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Independence of the Seas-Quick Review

sunandseagirl617

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sunandseagirl617

sunandseagirl617

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Traveling was me, my DH, 8-year DD and friends….This is our 5th time on Royal Caribbean and cruise number twelve. This was the first RCCL cruise for my friends.

 

We booked at the last minute into a Junior Suite on Deck 10, Room 1300.

 

Embarkation: We received word from RCCL asking us not to arrive in Port Everglades prior to 2pm as the ship had just arrived from Europe and had to get clearance from the Coast Guard and Customs. We live about an hour and 15 minutes from Fort Lauderdale. We arrived into Port around 1:15 and dropped our luggage off at the pier. Once through the line, we quickly were checked in and were on board within 10 minutes!

 

We were speechless at the size and beauty of Independence as this was our first “Freedom class” sailing! Once we parked in the garage and walked to the line that was streaming around building 25 outside on a rather brisk day. After about an hour on line we made inside where we were quickly checked in and on our way!

 

Our room: The Junior Suite was perfect! Right away, the steward came to introduce himself and gave us the run down. He was awesome! He gave me a corkscrew for the wine I pre-ordered prior to our arrival-which he ended up opening for me the entire cruise! There were no noise issues being right under the pools about mid-ship.

 

Having new cruisers and an excited 8 year old, we set off to explore-starting in the Chapel working our way down! Since there was a wedding going on, we went to Adventure Ocean to pre register our DD for the activities. The size of the kid’s area was huge compared to any other ship! A quick registration and we were off! When we finally arrived on the Promenade we went to Sorrento’s for pizza and a glass of wine in Vintages. Thanks to cruise critic, I learned that if you want a quick bite to eat on the first day that was the place to be and you were all right! There were a handful of passengers on Deck 5.

 

It was approaching close to muster (mustard!) The muster was quick and painless until it was over and we climbed back to deck 10! ;)

 

Fine Dining/Food/Wine: If you enjoy a good cuisine adventure, this is for you. We ate in the dining room the first evening and day three. We ate in Chops on night two and it was an excursion onto itself! It is well worth the extra fee. We ate in Portofino’s and added the wine adventure to dinner! Be prepared to savor every mouth-watering moment. It took us three hours to eat in Chops and Portofino’s. If you happen to go to Chops, ask for Manuel and his assistant Trevor-they went above and beyond their call of duty. Manuel is from India and he arranged for an Indian feast on our last evening in the dining room through our Maître-d! It was truly amazing that the presentation of the food in the Main Dining Room and the service especially in Chops, was outstanding.

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sunandseagirl617

sunandseagirl617

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Windjammer’s was quite busy after 9am and around 1pm. We either went early in the morning or sometime around 2pm to avoid the buffet pros! The food was delicious in the Windjammer’s, another plus for RCCL and the massive crowds they have to feed! I particularly love the fact that when we sat down, the servers fast approached with trays of ice water, lemonade, or ice tea! Prior this experience you fear to try and get the drinks yourself and either have your plate cleared away or risk your food getting cold!

 

Enough about food!

 

We chose the early seating so my DD could participate in the Children’s activities. Early seating has its advantages and disadvantages. It was a little rushed on the first day of sailing due to our late departure (in no way if the fault of the RCCL) and when your exhausted later on in the cruise, you have to cut your day activities a little short to be ready for dinner. I think 7pm is a great time to eat and will probably try to do My Time Dining on our next sailing. However, the advantages are great if you are traveling with children and if you get the opportunity to digest over the many onboard activities!!

 

So now that we ate and drank our way through dinner each evening, my friend and I took full advantage of the fitness center. The state of the art facilities are, again, one of a kind for RCCL! I particularly loved the power-boxing thing I did for a ½ hour! It was $15 and I think I burned off all of my calories for the day, plus my friends. I also loved the palates classes and tai chi! All have a worth while fee to get great instruction!

 

We only had one port of call, which was Cozumel. My DH and friend did the cooking excursion through the cruise line and they said it was the best ever! They prepared an appetizer and main course! When they arrived back on the ship later in the day, they were hilarious and had taken full advantage of the open bar before, during, and after their cooking class! They have cute pictures with chef hats on and their aprons! After they cooked and ate their lunch, they were able to take advantage of Playa Mia Beach. They had a blast and they highly recommend that excursion. I think the price was $79 pp and they claim it was well worth it!

 

Meantime, it was fabulous that my DD and I had the whole ship to ourselves! We took advantage of the fabulous heated pool at the main pool and had a blast in the H20 zone! I actually liked it more than my DD! I quickly lost my kid to the kids program for about two hours and found myself in heaven in the Solarium! My two-hour bliss consisted of the pool, the hammock, and the cantilevered whirlpools. After a Bloody Mary and a long needed nap, I decided that the Solarium was my favorite spot to be and it was my secret until I shared it with my DH and friend! On a couple of occasions, the Solarium turned into Club 20 at night where they played dance music to burn more calories off!!

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sunandseagirl617

sunandseagirl617

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Entertainment: The Ice Shows (Strings) were fantastic and I forgot to get tickets in the Promenade in the morning, but it was no problem getting a seat if you arrive about ½ hour prior to show time. The two parades on the Promenade were magical. (Olympus Rocks & Dancing in the Street) The only show we attended in the Theatre was the juggler/comedian and he was great! Unfortunately, we jammed so much activity into 4 evenings, we did not attend the other three shows! QUEST was hilarious and crazy, we never laughed so hard in our lives! Allan, the cruise director was amusing and charming. He did a great job with Quest and the Love and Marriage game. Quest was my first experience and I have to say, do whatever it takes to stay up late and take full advantage of it! My sides ache today from laughing so hard!

 

Flowrider: My DD’s highlight! She loved the boogie boarding and took full advantage of it when it was open. It was fascinating to watch the staff take such good care of her and I was especially grateful to the gentlemen passengers who took her under their wing!

 

Public Ice-skating: I left dinner a tad early to bring my DD ice-skating. Living in Florida, we never have the opportunity to ice skate! I did not have time to change into my socks so I chanced that she could do it by herself! She did it! The ice crew are all professionals and apparently you can take advantage of lessons on the longer sailings! I was separated from my DH after dinner and wished I had some sort of walkie-talkies at that moment! I left him a love letter in the room and decided to pub-crawl on my own! I went to the real disco, Labyrinth. No one was in there, so I had a drink at the bar and moved to Bolero’s It was hopping with salsa music was entertained for a few minutes and went to the Dog and Badger pub and over to the Pyramid lounge. I listened to live music, met some new friends. Thankfully, I ran into my DH. We went to the casino to make some donations, enough said!

 

Wine Tasting/Martini Making: Vintages held these two events. The everyday wine tasting was $9.95 if you are a crown and anchor member, there is a coupon. The second wine tasting was $19.95 and is more of International Wines. I enjoyed the second one better. They also had a Martini making class, which was a blast! I highly recommend the white chocolate martini! The best one is made in Olive and Twist!

 

There is so much more and I cannot say enough how impressive and quick the adventure was!

 

Gifts: We received C & A hats and my DD received a crayola color pack. We made platinum after this cruise!

 

Disembarkation: Another best! (other than the leaving part) We were up around 8am, which is the latest we slept!! We were scheduled to depart at 9:15 from the theatre and we arrived right at 9:15 and we were escorted by the crew to the exit and were off in 10 minutes! I could not believe it was over that fast!

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Alysia

Alysia

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Thanks for the review!!! Just wondering if the schooner bar is still nonsmoking and also did they off the valet service? We were on the IOS in June and really loved that ship. Looking forward to being on her again in a few weeks.

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honeywell

honeywell

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Thanks for sharing! Just wondering about more specifics with your DD and Adventure Ocean. Did she spend a lot of time there? Any evening dinners with the kids? ANy more kid-related details you can share? I am cruising on Indy with my 8 and 10 year olds next spring!

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sunandseagirl617

sunandseagirl617

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Thanks for sharing! Just wondering about more specifics with your DD and Adventure Ocean. Did she spend a lot of time there? Any evening dinners with the kids? ANy more kid-related details you can share? I am cruising on Indy with my 8 and 10 year olds next spring!
During the day she would only go in for a couple of hours. At night, she did not want to come out! Everyday with the exception of the first day, they offered a kids dinner in Johnny Rockets, she took advantage of this twice so we could eat in Chops & Portofinos. Otherwise she ate with us in the main dining room. I love that she could choose to eat off of the kids menu or the adult menu!

 

I cannot say enough about Adventure Ocean. They put a tracking device on the kids:D:D and cut it off when you pick them up. My DD is going to be 9 in April, so she loved one of the afternoons to go into the 9-11 group!

 

In the next day or two I'm going to scan in the kids programs on the family board for cruisinmama06...This was the first time my daughter stayed past 10pm for the late night party which is $5 per hour.

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sunandseagirl617

sunandseagirl617

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Thanks so much for the review, she looks beautiful.

Can you tell me if there is a charge for Sorrentos? Also, I thought I saw somewhere that they had an Asian restaurant called Jade but cant find any info anywhere.

No charge for Sorrentos. In addition to pizza they had cheese selections and anti pasto. Yes, Jade is the first section of Windjammer's cafe. You can't miss it!!

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DanielleRB

DanielleRB

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Thanks for the great review and information...there is not as much about the Indy as other ships since it is so new...I appreciate any information I can get. We are doing the transatlantic in April and CANNOT WAIT!

 

Glad you had fun.

 

Any additional kid program info is appreciated as we have 2 boys, age 9 and 6 who love cruising as much as us.

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honeywell

honeywell

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Also glad to hear your DD enjoyed the Flowrider. That is the one reason we were swayed to this ship! My DS is 8, almost 9 by cruise time, but he is worried he won't make the height requirement in time. (he's little) Did they police this very closely?

 

Hope all you upcoming cruisers will post a review! We would love to read more about your adventures on this fabulous ship!

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sunandseagirl617

sunandseagirl617

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I was really impressed with how much attention my DD received from the flowrider crew. She is barely over the height requirment of 52" for boogyboarding (she is exactly 53") and too small for standing up. She only weighs 55 pounds and the force of the water looked overwhelming to me. But there was one gentleman that was patient with her, he was the one from Nova Scotia (I did not catch his name). He gave her a quick tip at the beginning and she did it within a few seconds and by the time we left, she was on her knees.

 

One other thing I wanted to do, but did not have time:o:o was the lessons. They offered them for $60 an hour, I'm not sure if that was just for standing up or you could do it for boogy boarding as well. If you decide to let your children do this a couple of tips, make sure they have a good fitting bathing suit. The force of the water was knocking off bathings suits. Also, tell your kids its very slippery when getting on and off flow. DD slipped getting off on our last day and fell on her bottom. She was not hurt but I can see how someone could be hurt.

 

You get a wrist band right at boarding that has your childs muster drill station and room number-they wear this the entire cruise. At the flowrider they give you another wrist band when you sign the waiver (yes, there is a scary waiver to sign) :eek:and each day you get another color. So all together we came home with 3 wristbands!

 

A couple of other tips, try and register your kids in the programs prior to the first session so you avoid the lines. If you'd like to take advantage of Johnny Rockets make sure and sign up first thing in the morning (9am) because even though there was not a whole lot of kids on our sailing, it went fast. On the first day, they offer Family Welcome aboard show at 5:45 in Studio B, Deck 3 which was close to the dining areas.

 

I will post the 6-8 year old activities here later on today along with some pictures.

 

Four days is just not long enough! Just an excuse to go again!:D

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sunandseagirl617

sunandseagirl617

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Did you have to pay the $3.95 if your child at at JR with the Adventure Ocean groupp?
No, its free with the kids group. Drop off was at 5:45pm and they walk back over to Adventure Ocean when its over with. Adventure Ocean is right next door to Johnny Rockets.

 

We went there as a family one of the days and we did have to pay the $3.95 fee.

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sunandseagirl617

sunandseagirl617

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Oh this is good news! Thanks for answering all of my "little annoying questions"! Since you are in FL, you should join our spring break cruise!;)
No question is annoying! It's easy when you first come home and the information is fresh. I tried to keep a journal this time!

 

I'd love to go over spring break, dd starts break April 11. We reserved June 14 on Freedom over a year ago, but I'm having second thoughts about cruising in the summer. I am shooting myself for not booking the b2b Thanksgiving...would have still been on her!

 

Thanks for the invite;)

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