Independence of the Seas 2-10-2013 6-night pictures and review

[ahecht]

1704, which is a D1 with a larger than normal balcony due to it being in the aft.

[ahecht]

Day 6: Friday, February 15th, 2013 - Part 2

 

When we last left off, we were about to go rock climbing. We had a bit of a wait to get into the equipment because the same staff was preparing for the Walk for Wishes, and then we had a bit of a wait at the rock wall because only two lanes were open (the non-shaded lanes were too hot for people to climb on).

 

I went first, and was able to get to the top pretty quickly. The view from the top, if you remember to look around, was amazing.

 

My girlfriend was next up, and although she slipped and scraped up one of her hands, she made it to the top as well:

 

Having worked up an appetite, we went to the main dining room for lunch again. I got a delicious salad from the salad bar, and my girlfriends tried the fish enchiladas, which she said were very good as well. Lunch pictures are posted at https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=300858D26087A5BF!218&authkey=!AJ_XHxYQCuBPSZ0

 

After lunch, we went to the pool to watch the Belly Flop competition. We didn't plan on staying for the whole thing, but it was entertaining enough that we watched until the bitter end.

 

1...2...3...PAIN!

There's some video of the belly flop competition in the Day 6 video that I'll post in a bit.

 

After watching the belly flop competition, it was time to get the final activity punched on our wristband: ice skating. They had retracted at section of the seats in the ice rink to serve as a skate rental/shoe changing area. You signed a waiver, picked up a mandatory helmet, and they gave you your skates. There were no cubbies or lockers to store your shoes, so we had to leave them hidden under nearby seats.

 

They weren't enforcing the skating sessions listed in the cruise compass, and you could skate as long as you wanted. They never ran the Zamboni, so the ice was pretty chewed up by the time we got there. Still, the skates were surprisingly sharp for rental skates, and skating was quite enjoyable.

 

I found it warm enough on the ice to wear a t-shirt, but my girlfriend found she needed her sweatshirt:

 

I have some video of ice skating coming up in the Day 6 video.

[ahecht]

Intermission: Part 5

 

I just realized that I forgot to post a picture of the towel animal that our stateroom attendant left us on Valentine's Day:

 

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming:

 

Day 6: Friday, February 15th, 2013 - Part 3

 

After ice skating, we went up to the pool deck for one last swim. However, the weather had turned bad at this point and it had started to sprinkle, so we settled for trying out the various jacuzzis. The main pool and solarium jacuzzis were both packed to capacity, but the ones in the kids area were only about half full (and occupied by adults, not kids), so we settled in there for a while. Once things started to empty out, we went to the cantilevered hot tubs. From there, we noticed that we were no longer alone in the open sea -- there were two ships in the distance in front of us. After drying off and changing, I grabbed my binoculars and camera to try to identify the other ships. In all the excitement, I almost forgot about the 7pm Farewell Show until the 6:45 announcement. We quickly ran to the theater and managed to snag decent seats on the balcony.

 

The farewell show was nice. Joff did a little stand-up comedy, although someone interrupted his big climactic joke by handing him a lost SeaPass and he refused to finish (we later saw the punchline when they aired the 9pm show on the stateroom TV).

 

They brought out a "comedy magician" who was not very good, although he did have a funny bit where he described a cruise vacation using famous pieces of music (whenever he would mention returning to the cabin he would play "It's a Small World"). Finally it was time for the farewell song with the singers, dancers, and staff and crew representatives:

 

After the show, it was time for the last supper. This night all the waitstaff paraded around the room before lining up on the stairs to be introduced by the head waiter:

 

Dinner was very good that night. I started off with the Moroccan Chicken Salad, which was very flavorful, and the raspberry pineapple soup, which was also good. My girlfriend had the pumpkin bisque, which was also very well done. For my entree, I had the NY Strip steak, which was perfectly cooked and definitely better than the sirloin steak on the every-day menu. My girlfriend had the potato gnocchi in a cream sauce, which was perfectly cooked and very delicious. We shared the seafood tempura between us which was the only disappointment of the night -- it was a bit dry. We finished off with the banana parfait, which had a nice banana flavor, and the brownie sandwich, which was the first chocolate dessert all week to actually taste like chocolate. Pictures of the food and menus from Day 6 are at https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=300858D26087A5BF!200

 

At some point during dinner, while my girlfriend was in the bathroom, our waiter came over and said "before you go tonight, you have to see Creepy Bill!"

 

"Creepy Bill?" I asked.

 

"Just keep an eye on William Shakespeare on the wall as you leave tonight!"

 

For those that don't know, the dining rooms on Independence are all named for Shakespeare plays. The first floor of the dining room (deck 3), where we were seated, was named Romeo & Juliet. The second floor (deck 4) was Macbeth, and the third floor (deck 5), where My Time Dining was held, was King Lear. There were also two private dining rooms called Othello and Anthony & Cleopatra.

 

On the wall as you enter the dining room is a well-lit bust of Shakespeare. However, as I discovered that night, the head of the bust is actually inverted, causing an optical illusion that the head and eyes follow you as you walk by. For those of you that have been on the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland or Disney World, it's the same illusion. You can see this near the end of this video:

 

 

After dinner, I went up to the helipad with my binoculars, and discovered that the two ships near us were the Ruby Princess and the Celebrity Silhouette.

 

We got back to the room to find a butterfly on the bed:

 

Our stateroom attendant stopped by to remind us that luggage was supposed to be outside our door by 11pm, but that they would continue to collect luggage until about 1am. We got all but two pieces of luggage out by that time, but our last pieces of luggage weren't packed until after 2am. I left them out in the hallway anyway, even though there was no other luggage left in the hallways. Before going to bed, I noticed with amusement that we had caught up to and passed the Celebrity ship, and were gaining on the Princess ship.

 

Coming up on Day 7: The Royal Suite, Debarkation, Oversized Animals, Oversized Pancakes, and Airboats in the Everglades.

[phabric]

Not having been on a RCI ship with rock climing and other activities. You mentioned a wristband, what is this?

[gambee]

Not having been on a RCI ship with rock climing and other activities. You mentioned a wristband, what is this?

 

If we are talking about the same bands, they are to indicate that you have signed their wavers and you're allowed to do whichever activity that is that you're planning to do.

[ahecht]

^Yup!

[ahecht]

Day 7: Saturday, February 16th, 2013 - Part 1

 

I was woken up a couple hours later by the ship doing its spin in the turning basin at Port Everglades. I was too tired to watch much, so I quickly checked the luggage in the hallway and was delighted to see that it had been picked up at some point. Moral of the story: don't worry about getting your luggage outside on time.

 

We were in departure group 12, which meant that we were supposed to get off the ship at 7:45am. That wasn't going to happen. We decided we would get off when group 40 was called, at 10am.

 

At around 8am I went up to Windjammer to grab some breakfast to bring back for one last meal on our balcony. However, when I got back there was a maintenance guy climbing from balcony to balcony painting. There were a number of spots on our balcony that had had grey patches of primer on them all week, which made me worry about the maintenance on the ship a bit. However, on departure day there was a whole crew painting over the grey spots with the appropriate shade of blue or white:

 

We settled for eating in the cabin. After one last white-chocolate donut and one last hash browns with roasted tomato it was time to leave the room. On our way to the elevator, I couldn't help but notice that the door to the Royal Suite, the largest, most expensive room on the ship, was wide open.

 

We may have accidentally wandered in and taken a bunch of pictures (although the quality isn't great, since I only had my phone with me). Here is the view after you pass through the giant wooden doors:

 

Through the doorway on the right is the master bedroom. One wall of this room is picture windows, and since these windows are actually on the "hump" of the ship, you could lay in bed and look forward to see the front of the ship:

 

Off of the master bedroom is a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi and a large shower:

 

Opposite the jacuzzi is a toilet and bidet, which I didn't get a picture of. Back outside the master bedroom is the main room of the suite, which features a bar, a dining table, several couches (which were being made up as beds here), and a full grand piano:

[ahecht]

Day 7: Saturday, February 16th, 2013 - Part 2

 

Just off of the main room is the large balcony. The main part of the balcony had several lounge chairs and a nice sized table:

 

The other side of the balcony featured a second Jacuzzi:

 

Finally, here is the bathroom for the main room:

 

As I was getting one last shot of the main room an officer came in with a family. I was sure we were in trouble, but when the officer took out his camera and started taking pictures of the suite himself, it was clear that he was also sightseeing. I took the last picture and discretely left.

 

On the way out, I stopped to get a picture I had been meaning to get all week. On the promenade, there was a balcony with a giant red dog on it. I finally figured out how to get to it (it's off of one of the port-side elevator lobbies):

 

We continued down to the promenade to turn in our survey, Crown and Anchor Application, and, after a lot of hand wringing, a NextCruise Certificate purchase form. That extra $100 of on-board credit will help when we book the Royal Suite for our next cruise (I wish!).

 

We sat in the Cafe Promenade and munched on one last cookie until we heard number 46 being called in the nearby dining room and sadly headed to the exit. On the way out I took our final "day of the week" picture. We now had the complete set:

 

Programming Note: Now that I've finished with the cruise itself, I though I'd give you a little update on my plans here. Since Ft. Lauderdale is technically a port of call on our cruise, I was going to continue the pictures and reviews for our activities in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday the way I have been so far. I was then going to give just a brief overview of what we did on the rest of the trip, but not in nearly as much detail (or as many pictures). I hope you have enjoyed it all so far and indulge me a bit more as I use this thread as an excuse to sort, edit, and label all my pictures in a timely manner.

 

Coming up next: More oversized animals, regular sized animals, and an airboat ride. Oh, and pancakes!

[Canadian Tyler]

Excellent review and pictures, thank you for taking the time to post them! Definitely helped me re-live my week onboard in January. Thanks!

[micmacmissy]

Great review...I really enjoyed it! We were in the aft as well, and on debarkation day also walked by a wide open Royal Suite. I wanted to go in and look around, and my kids were like, "MOM!!!! You're going to get us in trouble!" What are they going to do, kick us off the ship?! Glad you got to poke around! :)

[ahecht]

Day 7: Saturday, February 16th, 2013 - Part 3

 

We got off the ship without any wait or lines, and found all our luggage sitting alone in the "group 12" area (no searching). There were porters with luggage carts wandering around to help people with their luggage if we needed it.

 

Since we were planning to fly out of Tampa at the end of our trip, we ended up having to rent from Enterprise (all the other companies wanted $400 or so for a one-way rental). Unfortunately, Enterprise only does one-way rentals between airports, so we had to get a cab there. The cab line was about 30 minutes long. If you wanted a shared ride van, they were charging $10 a person, but I wanted to take a cab so that we could be dropped off directly at the Enterprise rental area.

 

Our cab ride to Enterprise ended up costing $20 with tip due to the traffic in the port, and it turned out that the walk across the parking lot from where the cab driver dropped us was probably longer than if we had walked from the terminal. Next time we'll do the shared ride van.

 

We finally got our car at 11am and were on our way to the Old Fort Lauderdale Breakfast House.

 

By the time we got there, there was already an hour wait for a table. The science museum next door was having some sort of rubber duck festival, so we went over there to wait:

 

While we were waiting, we got a couple of very good fish tacos from a food truck:

 

Finally it was time to be seated. We both ordered the famous cast iron pancakes, which were huge:

 

They were also very tasty. This one was filled with local sweet corn. I only finished about half of it (note that all the portions here are large, but they charge a $5 split plate fee). This was definitely somewhere I'd go again if I had time.

 

Our next stop was the Sawgrass Recreation Park for an airboat ride. Before we extended our trip, we had originally planned to do Royal Caribbean's $54/person airboat excursion. However, it turned out to be cheaper for us to rent a car for the day and do it ourselves. When we extended the trip it became a moot point. However, when we decided to do it ourselves, we researched all the airboat places. Royal Caribbean uses Everglades Holiday Park, which uses larger covered airboats and includes an alligator wrestling demonstration. The wrestling didn't appeal to us, so we decided to go to Sawgrass instead because they used smaller boats that yet you feel the wind in your face and their admission includes a small zoo with local rescue animals. We found a $4 off coupon in the Great Locations book in our hotel (their coupons are also available http://www.greatlocations.com/coupons.asp?partnerid=1&menuitemid=12) which made the decision even easier.

 

We arrived at Sawgrass and found that we were surrounded by all kinds of birds. This tree in the parking lot was filled with parakeets:

 

There appeared to be lots of fish in the water nearby. When one of the staff pulled in a rope dangling from one of the boats, a fish came along for the ride and landed on the dock, where a grackle tried to catch it (you can see this in the video in part 5). There were also a small group of cormorants handing out near the dock fishing:

 

There was only a 15 minute wait before our airboat departed. On the way out, I got this picture of an incoming airboat:

Edited March 9, 2013 by ahecht

[ahecht]

Day 7: Saturday, February 16th, 2013 - Part 4

 

Riding an airboat at high speed through the everglades was really a thrill.

 

It took a while to get used to the fact that the boat could safely go safely through the plants. Check out the video in part 5 below to see what I mean. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and filled us in on a lot of the science and history of the everglades and its wildlife.

 

He also talked about the sawgrass that gave the area its name. Sawgrass is the grass you see growing up out of the water in teh above picture, and it is called that because the blades have sawteeth along the edges. He warned us to be careful to keep out hands inside the boat because the sharp grass can easily cut you at high speed:

 

It wasn't long before we found our first alligator:

 

They made sure to move the boat around so that both sides got a good view:

 

We sped off and found a second gator:

 

In addition to the alligators, we saw a variety of birds, including osprey and cranes. After our half hour ride, we returned to the dock.

Edited March 9, 2013 by ahecht

[ahecht]

Day 7: Saturday, February 16th, 2013 - Part 5

 

After our boat ride, we went to the zoo area. There were three parts to the zoo. The first was a reptile section that featured a variety of large snakes and lizards, as well with alligators that had been injured and couldn't return to the wild. There was also a lone american crocodile and a caiman there, for comparison. The staff here were also very friendly and informative, and while the collection of animals was small, the staff made it very interesting. A couple of weeks before our visit they had started switching from feeding raw meat to the alligators to feeding them "gator chow". In order to do this, they had to train their alligators to be hand fed. We got to see one of the training sessions, which I got part of on film in the video below:

 

 

We also got the chance to hold a 3-year-old alligator:

 

The second area of the zoo featured farm animals, but we skipped this area.

 

The third area featured more exotic wildlife, including a Florida panther, a black leopard, and smaller mammals such as bobcats, skunks, racoons, and a fennec fox.

 

You can kind of see the leopard in the back of the cage here, next to the tire swing. The leopard was taken in on one of their "animal amnesty" days, in which people can leave their exotic (and often illegal) pets no questions asked:

 

Nearby was this incredibly adorable sleeping fennec fox. He looked just like the Firefox logo:

 

This guy was the real attraction. One of the zookeepers had personally rescued an abused Alaskan malamute and trained it to the point where he loved being around people again. He was bringing the dog into work with him that day because he had an appointment afterwards to do some outreach with the dog with a group of autistic children. Apparently the dog is great with autistic kids because he is strong enough and even tempered enough that the kids can do whatever they will with the dog without having to worry about either the dog or the kids getting hurt. He seemed to love the attention he was getting at the zoo:

 

My girlfriends also got the opportunity to hold a snake, which she enjoyed (the snake didn't seem to care either way, and just assumed that she was a tree):

[ahecht]

Day 7: Saturday, February 16th, 2013 - Part 6

 

It was getting to be close to 5pm, and the zookeeper announced that he had to start bringing the animals inside due to the cold.

 

It was currently about 70 degrees, so I pulled up my phone and looked at the weather. The temperatures in Ft. Lauderdale were supposed to be around freezing that night. Knowing that we were supposed to spend the whole day in and out of the water at Discovery Cove the next day I checked the Orlando weather. Things didn't look much better:

 

55 degrees? That wasn't good. I quickly got on the phone with Discovery Cove. While they could move us to Monday, which was going to be a slightly warmer 68 degrees, Tuesday, which was 79 degrees, was completely booked. We had to fly out of Tampa on Wednesday night, so that wasn't an option either. We moved our reservation to Monday, and decided to do Sea World on Sunday instead (a 14-day ticket is included free with Discovery Cove admission).

 

We got on the road and drove to Orlando. On the way we stopped at a Shake Shack, which didn't live up to all the hype. I have to tell you, the roads in Orlando are weird:

 

That one road was simultaneously West, East, and North (and North and East).

 

It was pretty late when we arrived at our hotel in Orlando, and we hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, so we went up to our room and went right to sleep:

 

Oh, no, wait, that was the Royal Suite again. This was our hotel room at the Quality Inn. Strange pillows:

 

Coming up next: A quick Sea World update, and can Discovery Cove live up to the real Caribbean?

[CrusieToy]

Enjoyed you review!

[phabric]

Did you keep the information about disembarkment times?

 

Would be interested to know what times were self disembarkment and the first group times after them?

 

With the changes in less Immigration/Customs persons, we don't want to miss our flight.

[Mort from MI]

We just got off Indy this morning. Walked off at 6:30 and we were at the airport and checked in by 7:00! Security line was horrible and took 45 minutes. We have an 11:15 flight home on Delta. Lots of time to catch up on emails. Our cruise left on March 2 and we were the first cruise with the new menu. Best food yet, but this was only our third cruise.

[Clarea]

We just got off Indy this morning. Walked off at 6:30 and we were at the airport and checked in by 7:00! Security line was horrible and took 45 minutes. We have an 11:15 flight home on Delta. Lots of time to catch up on emails. Our cruise left on March 2 and we were the first cruise with the new menu. Best food yet, but this was only our third cruise.

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear Indy finally has the new menu.

[phabric]

We just got off Indy this morning. Walked off at 6:30 and we were at the airport and checked in by 7:00! Security line was horrible and took 45 minutes. We have an 11:15 flight home on Delta. Lots of time to catch up on emails. Our cruise left on March 2 and we were the first cruise with the new menu. Best food yet, but this was only our third cruise.

 

Did they have different times for self disembarkment? We do not need the 6:30 but want to be before the crowds. How was going through Immigration/Customs at the dock?

 

Have not been on a RCI ship for a few years. What is on the new menu? Any recommendations?

[ahecht]

Did you keep the information about disembarkment times?

 

Would be interested to know what times were self disembarkment and the first group times after them?

 

With the changes in less Immigration/Customs persons, we don't want to miss our flight.

 

My scanner is on the fritz right now, so I'll scan it in at work and post it tomorrow. "Self assist (carry your own luggage)" was 6:15am-7:00am. The next two groups (1 and 2) left at 7:00am and were reserved for people who purchased transfers to Miami. The first "independent guests" group left at 7:15.

 

The same form you fill out to do "self assist" also lets you request a regular checked-luggage departure time between 7:00am and 8:00am.

 

I would imagine that if you are doing "self assist" you could also leave any time after 7am without trouble. There didn't seem to be a problem leaving later than your assigned time, but they didn't want people with checked luggage to leave early since their luggage wouldn't be there.

[ahecht]

Did you keep the information about disembarkment times?

 

Would be interested to know what times were self disembarkment and the first group times after them?

 

With the changes in less Immigration/Customs persons, we don't want to miss our flight.

 

I uploaded a couple of additional documents:

 

Departure Information (Including departure times, information of Self Assist departure, Luggage Valet pricing and forms, and departure request form)

 

The Planner (An overview of the major events each day, the dinner dress each night, where various live performers can be found, and the drink of the day schedule)

 

 

[Mort from MI]

Sorry I can't give you exact disembarkment times but the self disembarkment was from 6:15 to 7:00 am if I remember correctly. I didn't bring the info sheet with me. The process was very smooth walking off the ship and the customs line moved faster than I remember. The agent asked if we had a good time and if we had anything to declare. He thanked us and we were on our way to find a taxi.

 

The new menu was set up much like they have been before. There was a per-selected appetizer, main course and dessert. Of course there were individual choices too. There were about ten appetizers, four that were present at every meal including shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad and a crab and shrimp gratin made like escargot. Main entree had several choices always on the menu such as salmon and NY strip that were very good. And four or five that changed. The beef tenderloin and lobster/shrimp were my favorites. Three constant desserts and three or four that changed daily.

 

I don't remember where I have read negative comments about Sorrento's pizza, but we thought it was great.

[ahecht]

Sorry I can't give you exact disembarkment times but the self disembarkment was from 6:15 to 7:00 am if I remember correctly. I didn't bring the info sheet with me. The process was very smooth walking off the ship and the customs line moved faster than I remember. The agent asked if we had a good time and if we had anything to declare. He thanked us and we were on our way to find a taxi.

I posted the departure sheet at https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=300858D26087A5BF!656

[phabric]

Thanks for the disembarkment times.

[Murrdawg]

Excellent review!! Or, as my Boston friends would say.....wicked pissah! We're going on the IOS in May for the Norwegian Fjords. It will be our 5th cruise, and the largest ship by far that we've been on.

 

I did have one question, hopefully somebody who's been on the Independence can answer it. I noticed that you had to line up to get the Ice Show tickets. The RCI agent told me to book tickets for the evening shows as well. How do you do that? Is that a "line up and wait" thing too? Or can you reserve them online somewhere? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!