Return from Independence of the Seas Med Treasures

[russy1]

Hi,

They will sit you alone no problem, you may have to wait a few minutes but to be honest most people are happy to sit together at breakfast, we don't sit at a large tabe for dinner we like it to be just the four of us but it's actually quite nice at breakfast, it's a great way to gather info on trips and people's plans for the day also if you are not a morning person it's no problem just talk to each other. The only pain for the waiters is that there aren't many tables for two, but if it is a pain they don't show it:) I'd give it a go and sit with others and if it's not your cup of tea ask for a small table the next day:D

[sotonjoe]

Thanks Russy.

 

How difficult is it to find seating on deak during sea days? We're only travelling as a couple so I'm hoping that it won't be literally impossible to fins two loungers together. I understand space will be at a premium directly next to the pools etc, but is it a bit quieter up round the running track etc?

 

How did you find the Bay of Biscay etc? Pretty bumpy or calm?

 

Thanks for continuing to take the time to answer everyone's questions!

[hels]

Hi Hels,

Still got loads to do my poor washing machine is worn out, my husband had to go back to work today so I was left with it all (would rather have gone to work!!!) Hope you had a great cruise same as us, I'd already booked another cruise for Nov sailing from Venice he he. Can't really afford it but it's a treat for my mum's 65th. Just get the credit card out:D

 

Hi there russy yes we had a great cruise just went to fast my husband started work today and I go back wednesday by then hope I finished washing and ironing:D I had another look at cruises dont think I will be as lucky as you with another one this year maybe next summer if I can save my pennies or win the lottery;)

[russy1]

Hi SotonJoe,

 

Sun loungers do get taken up fairly quickly everyone has there own favourite area, if you are prepared to go on deck a bit earlier you won't have any trouble. There was four of us and we always managed to sit together. We prefer a quieter area and we found a good space for us was at the back of the ship starboard side just past Johnny Rockets, a walk to the pool but nice and quiet to read a book, toilets nearby. There is also a St Tropez up some stairs near the front which is fairly quiet. Most people with children like to be near the pool so that fills up fast. You won't have any problems with just 2 of you:)

[carhirer]

Thanks for the offer of help Russy1

 

1. You seem to have avoided the UK school holidays and yet things were busy? ( I am going on 1 Aug so am expecting Hell - but fingers crossed

 

2. what are times to avoid for Breakfast and lunch at windjammer?

 

3. info on this forum suggests that for ex- UK cruises the bar prices were increased to include the 15% service charge on drinks. Was this clearly stated somewhere? I understand that, despite increasing the prices to cover the service charge, there is a line on the bill for "additional gratuity" so this was a bit misleading. Was this all reasonably clear to you?

[russy1]

Hi Carhirer,

There were more families on the Inependence than I have seen on smaller ships, but a lot of them are catered for in the kids clubs so you don't see much of them, there is also a seperate pool for children a mixed pool and an adult only pool so it's not too bad. The only time I really noticed was in the evening in the Promenade deck 5 when the parents are having a drink and the kids are running around a bit, nothing major though, mostly well behaved. We had drinks in Schooner bar or Boleros which doesn't attract many kids:) We ate breakfast in Windjammer and main dining room, we are early risers so tended to go to breakfast before 8am mostly in the dining room. Busy period is 9am or after and lots of people don't get up till after 10am. The ship is catering for families and children but there are lots of places to find a quiet corner so not really any bother.

The drinks are quite pricey but being from the South didn't seem too different from home, there is nothing about 15% written anywhere. Say you buy a pint of Boddingtons at $6:50 on the bar Tariff that is what you pay. The total is on the receipt with a line at the bottom saying "additional tip" then a line for the signature. We tended to write in a $1 or $2 or if it was just one drink we didn't bother. The additional tip is added seperately on your cruise account and is very straight forward and we had no problems, there is no pressure to put a tip on:D

[russy1]

Sorry forgot to mention lunch in Windjammer, always seems busy but main time are between 12 and 13:30, we tried to wait until after 14:00 (if you can wait that long):) They also do lunch in the main dining room on sea days and some others. The promenade cafe also does sandwiches and cakes and Sorrentos does slices of pizza:D Am feeling sick just thinking about it:p

[Esprit]

My wife really doesn't want anyone else ironing her stuff and I've read you can have your iron taken away if found with one. Is the luggage scanned at Southampton and cases put into a "naughty" room if they contain banned items? Can you take your own Champagne aboard for the sailaway?

 

We've been used to Princess and P&O ships that have launderettes on each deck. It puzzles me why RCL don't have them too.

 

Did you see much Ballroom/Latin dancing going on in any of the venues?

 

What was the average age of the passengers and was there a good mix of nationalities (accepting that the majority will be British).

 

Thanks in anticipation of receiving your reply

 

Peter

[russy1]

Hi Peter,

 

I agree about the laundry room, especially on a two week cruise. An iron is one of the banned items to take on board but actually I did take one in my suitcase because I forgot all about it being banned, no one found it but guess what I didn't use it once, I took more than enough clothes and nothing was too badly wrinkled.

 

You are not allowed to take any alcohol on board not even Champagne, there have been some threads on here about smuggling but to be honest for me it's too much hassle, when we put our hand luggage through the scanner a crew member asked us if we had any bottles or alcohol, I went bright red even though I didn't have any, I'd be a rubbish smuggler.:rolleyes::)

 

There is ballroom dancing most evenings in the Pyramid Lounge at set times, didn't see much about Latin or Salsa even though they play the music in Boleros. I think there is also evening dancing in the Oliver and twist, didn't witness any of it though was too busy yawning my way to bed, latest night I had was midnight, most of the kids on board stayed up later than me.

 

There was a very mixed age group, lots of older people and also more families than I have seen before, lots of 30/40 something couples too so a bit of everything. As you can imagine the majority of passengers are Brits, not a lot else to be honest, some Americans and Canadians and a smattering of Italian and Spanish, the main accent we could hear was Scottish, lots of kilts flying around on formal nights.:D

[Esprit]

Thanks Russy

 

I'll hide the iron in my luggage so it'll be me that will suffer the consequences!

 

We're sailing in mid August with old teenagers so they should be happy with age mix. Just hope their bar bills aren't more than mine. So a pint of Lager is $6.50? What's a glass of house wine cost?

 

Cheers

Peter

[8tocruise]

Hi Russy:

 

I read somewhere that a laundry service for $20 a bag was offered after the first week. Is that true? I'm traveling from the US and don't want to pack for two weeks.

[cruiser87654321]

Thanks Russy

 

I'll hide the iron in my luggage so it'll be me that will suffer the consequences!

 

We're sailing in mid August with old teenagers so they should be happy with age mix. Just hope their bar bills aren't more than mine. So a pint of Lager is $6.50? What's a glass of house wine cost?

 

Cheers

Peter

 

My husband will be doing the same for me!:D I am taking quite a bit of linen, and that willneed an iron after it has travelled to Southampton in a well stuffed ;)case.

[sotonjoe]

thanks russy

Another quick question ... say you're sat out on deck somewhere, is there any way of getting food delivered to you rather than having to go inside. For example, could you have 'room service' delivered to you outside? Or could you take something from the windjammer up on deck at all?

 

thanks

[cruiser87654321]

Another Q here too:D

 

On the formal night, are ladies mainly in full length dresses or cocktail length? and is a dark duit and tie formal enough for a 19 year old, and a 12 year old, or are most of them men/boys in Tuxedos?

[russy1]

Hi 8tocruise,

 

Yes they do a laundry special offer mostly on port days $20 sounds about right for as much as you could stuff in the bag but I'm sure it doesn't include ironing

 

I have been looking at our sightseeing stuff (in answer to your earlier question), our itinerary may be slightly different to yours as Med Treasures does an A and a B cruise. Not sure what teenagers like to do as we are a couple of 30 somethings. Maybe you could start a thread on good excursions for teenagers

 

Gibraltar - we did the cable car up to the top of the rock walked halfway down and went into St Michaels Cave talking to lots of apes along the way really funny, then caught the cable car back half way, there is lots of history in Gib but this was more fun. There are also lots of minibus tours that drive you to the top and tour down for a reasonable price. We then had a wander down main street and a pint in the pub

 

Cagliari - Lovely place, there is an open top bus tour but ther are only 2 buses each holding 35 people if you don't get on the first 2 you have to queue for another hour. We decided to walk up to the Arena was very steep my parent struggled when got up there it was closed aaargh:mad: Nice view though.There is a trip to Su Nuraxi but didn't hear of anyone doing it.

 

Livorno - We caught the train to Florence as the on board trips were a ridiculous price especially for a family. We enjoyed Florence but saw lots of teenagers being grumpily dragged round so probably a bit boring, we spoke to a family that went to Pisa and their teenage daughter liked it had fun taking silly pictures and they had a nice lunch, also much nearer on the train or in a taxi

 

Cannes - we had a quick tour of Cannes beachfront, when you get off the tender there is a bus stop next to the little sightseeing train. The bus is number 8 Palm Beach it's not a tourist bus but has on open top deck and goes along the front and back to where you started for 2Euros no one seemed to know about this and it's a good way to get your bearings, we then caught the train to Antibes a little French town ten minutes away lovely for lunch. Most people went to Monte Caro which is probably more to look at for teenagers

 

Barcelona - we did the open top sightseeing bus 21 euros but well worth it, there are 3 different routes and the price covers them all, commentary in 8 languages with headset and hop on and off when you feel like it, a lot of Brits got out at Barcelona football stadium we just went round and round looking at Gaudi architecture stuff and got sunburnt, really enjoyed it. As it was Sunday the shops were shut:mad: there seemed to be a lot more eating places all outside where they have regenerated the old Port Vell I think

 

Malaga - We did a Malaga city tour, was quite surprised how much I liked the town of Malaga, was interesting, I'm sure the beaches are good, there is one near the ship but the rep says these were not the best ones, if you go ashore in Malaga give yourself plenty of time to get back through the terminal as it took forever as there was another cruise ship in. I think there is an Aqualand water park about 30 minutes away. probably cheaper in a taxi than doing a trip

 

Lisbon - We did a walking tour, went up on the Venicular, very informative, lovely Portugese pastries:)

 

Vigo - quite a big town, lots of shops and nice bars, we just chilled out and wandered round, did see a sightseeing bus go past but not sure what it would be sightseeing

[russy1]

Espirit, poet123, sotonjoe

 

I think a glass of wine was around the same price of $6.50 depending which wine of course! Most bottled beers were similar, probably the best value was spirits a gin and tonic was $6.50 was very strong, at least a treble, cocktails ranged from $6.50 for drink of the day to $10.50 for a cosmopolitan which is my favourite typical!

 

I didn't see anyone being delivered food on deck only drinks but loads of people go to the Windjammer or the cafes on deck 5 and bring it out on deck, I was guilty of sitting on my sun lounger eating hot lamb curry and rice in my bikini, as I was feeling lazy and my lovely husand fetched it for me. No one will stop you bringing food out but I'm sure they don't deliver on deck.

 

Formal night is a mixture, some women wore full length sparkly gowns, but I would say most wore cocktail length dresses, my mum and I also wore posh trousers and sparkly tops on one formal night (our dresses had become too tight from being greedy:mad:)A lot of men wore tuxedos but also many wore suits, most teenagers wore a shirt and tie which was fine. Some boys wore tuxedos but wasn't expected:)

[8tocruise]

Wow!!Thanks. I'm printing this off and taking it with me.

[sotonjoe]

thanks again

[Albert Ross]

Did you have to pay a 15% gratuity on drinks? I have heard that if you pre pay tips it is not imposed, if you do not the 15% is added, can you help with this?

This is totally incorrect. They do not differentiate between those that have and those that have not prepaid tips

 

The drinks cost has been reduced by 15%, the 15% gratuity has then been added on -so you are back with the sum you started with. The gratuity no longer appears as a separate line on the bill, you now see the total sum. (There is a separate line if you do wish to leave additional gratuity) Therefore there is no gratuity itemised for our British compatriots to try and remove.....

 

Russy: Did you see any jeans in the dining room on casual nights. I hope not but....

[cruiser87654321]

This is totally incorrect. They do not differentiate between those that have and those that have not prepaid tips

 

The drinks cost has been reduced by 15%, the 15% gratuity has then been added on. The gratuity no longer appears as a separate line on the bill, you now see the total sum. (There is a separate line if you do wish to leave additional gratuity) Therefore there is no gratuity itemised for our British compatriots to try and remove.....

 

Thanks for your opinion. I was basing my comments on 2 cruisers who stated they returned last week, one had no gratuity showing on bar bills and had pre paid, one had not pre paid and had the 15% showing.

 

Is your experience recent?

[DiamondSparkles]

I was on this trip too and we had a great time.

 

Do check your Seapass account to make sure you were not double charged for some items at the beginning of the cruise. Luckily we were checking ours on the TV every day and spotted one which had been put on twice with the same reference number. Guest relations said they'd had a computer problem but I noticed they didn't tell me that until the end of my complaint. She said they had had a lot of people complaining but I got the impression they were not going to do an automatic correction for everyone, they did them individually for those who spotted it.

 

I also saw two sets of irate parents angry that their children had run up Seapass costs. Not sure how that can happen as I'd have thought RCI would put a limit on those used by youngsters.

 

The cruise was really good and we are hoping to go again next year but one thing RCI do need to sort out is the tepid food. When it was hot it was outstanding but unfortunately too much of it, in the Windjammer and main dining room was cold before we had finished it. I've seen quite a few complaints about this.

 

The laundry wash and fold for underwear, T shirts and shorts is good value at $25. We also used the main laundry service once but found that rather expensive although everything came back nicely pressed.

[russy1]

Hi, yes quite a few people wore jeans on casual nights in the main dining room, especially younger people, but no one seemed to mind. Lots of people still dressed up on casual nights, so there was a diverse mixture:)

[hels]

Yes we had the same thing happen with our bill we were charged for more drinks in 1st few days and I rang housekeeping they told me it was a problem with computer they did take them off but wonder like you if I hadnt complained would they have

[carhirer]

Yes we had the same thing happen with our bill we were charged for more drinks in 1st few days and I rang housekeeping they told me it was a problem with computer they did take them off but wonder like you if I hadnt complained would they have

How could this have happened?

 

Presumably they swipe the card every time it is used so, as long as the card strip correctly shows my details, the bill is always right? If the card details are wrong then all the items will be incorrectly charged?

 

maybe the card readers were not working so they inputed the details manually

[hels]

I havent got a clue but that was the reason housekeeping gave me a computer error my final bill shows the extra drinks and then underneath each one they have been deducted I didnt have any problem with anything else with my bill.