11/6 – The Independence of the Seas review (mini cruise review)

It’s cruise time! The following is a mini review of Embarkation plus a week aboard the largest ship afloat:

Embarkation is pretty smooth – the walk to the terminal was really easy, got our luggage tags (we never received the pre-printed ones before we left, so we needed them at the port), then headed to the departure lounge. Check in took no time, and we only had to wait for about 15 minutes before we were allowed to board. The entire wait was due to the fact that the “bing bong” machine (what we call the card scanner where you check in and out of the ship) was outside on the promenade deck and RCL didn’t want you standing outside in the cold on line for too long.

We were so early, that the cabins weren’t available yet. So first on the agenda – the library. We hit there while they still have books and checked out a few (it’s going to be a reading cruise with all these sea days, for certain!), then headed to the purser’s to see if there were any upgrades available. No such luck. Oh well – we didn’t care, just curious. Next we wandered the promenade a bit, then made our way to the Windjammer café for lunch, then hit the cabins at 1:00. Dumped our backpacks and struck out to explore this huge mega-ship!

So, everyone pretty much knows that we are not a big ship fans. Oh, we’ll sail them, but we prefer the smaller ships. Celebrity Galaxy (even though she SO BADLY needs a dry dock) is my personal favorite, the whole Oceania line of those little R-class ships are awesome. Mid-size to small is more what we like in a ship. But, let me tell you about this thing. First of all it is the biggest ship afloat right now. It is massive – and half the time you really can’t tell you are on a ship. That is good and bad.

The centerpiece of the ship is the Promenade which runs the length of the ship on Deck 5. It is set up like village street with restaurants, pubs, and shops lining each side of the bricked/cobblestone walkways. There is always something going on down there – they have parades at night, and parties occasionally (like the 70’s dance night party). The Promenade is 4 stories high, with inside cabins facing out onto the promenade – you could sit on your sofa in your window and watch the goings on at night! The pubs and bars have “outside” seating where you can sit and watch the world go by, which is terribly fun to do on a cold and cloudy crossing day.

The restaurant is 3 floors and beautifully outfitted with chandeliers, dark wood accents and a grand piano on a first floor landing. The Windjammer café, the buffet venue is down up in dark wood as well – it’s way too beautiful for a lunch time buffet on the pool deck. The downside is that there is absolutely no outside seating for the buffet. It’s kind of bizarre, but the café is all enclosed and the closest outside table is half the ship away.

The theatre is really big – 2 levels, but still not big enough. We’ve seen a few shows (yes, I know you are all shocked!), and if you don’t get there early – like ½ an hour early, you won’t get a seat. We had to stand for the Drifters show, but managed to find seats for the magician and the really great production show “Once Upon a Time”. They have an excellent cast, singers, dancers – and the show was really well written and choreographed. Took the Fairy tales and put them to modern music (like Cinderella – while she was sweeping the evil step sisters were singing “take out the papers and the trash, yakkity yak, don’t come back!”). Very cute and well done.

There is also an ice rink where they have open skating and special shows. The first skating show was really good. It is amazing what they can do on a very small rink! Of course this is Royal Caribbean (“get out there”), so there is the obligatory rock climbing wall, putt putt golf and the flowrider (the boogie board/surfboard pool). The pool deck is enormous with a monster childrens’ pool. It’s actually both children and adults because it’s pretty deep, but it is separate from the adult pool and has some really cool artwork that spouts water at you when you are in the shallow wading part of the pool.

Our cabin is great – really roomy, good storage space, lots of drawers and tons of closet space. Plus we’ve got the water heater pot with an assortment of teas and coffee in the room. BONUS! Morning coffee right there? It’s awesome. All in all, it’s really a fabulous ship. Ed isn’t as much in awe of it as I am, but maybe that will all change. For now, I just love walking through the promenade, sitting at the café having coffee, watching all the people. It’s great fun!

The gym is in the typical front of the ship location – and it’s equipped with excellent equipment, including a full size boxing ring. (Don’t ask – it’s there – never seen anyone use it, but it’s there right as you walk in.) There are tons of treadmills and ellipticals, plus bikes and rowing machines. The weight systems are fabulous – all the best stations (including my favorite – the adductor and abductor machines). It’s nice to finally be on a ship where you don’t have to fight to get on a machine. You do have to wipe down the machine before you start exercising though. One thing these people do not do on this ship is sanitize! They refuse to use the Purell dispensers in the dining rooms and they don’t clean off their exercise equipment after they are done using them. Ick!

And, because we are Elite members of Celebrity Captain’s Club, we transferred over to the Diamond level of RCL’s Crown and Anchor club. It’s a great feature the two lines share – but RCL is so much better with loyalty rewards – it’s truly pathetic! First off, we get the coupon book – so yeah, right – Celebrity gives you those too – but RCL’s has a TON of free stuff. Like free specialty coffees in the café, 3 free $3 spins at the casino (which equates into $9 each in cash), free bingo cards, free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream pop, free cocktail at the bar, free Johnny Rockets cover charge ($3.95) and tons of other casino, photo, spa and gift shop coupons. It’s really valuable –and we’re having a blast using them all. But the best thing about the Diamond status is that we have access to a Diamond members lounge in the morning for continental breakfast and free cappuccino, plus at night the concierge lounge is open with appetizers and free drinks from 5:30 to 8:30. You can’t beat that with a stick! The amenities are just fabulous!

Is there a downside? Well, sure. There are some differences. The staff is good, but they are nowhere near the quality of Celebrity or even Princess. They’re nice enough, but not overly friendly or outgoing. There are certainly exceptions, but as a rule, you can tell a huge difference in the staff quality. Also the food is ok. Just ok. You won’t starve (god forbid….no way to do that!), but you’re also not going to get outstanding food – preparation or presentation - mainly in the dining room. I mean let’s face it – the formal night surf and turf was a very small langoustine (read prawn) and sirloin steak. Yeah, no culinary prizes here.

The lunch buffet, however, has been very well stocked with a variety of different foods every day. Then the HUGE downside – or at least oddity about this ship – is that it is set up for the British market. That in and of itself isn’t a big deal until you get into the nitty gritty…like the buffet food, which is a lot of mushy peas, pies and an entire Indian buffet line. A huge complaint for us are the night club shows – they don’t even think about starting until 11 or 12 midnight, which, we are sorry to say, is way too late for us. Some of the entertainment is a little odd too, like pub night in the lounge. We actually thought it was cute, but we’re not sure how the American market will take all this when the Independence hits the Caribbean itineraries in another week.

Another negative, but just annoying, really, is the “screening room”. There are movies every day in the little theatre at the bottom of the ship – but the thing is so small, it only seats 60 people. If you want a seat, you have to be there one hour before show time or you won’t be watching the movie! Today, there was almost a revolt when people started bringing chairs in to sit in the aisle. A bunch of folks started getting all up in arms about the fire hazard, how they were blocking the aisles. Oy! Well, fortunately there was no fire, and we all got to watch the Bucket List comfortably without any hassles….after the lights were dimmed that is!

Overall though, it’s a great ship. And a fun time.