some nice drinks and canapés, three or four nights. We did MY Time Dining which was in its first week and had awesome waiters in Gerry and Simone and a wonderful assistant waiter in Marlon- we tended to go every night at 8 which was a good time as it was between main and late dining so we got good service. The last two nights however other diners on MTD had changed their times and this had an effect on us as our usual tables were not ready. As we needed a table for 6 anyone needing a table for two impacted on us.

 

We went to Chops and Portofino too- and for the first time I preferred Chops to Portofino. Also the night out of Barcelona everyone was hot and bothered so we skipped the second formal night and went to the Windjammer where we noticed we ate far more than we would have in the dining room so didn’t do that again. We ate most breakfasts in the Windjammer and lunches although we did do some room service breakfasts when we had early tours and did go to Johnny Rockets once.

 

On the whole the food was really good- we had plenty to eat and if anyone in our group of 6 had something they didn’t like- and this only happened once or twice - it was changed. Simone also noticed we liked veggies so the last few nights we had a plateful of broccoli to go with what ever we were having. We were all amazed that people could complain about the food- we reckoned they are way too fussy.

 

We spent our evenings after dinner wandering along the Promenade, having a drink, occasionally going to shows like the Love and Marriage show or game shows like Quest or Liar Liar which was so diabolical we left. We went to the two ice shows, not needing to queue for tickets beforehand as our Diamond lounge pass allowed access to the ice show. A and C also took part in Karaoke. We also frequented the casino where everyone seemed to get early success which meant that the rest of the time we were spending RC’s money or so we told ourselves. A and C went to the disco most nights sometimes coming in at 5 or 6 am and they also went to the gym most days too- so did I three or four times and walked the deck 4 times and pleased I only put on three pounds in two weeks.

 

 

The Bad

The only negatives were the 700 plus teenagers onboard. Most were no problem but there were around 40-50 who were a nuisance. My niece witnessed several in the hot tub drinking out of glasses ( not alcohol) and when they were told not to drink in the tub, one around 14 years old threw the glass at a crew member. I saw a boy around 12 year old being very rude to staff at Johnny Rockets. As the days went on the teenagers got more visible around the ship roaming in packs as they got to know each other. My niece said she saw some behaving very badly the last few days at 4 or 5 in the morning. These were aged 13-17 and numbered around 40- causing trouble in the café promenade and trying to steal the models in the Morgan car and throwing things around on the Promenade. If you are wondering why we chose to sail during school holidays- three of us are teachers or rather were but had all finished days before so no more travelling in school holidays. They did not really bother me but my niece was surprised by their behaviour especially considering the time of the morning and wondered to me if this is normal for British teens.

 

THE PORTS

The weather was hot and sunny in every port- getting hotter as the week went on until Vigo which was cooler.

Gibraltar

We hired a taxi to take us to the top of the rock and we saw the caves, the tunnels and the apes. He was very good and then dropped us off in town for some shopping and then we walked back to the ship.

Barcelona

We arrived at 7pm and the 6 of us took the shuttle into town and walked up the Ramblas and then went for dinner to our favourite restaurant in Barcelona, Les Quinz Nits in Placa Real. Wonderful meala nd so reasonably priced. Get there at 8 to 8.30 , queue for a short time otherwise you will have a very long wait in line.

We took taxis back to the port. The next day we took taxis from the port to the

Sagrada Familia church and then took the hop on hop off bus around, going to Parc Guell and then back to the ship. Very hot day

Villefranche

We had arranged a tour with Revelation Tours and had a wonderful guide whose name escapes me now. She took us to Nice, St Paul de Vence where we had lunch in a creperie with a wonderful view, Tourettes sur Loup which was a wonderful village with no other tourists. Then Monaco and finally to Eze where we just had a drink. Wonderful tour.

Livorno

This was another private tour although the guide was more just a driver. We went to Florence and visited David and then all the sights. We had a lunch in a pizzeria and then went to Pisa. Getting hot now and full of tourists- the only time I had ever been there was in 1973 and what a difference now. We then had ice cream in Livorno on the way back to the ship.

Cagliari

G and A went to the beach and had a great day, C and I took it easy, took the shuttle into town and wandered around for 30 minutes and came back. Much too hot and as it was a Sunday most places were closed.

Malaga

We took a ship’s excursion to Mijas- which was a good day with a very nice guide and we had time for some shopping and a drink.

Lisbon

Again we had a private tour with a very nice young man who took us to Sintra and to the Summer palace. Wonderful palace and breathtaking views. Unfortunately he had underestimated the time and we had a rushed tour- did only a little of what we were supposed to do and as we were in Cascais and we could see the time going on we said we needed to get back to the ship. So 22 km and 15 minutes at 100 miles an hour later \and handbrake and illegal turns into the port we ran to the check in to hear that we were okay as there were two ship tours just returning too. If they hadn’t been we would have been stuck as even as we were going in they were untying the gangplank. Phew!!

Vigo

The girls did a ship tour to do rafting and had a great time. G and I went to the shops.

OVERALL

A wonderful cruise,great ship. Wonderful staff onboard, great food, great company- we had so much fun- and it was lovely to meet everyone from our roll call at the meet and mingle. Looking forward to the next one now.

 

 

 

PHOTOS ARE HERE

 

http://family.webshots.com/album/565435932xSNNYk?vhost=family

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newchappers

newchappers

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I was on this cruise and it was fantastic! We spent a lot of time on our balcony .Didn't witness rogue teenagers as we tended to go in the casino at night , then to the cabin, but I know what you mean as we've had the pleasure on previous cruises. We have teenage boys who are fortunately very well behaved ( It's taken years of hard work).

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Thanks so much for taking the time to post your review! We are so excited about being on the indy in Nov. Would love to view your photos, but couldn't enter the site. Do we need an access code? Thanks again!

 

Okay try this

2444562470096457558BPLaJU_th.jpg

 

click on the photo

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coxswain

coxswain

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Well i see RC haven't learnt anything from last year and the bad kids onboard the Nav !!

 

 

WHY MAKE RULES - but don't ENFORCE them ????

 

 

Never again will i cruise during the schools hols !!!

 

 

 

 

 

jj.......

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Well i see RC haven't learnt anything from last year and the bad kids onboard the Nav !!

 

 

WHY MAKE RULES - but don't ENFORCE them ????

 

 

Never again will i cruise during the schools hols !!!

 

jj.......

 

Me neither- actually to be fair the teens did not bother me- I am used to them after 30 years teaching but they did annoy my niece and her friend and gave them a poor opinion of British teens. And there were many more well behaved and polite teens we encountered too.

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southwestie

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Hi

Thanks for your review, it is a good and fair review, my own experience is a little better on the teen front, we booked so we missed the bulk of the kids on school hols, the scots and irish had already broken up and the kids were mostly scottish, I have to say we never saw or heard of anything bad from them and I have to say they were all very well behaved indeed.

 

we didnt go to to other resturnats, we had great, more than great people on our table and spent every evening with them untill way past 11pm

 

Ice show, may I point out here that no one ever needs to queue for tickets for the shows, there are always pleny of tickets over on the reception desk hour after everyone had queued for them, also you can just turn up at the start of the show once everyone had been seated, no one had a problem getting seats.

 

The casino was great, wow it was so easy to win on the slots, paid for our trip LOL.

 

rob

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Rob- we discovered th Deal No Deal slots which were very kind at first but we soon realised that they were kind to newcomers and then not so nice after a few nights- we were convinced they had sensors in them to detect if you were a beginner or not. Anyway we played mostly with RC money after our early wins.

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Thank you for the review.

 

Q: Do you book the shore/land excursion at the ship or do you take your own tour?

 

I will be going for the similar itinerary next year.

 

We only did two ship's tours which we booked on the website a few months before hand- the tour in Malaga to Mijas and the rafting in Vigo. The other ports we did our own things plus we did three private tours in Villefranche, Livorno and Lisbon.

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