March 16-24 Solo Independence Picture Review

[drummerdavebmth]

Great review with some fantastic photos (looking forward to your Chops review too!)

 

I'm on the Indy with my girlfriend for our very first ever cruise in May (to Norway), so I'll be following your updates very closely! :)

[Canadian Tyler]

Great pics and review so far! Nice flag, eh :)

[Raptor2010]

We didn't care about the food, didn't see any shows and we sang karaoke a couple of nights (first night was much better, second time was a train wreck but it was still fun :D )

 

For us the best part of the cruise was the Flowrider and sports staff, they ROCKED. We were there every morning for advanced standup surfing and, for the most part there were just 5-6 other guys and me (Oh, Raptor's wife here). We took our own flowboards and had a blast :)

 

 

 

It was the cruise of a lifetime.

 

E

[gargeo83]

Quickly before sail-away started I wanted to set up my laptop for wireless internet connection so I could find out through email if I managed to get on the webcam.

 

 

*Cruise TIP alert* This tip only applies to people who bring a laptop to use for the internet. If you are only using the wireless internet connection to send emails back home to family and friends here is what I did. The connection is pretty slow and is at a price of $0.65 per minute if you dont buy a package. So to save on minutes open up Microsoft Word or any other word processing program. Type your email in the program and then copy it. Connect to the internet, log onto your email, then paste the message you copied from the word processor. A long email back to family and friends now takes only a couple of minutes.

 

 

After sitting up my wireless connection it was back to the balcony to hear the ships horn blow and to watch as we pull away from the dock. As usual you cannot feel the movement of the ship as it pulls away from the dock.

 

Down the channel we went and then made a turn to the starboard side. At this point it was fun to see many people sitting in their backyards and waving at the ship. This is also where the webcam was so I started taping with my video camera and also waving at the same time in hopes of drawing attention to myself to appear on the camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you leave the port you get a great view of the coastline on the Port side of the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It didnt take long until the skyline of Fort Lauderdale was far off and we were in open water. At this point it was time to check email to see if I was successful with getting on the webcam. I was excitied to learn that I WAS successful. I even got a freeze frame picture from the sail-away sent to me....

 

 

 

 

 

 

The upgrade of the cabin paid off. Now it was time to do some more ship exploration at night before my 8:00pm Chops dinner. I always enjoy seeing the different lighting of the ship at night.

[gargeo83]

First off for the night shots is the Royal Promenade Deck 5. At the bottom of this picture you can see part of the Schooner bar Deck 4 Forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another picture of the Royal Promenade taken from Deck 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next is a picture of the kids H2O Zone.

 

 

 

 

 

Another shot of the H2O zone taken from the Olive or Twist lounge Deck 14 Aft. The reason for me taking this picture is I wanted to show the kids area to my sister because I know my neice would have alot of fun playing there. Im trying to get them to go on a ship.

 

 

 

 

[gargeo83]

For help of getting around the ship, and knowing where you are, in each elevator lobby signs are posted for reference

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point I checked my watch and noticed it was time for Chops Steakhouse dinner. Chops is located Deck 11 Aft on the Port side as you enter the Windjammer Restaurant. On the Starboard side is Portofinos, an Italian resaurant. Perhaps because tonight was the first night, there was no line at all. I just told the host my cabin number and was seated right away. It is a very large restaurant with many tables so there is no need to worry about lack of availability. This dinner can take up to 90 minutes to complete so if you are in a hurry to get to a show this is not the place to eat. For a starter I had the Ceasar salad which was a large portion but very good. I ordered the Filet Mignon as my main dish. When the steak was brought to me I was also given 4 separate side dishes which included a baked potato, asparagus, broccoli, and mushrooms for the steak. The mushrooms were amazing with the steak. I also was given my choice of sauce for the steak. I choice Bearnaise but there was also the choice of a peppercorn sauce. The steak was one of the best steaks I have ever had. I almost didnt even need a knife to cut into it. Very tastey and worth the extra price to dine there. Because I was solo I felt very bad that I was able to finish all of the sides and some of it went to waste. For 2 people the amount of the sides were the perfect portion. It was too much for 1 person however.

 

 

I apologize as this is the only dinner I didnt get pictures of because I forgot to take pictures as I was enjoying the dinner so much. If you are a steak lover then this is a must onboard the ship. Between the dinner and the atmosphere it is worth the extra price to dine there. Also the service was exceptional.

[gargeo83]

After a large and filling meal at Chops I needed a nice late night stroll. I forgot that on this class of ship there is the Promenade Deck 4 that goes out over the side of the ship. It was a great place to get some pictures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Cruise TIP alert* On this deck smoking is allowed on the Port side of the ship. So for the non-smokers if you are wanting to sit and relax without the smell of smoke I would suggest going to the Starboard side.

 

 

Well that is all for now. The hockey game is about to start and as a Canadian we are obligated to watch or else we lose our citizenship. ;)

 

 

Next up is Day 2 at Sea Day, Captains Welcome Gala and I promise, Food Porn!!!

[jbrezen]

 

 

 

 

 

Another picture of the Royal Promenade taken from Deck 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So funny, we were on this sailing and that is a picture of my DH in the blue shirt, lower right hand side walking with my DD and myself.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Russ Lomas]

For us the best part of the cruise was the Flowrider and sports staff, they ROCKED. We were there every morning for advanced standup surfing and, for the most part there were just 5-6 other guys and me (Oh, Raptor's wife here). We took our own flowboards and had a blast :)

I will be doing this cruise next year during the same week as you just did. I am addicted to the Flowrider and hope to be there every morning for the advanced sessions since it is usually less busy. A couple of questions for you...did the advanced Flowrider sessions start at 8 or 9 am on the Independence (I seem to remember 8am on the Liberty, but they were at 9am on the Oasis). For those sessions, were there just that 5 or 6 people right from day 1 til day 6? I know that every week on the ship is different, but if there is only 5 or 6 for the sessions, I will be ecstatic!

[Raptor2010]

I will be doing this cruise next year during the same week as you just did. I am addicted to the Flowrider and hope to be there every morning for the advanced sessions since it is usually less busy. A couple of questions for you...did the advanced Flowrider sessions start at 8 or 9 am on the Independence (I seem to remember 8am on the Liberty, but they were at 9am on the Oasis). For those sessions, were there just that 5 or 6 people right from day 1 til day 6? I know that every week on the ship is different, but if there is only 5 or 6 for the sessions, I will be ecstatic!

 

It started at 8 am to 9 for advanced stand up and 9 to 10 (last day was until 11) for stand up, where the sports staff will help load you. Yep, we had it all to ourselves (just the 5-6, sometimes 7 of us) for the entire cruise and it was AWESOME :D I will say this though, purchase a shortie wet suit. We ended up renting them from the dive shop because the first three days were so windy and COLD, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[Eng23]

It was pretty cool that you got noticed and photographed by the port webcam! :)

[louhun88]

I'm debating whether to book this ship for next year so looking forward to the rest of your review!

[simply coffee]

Fellow Canuck here and we were on the same cruise! (escaping our Canadian winter)

 

We have NO complaints about the ship, staff, or ports. (well, my 2 teenage dd's have a complaint ... they were accosted at every port as soon as we got off the ship with "braid your hair? braid your hair?" and for the record, NO, they didn't want their long hair braided). The wait staff was excellent. The room steward was great. The ship was clean. All of the staff seemed happy (although our assistant waiter did tell us that he has to be).

 

It was an excellent 8 nights. I felt that I didn't get to do everything on the ship that I wanted to do. Needed a few more days ;)

 

Also, I specifically booked this ship for my teenagers - expecting them to lap up the activities (rock climbing, flow rider, etc). They didn't use a thing! Yeesh.

 

dd#1 did go ice skating 1 night with the teen group. She did say that in true Canadian style, all of the teenage boys from Canada played hockey and of course she can skate. She said that many of the teens had never ice skated before (gasp!) and that most of the newbies just watched and didn't try it. DD's comment on the ice rink (besides it being tiny) was that the ice was different. That when you fell, you were soaking wet (hard to keep it frozen in the Caribbean) and that when you went to stop, you came to an immediate dead stop. That there was no "glide" in the ice.

 

dd#1 almost didn't go to the teen events being as she'll be 18 next week ... she thought she was too old for it. But, she did go and met quite a few teens. The "Deck Patrol" was pretty good at getting the teens back to their rooms by 2:00am. 'Course the last night the group of them pulled an all nighter (on the helipad deck) and she didn't come in until 5:00 (ahem, her parents were awake and none too impressed - mainly because we couldn't sleep with her being out).

 

We had connecting rooms and had the door between our rooms unlocked and open. It was great to be able to have the use of 2 rooms.

 

We did MTD with pre-booked reservations each night for 6:00pm. We had the same table with the same 2 waiters every night. They were fantastic.

 

We didn't do any excursions except in Labadee, dh and dd#1 did the zipline and we got 2 beach mats.

 

We loved the shows. The ice skating performance was fantastic (how do they fit that many skaters on that small of a rink?). The singers/dancers were very professional. The 1st show was the best (fairytale theme). The last show (Under the Big Top Tent - Circus theme) was their first night performing it .... they seemed a tad tentative.

 

The guest group that performed Frankie Vallie were awesome! I'd watch them again anytime. The Romanian Pianist was exceptionally talented. (we didn't stay up late to catch the Comedian).

 

re: Formal Nights - I'm glad I packed my dh's suit ... he would have felt under dressed otherwise. People were more dressed up then they were last summer when we cruised to Alaska. (just my observation)

 

We ate most meals in the main dining room. We only ate in the Windjammer on the first day (lunch) and disembarkation day (breakfast).

 

My 15 yr old is anti-social, hates crowds and noise, and rarely speaks. I set her up in the "Solarium" (adult pool area). She was able to sit in the shade and enjoy her book without being confined to her room. (she also spent some time in the library).

 

Can't wait to do it again!

[jbrezen]

 

dd#1 did go ice skating 1 night with the teen group. She did say that in true Canadian style, all of the teenage boys from Canada played hockey and of course she can skate. She said that many of the teens had never ice skated before (gasp!) and that most of the newbies just watched and didn't try it. DD's comment on the ice rink (besides it being tiny) was that the ice was different. That when you fell, you were soaking wet (hard to keep it frozen in the Caribbean) and that when you went to stop, you came to an immediate dead stop. That there was no "glide" in the ice.

 

dd#1 almost didn't go to the teen events being as she'll be 18 next week ... she thought she was too old for it. But, she did go and met quite a few teens. The "Deck Patrol" was pretty good at getting the teens back to their rooms by 2:00am. 'Course the last night the group of them pulled an all nighter (on the helipad deck) and she didn't come in until 5:00 (ahem, her parents were awake and none too impressed - mainly because we couldn't sleep with her being out).

 

Can't wait to do it again!

 

My DD is a figure skater and did the advanced skates as she brought her skates from home. She was the only one on the ice. She said the same thing, it was soft ice with lots of grooves. She was able to jump fine, but had a hard time with the spins and also said there was no glide. Made what they do in the show more impressive. The concierge was able to get her backstage to meet the ice cast after the show and they told us it takes months to really get used to the size and surface.

 

My teen boys had a blast on this ship. There was a very nice and active group of kids (in a good way). I met their friends during the week and I was impressed with what a polite group they were. They have been texting and facebooking since we got home.

 

We will do this sailing again without a doubt. The eight days was perfect, the ship, the crew, everything was just wonderful. Our favorite cruise so far.

[gargeo83]

Sorry for no updates yesterday. I will be continuing today though. Thanks for following along everyone

[lauren0309]

OK. Patiently waiting. ;)

[gargeo83]

Day 2- At Sea Day

 

Woke up to the great sound of the waves hitting the side of the ship. A sunny day and a forecast of 32C today. There are alot of activities planned in the Cruise Compass for today because it is a sea day. So the best way to start the day is with a breakfast on the balcony.

 

*Cruise TIP alert* The breakfast door hangers can be found in your cabin near the door to the bathroom. Fill out what you would like and what desired time you would like to have it delivered to your cabin. Then hang the hanger on your door before 3:00am. The next morning they will call you before they come to your cabin. Also, dont forget to give a small tip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast was delivered right on time and was delicious.

 

 

 

 

After breakfast it was time to head up to the pool deck for some sun. It wasnt too hard to find a chair as long as you get there early.

 

 

For Solo travellers they have a lunch meet everyday at 12:30 in Boleros Deck 4. I didnt attend any of these so I cannot comment on how busy it was.

 

 

Today was St. Patricks Day so it was fun to see alot of people in green. Since it was St Particks day, later in the afternoon I grabbed a beer from the Dog and Badger pub and went back to my cabin to enjoy the sights and sounds of the ocean.

 

 

 

[gargeo83]

Day 2 Activities

 

 

[gargeo83]

After grabbing some more sun and people watching on the pool deck it was time to go back to the cabin to shower and change. Tonight is Formal night and the Captains Welcome Gala.

 

 

For the Welcome Gala there was free Champagne being handed out. I also saw some green Champagne being handed out for St Patricks Day.

 

 

*Cruise TIP alert* If you are wanting to get a good spot for photos of the Captain and the other officers, get to the Royal Promenade early. It gets very busy and full of crowds. To the point where you will not be able to walk from one end to the other very easily.

 

 

 

 

 

Having previously been on Liberty of the Seas I knew where the Captain would be coming from. There is a bridge that can be lowered into the Promenade which makes for great pictures. Here you can see the Captain just coming into view as the bridge comes down

 

 

 

 

The Captain also introduced the rest of the officers and other staff to the crowd. It was funny to see that one of the loudest ovations was for the Cruise Director Casey, when it was annouced he was from Canada. Must have been alot of us Canucks onboard. Even the Captain joked that he didnt realize there were so many Canadians onboard.

 

 

 

 

 

After the Gala it was off to the Champagne bar for a Martini while the crowd moved on. I never saw this bar crowded the whole week so it was a great place to grab a drink and people watch as everyone is in formal wear and getting their pictures taken.

 

 

After the drink it was off to the King Lear Dining Room Deck 5. This is the dining room for all the "My Time Dining" guests.

[gingerpeaches]

Thanks so much for your review and photos. I'm back on Indy in 57 days and I can't wait! :)

[gargeo83]

Before doing this cruise I read many reviews and some people mentioned that there were always waiting lines for My Time Dining. I never ran into this.

 

 

*Cruise TIP alert* To avoid the lineups I always went to dinner between 9:00pm and 9:15. I know this is late for some people but for me it wasnt. There was never a line.

 

 

Once you arrive at the dining room entrance you give the Hostess you cabin number and she radios for someone to come and escort you to your table. For those of you that noticed, this is why some of the waiters have earpieces in their ears that make them look like Secret Service. I heard many people ask what the ear pieces were for.

 

 

*Cruise TIP alert* Each morning outside the entrances of all 3 dining rooms the nights menu is posted for all to see. This helps if you are wanting to try one of the 2 speciality restaurants on Deck 11 Aft near the Windjammer. You can make sure you dont miss anything in the dining room that you really wanted to try. Checking out the menu each morning became a routine for me after grabbing a coffee at Cafe Promenade Deck 5.

 

 

I was seated very quickly and not shortly after the waiter came over and introduced himself and his staff to me. I had the same waiters each night. Sandip and his team did a very good job each night. They always referred to me by my name. This always impresses me that they can remember names and individuals preferences when they are serving many people each night.

 

 

To start I had the Chilled Banana and Rum soup with Tahitian vanilla cream.

 

 

 

 

I couldnt decide between 2 main courses so Sandip brought me both. First up was:

 

 

Shrimp Ravioli

wilted spinach, creamy thyme and corn in a lobster sauce

 

 

This was very very good. If I didnt have a second main course coming I would have ordered this again.

 

 

Second was:

 

 

Artichoke filled Crepes Au Gratin

fontina cheese, piave vecchio, and marscapone cheese reduction

 

 

 

This was also very good but I preferred the ravioli. I was too full for dessert however so I just had a coffee.

 

I noticed in the dining room below me the Captain was having dinner at the head table.

 

 

 

 

After dinner I went back to my cabin to drop off my camera before heading out to various lounges to listen to live music. Once back at my room I had a visitor waiting for me.

[gargeo83]

Waiting in my room for me was the first towel animal of the week.

 

 

 

I found these neat tiny lights that are next to the bed that I would leave on each night before I left the cabin. It is a great way to have some light in your cabin for when you get back and to help save energy by not leaving the main lights on.

 

 

 

After dropping off my camera I was off to various lounges. There was alot of live music this night and I enjoyed listening to it. After a few hours I grabbed a night cap to have on my balcony while listening to the water and enjoying the warm night weather. Then off to bed.

 

Next up is Day 3 at Sea again.

[simply coffee]

Before doing this cruise I read many reviews and some people mentioned that there were always waiting lines for My Time Dining. I never ran into this.

 

 

*Cruise TIP alert* To avoid the lineups I always went to dinner between 9:00pm and 9:15. I know this is late for some people but for me it wasnt. There was never a line.

 

 

Once you arrive at the dining room entrance you give the Hostess you cabin number and she radios for someone to come and escort you to your table. For those of you that noticed, this is why some of the waiters have earpieces in their ears that make them look like Secret Service. I heard many people ask what the ear pieces were for.

 

To add to your comments re: MTD. We had a "set reservation" for MTD at 6:00 pm every night. (I booked it online before leaving from home). We NEVER had to wait. Amazing. There are 2 lines for MTD. 1 for those WITH reservations, and 1 for those without.

 

Dinner took about 1.5-2 hrs for the 4 of us. (as mentioned previously, we always had the same staff and the same table). We never felt rushed to get out of there. We were 1 row away from the windows, so we always had a view of the sunset.

 

When we left the dining room at 7:30/8:00 there were always quite a few people lingering about in both lines. (we had to weave our way through them to escape the dining room).

 

SO, if you don't want to wait, then don't go for dinner at 8. (my tip).

[jbrezen]

To add to your comments re: MTD. We had a "set reservation" for MTD at 6:00 pm every night. (I booked it online before leaving from home). We NEVER had to wait. Amazing. There are 2 lines for MTD. 1 for those WITH reservations, and 1 for those without.

 

Dinner took about 1.5-2 hrs for the 4 of us. (as mentioned previously, we always had the same staff and the same table). We never felt rushed to get out of there. We were 1 row away from the windows, so we always had a view of the sunset.

 

When we left the dining room at 7:30/8:00 there were always quite a few people lingering about in both lines. (we had to weave our way through them to escape the dining room).

 

SO, if you don't want to wait, then don't go for dinner at 8. (my tip).

 

We also did a standing 6:15 and got right in. We had the same wonderful waitstaff each evening. Like you noticed when we left around 8 it did seem a little more crowded.