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Independence of the Seas - 3/15-21/09 review (LONG)

GSRDPM

By GSRDPM,
in Royal Caribbean International

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GSRDPM

GSRDPM

Posted
Posted

We are going through the post cruise vacation blues…

 

Here is a (long) review of our time on RCCL’s Independence of the Seas for the March 15-21 sailing.

 

BACKGROUND:

We were are a family of four - Parents of a 13 YO son and 10 YO daughter – Second cruise for the kids (ROS was their first) and Third for Mom and Dad (1st was NCL’s Seaward). We were met in FLL by my in-laws from NY and Borther-in-law’s family from Maine. (In all we were 10 – 2 seniors, four “middle agers” and kids ages 13, 10, 7 and 5. In short, this cruise was loved by all. It “worked” for everyone! Here are the details….

 

ARRIVAL AND EMBARKATION

 

Thankfully, my family’s three flights all arrived at Fort Lauderdale International Airport within a one hour period and we quickly travelled to port everglades in about 10 minutes. A single van offered to take our entire group for $8 per person but we took three cabs at about $12 each cab for a total of $36. Lesson here – don’t be afraid to split up for a 10 minute cab ride! We tipped the porter $6 for our three bags and he seemed fine with that. The bags did not arrive until after dinner (6PM Main seating).

 

Embarkation was a breeze, though some items like our credit card information did not migrate properly from when I did the online check-in. Still, we were on the ship in less than 30 minutes. We dropped off our bags in our room and we all met at my in-laws handicapped cabin (Category L – but about 2 ½ times the size of a typical L cabin!) before heading to the Windjammer for lunch. By 1PM it was getting pretty busy but we easily found a table that fit the ten of us and started grazing. Everything was good and we quickly learned that one should scout all areas before filling the plate as there was a great variety of food spread about the entire restaurant. After a brief informal M&M on the pool deck with fellow SEADOGS, we were off to muster.

 

THE SHIP:

The good:

In a word, INCREDIBLE. She is new and looks it. Everything is spotless. There is tremendous variety in venues, amenities and activities to participate in. Our group ranged in ages from 5 to 75 and all were thrilled with the ship and all it had to offer. The pool areas are large and diverse. The H2O zone has a lot to offer the little ones – different designed pools, hot tubs, fountains and even a donut shaped pool for creating whirlpools when the kids march in a circle through it. There are many places to enjoy the outdoors. There are multiple levels for deck chairs throughout the pool deck and the deck above it. There are lounges at the stern as well as at the bow near the helicopter pad ( great place to hang out when leaving ports) One of the least used areas for sitting outside are the walkways on deck 4 where the muster drill takes place. There is shade and it is a very peaceful area to relax. It is also a quick way to get fore and aft when shows or dinner let out. Otherwise, you have to navigate the crowded promenade or thread your way through a convoluted and crowded casino. There are just so many places to explore. There are the vast pool areas, the active sports deck with rock climbing, basketball, mini-golf and FLOWRIDER, the ice skating rink, the karaoke booths in Studio B, the royal Promenade with its many shops and eating and drinking establishments. I never got to visit all the public rooms and lounges.

 

My mother in law is in a wheelchair and I do not recall any part of the ship that she could not access. I even watched an amputee being assisted out of the main pool using a lift chair. There was never a problem getting through the dining room or finding a place to store her chair when she chose not to sit in it. (OK, she did not get on flowrider or climb the rock wall…)

 

 

The bad:

While there are plenty of maps and models showing you where you are in the ship, you can get confused at times. There are a few dead ends when going fore and aft (I believe you can’t get all the way down across deck three, for example.) There are touch screens on several decks that let you select your destination and the screen will show you which path to take to get where you want to go. Elevators can get crowded around dinner time.

 

SERVICE:

Albert, our cabin attendant was great and always greeted us by name and was eager to help with anything we might need. Maria, our waiter and Denny our assistant waiter were very efficient at anticipating our needs while being warm and engaging the kids in friendly conversation. At one point, we needed a box for a special and very fragile item (more on that later) and when we called down to a shop, the gentleman there estimated the size box we needed from our description of the item, placed our name on it and set it aside for us to pick up at our convenience. He seemed genuinely enthusiastic about helping us. RCCL was gracious in holding a Meet and Mingle even though we did not meet the requirement of being on a cruise 7 days or longer. The staff people at the M&M were enthusiastic and had many nice gifts to raffle off.

 

WOW MOMMENT!

My daughter is 10 years old and is very creative. Less than a year ago she started a cake decorating business and has been in a couple of local papers and even appeared on the local television news. She brought her photo album of cakes to show her cousins. At one point I showed the album to our waiter who suggested I show it to Sylvia, our headwaiter. Sylvia asked if she could borrow the album so she could show it to some people. When we spoke at dinner she asked if my daughter would like to visit the galley when were at Costa Maya. We had no solid plans that day, so we agreed that my daughter and I would meet Sylvia outside the dining room at 9:45AM.

 

When we met the next day, we were joined by the Executive Chef (!) who had arranged to show my daughter the galley and even arrangde for a sugar art demonstration. One of his assistants painstakingly created a swan and flower arrangement for my daughter which he gave to her at the end of the visit. (This is what we needed the boxes for.) We were in the galley for almost 1 ½ hours. Sylvia remained with us for almost an hour before she needed to return to work. Even more amazing, the Executive Chef remained with us for almost 45 minutes, speaking to us about his job and complimenting my daughter on her talent. During his time with us, his staff would come up to him to have him sign off on items or test various deserts, etc... I can’t believe this VERY BUSY man spent so much time with us. In the end he gave us a couple of “Culinary Crew” T-****s and caps! I am so grateful to our headwaiter, Sylvia and the Executive Chef for extending themselves to my daughter.

 

FOOD:

We ate in the dining room for all meals except for lunch on embarkation day and breakfast before tendering to Belize where we ate at the Windjammer. Windjammer was fine, but we liked the atmosphere and service in the dining room. I also feel a little more secure about staying healthy when I see some of the people at the buffet lines sneezing or coughing while handling the serving utensils. The food in the dining room was excellent and everyone at our table always came away satisfied with what they ate. All deserts were superb. It is going to be difficult not eating out and getting 2 deserts every time from now on…

 

ADVENTURE OCEAN:

We had four kids in our group – ages 5,7,10 and 13 which landed them in four different age groups. The 5 year old quickly discovered that the kids group was a lot of fun and would frequently announce that he wanted to go to his group. The 7 year old went once. My 10 year old daughter wanted to go every night and on afternoons on sea days. She loved it and made a lot of friends. My 13 year old son enjoyed the basketball and ping pong tournaments as well as the Scratch DJ Academy.

 

ENTERTAINMENT:

Graham Seymour is a wonderful cruise director. He works really hard. He must have a transporter device or some kind of secret passage or slide that instantaneously transports him across the ship as it seems he is everywhere at once. He is funny, charming and a talented singer. The Ice show was spectacular. The music, skating and energy was fantastic and it was amazing that the skaters could do what they did on such a small rink.

The comedians were funny and the acts were diverse (stand up, impersonations, stunts) and the larger shows were truly grand. The ship’s band was great as well. The “Love & Marriage Show” was a hoot! All throughout the ship – on the pool deck, in various lounges, in the nightclubs, on the sports deck – there was music that helped to seet the mood for the area.

 

PORTS:

 

Belize

 

We tendered ashore painlessly, though my mother-in-law remained behind as we decided ahead of time that tendering would have been too difficult for her. She can walk short distances, but one had to enter the tender by navigating a short maze of walkways and steps that required the person to travel from ship to pilot boat to tender. She would have been a fall risk at several points. Once ashore, we walked about a block to sign in for our tour with coralbreeze tours – “Captain your own riverboat.” It turns out we were the only group scheduled that day so it was to be only the eight of us. We waited about 20 minutes for the fellows to arrive to take us to our boats. Captain Tony and Guide James were great. On the short boat ride to our starting point, they pointed out sites of interest in the city and gave us some historical background on the country. The boat ride took about 15 minutes. We arrived at our boats shortly and were told that we would be on the river for about 4 hours so we went to a nearby Shell station to get some drinks and use the restroom. We were also told that RCCL has an excursion that takes people to a restaurant and gift shops up the river so that location would be open for us as well. (The site might not be open on days when RCCL ships are not at Belize.)

 

The trip of the river was a lot of fun. The boats were small rigid/inflatable craft that were fast, relatively quiet and easy to handle. Four of us – two adults and to children - were in each boat. The trip through the mangroves was a little exciting as we moved fast through the relatively narrow spaces between the trees while (mostly) avoiding partially submerged branches and who knows what else! When we reached the open river again, we followed the lead boat in single file and would stop whenever the lead boat signaled us to do so. James was adept at spotting large Iguanas, exotic birds and Monkeys. We were able to see 4 or 5 crocodiles (Jumping in the river for a swim is definitely NOT recommended!) and were able to maneuver the boats to within about 20 feet of a couple of them before they would either dart into the water from the riverbank or simply submerge below the surface.

 

When we reached the restaurant, we enjoyed a local type meal of chicken, rice and beans. Six of these with 8 sodas cost about $36 US. We browsed the shop stands near the restaurant and James took us across the street to a home where a local woman rescues injured monkeys and nurses them back to health before releasing them back to the wild. We visited with the monkeys and took pictures, never meeting anyone at the house. We then returned back to the boats for the return trip down the river. In all the excursion was very comfortable as the boats move fast enough to keep you cool. James spotted a couple of kids with an Iguana on the riverbank and we pulled up and the kids let us take pictures with it. James said they were planning on eating it for dinner! We dropped off the boats and re-entered the guide boat for the trip back to the pier. We were back on IOS by about 3PM.

 

We were thrilled with this excursion. My daughter named this her favorite port experience. It was very unique and felt like a real adventure, yet we always felt completely safe. The guides were very friendly, knowledgeable and patient.

 

Costa Maya

 

We left the ship after lunch and by the time we entered the port, the large pool had a definite “Spring Break” feel. There were tall drinks being carried through the pool by people obviously enjoying themselves. The pool bar had a line of young ladies dancing on it. Wit the four kids, we quickly decided to leave and took the $3PP van ride to Mahauhal. When we arrived there, we were immediately approached by different establishments inviting us to set up on their area of beach. I was not put off by this, but we wanted to walk up and down the beach path a little to choose were we wanted to be. The people were a little aggressive and we eventually gave in to a fellow who was able to set us up in an area were Mom would have some shade to sit in. A Jet ski area was nearby and we decided to rent a couple ($40 per 30 minutes and $70 for an hour). My brother in law decided to each rent one for an hour and return to the beach half way to switch off the kids. After signing a waiver (more on this later) and handing over our $70 each and required seapasses, we were given life jackets and a quick introduction on controlling the waverunners (start,stop,turn, on and off). We were told that we needed to leave ASAP as they had other appointments and we hopped onboard and followed one of the staff out to open water past the reef. We were told we needed to stay in the deeper “black” water. After 30 minutes he would come out to retrieve the 30 minute rentals and we followed to switch the kids. The skis were a blast, though some seemed to stall frequently. At one point, we were met by the staff person who said it was time to go in and by our watches we were only out there about 45 minutes. We protested and he said he would give us another 5 minutes.

 

Here’s were trouble began. When we were signaled to return, my brother in law did not join us. We ended up finding them in the water. During a turn he and his wife had capsized and when they fell off they were unable to right the waverunner. They waited for help to arrive, but by the time we got to them, their waverunner had partially sank. We took my brother in law on our ski and his wife was put onto the tow boat that was sent out to retrieve the jet ski. When we returned to the beach, by brother in law was informed by the manager that he was liable for any damage done to the jet ski as was noted in the paperwork we signed. When we reviewed the paperwork ABSOLUTELY nothing was mentioned about damage to the jet skis – only that the renters were stating that they were not under the influence of drugs or alcohol and that they would not hold the company liable for any personal injury the renters might sustain while using the jet skis. We asked him to show us where it stated in the paperwork where we were responsible. He did not look at it and only insisted according to the contract renters are responsible as they do not have insurance on the equipment, only insurance to cover injuries to the renters (exactly the opposite from what was written). In the end he complained that he would be losing the use of the jet ski until it were fixed and that the damage was my brother in law’s fault because he did not immediately right the jet ski when it had capsized. He continued that it even though we were never informed of this, it was OUR responsibility to know this. In the end he stated that he needed to be paied $100 cash. In the end we chose to pay the $100 in order to get the sea passes back and avoid the risk of missing the ship to spend a not as pleasant stay in a Mexican jail or who knows where else. Some other IOS cruisers were waiting renting while this was going on and we expressed our dissatisfaction to them. The rented anyway. When we saw them back on the ship, they told us that they rented several waverunners for an hour and were bought back to the beach in bout 45 minutes. They complained, but did not get anywhere either. BEWARE of renting from OLINCA Watersports!!!!

 

The ride back to the port was $2 PP but we had to share it with a couple of college spring breakers who could only speak in derivatives of various four letter words and lacked the motor control to reach into their pockets to retrieve their wallets. They also claimed to have lost their sea passes. (Teaching moment to kids.) While the jet skis were fun, Costa Maya was clearly our least favorite port.

 

Cozumel

 

We were excited about our day on the Trimaran Tucan. We took a 10 minute ($12) cab ride from the port to the marina where the Tucan was berthed. We met with the owner who we paid and met the crew of the boat. Our group of ten had the pleasure of sharing the boat with Suzanne (Canadian Mom Cruiser) and her lovely family of four. The crew of the Tucan were ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL. There was absolutely NOTHING that these three men would not try to do to ensure that we had the best possible day with them. The excursion last 6 hours and included sailing to a small deserted beach north of the port. On the way we stopped at a coral head and did some snorkeling. Winds were low so we did not sail the entire day and could not do the spinnaker rides they are known for. They took us to the beach via a small inflatable boat while they prepared and absolutely delicious lunch of fajitas, salad, beans with fresh pico de gallo and guacamole. Instead of the spinnaker rides, they took us to a second snorkeling spot where one of the crew was able to catch/grab a sea turtle and bring it to the boat for pictures before setting it free. The boat was great for laying around and had plenty of space for our group of 14. They got us back to the marina where taxis were waiting for us. We made it back to the ship about 40 minutes prior to sailing. I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS EXCURSION ANY MORE HIGHLY. This was the favorite day of the trip for my son, my wife and myself.

 

 

DISEMBARKATION

 

We did the luggage valet - $20PP for getting boarding passes and the bags plus any charges for luggage as specified by the airline. We authorized $60 for three passes and three bags with the understanding that we would need to get the boarding pass for our daughter (who was not checking in a bag) at the airport. We specified on the document that we were not required to pay the $15 bag fee for Continental Airlines as we booked travel before the charge was established. When we got the sea pass statement the morning of disembarkation, the $15 per bag charge was on it. When I enquired at guest services, they insisted that Continental instructed them to charge us. (At the airport, the Continental agent said we should not have been charged. – I now need to convince RCCL that they need to refund the charge – good luck…) Anyway, the room we were instructed to meet in was far too small to hold all the luggage valet people, so we waited in the hall. By 9 AM we were off the ship and bypassed most of the long lines in the terminal. We had a 5:30 PM departure and reserved a car rental through Budget. When we exited the terminal, a shared car rental bus was waiting outside. We got on board and a few minutes later we were at the car rental center at the airport – no charge.

 

I paid less than $60 dollars prepaid at budget for a full size car. My brother-in-law was quoted about $120 for the same car at the counter a few minutes after we had left. The weather in Fort Lauderdale was rainy all day and we managed to visit the International Swimming Hall of Fame which was enjoyed by our swim team family. The rest of the day was less productive as we did not have any plan given the foul weather. (See, prior planning does pay off!)

 

Well there you have it. Pictures to follow…..

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cot427

cot427

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Wow thats for the great review. I agree with your review as I sailed on Indy last month. That's great about your daughter. Awesome that she is that talented and even more awesome that she got a kitchen tour with the executive chef.

 

thanks again!

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Kruzeagain

Kruzeagain

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Posted

Lovely review; thanks for sharing it with all of us.

 

There's a very funny clip of Graham Seymour on YouTube demonstrating "rules of the Road" here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmHdoHOLAl0

 

And I thought it was absolutely wonderful that ship's staff took the time out of their insane schedules to help inspire your precious daughter. Restores your faith in the system, doesn't it?

 

Happy Cruising,

Alan

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B&Lmom

B&Lmom

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Thanks for the great review. We were on the ship with you!! It was fun to relive it through your review.... I think I'll write one too!

 

I totally agree with your observations about Costa Maya. We headed into "town" after seeing the spring break crowd from the Granduer of the seas had taken over the port pool area!! We walked down the boardwalk area of town to scope things out... trying to fend off the people trying to get us to buy stuff, or rent stuff, or eat at their establishment. We were never treated poorly. Once we said, NO THANKS, they left us alone. We endend up stopping at a place on the beach with open tables, sort of away from the big crowds. The food was great and the "fruity drinks" were super strong! The problem we had was the bill.... the waither went through what was on the bill really fast before we could check it and then walked away. Then my husband gave him money and the waiter walked away and needed to get change. Then he came back with less change than we were supposed to get. When questioned, the waiter said he forgot to add something else we ordered on it. My husband stood up and then said he needed to see the bill again. I think my husband size and stature scared him a bit and he relented.... readded the bill, and gave us our correct change.... it all just seemed a bit shady. Maybe it was an honest mistake? Maybe he thought we would be too afraid to question it? or that we were too buzzed from our drinks to care? I don't know.

 

Sorry to hear about your wave runner experience. Probably better to pay the money and walk away.. I'd hate to see the "jail" there... you'd share it with iguanas and who knows what else!!:eek:

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Cruiser Forever

Cruiser Forever

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Wow thats for the great review. I agree with your review as I sailed on Indy last month. That's great about your daughter. Awesome that she is that talented and even more awesome that she got a kitchen tour with the executive chef.

 

thanks again!

 

I agree thanks for the review. I will be sailing on the IOS this Sept. and reading your review eased my mind. Because too many nay sayers have to bad mouth the dining room and the food. So reading that you and all the members in your party were satisfied and happy makes me feel as ease.

 

I can't wait to sail on her. And kudos to your daughter and her wonderful talent. And how amazing that she got to see the galley and the executive chef. It was a great review and wonderful photos too..

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GSRDPM

GSRDPM

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Thanks for the review.

 

Was the band by the pool a reggae band? How were they (both quality and hours). Last RCCL cruise, we noticed cutbacks here, and I hope it has changed.

 

There was a reggae/caribbean band playing at the pool on at least one of the sea days. During the evening poolside buffet, the IOS show band was playing rock and various party songs. I thought al the music was very good.

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MedicKen

MedicKen

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THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU We will be on Indy in December and your review helps alot. How did you get them to do a M&M? There are some of us planning to do our own but it would be nice to have a RCI one. Thanks again.

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GSRDPM

GSRDPM

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MedicKen:

 

AS far as the M&M. It took several phone calls to RCCL and we explained that we had a very active CC thread. The process required one of the members to gather the information from the participants (Cabin#s, names, etc and submit them to RCCL) as opposed to registering online, but the did it for us. Look at the Spring break March 15-21 roll call thread for IOS (Probably around page 20) and you can figure out how it was handled. Good luck. She is a beautiful ship!

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