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

[ktbr11crs]

Jane - It was great to meet you and John on these cruises, and we are really enjoying reliving it! It's great to see the pictures of you and other people we met in the Concierge Lounge!! We'll email you some of the pictures we took.

 

We really loved the MDR breakfast area for D+ & Pinnacle; I think we went there every morning. We agree that they did a great job sanitizing the ship and keeping us informed.

 

Hopefully we'll run into you on a future cruise!

[maxs mom]

More pictures from Labadee. We were the only ship here today and it was the same next week. We've been there with two ships and it is terrible! Especially when you are the second ship to arrive! But today was absolutely perfect!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Jane - It was great to meet you and John on these cruises, and we are really enjoying reliving it! It's great to see the pictures of you and other people we met in the Concierge Lounge!! We'll email you some of the pictures we took.

 

We really loved the MDR breakfast area for D+ & Pinnacle; I think we went there every morning. We agree that they did a great job sanitizing the ship and keeping us informed.

 

Hopefully we'll run into you on a future cruise!

 

Kathleen! Great to hear from you!! Hopefully we WILL see you on another cruise soon! I know where we can find you in the evenings!!!

[maxs mom]

We continued to enjoy ourselves after lunch relaxing and reading. We even took a nap! When we were ready to go back to the ship, we caught a golf cart ride all the way back to security.

 

 

Great day on Labadee. Can't wait to get back there next week!

 

 

We had a great sail away from Labadee off into the sunset. Just a beautiful end to a great day. Here we go back to Fort Lauderdale.

 

 

 

[Susie51]

Thanks for all of your pics and review. I'm looking forward to more.

[SherriZ366]

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' date=' 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![/size']

Will give the kids the link to look at your cabins pictures.

[SherriZ366]

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' date=' 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.

 

Loved the Super Mario picture!!!

[cruisingbajan]

Really enjoying your review and pics so far.

 

My wife and I are just about to book the Independence for our Anniversary in April. Your room intrigues me....how was the motion up there?

 

Thanks

[CRUISEMAMI]

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

 

Carol, as Jane said, we are getting better!!! Trying very hard!!!We have few cruises booked, and keeping our fingers and toes crossed!!! :)

Sorry to have miss meeting you: I wanted to thank you personally: years ago you came to my aide, when some lady and others, where giving me hard time because of my English, and my punctuation!!!! So, until I'll do it in person (hopefully) THANK YOU!!!!!

And I did cry, when I got the email from Jane telling me that they were on the Indy, waiting for us!!! :(

Franca

 

 

Sent with my iPhone

[Merion_Mom]

We grabbed a taxi out to Royal Palms on Seven Mile Beach. We've been here before' date=' 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.[/quote']

 

I so agree with you on that!

 

 

There is a small pool here' date=' too.

 

 

...which was CLOSED the day that we were there! Yet another annoyance to our visit there.

 

:)

Edited May 24, 2014 by Merion_Mom

[Merion_Mom]

Carol, as Jane said, we are getting better!!! Trying very hard!!!We have few cruises booked, and keeping our fingers and toes crossed!!! :)

Sorry to have miss meeting you: I wanted to thank you personally: years ago you came to my aide, when some lady and others, where giving me hard time because of my English, and my punctuation!!!! So, until I'll do it in person (hopefully) THANK YOU!!!!!

And I did cry, when I got the email from Jane telling me that they were on the Indy, waiting for us!!! :(

Franca

 

 

Sent with my iPhone

 

Hang in there, Bill!

 

And you are VERY welcome, Franca.

 

We missed you especially at the slot pull! Cursed machine! (but it was worse the next cruise. :D)

[maxs mom]

Really enjoying your review and pics so far.

 

My wife and I are just about to book the Independence for our Anniversary in April. Your room intrigues me....how was the motion up there?

 

Thanks

 

We felt no motion at all, but then the seas were very calm. It all depends on the seas. I would book this cabin again....no hesitation. It was so expensive for so long and they slashed the prices a couple of weeks out. That's when we grabbed it.

[CRUISEMAMI]

Jane, we met George, years ago, when we were cruising on BR, many times x year!!!

I was looking on seeing him again!!! At that time, he was traveling with a companion!!! They both looked very nice with their kilts on, on formal nights!!!

 

 

Sent with my iPhone

[maxs mom]

Hang in there, Bill!

 

And you are VERY welcome, Franca.

 

We missed you especially at the slot pull! Cursed machine! (but it was worse the next cruise. :D)

 

Carol.....How was the TA? Lots of fun? Wish we could have gone!

[cruisingbajan]

We felt no motion at all' date=' but then the seas were very calm. It all depends on the seas. I would book this cabin again....no hesitation. It was so expensive for so long and they slashed the prices a couple of weeks out. That's when we grabbed it.[/size']

 

I hope its not too expensive for our cruise next April. We like to book early and being working stiffs:D we cannot wait until last minute.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your review. :)

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[maxs mom]

This night after leaving Labadee was formal night again. We went to the CL for drinks. We sat with George and Randy again and also a family from Rhode Island. We enjoyed swapping cruise stories.

 

 

Dinner was very good again. I had the mushroom pastry.....always good.....and a crab salad entrée. That was a bit too salty for me, though. Grand Marnier soufflé was for desert.

 

 

 

We took a stroll along the Promenade after dinner......avoiding the casino!!

 

 

Then it was on to bed. The 70's party was tonight.....always fun, but we would have had to wait over an hour for that....so we turned in instead.

Edited May 24, 2014 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Friday ~ April 25th ~ At Sea

 

Same morning routine. This is a picture of the continental breakfast in the Concierge Lounge. Always looks good, but we just can't eat all those carbohydrates!

 

 

When we go to breakfast in the MDR the waiters always try to give us a menu, but we always tell them we don't need one. We order the same thing every morning. They just couldn't understand why we didn't want a menu!

 

Looked a little cloudy this morning:

 

 

When we came back from breakfast, it was raining. With those forward facing portholes.....it looked like we were going through a carwash!!

 

 

We had a meeting at 10:30 this morning for B2B cruisers. It was held in Olive or Twist. We got all of our information and a couple of mimosas. I was able to make our reservations for the specialty restaurants for the next cruise. I appreciated being able to do that. They were very accommodating.

 

 

 

After that we moved over into the Diamond Lounge for a little while. Nice quiet place with a view for sea days. We went here a lot to read, check e-mail, drink coffee, and they always had plates of cookies in here.

[maxs mom]

Lunch in the WJ was not crowded today. Nice! We finally made it to the frozen yogurt machine and it was open. Everybody else had the same idea.

 

 

Before going back to the cabin, we made our way up to the helipad. Very nice out there today. We thoroughly enjoyed having this as the view from or cabin this week. We saw many people playing "King of the World" out there almost every day. Thought we would give it a try ourselves!

 

 

 

 

We had a nice long restful afternoon. We got packed up as much as we could. (We were going to have to move to another cabin for the next cruise). I went out for coffee and brought it back to the cabin to have with one of the many cupcakes that they kept delivering to our cabin.

 

Drinks in the CL tonight. We visited with George and another couple from Connecticut.

 

 

We said goodbye to some folks. Even though we will see them again next week!

 

[maxs mom]

Dinner tonight was OK. The last night's menu is not my favorite. But or service was fabulous and we were in and out in less than 40 minutes!!

 

 

After the nightly stroll along the Promenade....it was back to the cabin. it's always fun to see the suitcases out in he hallway.....when they're not yours!!!

 

 

 

 

 

[jebl]

Jane,

 

Love your reviews and photos. How do you look for last minute prices? On the RCI website, an online TA or other? hope you don't mind sharing without breaking the CC rules.

 

Thanks and looking forward to the rest of your 3 week adventure.

[Merion_Mom]

It's always fun to see the suitcases out in the hallway.....when they're not yours!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's evil, but oh-so-true! ;) :D

Edited May 24, 2014 by Merion_Mom

[maxs mom]

Jane,

 

Love your reviews and photos. How do you look for last minute prices? On the RCI website, an online TA or other? hope you don't mind sharing without breaking the CC rules.

 

Thanks and looking forward to the rest of your 3 week adventure.

 

Judy...I DO watch the prices on an online TA site. Can't mention it here. When we see a decent rate, I go to the RCI website and do a dummy booking to find a cabin. Then I call the D+ desk and go from there.

[maxs mom]

It's evil, but oh-so-true! ;) :D

 

LOL!!! Evil for sure!!! I just love it!

[maxs mom]

Saturday ~ April 26th ~ Fort Lauderdale ~ Turn Around Day

 

Up quite early today. Lots to do when you have to change cabins. And we are moving from all the way forward on deck 9....to all the way aft on deck 8.

 

Nice view out our portholes this morning. Notice the flags. They weren't there last week. We were changing Captains today from Captain Teo to Captain Loy. That's why I thought they were out. Gonna miss these forward facing portholes and all the space in this cabin!

 

 

Had to eat in the mainstream MDR this morning. Shared a large table. Service was very slow. No way can we do this next week when we have to get off very early. Our tablemates were amazed that we were staying on one more week then moving to another ship after that!

 

I checked on our new cabin after breakfast and it was almost ready. I contacted the new cabin steward a couple of days ago and he said he would get that cabin ready first and he did!

 

We got back to our cabin and finished up all our packing. We had a lot of loose stuff! Fortunately we didn't have to move the clothes in the closet. The cabin steward does that. We rolled our suitcases down to our new cabin.....a D2, deck 8, aft. It was a looooong walk!!! We got to the new cabin before 9 o'clock.

 

 

Even though we loved our old cabin, I surely did miss my balcony!! Glad to have one for the next two weeks!

 

 

We had time to unpack before we had to meet for turnaround a 9:45. We met in the Pyramid Lounge. There weren't but about 25 people doing B2B this week. We didn't have to wait too long for the ship to be cleared and we were able to walk off and back on at 10:10. Just a quick pass by an immigration officer and back on we go.

 

 

During this process, we met two couples...one from California and one from Texas. They were cruise buddies who met on a ship and like to cruise with each other whenever they can. We ended up hanging out with them some on this next leg. Here we are at the "secret entrance" to the D+/P breakfast area. They didn't know about it, so we were enlightening them about it!!

 

 

Soon it was time for lunch. We had a special lunch at noon in the MDR for all B2Ber's. There was a special menu and it was very good. I had the salmon. They served warm chocolate cake for dessert. We ate with our new friends....Brad and Mary Lynn from Texas and Rick and Claudette from California. Brad and Mary Lynn just turned D+ on this leg and that's why we were showing them the entrance to our breakfast area. It amazes me how many D+ folks don't even know about this perk. They have been doing this for us for years and many don't even know about it.

 

Edited May 25, 2014 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

After lunch we headed back to our cabin for a little rest time. Our cruise buddies (who we met on the Independence a year ago) Al and Phyllis, were boarding today and I was excited to see them again. Since that cruise last year we have cruised with them several times! Their cruise habits are the same as ours and we have a good time! I like the fact that we can call them up and say..."Hey....let's go on a cruise!" and we'll all book one in the blink of an eye!! That's what happened with this one.

 

So after a while I wandered up to the Solarium, because that's where I knew Al and Phyllis would be. Sure enough......they were right there on some loungers.....fast asleep! I got a great picture of that, but they wouldn't let me post it!! I sat there for a while before Phyllis finally woke up and said, "Hey.....I know you!" We had a nice visit. We last cruised together on the Indy in December.

 

I did a lot of reading the rest of the afternoon.

 

Muster was at 4:45 and we had an outside station this time. It took a lot longer this week.

 

 

Sail away was promptly at 5:30. Our balcony was on the port side so I was watching the webcam on my phone trying to see if I could see us, but didn't have any luck. It was a beautiful sail away.

 

 

 

 

 

Thought I would go ahead and get our beach towels and get ready for some awesome beaches this week!