Great Times on Indy! ~ A Big Review With Lots of Pics!

[DarthGrady]

Independence of the Seas: January 18, 2014

My wife and I booked this cruise to celebrate our five year anniversary. We were originally booked on the Oasis of the Seas for the 1/18/14 sailing. But we decided to switch when we saw a longer and cheaper cruise on Indy for the same week. The ports of call were also more attractive, so it was an easy decision.

Two friends that cruise with us occasionally decided to come along. We drove down together to Boca Raton the night before our cruise and stayed at the Fairfield Inn right off I-95. The hotel was fairly new and in good shape.

[whitshel]

Woohoo an Indy review, and from Darth no less!! I cant wait to read and see:D

 

Exactly 2 months for me on Indy:rolleyes:

[LLWS_Uncle_Rick]

Looking forward to your review, booked on the Indy in April.

[DarthGrady]

Day 1, Fort Lauderdale:

The drive to Port Everglades from the hotel only took about a half hour. Independence was parked at Pier 29, which is way over on the southeast side of the port. After leaving the car at Park n Go, it was just a quick shuttle ride to the ship.

We were greeted at Park N Go by the monkeys, they are always there

Indy at Pier 29

Lots of ships at Port Everglades, the port load was over 25,000 people. That's 50,000 coming and going in one day!

Woohoo! My first D+ card!

[niksmom630]

Looking forward to your review! Less than 2 weeks for us!

 

 

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[bugger832001]

looking forward to review, we are going march 1st

[DarthGrady]

Woohoo an Indy review, and from Darth no less!! I cant wait to read and see:D

 

Exactly 2 months for me on Indy:rolleyes:

 

Looking forward to your review! Less than 2 weeks for us!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Looking forward to your review, booked on the Indy in April.

 

You folks are all in for a great time, she's an awesome ship. Stay tuned, I have a ton of pictures to post up.

[shipshape sam]

Looking forward to your review and pictures!

[VillaHappy]

Should I be scared? Tell me now! :cool:

[niksmom630]

You folks are all in for a great time, she's an awesome ship. Stay tuned, I have a ton of pictures to post up.

 

Great news Darth Grady! I feel like I'm sailing a week and a half early thanks to you!

 

 

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[DarthGrady]

Embarkation went very fast and we were aboard in about twenty minutes. It was already after 1 p.m. so we dropped off the luggage in the room and walked around the ship for awhile. Having been on Freedom of the Seas before, Independence seemed nearly identical. The ship was in great shape with very little signs of wear and tear.

Our cabin was also very clean and has the sliding doors in the shower. After two cruises on ships with the attack shower curtains, I couldn't have been happier to see those doors. The bed had an "egg crate" foam pad on top of the mattress. I don't know who requested that be added, but I thank them as it made the bed much more comfortable.

Our cabin, #2671

The little table went into the closet following this picture

Crown and Anchor gifts

[DarthGrady]

Great news Darth Grady! I feel like I'm sailing a week and a half early thanks to you!

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

No problem, hope you enjoy the cruise! :)

 

 

Should I be scared? Tell me now! :cool:

 

Now what yould you have to be scared of??? :D:p

Edited January 28, 2014 by DarthGrady

[KMagz]

Looking forward to your review!

 

Question: at Pier 29, do you enter the ship on on the Promenade ? Or do you board on a lower deck?

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

Looking forward to your review!

 

Question: at Pier 29, do you enter the ship on on the Promenade ? Or do you board on a lower deck?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Deck 4. Right by Boleros.

[DarthGrady]

Independence has gotten many upgrades that Freedom did not have during my last cruise on her. She has a large movie screen above the main pool area, digital screens around the ship showing current information and the Cupcake Cupboard in place of the old barbershop on the promenade.

In the afternoon I stopped by the pool bar and meet all of the folks from our Cruise Critic roll call. We had a great turnout; it had been a very active thread. It was nice to meet everyone. Some of us had been counting down on there for more than a year.

We attended the muster drill and then headed upstairs to the Viking Crown Lounge for sail away. The entire lounge was being used as a combination Diamond/Concierge overflow area. It was very crowded so we sat on the porch of the Diamond Lounge until the early dining crowd left. Our departure from Port Everglades was delayed, and we didn't set sail until after dark. I had planned on being out on deck to wave at the webcam, but thought better of it since it was fairly cold out that evening.

At the Cruise Critic gathering before sail away

 

Lots of hardware leaving port

 

 

[shipshape sam]

Like your welcome package!

 

We loved large pool screen. I watched football and enjoyed an Old Speckled Hen beer!

Edited January 28, 2014 by shipshape sam

[DarthGrady]

Deck 4. Right by Boleros.

 

She beat me to it. :D

 

It is deck 4, right under the life boats. While we're on the topic, here is a picture of that same area.

 

[DarthGrady]

Olive or Twist in the Viking Crown Lounge, the area would be used nightly as overflow for the Concierge and Diamond Lounges

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

And the actual Diamond Lounge, directly adjacent to Olive or Twist

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

We took advantage of our new BOGO specialty restaurant coupon and got a reservation at Giovanni's Table. I had eaten at Chops and Samba Grill before, but never Giovanni’s. I had the steak, and we got the family style linguini, gnocchi and ravioli. The meal and desserts were all very good.

Giovannis

[DarthGrady]

And some food porn from our dinner at Giovannis

 

 

 

 

 

[DarthGrady]

Late in the evening we spent some time in the Connoisseurs Club enjoying a few cigars. It's was nice to be back on a ship with a cigar lounge. All of the Radiance and Vision class ships have been stripped of theirs which is a real shame. I also had a nice conversion with "Super Mario", the #1 cruiser in Crown and Anchor. We shot the breeze for awhile about some of the upcoming ships; he's an absolute wealth of knowledge about cruising.

The cigar lounge. Such a nice place to sit and relax with a good cigar and a drink. It's a real shame that RCI feels the need to get rid of them.

[DarthGrady]

Well that takes us through the first day. I'll be back on tomorrow with more!

[Riverz]

Great pictures. Looking forward to rest of the review

 

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[Dwalkerdave]

What cabin ? Are all interiors the same decor wise ?

 

Thanks