Independence of the Seas, 14 Night Med, Half Way Point Review So far

right lets try again

Woohoo, its working!

Ok this one my lovely wife and Diana again

Much better!:)

Our first sight of the ship

The Promenade

Cant remember when this was

The Separate bunk room in our fab cabin

The View from our window

Our first visit to jonny Rockets!!

And this place has become very familiar!

FOOD!

Double Escargot!

This is the chops fillet, I forgot to take a picture of it before I eat it, so here is one afterwards.

Cupcakes and Milk after playing super heres in Adventure ocean

Late Night Room Service

More Fun at Jonny Rockets

And a few from the day in Lisbon When I got burned!!

Just to add I am currently doing this from the Schooner bar while doing napkin folding lessons, its a bit boring to be honest and I lost interest after the first one, I am just waiting around until they get to the birdie making one

A couple from freeze frame!

Thats it for now, will upload some more later,

Little bid disappointed, they don't do birdie making in the napkin making session, and Gemma who was doing it didn't know how :( have to go explain to Princess that Birdie will only be resurrected at dinner! its such a shame, she has been collecting bird seed (small packs of brown sugar) for it all day, our cabin is full of them LOL!

In the picture in post 32 above Diana with her chocolate shake, what is the brown stuff on top of the chips bottom right? Chilli?

Simon

In the picture in post 32 above Diana with her chocolate shake, what is the brown stuff on top of the chips bottom right? Chilli?

 

Simon

Looks like chili cheese fries to me.:)

Looks like chili cheese fries to me.:)

It certainly is, and its awesome! Chilli cheese fries are great! and they do a chilli bowl on its own which is also fantastic, and also a hotdog with chilli on it! Yummy yummy chilli!!

On a side issue, I have done well with the water mission today, back in cabin again with 5 bottles! went to every bar on the promenade and deck 4 begging for water.

The one thing that does get on my nerves a little, is that with the RR package which I have, bottled still and sparking water is included, but you just can't get the bottled sparking which is what I prefer, only place today that had it was Scooner bar, the champagne bar had neither!!

...The one thing that does get on my nerves a little, is that with the RR package which I have, bottled still and sparking water is included, but you just can't get the bottled sparking which is what I prefer, only place today that had it was Scooner bar, the champagne bar had neither!!

I've seen the sparking water mostly at dinner. Could be they just don't stock much of it outside of the restaurants.

On our Radiance cruise they had mini bottles of Perrier at the drink stations in the Windjammer. It was an Alaska cruise, so there may be a difference in how they stock for a European cruise, though.

Peewee,

Glad you are enjoying the cruise. You are good at describing the events

We are also from Wigan and will be on the Independence again on Saturday 6th September.

We are coming down by coach this time. My wife says I have done enough driving and I should relax as soon as I leave the house.

We are silver surfers enjoying retirement and have cruised many times

Really enjoying the review! I love your style - its fun and down to earth. I can't wait to get on board!

I'm loving your review, thanks so much.

You have a beautiful family, and I can see the resemblance to Joff!

Great photos, thanks for adding those. Do you mind me asking which application you are using to add them onto here?

I'd also be interested in knowing, since you frequent the place so often ( ;) ) if you know the cost of the adult cupcake classes and when they take place.

Thanks and enjoy your week!

Hi everyone thank you for the positive feedback, actually enjoying doing this now so will probably keep it updated throughout the rest of the cruise.

So while everyone else was enjoying all that Palma had to offer I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and the little monster went to the H20 zone with Mummy, I was intending to meet them there but I can't remember what happened, I know it involved a pillow and a little light snoring!

We have been told by the cruise director for the last 2 nights about this comedian John Evans who only has a 2 day slot, he has been brought on board for 2 days only, to perform 1 night in 2 shows. The shows tonight where 7pm and 9pm, and the explanation for the early shows was that its the party under the stars tonight on top deck at 10pm.

We are sailing from Palma to Ibiza, which is about 83 Nautical Miles, so I heard anyway. According to the dashing Cpt Henrik we sail at about 5 knots and the plan is to sail away from Palma and then just park up somewhere in the sea for a few hours then sail on again. I think the idea is to have very little wind on the open decks for the party. We have just had a stroll up there after dinner and it looks wonderful all lit up, and very chilled atmosphere although it hasn't got into full swing yet.

I though have a date with a young blonde and an iPad, the joys of fatherhood :D and you probably guessed already Michaela is in the casino having a flutter and a few drinks. I really don't mind at all, and enjoy my evening with Diana, Michaela spends many a night on her own in the house with her while I work away so its nice to take over for a while and let her go have some fun, while I spend some quality time watching my 3 year old (yes apparently she is 3 again today, she was 4 yesterday silly daddy) playing on the iPad.

Lost where I was now..... Oh yes, comedian and show... so we planned tonight to do the 7pm show and have dinner afterwards, however the ladies retuned from swimming at 6.45pm so that was that plan overboard. Thats the thing though, I have found that its ok to make plans for your day and evening, but if it doesn't work out and your having fun doing something else then don't stress about it and just get on with it, there are many more comedians in the world and I wasn't too comfortable about taking Diana with us to see him anyway.

You probably remember me saying how much she loved Adventure ocean, well she has now gone right off it, and really doesn't want to go. I am not sure why this is, I have a feeling that she now realises if she doesn't go she spends time in the pool and playing with us, we are going to try again tomorrow though I think.

Michaela said they had loads of fun at the pool, she said there were some boys there just being boys and 2 of them bombed into the pool right on top of Diana and made her cry, Michaela had a polite word and said they might just want to have a look into the pool before they practiced their dam buster technique to see if there was anyone there, LOL, boys will be boys though! On the other hand Diana came back super excited and giddy because 2 older boys were teaching her to swim without her armbands!! as i mentioned before the kids have been great overall, but they are kids, and we all were once.

While on the subject of Behavior we were told over dinner by a young (13 year old) very nice lad, that late on last night at the pool area 2 security officers had to pin down a really abusive drunken man and cart him off somewhere.

So at 7 ish, I took Diana downstairs for a while why mummy made herself beautiful, we had a stroll down the promenade and found some nice seats outside Vintages wine bar were we parked ourselves had a drink and a cuddle and a good chat, I also took the time to fill out 2 WOW cards one for Chakripani and one for Aveenash, who fully deserve them.

Speaking of Chakripani, We have laughed so much this afternoon and through dinner, Diana was trying to say his name and it comes out "chocolate barney" as she can't say it properly so of course I had to tell the other MDR staff who found it hilarious, so I am afraid poor Chakripani has a new nick name now.

Michaela soon joined us at Vintages and we headed off for dinner about 7.45 I think, in our usual area.

Just another little tip with the MDR, if you are in a hurry to finish for a show time then let them know they will speed up service for you as they did for us last night to make the 9pm show, tonight we were asked if we needed to make a show and we let them know that we were in no rush tonight and wanted a very leisurely dinner, which we got, it really was wonderful tonight, had some good company again also.

Aveenash was told about the horror of Birdie falling apart and promptly made Diana a new birdie and a mouse, and he got a kiss on the cheek from her for his efforts, I had the seafood risotto to start and it was wonderful, so I had another, I think cahkripani has got to know me now and he always has an extra portion of whatever I have ordered on standby, as its usually put in front of me straight away.

He recommended the beef tenderloin, and WOW!! it was probably some of the best beef I have had. Thinking about it, I found it very similar to the beef on the sandwiches on the special at sorrentos, so I wonder if the night they have the beef they also do the sandwiches the same day, same beef? Anyway I had 2 main courses of beef and also 2 side portions of the Indian fish, followed by Hazlenut and chocolate something. Probably one of the best dinners tonight so far.

For anyone with kids, you might be interested in the kids menu, its pretty good, for us anyway, Diana loves Spag Bol and has that most nights, it’s a huge portion though and comes very hot on a very hot bowl so be careful, Chakripani cuts it all up for her when he serves it, she also has the vegetable crudités every nite and eats them all up! They have other things on there like chicken tenders etc and they all come in big portions.

As you know we didn’t get off today, so for anyone interested I thought I would share a little about the conversations over dinner about Mallorca. So please understand this is second hand info, and you are not allowed to sue me if its wrong.

One lady was a little upset, the ship is docked quite a way out apparently, and there is no transport what so ever to the dock exit, she had tried to walk it but had to give up half way and turn back, she said it was just too far and couldn’t understand why any kind of transport, even if you had to pay for it, wasnt put on to get you from the ship to a point where you could get a taxi or a bus, apparently our waiter agreed so I assume this info to be correct

Other feedback was the cathedral was amazing and a must see, and because it was Sunday a lot of the shops are closed. I am afraid that’s all I have for you on the port, although it did look like a good port from our cabin window at least!

We left dinner and Diana was given yet another new birdie and some more bird seed as birdie number 2 fell into the Spaghetti ( I suspect she was pushed)

Had a couple of drinks at the dog and badger and after giving the waiter a small tip a few days ago I now don’t get charged for cans of diet coke!

For anyone keeping up to date with Mission “water” I snagged another 3 bottles so that makes my total 8 for today, I have drank 2, so I now have 6, my wife is performing dismally though, she got back from the casino last night a little tipsy, well actually I am being polite there, if we are honest she came back drunk and giddy, but without water and without winnings! So I thought maybe she would make up for it today, but she hasn’t so I am winning easily.

I have been watching the love and marriage show on the TV today, as we didn’t make it to the live event, to be honest it didn’t look that funny despite Joff’s best efforts, I think with shows like this it really depends on the couples involved, I imagine it has the potential especially with Joff and the right people to be hilarious, so I would try to go if you are onboard. I also found out today quest is on day 11. I am really hoping we can make it, but it depends on Diana really.

Well, Michaela has just walked in a little earlier than expected tonight, and without water again! So I am off for the night, a few pictures below of Diana with her new napkin animals..

Good night everyone

Hi, Just another update for you today, for anyone still following.

Yesterday we docked in Ibiza, We had set the alarm for 9.30 am determined today to get up and make breakfast, the alarm went off as it should and the phone was silenced and thrown across the cabin.

We finally did get up at about 1pm oops!

We got smeared in sun cream this time and decided to get off, Diana was in a mood already for some reason and I knew we had a fun filled day ahead of us.

We got off the ship quite easy once we had figured out which deck to get off and once off the ship the heat hit us! Boy it was hot!!

Off on a tangent here, and a little tip.

Diana never ever uses a buggy (stroller for you guys across the pond) at home, in fact I cant remember the last time we used one. When we packed for the holiday I asked my wife should we take one, and she said No. In Hindsight that was a huge mistake and one that I have reminded her constantly about!

If you are planning a cruise, even if you think your little one doesn’t need a buggy, just bring one anyway if you can, you will find it useful.

So on leaving the ship, Diana was very grumpy about the heat, and just complained constantly, she wanted us to carry her and was generally hot fed up and grumpy, I know if we had a buggy we could have put her in it and we would have had a good day, and she would have probably napped in it.

Just off the ship buses waited and on enquiring we found it was an RCI service 10 dollars to Ibiza town return, it was very quiet at this time of day, with more people returning than leaving, and 3 coaches stood in line.

We decided, well Michaela did, to keep walking, anyway we stopped to talk to a couple who were returning to ask them where to go and they told us about a water taxi which takes you across the harbor for a few euros, Michaela said this was a wonderful idea, and how much fun it would be to go on a boat.

At this point I really was bemused, I looked over my shoulder just to double check I wasn’t imagining the fact that we had just stepped off one after about 10 days on board, I really don’t understand how women think sometimes.

I had now decided to just go with the flow so put Michaela in charge and I just followed Michaela, after following her around the dock looking (unsuccessfully ) for this water taxi, and with a very cranky Diana who by this point had dropped her lollipop in the dirt she finally gave up and said, lets just go back to the ship lol!

I decided I would now take charge!! Go Me! , I walked us 20 metres to a car park with taxis on it, approached one asked to be taken to town and in 10 mins and 10 euros lighter we where in Ibiza town.

It’s a really nice place, and a place I would like to go back to again for a holiday, Diana was very very cranky now and just wanted to be carried so we went to a café on the harbor for a bite to eat, some ice cream and a drink.

I ordered what I though was a Chorizo omlette, and received a Chorizo baguette, oh well ! it was still delicious anyway, 3 diet cokes straight out of the glass bottle, I don’t know what it is but it’s the best way to drink diet coke!! I managed to find another lollipop behind Daddys ear and everything was good in the world.

We must have had 5 looky looky men selling sunglasses and watches etc in the space of about half an hour, but they were not push at all, a simple no thank you and they moved on.

I then remembered I had my rescheduled massage appointment with Ace at 4pm so we finished up hailed a cab and was back on the ship for 3.30pm.

On our last cruise I pretty much lived in the Schooner bar, but I haven’t seen it much on this cruise, so we stopped off for a couple of drinks on our return, I left the ladies had a quick shower and went up for my massage.

A few pics from Ibiza, didn’t take many sorry and these are all I could find on my phone.

More to follow on the massage and evening ……

I have a massage now and again when I am at home, now normally I just turn up, strip down to my boxer shorts and away we go.

So for the one on the spa in the ship, I had a shower in the cabin, and on my last treatment you may remember I was given paper underpants, so I just slipped on my swim shorts with internal built in underwear that come down to my knee and headed off for my appointment with Ace.

I was invited into the relaxation room and given mint water and then Ace took me through to her treatment room, we had a really good chat about stress, acid muscles and other stuff which I cant remember, when I say chat I mean she talked I glazed over.

Was a bit like this this

Ace then asked me to get ready and we would start, I said what do I wear, and she said well you can leave those shorts on , but I would recommend taking them off, I explained I had nothing on underneath and she said she didn’t mind and it was better as long as I was comfortable with it! She then left the room for me to get ready!

Oh well, I thought , sod it, got completely naked and got on the bed and pulled the sheet over me, a little apprehensive I must admit.

It turns out I had nothing to fear, and for anyone considering a treatment don’t worry about it they are very professional, I was covered all the time every second, and when it was time to turn over she moved the sheet in such away she never saw anything at all

The lady I use at home is very good, and I have had a couple of massages on spa days at home etc, who have never been as good as my regular lady, so I wasn’t expecting this to be that great, I was wrong! One of the best massages I have had to date it was wonderful, plenty of pressure and hit all the right bits.

I also had a mini facial, which to be honest I hated, but my wife does say my skin looks better.

Then at then end she brought me water and went through the things I had to do to help my aching shoulder which of course involved buying more junk in a can, they are really very very good sales people, they talk as though you have already bought it, and I am usually very good at saying NO, but once again I walked out with 150 dollars of products!!! Arghhhhhh!!! Why do I do it!!

If I am going to complain it is about this, I know I should just say no, but the point is, I really want to go for another massage before the end of the cruise but I am reluctant because of this extremely pushy sales tactic, where they do make you feel you have to buy all this stuff, and it is almost automatically added for you.

Anyway, I left with my products and a smile and another appointment for 2 pm the following day for teeth whitening!! I must be mad.

Which leads me to sit here writing this and thinking about it.

It all started one evening walking down the Royal promenade and the spa staff had chairs set our offering a free shoulder massage! That’s where they get you!

Its now gone from that, to me having a Massage and facial, A milk body wrap, tooth whitening and over 200 dollars of bottled products. My wife has had a massage and products but luckily for her she has won a free full facial in one of the raffles.

Anyway, we are on holiday! This was supposed to be a cheap break as we are booked on the Maiden sailing of Quantum of the Seas from Southampton to NY and a week in NY in November, but you have probably gathered if your still reading this review that we don’t tend to stick to any plans we make!

So by this point we had just set sail from Ibiza, I went to find Michaela and Diana who where by the H20 zone, and Diana and I had 5 Ice creams from sprinkles!! Yum Yum!

We returned to our cabin and after getting ready Diana & I went down to take up our usual spot outside vintages to wait for mummy getting ready, she met us there at about 7.30pm and we headed to dinner (to follow)

I'm loving your review, thanks so much.

 

You have a beautiful family, and I can see the resemblance to Joff!

 

Great photos, thanks for adding those. Do you mind me asking which application you are using to add them onto here?

 

I'd also be interested in knowing, since you frequent the place so often ( ;) ) if you know the cost of the adult cupcake classes and when they take place.

 

Thanks and enjoy your week!

I am really sorry I have only just noticed this comment, than you very much for your reply!

I have a photobucket account, which you create online at the website, I then have the app on my phone which is set to auto back up my pics whenI am on wifi, its very slow on here but as my phone is always on the ships wifi is just backs them up during the day. Then on the computer when I write this I go to the photo bucket website and under each picture thats been uploaded it gives you a link which you just copy paste in between your text, its worth getting an account setup and the app installed before you travel so you can have a play with it while you are still on a decent wifi speed at home, one final tip when you go to your library on the website, make sure "organise" is turned off, in this view with it off you get a link under each picture to make it easy to copy into a thread, but with organise turned on for some reason the individual link is not there, and you have to click on each picture to get it, which is tiring when your connection is so slow!

I have no idea about the cup cake prices but I will find out for you when I visit this evening!

So I am still writing about yesterday, today, I will do more on today later, but just to set the scene its now 17:45 and I am already showered and dressed and I am sitting next to a port hole window in the Schooner bar, I have just ordered a diet coke, (have to pay for it today it seems). On the way here I stopped outside on Deck 4, its Beautiful out there and I was lucky enough to be able to watch dolphins playing at the side of the ship, there where loads of them! We are due to pass back through the straights of Gibraltar at midnight, just to give you an idea of where we are.

Michaela is sunbathing somewhere top deck and she is going to meet me here at 6.45. There is a hypnotist on tonight, we bumped into him on Deck 5 earlier and we now have some strange compulsion to see both his shows tonight and tell everyone we meet how wonderful his show is even though we have not seen it yet, I have also just clucked my drinks order at the waiter, speaking of waiters my diet coke has just arrived in the can and she has decided she is not going to charge me for it after all, its amazing what good manners, a pleasant smile and an enquiry into how good their day has been, gets you on here ☺

Diana is actually in the Kids Club and she is staying for dinner WOOHOO! It was a combination of bribery, pleading, and threats! They where having a Peppa Pig afternoon and we knew she would love it when she got there, turns out she is, we just called to check on her and make sure she was ok with staying with them for dinner, the staff are great and Carl informed us not to worry and promised he would tell us honestly if she didn’t want to stay, I think it’s a bit like nursery at home, she rarely wants to go but when she gets there enjoys it, it’s the same here but the difference is at home she has to go as we have work so we make her, where as on holiday you end up feeling guilty about making them go! Plan of action tomorrow she is being made to go!! Lol you can hopefully tell reading this how much we do like spending time with her, but the end of the cruise is in sight now and mummy and daddy would like to spend a little bit of time together also.

Back to last nights dinner! Was excellent again, we had a couple of ladies with us, who my wife liked and who I thought where ok at first, until a few wines later they started to become tiresome in my opinion but nothing too bad. Diana was in a funny mood, she had been a monkey all day and her behavior this last day or two was starting to push boundaries should we say! We don’t normally, but this evening at dinner we let her play on the ipad in hope of a quiet night from her, again she wouldn’t go to kids club, she had her usual veggies and spag bol and then promptly fell asleep on the chair!! With her head wedged under the arm rest.

I had chicken fingers in a light curry batter for starter, they where very good but the batter was a little soggy, only a little and I am being critical here, as I finished them a second portion was placed in front of me!

For Main Michaela had Beef Wellington, and I couldn’t decide between that or the Chicken Kiev, so Chakripani brought me both with a side order of lamb Kofta. The beef was amazing again, really really good, and so was the Kiev. He had also brought an extra Kiev for another guest but it was declined so I am afraid to say I had that also. The Kofta was the only Indian dish I have not enjoyed this cruise, very dry and I left it.

Dessert way my usual Chocolate sensation and I had a baked chocolate Mousse also, which was heaven! Michaela had Crème Brulle which was good she said.

General conversation about Ibiza was good, Some people we have met did the mediaeval town in Ibiza and had been looking forward to it, they said it wasn’t as good as they had hoped, but was just ok.

One lady had had her purse stolen, it was right at the bottom of her bag! This is the second person we have met on the cruise so far who has had a purse stolen, so please be careful if cruising people, she said the worst part was having to cancel all her cards.

Personally , Mr Smarty pants here, I have brought 2 wallets, I have one with about 50 euro in and 1 credit card, and the other has all the other cash in and cards and it doesn’t leave the safe.

Diana was now completely fast asleep so after dinner mummy carried her as far as Ben & Jerrys then I took over and had to carry her all the way back to the room on the bow of the ship, again I refer back to my previous remarks about having a buggy with us, we could have placed her in that and let her sleep for a few hours while we took in a show or a few drinks, instead it was back to the cabin at 9.30pm and we put her straight to bed, and decided to turn in early ourselves.

20 minutes later Diana was up out of bed and respawned as the devil child. Would not go to sleep, generally behave she was just trouble! We had told her it was time for bed and she was clearly tired. But she kept getting up, we could have gone back downstairs I suppose, but at this point we had both told her it was bed time, and with her behavior taking a slight downturn recently we thought it was better to stick to what we had said, and once we told her it was bed time it was bed time!

I think we finally got her to go to sleep about Midnight, after a lot of falling out! Not our most pleasant night then this one, but on to our sea day tomorrow (which is actually today now as I am writing)

Next to Come Today! Sea Day and Day 11 (I think)

My second Can of diet coke has just arrived, not charged for :D

I have 10 minutes before Michaela arrives so we can go see the hypnotist, so I will catch up briefly on today, so we are up to date,

Had a terrible nights sleep last night, wound up with the little monster I think and not helped by 3 phone calls to the cabin, one at 2 am, one at 3 am and one at 5am which just had silence on the other end, have spoken to guest services about it and they say if it happens again to make a note of the number on the display when it rings, (never thought of that)

So Although Michaela made breakfast, Diana and I didn’t, only getting up about 11.30 am I think, Michaela had come back with Cheerios for Diana and hard boiled eggs for me, which were awful!

We chilled out in the cabin for a while, relaxing, I know a lot of people who do cruises say how little time they spend in the cabin, but I actually spend quite a bit of time relaxing in there, a holiday for me is really the only time I ever get to just do nothing!

My teeth whitening appointment was at 2pm but I couldn’t be bothered so Michaela went instead and also had her free facial, the prize said port day only but they must have been quiet today as they said it didn’t matter, she enjoyed it and was better than me, because this time she managed a firm NO! when they tried to sell her lots of products. Personally I cant see much difference on her teeth. I was going to book in, but they have told her you cant drink diet coke for 24 hours, so I am afraid that’s me out!

I took Diana to Adventure Ocean in time for the 2pm session, and then ventured on top deck, the International belly flop competition had started and it was packed out there!! Looked great fun! I went down to deck 5 and would you believe it, Sorrentos had roast beef sandwiches again!!!! I stocked up and retired back to our cabin.

The one thing I dislike about holidays is the amount of work you have to do when you get home, so I hate saying this but I spent a couple of hours catching up on a few emails, I know I am supposed to switch off, but I can now relax a little better knowing I have put a bit of a hole in the more urgent stuff waiting for me on my return.

They also show the belly flop contest live on TV so I watched that alsong with Joff doing his ice bucket challenge.

Nice review, really enjoying it. We will be on the Indy for the TA in November. My three year old Grand Daughter is now eight, it happens over night, so I am very glad and proud that you have such a wonderful relationship with your daughter. I am really looking forward to the food experience so you’re rendering of your meals and snacks are most appreciated, also your honesty of service and courtesy says a lot about yourself. I have also found in the past, that when in the spa I tip the stylist or masseuse $10 or $20 up front and tell them I am not going to purchase any products, never had a hard sell. Thanks for taking the time to write your review.

Thank you for your comments and thanks for the tips about the spa, I might book in again and try that.

Just back in the cabin now, and we made the 7pm Hypnotist show, I was one of the Volunteers and was hypnotised on stage! It was a little odd and not what I expected, Its Midnight here and we are sailing thorough the straights of Gibraltar, I am really tired, we have had a brilliant night and the 3 of us are now chilling and raiding the mini bar!

We are not getting off in Cadiz tomorrow, so I will find a quiet hour at some point and tell you all about it, good night for now!

Love your post, we sail on the IOS in just over two weeks. I hope we enjoy it as much as your family are.