Review: Indy March 20th 8 day East Carib

[wayne_trisha]

We cruised on the Independence of the Seas March 20-28, 2010. This was our 9th cruise, 6th on RCCL, and 2nd on Freedom class. We are in our early 40s. Instead of journal of everyday’s events, this will focus on the ship, our excursions, and embarkation/disembarkation.

 

Pre-cruise / embarkation: We live right near Port Canaveral and decided to drive down the night before. We stayed at new Cambria Suites where we were allowed to park our car for the duration of the cruise. This is an excellent hotel that we really liked. They offered a free shuttle to the port but we went via taxi instead. $20 to get to the port and then $5 for some lazy porter to move our bags 5 feet and explain how is going to take care of us. What a scam but at least our bags didn’t end up in the ocean or some other ship. Security was quick, check-in a bit frustrating. This was our first cruise as a platinum C&A member. One couple was in the deck 6 line but we went to the other end of the terminal to check-in. No one was in the platinum, diamond/D+ line. A few couples were in the suite line. We had to wait until the suite line was gone before we got to check-in, including people that walked up after we were in line. Check-in was quick once we got to the counter. Upstairs to wait about an hour in the priority boarding lounge before we boarded.

 

Dining Room Service: Our first experience with the dining room occurred at the my time dining desk shortly after boarding. We wanted to confirm our reservations (7:00 PM and a table for two) and request a table near the window. The person working the desk rudely told us 7:00 is a busy time and that we would not get a table near the window and that we should switch to an earlier or later time because 7:00 is too busy for them. We were quite shocked and just left. I went back later two hours later just to confirm we had reservations and she was pleasant as can be and even took down my request for a table by the window. We were promptly seated every night no matter what time we showed up. First night our table for two is essentially a table for eight, four tables for two about three inches apart. We enjoyed great conversation that evening. Unfortunately the two left tables had a different wait staff than the right two. We asked for savory bites the first time the bread tray came around. The second time it came around we asked again and he was out but would go get us some. We never saw the bread tray again. When the entrée was served to the two left tables, the two right tables were eating dessert and they were seated after us. Our service was slow to nonexistent. The prime rib I had was fantastic and would have been better if someone would have brought the dish of horseradish around. The lady on my right certainly said it made hers taste even better. I spoke to the head waiter and he gave me some BS about MTD being new and 7:00 is a busy time. Maybe the rude lady was right. Head waiter said he would take care of it. Night two we are sat at a real table for two in a different section. We thought it was going to be a change back to the attentive service we have always received in the past. 15 minutes later when no one had even acknowledged us I was off to the MTD desk to see if maybe we could get some service. The head waiter is now serving us. He actually brought us a plate of savory bites and I’m sure took appetizers that belonged to someone else as fast as they appeared. Entrees ordered and served quickly with dessert right behind. Night three and our service is incredibly attentive at a real table for two. I wonder if our cabin has been marked because of the two previous nights. We ate three more times in the dining room and service was good to great. We never did get another real table for two. On two of the nights we had great people near us we enjoyed talking with. The other night we were stuck between two women who spent dinner talking about how little they ate or how what they did eat was healthy. On the other side of us was a foreign couple from Scandinavia, maybe Norway. To me it is a bit strange to be practically rubbing elbows with people at dinner for an hour and not acknowledge they even exist.

 

Dining Room Food: I completely enjoyed every meal I ordered. My choices were roast duck, prime rib, shrimp and mahi-mahi, lobster, and shoulder filet. I thought the food was better than on previous RCCL cruises. My wife also enjoyed her entrees which consisted of primarily chicken dishes.

 

Windjammer food and service: Friendly smiling employees everywhere you turned. The food was good and plentiful though you had to wonder by the way some people push and cut in line. We ate here for dinner one night and it was quiet and we actually had a table near the window. Pretty standard fare for breakfast and lunch every day but the choices are plentiful. I ordered omelets on three of the days and they were good.

 

Chops: Service was excellent and when compared to the dining room, out of this world! The food was also great. I had cheesecake for dessert and it was some of the best I have ever had. My wife also thoroughly enjoyed her dinner and dessert.

 

Excursions: My wife decided we should go to St John instead of Emerald Beach during our stop in St Thomas so I booked us on the excursion. $67 per person gets you there and back, no food or drink. It took us 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to Trunk Bay via ferry and then taxi. We had 1 hour and 45 minutes of time to enjoy the beach before it was time to make the trip back to the ship, another hour and 15 minutes spent on the taxi and ferry. Trunk Bay is a beautiful place but we both agreed the transport and cost was not worth it. In San Juan we did the Segway fortifications tour. This is one of the best excursions we have ever done. The Segway is a bit weird when you first step on but they had 10 of us, from teens to grandmothers, zooming around on them after some individualized training. Juan was our tour guide and he gave a great tour that included a walking tour of El Morro. This is a tour I highly recommend and you must book it through the ship as Juan and Maria sell all the tour slots to RCCl when one of their ships is in port. I found this out because I tried to book directly with Juan but he said RCCL buys up all their tours for their ships and that I had to go through RCCL to take the tour while cruising. In Labadee we did the wave runner tour and it is a blast to zip along the beautiful blue water of the Caribbean. The rider portion cost $29 but if you bought a port shopping book for $25 there was a coupon for a free rider on the wave runner tour. This made the book free and saved us $4 because we already had this tour booked before the port shopping talk.

 

Cabin Steward: Our cabin steward was fantastic and we tipped her extra. She was very friendly, kept our room clean, and took care of any requests we had. We really appreciated her and the work she did.

 

Cabin: We had the famous Ben & Jerry “Sweet”, cabin 6305. The cabin is an inside promenade room. We previously had a promenade room on the 8th deck on the Mariner OTS so we knew how “big” the cabin would be. We were planning on getting an oceanview or balcony when the RCCl vacation planner asked me if I was interested in the B&J cabin. It was available so I booked it without checking the deck plans. I was pretty sure we would get free ice cream. I didn’t know about the suite perks until a few hours after I booked the cabin. The suite perks have been cancelled so all you get for booking this cabin is free ice cream. The cabin is decorated in a cow motif. Unfortunately all the cow items take up all the shelf area outside the bathroom. Not too bad but made the desk rather cluttered all week. Just outside the window are the cows and you are looking at their butts. The cows are funny and not a problem. The shelf they are placed on extends out much farther than I thought. It blocks much more of the view of the promenade than I expected. Again, my expectations and not a real deal breaker. The sky bridge is right outside the cabin and when any activity occurred on it, it was loud. I expected this as well. The real issue we had was the service area located right next to our cabin. All through the day and the night the service doors slammed shut that shook the bed and wall. Every night slamming doors interrupted our sleep.

 

Room Service: Apparently there is a new menu for room service. We found out after I ordered chicken wings and the chili chorizo dip. We were brought spinach dip and honey stung chicken. The chicken was greasy and not very flavorful like it is the first day of the cruise. I have no idea why I insist on eating it the first day every cruise. The spinach dip was very good and we ordered it again later. Service was prompt and polite.

 

Overall: We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food. After reading over and over again that food quality was declining we were very happy with everything we ate. Cold foods were cold and hot foods were hot. Except for the rude person at the MTD desk when we started out our cruise, the rest of the staff were very friendly and helpful. The people in the windjammer were always smiling, asking how your day was, and wishing you a great day. We loved the Segway and jet ski tours. The travel back and forth to/from Trunk Bay in St John was too long in our opinion. With so many beautiful beaches a short cab ride away, why pay $67 per person and get nothing more than transportation. I thought the tour should have at least included water/soda. The cruise critic meet and mingle was nice to get to meet a few people and then see them around the ship or on excursions. We had a large group. Embarkation/disembarkation were simple enough without any hassle. The dining experience wasn’t as great as we have experienced in the past but after the first two days it very good. Our cabin is what made this go from a great cruise to just a good cruise. It is no fun being woke up many times throughout the night. The lack of sleep also drags on you throughout the day.

[jmraggs]

We cruised on the Independence of the Seas March 20-28, 2010.

 

Pre-cruise / embarkation: We live right near Port Canaveral and decided to drive down the night before. We stayed at new Cambria Suites where we were allowed to park our car for the duration of the cruise. This is an excellent hotel that we really liked. They offered a free shuttle to the port but we went via taxi instead. $20 to get to the port and then $5 for some lazy porter to move our bags 5 feet and explain how is going to take care of us. What a scam but at least our bags didn’t end up in the ocean or some other ship. Security was quick, check-in a bit frustrating. This was our first cruise as a platinum C&A member. One couple was in the deck 6 line but we went to the other end of the terminal to check-in. No one was in the platinum, diamond/D+ line. A few couples were in the suite line. We had to wait until the suite line was gone before we got to check-in, including people that walked up after we were in line. Check-in was quick once we got to the counter. Upstairs to wait about an hour in the priority boarding lounge before we boarded.

 

 

How many times have you sailed from Port Canaveral?

 

LOL, ok it's a joke from a previous thread of mine about the porters. Glad you had a great cruise; we were just getting off of the ship when you were embarking. We loved our cruise on IOS and the food was very good along with the friendliness and service from the crew.

[wayne_trisha]

How many times have you sailed from Port Canaveral?

 

LOL, ok it's a joke from a previous thread of mine about the porters. Glad you had a great cruise; we were just getting off of the ship when you were embarking. We loved our cruise on IOS and the food was very good along with the friendliness and service from the crew.

 

Five times out of Port Canaveral, two from Port Everglades, and two from Miami. PC is by far our favorite. 20 minutes from home and the people are have always been friendly and prompt.

 

I saw the thread about the porters. We grabbed our bags from the back of the taxi and with no porters in sight, started for the luggage racks ourself. We were stopped at the rack by a porter and given the BS song and dance about how they take care of our bags so we should take care of them. I hate giving them money but I'd rather give up $5 and have my bags end up dry and on the correct ship.