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

[Dorset Cruiser]

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!

 

We had one of the family cabins a couple of years ago. Great cabin but I ended up having to have 6 months intensive physio on my knee due to all the walking from one end of the ship to the other.

[Karma5]

Nice review……..enjoyed reading it………….

[Joe12]

"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??!!"

 

 

Hi Jane,

Just heard that Mario is on the Vision at the same time as you so you will see him again

Enjoy your cruise

Joe

Edited June 26, 2014 by Joe12