B2B on Indy ~ Dec. 1 & 7 ~ My Diary

[SherriZ366]

Jane -- congratulations on Clemson winning the Orange Bowl -- quite a game especially near the end with the traded interceptions! Poor UGA suffered from too many injuries (including the starting QB) and dropped passes in the end zone.

 

Watched Indy leave late like the other ships. Guess the horrible weather held up many passengers.

[maxs mom]

Jane -- congratulations on Clemson winning the Orange Bowl -- quite a game especially near the end with the traded interceptions! Poor UGA suffered from too many injuries (including the starting QB) and dropped passes in the end zone.

 

Watched Indy leave late like the other ships. Guess the horrible weather held up many passengers.

 

Thanks! That was a good game! Sorry about the Dawgs.

[Danem7683]

Jane thanks for the excellent

Review. Will be going from Southampton in October on my first cruise :)

[maxs mom]

Jane thanks for the excellent

Review. Will be going from Southampton in October on my first cruise :)

 

Thanks! Would love to cruise from Southampton! The Indy is an awesome ship!

[SherriZ366]

Jane -- do you remember who the Hotel Director and the Guest Service Manager were on IN? My friend is taking a group of cruisers who use service animals on the ship and would like to know. When she was on FR, the HD Michael Rasmussen was fabulous to her and the group. Thanks

[maxs mom]

Oh gosh, Sherri! I don't think I had any dealings with either of them, although I probably met them. Maybe someone else can help. I love to see the service animals on the ship. Our dog is not a registered service animal, but she could be. She detects low blood sugar, which is a big problem for John. She wakes us up in the middle of the night to warn us of an episode. The problem with taking her on cruise is.....her warning is constant barking for about 20 minutes!! I don't think our cruise neighbors would appreciate that!!

[CRUISEBOY305]

Greetings Everyone!!

 

Just back from two weeks on the beautiful Independence of the Seas.....first the 6 night.....then the 8 night.

 

You meet the nicest people on cruises! These two weeks were spent with former cruise buddies that we either met on board or right here on Cruise Critic. We have all become life long friends. We love the cruising lifestyle and the part about making new and wonderful friends is the best part. More about these folks later!

 

We are Jane and John from North Carolina. We are D+ C&A members and just went over 400 points on these cruises. A long way from Pinnacle' date=' but we are having fun trying to get there! We are in our 60's and I retired in June after 40 years of teaching. We can now cruise at times other than school vacations! Yay!

 

We left home the day after Thanksgiving for the drive down to Florida. We drove to Jacksonville that day and stayed at The Hampton Inn Baymeadows on 295 East. Great place to stay and very reasonable. Will definitely stay there again. On Saturday we drove on down to FLL but instead of staying there, we found another great Hampton Inn about 20 miles north in Deerfield Beach. We will definitely stay here again, too. Both HI's were [u']way less [/u]than $100 each.

 

Sunday ~ Dec. 1st ~ Fort Lauderdale ~ Embarkation

 

We were up early and left the Hampton Inn around 10:00 or so. We made reservations online for Park N Go on Eller Drive right at the port. The GPS took us right there. We arrived at 10:30. Although they were very busy....we got right on a shuttle and headed over to pier 29. We got into the terminal before it started raining. The only line was for security (who took away my power strip, by the way! First time in over 60 cruises!). Other than that.....check in was a breeze and we were on board well before 11:30.

 

Welcome Aboard!!

 

 

 

We parked ourselves and relaxed for a while in Bolero's right there on Deck 4. We never go to the Windjammer right away because it is usually too crowded. There we met the nicest crew member, Nelma, from the Phillipines. She stayed and talked to us for a long time and made us feel really welcomed.

 

 

I went up to Chops, Giovanni's and the MTD desk to make all our dinner reservations. I was able to get everything we wanted.....Chops the first night, Giovanni's on Wednesday, and MTD at 8:30 the rest of the time. It was at the MTD desk that I met Cynde, who was in charge of those reservations. We became good friends over the weeks and she took care of us in the dining room!

 

 

At 1:00 we went to our cabin.....8370.....a D2......very nice accommodations for the two weeks. We were very thankful that we would not have to move.

 

 

After we dropped off our carry ons, we headed to the WJ for lunch. Most of the crowds had thinned out by this time, so it was somewhat pleasant. I usually get a salad here topped off with whatever the carving of the day is. Always good! I'm not a fan of the WJ desserts, so we always go for the frozen yogurt out on the pool deck for dessert. Ooooooo.....it's so good!!

 

 

By the time we got back to the cabin, our luggage was there, so we were able to unpack two weeks worth of clothes.....and believe me.....we brought two weeks worth of clothes!! We filled the closet and drawers to capacity!!

 

 

 

 

 

Thank You Jane for such a wonderful review of Indy and sharing your amazing photos. Just booked the 8 day cruise for January 2015. This will be my first time on Indy. Been on Liberty a couple of times already.

[maxs mom]

Thank you, Erik! Love that 8 night cruise!! Hope you enjoy it!

[SherriZ366]

Oh gosh' date=' Sherri! I don't think I had any dealings with either of them, although I probably met them. Maybe someone else can help. I love to see the service animals on the ship. Our dog is not a registered service animal, but she could be. She detects low blood sugar, which is a big problem for John. She wakes us up in the middle of the night to warn us of an episode. The problem with taking her on cruise is.....her warning is constant barking for about 20 minutes!! I don't think our cruise neighbors would appreciate that!![/size']

Jane -- I told her to email Raj as he may know (she is a Pinnacle so will be one of his "clients"). We will also be together on FR next week and she worked closely with Michael Rasmussen, the HD when she took her group (PAWs with a cause) on the ship in 2012. He was fabulous to them.

 

That is great about your dog detecting John's low blood sugar! I can see how much help that would be for John. Dogs are so smart. Some of my friends PAWs member 's dogs assist kids with Autism and really help. I am sensitive to that as DD & SIL have 2 friends who have kids on the spectrum.

[SherriZ366]

Jane -- I told her to email Raj as he may know (she is a Pinnacle so will be one of his "clients"). We will also be together on FR next week and she worked closely with Michael Rasmussen, the HD when she took her group (PAWs with a cause) on the ship in 2012. He was fabulous to them.

 

That is great about your dog detecting John's low blood sugar! I can see how much help that would be for John. Dogs are so smart. Some of my friends PAWs member 's dogs assist kids with Autism and really help. I am sensitive to that as DD & SIL have 2 friends who have kids on the spectrum.

Jane -- my friend board IN yesterday with her PAWs group and everything is great. She said Raj is great!

[wheretonow?]

We leave for the Indy this weekend, and your review was a wonderful way to "visit" her before we board.

Quick question - Raj has been so responsive to several of my emails and I'd love to bring him a little gift as a thank you. Any suggestions?

Thanks again for your lovely review!