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

[ratherbecruisin2]

Great review so far!! It's making us get really excited about getting on the Indy in 10 days!! Can't wait to get away from this crazy cold and snow!

 

Can you confirm whether or not the Indy had the luggage valet service?

 

Thanks much!

 

Yes, the Indy has the luggage valet service. We used it and loved it as always!:D

[DarthGrady]

More ice show

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2014 by DarthGrady

[DarthGrady]

Before dinner we stopped into the DL/CL for drinks. I had a nice conversion with Tony (aka Host Kewlguy) about some of the happenings on Cruise Critic. Like all the folks from the roll call, it was very nice to meet someone in person that you've talked to online over the years. He had also just been made a Pinnacle Club member on this cruise, so big congrats to him!

Dinner in the dining room was noticeably slower this night. There didn't seem to be any more people than usual, so I'm not sure what the issue was. I tried the meatball appetizer for the first time and it was excellent! The New York strip, well, not so much. The steak was tough and sort of fatty. The meatballs aside, it was a pretty lackluster dinner. The night was capped off with cigars and conversation with Mario and the other folks at the Connoisseurs Club.

Our bridge tour invite

We got little gifts from room service, Chops, the Hotel Director and Giovanni's Table nearly every day during this cruise. Their level of service is really top notch

[DarthGrady]

That's about it for today. I'll be back on tomorrow with St. Kitts!

[ratherbecruisin2]

From one of the "other folks at the Connoisseurs Club", I enjoyed trading you clove cigars!

[cruisin73]

Grady thank you so much for your review. I watched you guys sail away from the port Everglades webcam. Very cool to watch you guys sail away. Anyway I'm thinking about taking a cruise next January. If you had to pick between freedom and Indy which one would you do again? I know you've been on both and from what I've heard seems Indy is really lacking on some things. I really like how fll is so close to the port and I could sail on allure or oasis but they don't really fit in my budget as well as freedom or Indy. Leaving out of port canaveral is slightly more annoying because I'd have to rent a car. So I'm torn on which one to pick.

[kccrzr]

Cocktails under the Stars sounds like more fun than the usual get-together. Looking forward to hearing about it.

 

By the way, I am beginning to think you had the ship to yourselves - most of your photographs are of near empty venues. Either you are a night owl or crowd control is unbelievably good (except for your ports, of course)!

[DarthGrady]

From one of the "other folks at the Connoisseurs Club", I enjoyed trading you clove cigars!

 

Same here! :) I brought home two cartons of them! I'm not a regular smoker, I usually just enjoy a few on vacation or at parties, so they should last me for years.

 

[Cruiser1128]

Thank you so much for sharing. Wow, is all I can say. I really did not know what to expect on a cruise. I know you said the Cupcake place was a separate charge but what about the other places like Ben & Jerry's and the Dog & Badgers?

[DarthGrady]

Grady thank you so much for your review. I watched you guys sail away from the port Everglades webcam. Very cool to watch you guys sail away. Anyway I'm thinking about taking a cruise next January. If you had to pick between freedom and Indy which one would you do again? I know you've been on both and from what I've heard seems Indy is really lacking on some things. I really like how fll is so close to the port and I could sail on allure or oasis but they don't really fit in my budget as well as freedom or Indy. Leaving out of port canaveral is slightly more annoying because I'd have to rent a car. So I'm torn on which one to pick.

 

I would actually pick the 8 night on Indy again.

 

There are some things I liked better on FOS; It's closer to my house, Sorrento's, the shops and the CD.

 

But the extra night and better ports makes up for those shortcomings IMO. There are some quirks on Indy, but they really didn't cause me much stress.

 

Cocktails under the Stars sounds like more fun than the usual get-together. Looking forward to hearing about it.

 

By the way, I am beginning to think you had the ship to yourselves - most of your photographs are of near empty venues. Either you are a night owl or crowd control is unbelievably good (except for your ports, of course)!

 

I pick my times to lessen the crowds in the shots. A big portion of them were taken on the day we were in Labadee since we stayed onboard.

[DarthGrady]

Thank you so much for sharing. Wow, is all I can say. I really did not know what to expect on a cruise. I know you said the Cupcake place was a separate charge but what about the other places like Ben & Jerry's and the Dog & Badgers?

 

Ben and Jerry's costs extra, but the ice cream is much better than the soft serve stuff they have up on the pool deck.

 

Dog and Badger doesn't have a cover charge, you'll just pay per-drink as with any bar on the ship.

[kruzerci]

Grady you're killing me! I've been wanting to do the 8 night Indy cruise for years and the dates just haven't worked out for us. Now we're snowed in and I'm addicted to this thread :D.

 

Maybe next year!

[DreamingBig1]

Thanks for taking the time to post a wonderful review!

 

Having sailed the FOS, this takes me back there (sort of).

 

In regard to the Pizza - give me the little sandwiches, you can have the Sorrentos. Not the best in my opinion. I admit to being very picky when it comes t pizza.

 

Sprinkles: my kids shut that thing down. :) They put that machine off the side of the pool. Every time I turned my head, I found one of my children with one of those cones. Love it. It's their vacation as well.

 

I hope they have a cigar bar on the Oasis.

 

Did you buy cigars in St. Maarten? I bought and smoked a cigar from a certain island there. Loved it!

 

Enjoying your review. Keep it coming.

[DarthGrady]

Thanks for taking the time to post a wonderful review!

 

Having sailed the FOS, this takes me back there (sort of).

 

In regard to the Pizza - give me the little sandwiches, you can have the Sorrentos. Not the best in my opinion. I admit to being very picky when it comes t pizza.

 

Sprinkles: my kids shut that thing down. :) They put that machine off the side of the pool. Every time I turned my head, I found one of my children with one of those cones. Love it. It's their vacation as well.

 

I hope they have a cigar bar on the Oasis.

 

Did you buy cigars in St. Maarten? I bought and smoked a cigar from a certain island there. Loved it!

 

Enjoying your review. Keep it coming.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Sorrentos either, it's just okay IMO. I only missed it when the 2 am post-dance-club munchies kicked in. :D

 

Unfortunately Oasis and Allure do not have cigar lounges.

 

You read that right.

 

The biggest ships ever wrought by the hands of men couldn't spare even a single room for us to enjoy our stogies in.

 

All they have is a sun deck area at the top of the ship open at night for cigars. It's usually windy and unpleasant. If the weather is bad, tough luck.

 

That was actually a topic of conversation among Super Mario and the rest of us in the Connoisseur Club on a few of the nights. It's really a shame that Royal is eliminating their cigar lounges, many folks enjoy them.

 

I brought my cigars from home, so I didn't purchase any in port. But St. Maarten has many tobacco shops with lots of cigars, so I'm sure you'll be able to find what you're looking for.

 

In fact, I bought those Djarum Blacks in St Maarten because we can't get that type in Florida anymore. They outlawed flavored cigarettes, so the ones sold in the states are "cigars" and have a tobacco/paper wrapper (which has a harsher taste). Only one store had any in stock, so I got lucky.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[petrakae]

Thank you so much for the photos. We will be on Indy for 14 nights in April. Never cruised RCL previously and your photos and reviews have impressed me. Thank you once again.

[nbsjcruiser]

We all managed to drag ourselves up to the gym for our daily workout. The gym on the Freedom Class ships is one of the nicest at sea. They have tons of equipment to use, and big forward facing windows provide great views. I tried to get some time in the sauna, but it was broken.

 

 

Mens or women's sauna? The damn thing best be fixed before we get on at the end of Feb!!

[aalden13]

Love your review. And I must agree, royal could learn a thing or two from carnival with the 24 hour pizza.

[DarthGrady]

Thank you so much for the photos. We will be on Indy for 14 nights in April. Never cruised RCL previously and your photos and reviews have impressed me. Thank you once again.

 

No problem, I think you're gonna have a great time!

 

 

 

 

 

Mens or women's sauna? The damn thing best be fixed before we get on at the end of Feb!!

 

My wife said the women's was inoperative as well.

 

 

Love your review. And I must agree, royal could learn a thing or two from carnival with the 24 hour pizza.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

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[temple1]

Darth, Thanks so much, I'm reliving our December cruise on Indy. :D

 

A tip for those who want to try Giovanni's Table - the risotto is absolutely the best thing I've had in a long time. It is so yummy - I could have licked the bowl!

[kpauley]

Grady, thank you for such a wonderful review. I just started reading it today and noticed you were at “our” table the next sailing. How funny.

 

Anyways, you mention having a chat with “Super Mario”. Do you know if he was on the 1/12 sailing or did he board on 1/18? The reason I ask, we were seated in the Diamond section of the MDR for breakfast one morning and I heard the name “Mario” coming from a table close to us. I then see a gentleman wearing a vest made totally out of RCL key chains being seated at a table diagonal from us. He ordered his omelet 10 minutes after my daughter and received it 5 minutes before she did and he seemed to get more “attention” than the other tables. After hearing “Mario” I began to think maybe that was "Super Mario" who I'd read about on CC. When we got home I looked up “Super Mario’s” blog and realized it was not the same person with the key chain vest. If he was on the 1/12 sailing, I’ll kick myself for not going to the top-tier event.:)

[temple1]

Grady, thank you for such a wonderful review. I just started reading it today and noticed you were at “our” table the next sailing. How funny.

 

Anyways, you mention having a chat with “Super Mario”. Do you know if he was on the 1/12 sailing or did he board on 1/18? The reason I ask, we were seated in the Diamond section of the MDR for breakfast one morning and I heard the name “Mario” coming from a table close to us. I then see a gentleman wearing a vest made totally out of RCL key chains being seated at a table diagonal from us. He ordered his omelet 10 minutes after my daughter and received it 5 minutes before she did and he seemed to get more “attention” than the other tables. After hearing “Mario” I began to think maybe that was "Super Mario" who I'd read about on CC. When we got home I looked up “Super Mario’s” blog and realized it was not the same person with the key chain vest. If he was on the 1/12 sailing, I’ll kick myself for not going to the top-tier event.:)

 

Super Mario was on our Dec 15 cruise on Indy and was signed up for about 2 months plus sailings on Indy.

[kpauley]

Super Mario was on our Dec 15 cruise on Indy and was signed up for about 2 months plus sailings on Indy.

Thanks. I guess I can start kicking myself. :D

[DarthGrady]

Grady, thank you for such a wonderful review. I just started reading it today and noticed you were at “our” table the next sailing. How funny.

 

Anyways, you mention having a chat with “Super Mario”. Do you know if he was on the 1/12 sailing or did he board on 1/18? The reason I ask, we were seated in the Diamond section of the MDR for breakfast one morning and I heard the name “Mario” coming from a table close to us. I then see a gentleman wearing a vest made totally out of RCL key chains being seated at a table diagonal from us. He ordered his omelet 10 minutes after my daughter and received it 5 minutes before she did and he seemed to get more “attention” than the other tables. After hearing “Mario” I began to think maybe that was "Super Mario" who I'd read about on CC. When we got home I looked up “Super Mario’s” blog and realized it was not the same person with the key chain vest. If he was on the 1/12 sailing, I’ll kick myself for not going to the top-tier event.:)

 

Yes, he would have been on there for that sailing. He said he's on Indy for ten weeks. I don't recall him wearing a key chain vest, he's kinda low key and very humble about his status. The most I saw him wearing was a RCI t-shirt. I didn't even see him wearing his Pinnacle badge.

 

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[ginger2000]

Sadly parents weren't respecting the diapers only in the littlest pool that was marked for diapers. One of our group even complained to the staff that was near there and nothing was done to remove the diapered little ones out of the bigger pools.

 

It was disgusting!!! Seeing babies - yes babies who couldn't even walk in the hot tubs too!!!! The pool attendants just walked away - didn't want to address it and turned the other way. So we spent the rest of the week in the main pools with our kids!

[dmndlil]

Thank you for sharing your vacation with us! it makes the time go by quicker for my Freedom Sailing in May :)