Live From IOS Transatlantic April 12-25!!!!

[CulverCityCruisers]

[quote name='ladylawyer']As Vince and Ian mentioned, it was a lovely day in Madeira. Our wonderful-weather luck continues! Mary, Dennis, Bill and I rode the cable car up to the top of the mountain. For those of you with us in Barcelona, you'll recall that Bill is not a big fan of heights. He was quite a trouper, though. Mary & Dennis rode the sledge (sleigh/basket) down, whereas Bill & I came back in the cable car. This time it was only the 2 of us and Bill was very unhappy that I kept moving about the car, to jockey for better photos. Apparently, it was causing the car to swing about.

We met Mary & Dennis at the bottom and walked until we found a nice deli at which to have lunch. Really delicious and OMG so inexpensive! After lunch the men went back to the ship (as they had their fill of shopping, at that point). I found a few scarves and some pottery. Then we walked/took a taxi to Reid's Hotel. Google it. It's GEORGOUS!!! The tea was lovely. The servers were a tad snooty. Mary said, "This is just beautiful," to which he replied, "Of course it is!" (As Mary would say, "Oh Brother! - with one of those eye-rolls.)

We had a nice time and managed to get back to the ship with minutes to spare. We're on our way to Vigo, Spain.

Afternoon Trivia was "True or False." It was pretty hard ... and, honestly, who cares that an osterich's brain is smaller than his eyes, anyway? We're still plugging away with Progressive Trivia in the evening. Seriously ... so people get their knickers in such a knot over some rubber keychains!!!

TTYL! Hope everyone is having a great April!!! ~ Lorna[/quote]

We could only laugh out loud thinking about Bill in the cable car on the way down with just the two of you. I guess you could not put into print the words he was using as he was yelling at you to stand STILL!!:p:p;)

For all of us stateside and on Infinity PC cruise, reservations at hotels in Ft Lauderdale are a top priority as I realized that when we get there it is
SPRING BREAK:eek::eek:

Enjoy the rest of you cruise, love reading the thread every day.

Ira

[mimikens]

[quote name='CulverCityCruisers']We could only laugh out loud thinking about Bill in the cable car on the way down with just the two of you. I guess you could not put into print the words he was using as he was yelling at you to stand STILL!!:p

For all of us stateside and on Infinity PC cruise, reservations at hotels in Ft Lauderdale are a top priority as I realized that when we get there it is
SPRING BREAK:eek::eek:

Enjoy the rest of you cruise, love reading the thread every day.

Ira[/QUOTE]

I know where Lorna and Bill will be staying :eek: or maybe not!!:D

[pmymmw]

A quick question for anybody on board who has a minute and might have seen...
Have they been showing the Champions League football games anywhere on board?

Thanks,
Mark

[flames]

[quote name='mimikens']I know where Lorna and Bill will be staying :eek: or maybe not!!:D[/quote]

Melynne, I think I know where they are staying:D

Carol:)

[isdoo]

We have now arrived in Vigo - a lovely sunny day :)

Our problems continue - now getting surreal!!

Heard another Bravo, Bravo, Bravo on Deck 1, whilst we were on shore - nothing major probably as we couldn't see any smoke!

[flames]

[quote name='isdoo']We have now arrived in Vigo - a lovely sunny day :)

Our problems continue - now getting surreal!!

Heard another Bravo, Bravo, Bravo on Deck 1, whilst we were on shore - nothing major probably as we couldn't see any smoke![/quote]

Hello Everyone,

Ian, I am glad you guys are having a nice day:)

But keep us up to date on what is happening on board, hope it is just a drill since you are in port:eek:

Carol:)

[snowbird1]

Good evening,

Yet another absolutely perfect day in Vigo, Spain today. Temps were actually quite warm. I walked around the old town part a few CC members this morning and then Lorna, Mary, Bill and I went on the HOHO bus (if you will). This bus is just like the ones we all know exact it only stops twice for 20 minutes but it does drive all through town. If you ever take this bus here I highly recommend you go on the early one and get in line EARLY (space is limited). Honestly it is hard image better weather on this cruise. I now hear it looks pretty good all the way to S. Hampton.

Yes there have been a few Bravo's but let me tell you, (nothing like my Carnival TA) were it was a daily thing. I knew 2 people on that ship that never made it past the first port of St. Martten. Carol and Emmy remember how late we were leaving St. Maarten, that was because of Medical Emerg.

We have had a great group of CC members here but with the ship as big as it is there are many have have only seen once or twice but some every day.

We are on our way to S. Hampton now and I did just a little packing after dinner. Lorna, Mary, Bill, Dennis and I will be heading to Portsmouth first thing and then to France. I still have another week of vacation left on this trip. :p:D

[flames]

Yes Vince, I remember you left late in St. Maarten, I can't wait to here all about your trip, I will have to call you when you get home so I can talk about it, and where to stay also after you get off the ship;)

Will you be going to London or Paris at all?

I am glad you had great weather all the way over:cool:

Carol:)

[CulverCityCruisers]

For all of you who own RCI stock... it is up to $13.75 a share.

Glad you have all had such a wonderful time and such GREAT weather.

Ira

[CulverCityCruisers]

Independence of the Seas to Sail Year-Round from U.K. [IMG]http://www.cruisecritic.com/images/rci_independence_southampton_HappyGolfer.jpg[/IMG] [URL="http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=414"]Independence of the Seas[/URL] was the first [URL="http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=32"]Royal Caribbean[/URL] ship to operate an inaugural season in the U.K. Now, it's the first to be homeported there year-round. Royal Caribbean has announced that its newest Freedom-class ship will sail full-time from Southampton starting in April 2010.

The 160,000-ton, 3,634-passenger ship was launched in the U.K. port last April, and began its inaugural season sailing Mediterranean itineraries before heading to the Caribbean for the winter. In April 2010, the ship will reposition to Southampton, as planned, to sail its already scheduled summer season of mainly 10- to 14-night Mediterranean and Canary Island cruises and a handful of shorter cruises.

Then, in the winter of 2010, Independence will remain in Southampton for another just-announced series of Canary Islands and Mediterranean voyages ranging from 11 to 18 nights in duration.

[flames]

[quote name='CulverCityCruisers']Independence of the Seas to Sail Year-Round from U.K. [IMG]http://www.cruisecritic.com/images/rci_independence_southampton_HappyGolfer.jpg[/IMG] [URL="http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=414"]Independence of the Seas[/URL] was the first [URL="http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/cruiseline.cfm?CruiseLineID=32"]Royal Caribbean[/URL] ship to operate an inaugural season in the U.K. Now, it's the first to be homeported there year-round. Royal Caribbean has announced that its newest Freedom-class ship will sail full-time from Southampton starting in April 2010.

The 160,000-ton, 3,634-passenger ship was launched in the U.K. port last April, and began its inaugural season sailing Mediterranean itineraries before heading to the Caribbean for the winter. In April 2010, the ship will reposition to Southampton, as planned, to sail its already scheduled summer season of mainly 10- to 14-night Mediterranean and Canary Island cruises and a handful of shorter cruises.

Then, in the winter of 2010, Independence will remain in Southampton for another just-announced series of Canary Islands and Mediterranean voyages ranging from 11 to 18 nights in duration.[/quote]

Thank You for this info, I am so glad I am on this sailing for next April:eek::D:)

Carol:)

[mimikens]

[quote name='flames']Melynne, I think I know where they are staying:D

Carol:)[/QUOTE]

Actually, it is amusing where Lorna stayed in FLL vs where I stayed. They didn't stay at my house as I live over an hour away. I "think" they will be choosing a different hotel next time they are in FLL.

[CulverCityCruisers]

[quote name='mimikens']Actually, it is amusing where Lorna stayed in FLL vs where I stayed. They didn't stay at my house as I live over an hour away. I "think" they will be choosing a different hotel next time they are in FLL.[/quote]

Why? What is wrong with the ROADKILL INN???:p:p:p

Ira

[flames]

[quote name='mimikens']Actually, it is amusing where Lorna stayed in FLL vs where I stayed. They didn't stay at my house as I live over an hour away. I "think" they will be choosing a different hotel next time they are in FLL.[/quote]

Melynnee, I would stay at your place if you were home, we could have a good time where you live, Bob has a Bother that lives in Port St. Lucy but they are not always there as they live in Canada also:D

I know If they stayed with you, you would be up all hours of the night talking and having fun:cool:

Carol:)

[isdoo]

We are almost at the top of the bay of biscay - seas fairly calm - slightly cloudy.

Lights started to flicker last night as the ship rocked - either I am jinxed or this suite is LOL

All good fun....

[ladylawyer]

[quote name='isdoo']We are almost at the top of the bay of biscay - seas fairly calm - slightly cloudy.

Lights started to flicker last night as the ship rocked - either I am jinxed or this suite is LOL

All good fun....[/quote]

I think it's your suite, Ian, as we saw no flickering lights in our corner aft. :rolleyes: Sorry we never got to meet, Ian. There were a number of Cruise Critic functions, but we assumed that you and Cheryl were busy. We were hoping you were busy with more fun things. ~ Lorna

[CulverCityCruisers]

[quote name='ladylawyer']I think it's your suite, Ian, as we saw no flickering lights in our corner aft. :rolleyes: Sorry we never got to meet, Ian. There were a number of Cruise Critic functions, but we assumed that you and Cheryl were busy. We were hoping you were busy with more fun things. ~ Lorna[/quote]

Maybe that's why the lights were flickering:p

[ladylawyer]

I echo Vince's comments about Vigo. Frankly, I was pretty unimpressed with the port. Across the street from the Port, literally, is a modern Mall ... nothing of interest. Like going the the Mall in Downtown Sacramento. In the afternoon, there were dozens of knock-off designer purse vendors. Most were reasonably polite and will bargain. A couple got a little pushy. We walked by quickly. It felt like that big building in Labadee, though (only, with just purses and some watches).

The HoHo bus runs on a very limited schedule. There must only be 1 because we disembarked at 10:09AM (Vigo time) and we had to wait 2 hours for the next one. Don't think that you can pick up the bus at the Tourist Info office, a block from the Pier. The first stop is the Pier and it will fill up the bus. We just waved at the folks standing in front of the TI office. :( for them.

The weather has been incredible. I hear there will be rain tomorrow. Otherwise we have been truly blessed with the best weather ever!

You may recall that my DH Bill, our friends Mary & Dennis (mjldvlks), and a lovely British couple, have been in a Progressive Trivia Contest. For ten nights, we've run from one venue or another to be a Trivia (played in the Schooner Bar, which is on the opposite side of the ship from the dining venues). The competition has been fierce. Some teams have treated the Activities Staff Person badly, complaining about answers and such. Tonight they announced the winners.

We've been doing well, usually coming in in the top 2 or 3. We were hoping for 3rd place. Unfortunately, we did not receive the Bronze Medal and baseball caps. We started to hav a glimmer of hope for 2nd, when Karen announced that the team was there by 1/2 point (and we had one question which was awarded 1/2 point) ... but no. No Silver Medal and lunch box. When Karen described the winning prize we were glad that we hadn't one ... SO many things to pack. :eek: ... So we were genuinely SHOCKED when Karen announced our team as the winners!!! :D I think it just helped that we were consistent, whereas others were sometimes strong and other times weaker. BTW, we were happy to accept those big bulky prizes!!! LOL!!! It was a perfect ending to a wonderful cruise ... and justified all the rearranging of plans so that we could be at Trivia at 8PM every night! :D

Better go; we're up early tomorrow for disembarkation. It's been a great cruise. I wish those of you who canceled had stayed (although I understand why you canceled) and I wish our other buddies could have been here too ... We'll just have to make next year's Panama Canal cruise all the more fun! Thanks for reading along with us! Miss you all! ~ L

[ladylawyer]

[quote name='CulverCityCruisers']Maybe that's why the lights were flickering:p[/quote]

Hi Ira! I'll give you a call next weekend (not this one ... next one) and we can have a nice long chat!!! ~ L

[snowbird1]

Good afteroon,

We are off the ship and 5 of us are in Portsmouth England. In a few hours we will be getting on the Ferry and heading to France. Everything continues to go well for us at this point and the weather is good again today especially for England. I just finished eating on of those English Tasty's (Beef and Potato) and that was good but probably not good for you. :p

I believe most everyone had a great time on the ship and I heard a lot of the Brits talking about booking it again next year. I understand the ship does stop in Lisbon next year but as we all know that could change. The LA had a sheet with all the Fall and Spring TA's on in for RCCL and Celebrity and I have that packed somewhere.

If Ron and Sue see this, we are all hoping Ron is feeling better.

Emmy, Lorna has a picture she can't wait to show you. This morning when she took it we all thought of you. :p

Almost forgot to mention there was a lot of talk in the D Lounge about the changes and a lot of unhappy people. I must confess and say I made the best of it this cruise since it will be a long time til I am in one again (Oasis unless that changes).

[snowbird1]

[quote name='isdoo']We are almost at the top of the bay of biscay - seas fairly calm - slightly cloudy.

Lights started to flicker last night as the ship rocked - either I am jinxed or this suite is LOL

All good fun....[/QUOTE]


Ian, Sorry to hear about all the problems with your cabin, mine was fantastic and one of the nicest ever. I had absolutely no motion issues in my cabin on deck 6 (mid ship).

[mjldvlks]

[quote name='pmymmw']A quick question for anybody on board who has a minute and might have seen...
Have they been showing the Champions League football games anywhere on board?

Thanks,
Mark[/quote]
They did show the Champions League. They showed a game from the quarter finals each day of the second leg match days [the only match days we were aboard]. They showed Liverpool - Chelsea on Tuesday and United - Porto on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I was unable to watch the entirety of either game. The FA cup matches were on the cabin TVs on Ch 42 which showed a German language broadcast -- go figure.

D

By the way, our cabin was outstanding [D2 port side just aft of the hump on 9]

[CulverCityCruisers]

[quote name='ladylawyer']Hi Ira! I'll give you a call next weekend (not this one ... next one) and we can have a nice long chat!!! ~ L[/quote]

Lorna,
You have NEVER been known for a "SHORT" chat.;):p

Miss you

Ira

[flames]

Hi Everyone, I am glad to see you all had a fabulous trip and I am waiting to hear all about it as I will be getting off that same ship in England one your from today:D

My Pink Boa will cross the pond:p

Hope you all have a great time in France and England, I look forward to hearing all about your travels, so be safe and have fun:cool:

Carol:)

[mjldvlks]

Finally off the ship and in France!! I am SOOOO sorry for the limited reviews while out at sea. The entire group has so much to share with all of you that are either already going on or planning to go on the Independence of the Seas. I have to say that this was truly an incredible cruise. You could not ask for better weather. When I get back home I promise a full, very detailed report.

For tonight, we just returned from a day in Normandy - touring several WWII sites and also the Bayeux Tapestry. Our B&B is on the main street in Carentan - run by a wonderful lady named Nancy. It is about 30 minutes from Cherbourg and a great place to start touring all the WWII sites. If anyone needs information - just send me an e-mail at address below.

We drove to Caen this morning - dropped the guys off at the WWII museum and we found a wonderful little bakery and bought some apple streudel and chocolate croissants. Got lost several times but finally found the market downtown (it is Sunday so most everything closed). Lorna and I had a good time wondering through the stalls - lots of great looking food. Got lost going back to museum - headed to Pegasus bridge. Also saw Juno Beach, Mulberry Harbor. Mulberry Harbor is something to see..... Saw lots of beautiful green, lush land, beautiful cathedrals. All in all a great day. Tomorrow we are off to the American Cemetary and American beaches with a late train to Paris.

As Lorna said, we won trivia the last night....still cannot believe it! We each received an RCI cooler, cap, pen, keychain, t-shirt, picture of the ship, and a beautiful piece of artwork. We also received a bottle of champagne and a certificate stating we were the smartest people on the ship.....ha.ha. Lorna's friends Glen and Helen ate dinner with us everynight, as well and Ellie and Mike (silverfoxlady) - and Glenn's birthday was celebrated also friday night so had a wonderful last dinner.

Here is the long-awaited picture of the pole in the 1704 on IOS - this is a great room and in my opinion one of the very best. I will give a complete review of all the rooms we saw on the cabin crawl later.

IMHO, we had the greatest Meet and Mingle. Some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Everyone commented this was one of the best organized and most fun M&M's - and even if you didn't participate in all the activities, it definitely gave those that wanted to the ability to meet people before boarding the ship and I know there were many new friendships formed.

We are also all very impressed with Graham Seymour - one of the funniest guys. He made Quest hysterical. More about all of that later also.

You must go to both ice shows if you go on IOS - top notch shows from some great skaters - from the U.S., Canadian, and Russian National teams. No one went away disappointed.

All for now - need to get to sleep - we are off on the train to Paris tomorrow night. Talk to you all sometime later this week with more updates and pictures!! Mary