B2B ~ Independence ~ April 20th & 26th: My Diary

[maxs mom]

Up to the WJ for lunch. It was jammed. Not my favorite place. I try to eat very carefully on cruises and I can get a good salad here with a little bit of the carving of the day and I'm good to go.

 

Back to the cabin for more reading and rest. I love sea days. We had a very relaxing afternoon.

 

It's formal night tonight. We visited again with George and Randy in the Concierge Lounge. George was all decked out in his kilt and looked very dapper!

 

 

 

First time in the MDR tonight. No lines for My Time. We had a nice table for two by the window. Our waiter was Jerome:

 

 

And our Assistant waiter was Miroslav:

 

 

We had these guys for the whole two weeks and they were fabulous. We never once waited for a course to be served. They knew our likes and dislikes. Always called us by name. We really enjoyed being with them.

 

Tonight I got the melon appetizer and the salmon salad entrée. Sooooo good!!!

 

 

The chocolate soufflé was for dessert:

 

 

Great time in the dining room tonight!

[maxs mom]

I thought I recognized the username, I just finished reading a review of that you did a while back.

 

Oh great!! Which review did you read?

[maxs mom]

The mud pie imposter is a huge disappointment! I always look forward to Chops just for dessert and with the new menu rolling out, I'm not so sure I will be visiting Chops on the Indy in Feb :(

 

Your reviews are great and I love following along,

Patty

 

Patty....Thanks so much! We had the new menu when we got to Freedom.....so stay tuned!!! Don't count it out yet! I was really impressed with some things. Others, not so much.....but still a very nice dinner. I'll elaborate more later.

[SherriZ366]

Jane -- so excited to find the newest Max's Mom review of your IN cruise (before our mutual FR cruise). Great start and as always, great pictures.

[SherriZ366]

Hello All!

 

Well.....Max's Mom and Dad...aka Jane and John.....are back from another cruise...or two....or three!! It all started with finding a great price on the April 26th cruise on Indy....so we booked that and called our good cruise buddies (Al and Phyllis in Orlando) and they booked' date=' too. A few weeks went by and we found a great price on the April 20th cruise as well....so we booked that. Then right before we left The May 4th sailing of the Freedom dropped.....so WTH....we booked that, too. (Love the Book & Go!!)

 

So off we drive to Florida from North Carolina, stopping in Jacksonville on the way down. We ended up at the Days Inn at the FLL airport where we found a great price for a room and we left our car there for two weeks....no charge. Worked out great.

 

We are D+ cruisers and have been cruising with RCI for 29 years. We are both retired now, so it's fun taking advantage of some last minute price drops. We've gotten some great deals this year.

 

There was a small outbreak of norovirus on the Indy the week before our cruise, so our embarkation was delayed until 1:30. RCI notified everyone by phone call, text, and e-mail. Looks like everyone got the message because when we arrived at Pier 29 a little after one, there was only a small crowd there.

 

 

Even with all that notification, we met a family at the hotel that had no clue about the delay! Amazing!

 

Fortunately our D+ status got us into the zip line and we got very close to the door. They opened up promptly at 1:30 and we quickly got through security, then up to the check in counter, then on to the ship. There was a guy at the check in counter that was part of the sanitation team. He would go and wipe down each counter after each person checked in.....seriously!!

 

 

As soon as we boarded we went up one level to Deck 5 and found a comfy place to sit in the Champagne Bar. We got notices that the cabins would not be open until 4:00 because of all the deep cleaning that needed to be done. no problem.....I was glad that they kept us very informed about all of this. So we got settled in, got some snacks, and were OK there. I went on up to Chops and made our reservations there, then back down to the My Time Dining desk and got our reservations there for the rest of the week....no problem at either place.

 

We had too many carry ons to go to the Windjammer, so we just stayed right there at the CB and I got ham and cheese croissants from the Café Promenade for us for lunch.

 

Promptly at 4 they said we could go to our cabins. We were able to snag one of the big family ocean view cabins for this leg at a great price. Our cabin this week is 9200.....allllllll the way forward overlooking the helipad. Something different. This cabin is huge! It sleeps six. We had two big porthole type windows, a very large king sized bed....bigger than other cabins. There is a separate sleeping area as soon as you come in the door with two bunk beds. Also a large sleeper sofa and another sitting area by the windows. We were quite happy with this cabin! We even each had our own closet and one left over!

 

 

 

 

 

This cabin was great. I would not hesitate to book this category again. The only thing is that it is a loooooong ass walk to anywhere!!! Even farther than to the aft. but we managed!

Thanks for the great pictures of the Family OV cabin. It would work for our DD, SIL and the triplets. But we would have to get past their fighting over which 2 would get the bunks. LOL

 

Was there a lot of motion in the room? SIL gets seasick easier than the rest of us (don''t know if the boys would).

[maxs mom]

After dinner we tried to find our getting on board picture. It took a while but we finally found it. I was too lazy to scan the professional pictures.. I took pictures of them instead. (After we bought them of course!)

 

 

Here is our dinner table picture from tonight:

 

 

On the way to the casino:

 

 

 

Unfortunately, we wandered into the casino. Should not have!! John won again....I did not. Not liking this pattern!

 

All too soon, it was time to return to the cabin and this towel animal:

 

 

 

Oh....by the way. We cruise so often that we've seen most all of the shows, so that is something that we don't do any more. We went to a couple of things, so I will report on those...but no shows yet.

Edited May 24, 2014 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Sherri.....so good to hear from you! We had very calm seas for the whole two weeks and felt no motion at all there. However, I imagine that would be different in rough seas. But on our sailing.....not any motion at all, thank goodness. That was such a nice cabin and would be perfect for your family. We were so thankful to have all that room to ourselves!

[CRUISEMAMI]

Oh Franca!! My first time at trying to surprise somebody!! The surprise was on us! So sorry that you and Bill couldn't make the trip.....but we'll do it again for sure. Love you guys!!

 

Same here!!! :)

 

 

Sent with my iPhone

[Merion_Mom]

Woot woot, another GREAT review from Jane!!!

Thank you for taking me along with you :( wish I was there :) for real!!

Franca

 

 

Sent with my iPhone

 

How are you guys? Everything ok? I am so sorry to have missed meeting you.

[The Big Booper]

At least you waited to post your diary until after tax season has sorta slowed down, only 10 extension returns to do...but most are bears.:eek:

[DreamingBig1]

I really enjoy your travel adventures. I look forward to going along and living vicariously through your review.

 

As always great job! Thanks!!

[kleo30]

Jane, I love reading your reviews. I was just wondering if you'd be cruising again soon so I could live vicariously through you :)

 

We had Nizar on Explorer last November. We really liked him.

[maxs mom]

Thanks, everyone!

 

Hey Carol! Franca and Bill are hanging in there. They have some cruises booked in the future.

 

Dave.....always good to see you!

 

kleo.....Nizar was fine, but we have always been spoiled by Raj, so it just wasn't the same.

[maxs mom]

Tuesday ~ April 22nd ~ Grand Cayman

 

Up early today. Same routine in CL. Wonderful and very quiet breakfast in the MDR. I had to get some beach towels, so I snapped these early morning pictures on the pool deck.

 

 

 

Two Carnival ships in port with us today:

 

 

Not fond of tendering, but we decided to go out to the beach today. As we were tendering in, we met a family that lives about 2 miles from us!! Small world.

 

We grabbed a taxi out to Royal Palms on Seven Mile Beach. We've been here before, but we probably won't go back. Those of you that know me know that I like quiet and UNcrowded beaches. This is NOT one of those. We were just giving it one more try, but no more. It certainly is a beautiful beach, though.

 

There is a $2 entry fee. $7 per chair and $10 for an umbrella.

 

 

The chairs are those hard plastic slat things.....very uncomfortable.

 

 

But the beach is beautiful and we made the best of our day. Great beach for walking.

 

[maxs mom]

More beach shots from Seven Mile and Royal Palms:

 

 

 

 

I can't stand having all these people around!!

 

 

 

There is a small pool here, too.

 

[maxs mom]

There was very slow Wi-Fi up at the restaurant area. We had a little bit better luck at that this time than last time.. Mostly you just look at spinning.

 

 

We had some lunch here and went on back to the ship around 1:30. We were able to catch a very nice air conditioned van back....taxis are $4 pp. We knew of a coffee shop in town that had free Wi-Fi, so we hoofed it over there only to find it closed!

 

Next time we will either stay on the ship or if we can hook up with another couple....we will do our favorite thing here.....rent a car and drive over to Rum Point. That's a great beach that is very quiet.

 

Back on the ship, we check out the frozen yogurt machine. It hasn't been open all week because of the previous week's noro. Still not open today! So back to the cabin for some r & r. Got lots of reading done this afternoon.

 

Headed to the CL for drinks in the evening. Tonight I met Super Mario! We've corresponded a little on Cruise Critic and he knew who I was! We had a very nice visit with him before he went to the repeat cruiser party. You think he had the most points??!!

 

 

We then met a very nice couple from New Town, Connecticut. Just love all the nice people you meet in the CL.

 

 

Time for dinner. Excellent service once again! It was Italian night. I ordered the shrimp insalata mista for my entrée and then had one of my favorite desserts.....sticky bread pudding. It did not disappoint. Promod sent a bottle of wine to our table tonight. He is always full of surprises.

 

 

 

While we were eating dinner, a woman came over to me and said, "Aren't you Max's Mom?" Holy cow!! She said she had read my last Independence review while she was planning this trip. She was very appreciative. So nice to hear from people in person!! These folks were from the UK.

 

Edited May 24, 2014 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Wednesday ~ April 23rd ~ Falmouth, Jamaica

 

Another beautiful and hot day. We had to turn in a form at Guest Services this morning and while there we finally ran into our friend, Promod. It was so exciting to see him again. We have a long history with him. Such a nice guy!! The first time I met him was on the Serenade when he was the Maitre 'D. The first time I saw him....he was vacuuming! We always have a good laugh about that.

 

 

 

We get off the ship just as the Allure was pulling into port. Such a monster!

 

 

 

They have done such a nice job with this port area. It's enjoyable just to stroll around here. We had to look for something today because SOMEONE came off on a three week cruise without any bathing suits!!! And it wasn't me. Luckily we found one n the first shop we went in.

 

 

[maxs mom]

We usually just like to hang out for a little while at Margaritaville.

 

 

We have a favorite waitress here that we always ask for....Aleshia.

 

 

We had a couple of Red Stripe Lights and Aleshia went out and got us a card for wi=fi. ($10) That was for all day. It didn't work well in Margaritaville, but did out in the main square. It even worked on the ship. I used it in the Windjammer and the Viking Crown.

 

 

 

They had a lot of activities going on here. Drinking games and stuff like that.

 

 

Edited May 24, 2014 by max'smom

[jayblue]

Here are a couple of tips that we always do in our cabin. First of all ......I always bring large rubber bands. If you put one around the handle of the hair dryer, it will stay on without you having to hold down the button the whole time.

 

 

Another tip is to bring a full sized bar of soap with you. Those little bars of soap that they provide just don't cut it!!

 

 

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Taking notes...

Edited May 24, 2014 by jayblue
Removed picture

[maxs mom]

Margaritaville has a great pool area:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on the ship, we had lunch in a relatively quiet and peaceful WJ. Most folks were still out on the island. We had another restful afternoon on board the ship. I tried logging on to my RCI Wi-Fi account. We each get 60 minutes free now. It was very easy to log on....totally different log on process from when we were on board Vision in February. I found the Wi-Fi to be excellent all three weeks in all parts of the ship. You just have to be really careful and be sure and log off each time you use it!

 

When I checked e-mail today I found out that our friends that we were going to surprise on the next leg....had to cancel. Sooooooo disappointed. I had to tell them that we were on board Indy waiting for them and I know that made them feel worse, but they had a good attitude about it and will cruise again soon, I'm sure.

 

Here's a shot from the Viking Crown:

 

Edited May 24, 2014 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Spent some time this evening in the CL with a mother/daughter duo from the UK/Florida. So fun to meet all kinds of folks in the CL.

 

 

Fabulous service in the dining room once again. I had the crab cake and a beef short rib entrée that I have never had before. It was good. the orange Jaffe Cake was for dessert. During dinner Promod came and sat with us for a little while. He is so friendly and personable.

 

 

 

John had this sugar free dessert tonight:

 

 

 

After dinner we went to the Love and Marriage Game Show. Always funny and this one did not disappoint.

 

[fish6]

I noticed children swimming in the pool at Margaritaville. So I assume it's ok to take children there then? Our 2 children are teenagers and I never knew if it was ok to go there with them for a little while. That pool looks nice!

[maxs mom]

I noticed children swimming in the pool at Margaritaville. So I assume it's ok to take children there then? Our 2 children are teenagers and I never knew if it was ok to go there with them for a little while. That pool looks nice!

 

Oh yes....you certainly can. It's a nice area.

[maxs mom]

Thursday ~ April 24th ~ Labadee

 

Ahhhhh.....Labadee.....my favorite. And we get to go next week as well. Here we are getting close. Love our forward facing portholes!!

 

 

 

 

We docked in Labadee around 10:00 AM. We made our way off the ship as soon as we were cleared. We have been extremely lucky in that most Concierges invite us to go to Barefoot Beach and we happily accept this invitation.

 

We took a leisurely walk over to Barefoot Beach. Nizar was waiting for us at the gate. We were one of the first ones in and got a nice spot under the trees that would get shade all day.

 

 

Ahhhhhhh....... Now this is how I like my beaches!

 

 

Not many people came to Barefoot all day. I've never seen it so deserted. Fine with me!!

 

[maxs mom]

I took a walk over the hill to Nellie's Beach to make some pictures. All of the cabanas seemed to be rented.

 

 

 

 

This is Nellie's Beach:

 

 

 

We relaxed, slept, read, and swam a little all day! So nice! We had lunch around 11:45. No line at all. I think we were the first to eat. Had a great hamburger and a wonderful new cranberry/white chocolate cookie for dessert.