Indy B2B ~ Sept. 20th & 27th ~ My Diary

[maxs mom]

Hi Everyone!!

 

It was a long, dry, cruiseless summer! But cruise season is upon us now and we are beginning this season with an old favorite......Independence of the Seas.....Back to Back......Western and then Eastern Caribbean.

 

We've been home a couple of weeks.....got laundry done and have repacked because we leave next Friday for San Juan and our real home away from home.....the Jewel of the Seas......welcoming her back to the Caribbean.

 

I don't have much time, so I may have to abbreviate this review just a little.

 

I feel like I know everybody here......but just in case you don't know us......we are Jane and John from North Carolina ......and we have been cruising with Royal Caribbean for over thirty years.

 

We flew Southwest (love them.....but they beat up my luggage pretty bad this trip) on the 19th and we stayed at the Hampton Inn on Sterling Road. Just an OK place to stay......we got a good rate.

 

Sunday ~ September 20, 2015 ~ Fort Lauderdale

 

Caught a cab at the port around 10:30 and walked right in to the check in desk at Pier 18 (nice to be there for a change!). We were walking on to the ship around 11:00. Very easy embarkation.

 

Here we go!

 

 

We settled in at the Champagne Bar to wait for cabins to open. This week we were meeting our cruise buddies Franca and Bill (who was 90 this year!), Al and Phyllis, and Gerry and Sandy.....all from Florida. We were looking forward to visiting with them for the week. During this time, I went around and got all our dining reservations squared away.

 

At 1:00.....we went to our cabin (that we were lucky enough to get for both cruises)......a D category cabin.....8374. After all the E cabins we've had recently.....this was such a pleasure......so much more room!!! We liked it! And the really cool thing was that our luggage was sitting outside our door when we got there!!

 

 

 

Another really cool thing was that we had 8 bottles of water waiting on us from Crown and Anchor. We only brought two bottles on with us instead of a case this time, so this was great!! I hope they keep this up!

 

Before heading to lunch, we stopped by the Future Cruise office on the promenade because we knew of a cruise that we wanted to book and they weren't busy then. We booked it quickly for a $100 deposit and we got $100 of OBC for this week. If you know of a cruise that you want to book......going at this time.....right when you get on board.....is a good idea.

 

 

Next up was Windjammer, Frozen yogurt, and unpacking.

 

For the first time ever......I preordered the Coca Cola package because I thought that the Indy had the Freestyle machines. I wanted to get the Dasani water and the flavored waters that they have. I don't drink soda. Well.......the Indy does NOT have the freestyle machines.....that was Freedom that I was thinking of. Major bummer!! John ended up getting a diet coke from time to time, but they did NOT taste right. They tasted like there was a lot of vanilla in them. I finally got one that tasted normal at the Solarium Bar on the second leg of these cruises. Oh well......lesson learned.

 

Our muster station was in the dining room!! Hallelujah!! Muster was at 3:15!

 

Back to the cabin for sailaway and it was beautiful, but we were on starboard side so we couldn't wave to the web cam!

 

 

[cruisexlife]

So excited for yet another amazing review! :D

[js]

On Indy for NYE. Cant wait to read more. Thank you!

[Thetrail]

Hi Everyone!!

 

It was a long' date=' dry, cruiseless summer! But cruise season is upon us now and we are beginning this season with an old favorite......Independence of the Seas.....Back to Back......Western and then Eastern Caribbean.[/font']

 

We've been home a couple of weeks.....got laundry done and have repacked because we leave next Friday for San Juan and our real home away from home.....the Jewel of the Seas......welcoming her back to the Caribbean.

 

I don't have much time, so I may have to abbreviate this review just a little.

 

I feel like I know everybody here......but just in case you don't know us......we are Jane and John from North Carolina ......and we have been cruising with Royal Caribbean for over thirty years.

 

We flew Southwest (love them.....but they beat up my luggage pretty bad this trip) on the 19th and we stayed at the Hampton Inn on Sterling Road. Just an OK place to stay......we got a good rate.

 

Sunday ~ September 20, 2015 ~ Fort Lauderdale

 

Caught a cab at the port around 10:30 and walked right in to the check in desk at Pier 18 (nice to be there for a change!). We were walking on to the ship around 11:00. Very easy embarkation.

 

Here we go!

 

 

We settled in at the Champagne Bar to wait for cabins to open. This week we were meeting our cruise buddies Franca and Bill (who was 90 this year!), Al and Phyllis, and Gerry and Sandy.....all from Florida. We were looking forward to visiting with them for the week. During this time, I went around and got all our dining reservations squared away.

 

At 1:00.....we went to our cabin (that we were lucky enough to get for both cruises)......a D category cabin.....8374. After all the E cabins we've had recently.....this was such a pleasure......so much more room!!! We liked it! And the really cool thing was that our luggage was sitting outside our door when we got there!!

 

 

 

Another really cool thing was that we had 8 bottles of water waiting on us from Crown and Anchor. We only brought two bottles on with us instead of a case this time, so this was great!! I hope they keep this up!

 

Before heading to lunch, we stopped by the Future Cruise office on the promenade because we knew of a cruise that we wanted to book and they weren't busy then. We booked it quickly for a $100 deposit and we got $100 of OBC for this week. If you know of a cruise that you want to book......going at this time.....right when you get on board.....is a good idea.

 

 

Next up was Windjammer, Frozen yogurt, and unpacking.

 

For the first time ever......I preordered the Coca Cola package because I thought that the Indy had the Freestyle machines. I wanted to get the Dasani water and the flavored waters that they have. I don't drink soda. Well.......the Indy does NOT have the freestyle machines.....that was Freedom that I was thinking of. Major bummer!! John ended up getting a diet coke from time to time, but they did NOT taste right. They tasted like there was a lot of vanilla in them. I finally got one that tasted normal at the Solarium Bar on the second leg of these cruises. Oh well......lesson learned.

 

Our muster station was in the dining room!! Hallelujah!! Muster was at 3:15!

 

Back to the cabin for sailaway and it was beautiful, but we were on starboard side so we couldn't wave to the web cam!

 

 

Always look forward to your reviews and perspectives. You guys are able to always hold me over till my next cruise, thanks....K.O.

[maxs mom]

We just relaxed in our cabin the rest of the afternoon and got ready for the evening. We always head to the Concierge Lounge around 7 to make sure all the early seating people are gone. It gets pretty crowded early, but when we went all this cruise......there were no crowds and it was quite pleasant in there. We love meeting up with friends here for drinks before dinner.

 

About the only time we can get a picture of us together is in the elevator!!

 

 

Tonight we met up with our friends Al and Phyllis and Gerry and Sandy......so good to see them again!!

 

 

And then the number one reason we love to cruise on Indy is our dear friend, Raj Bhugwath, the Concierge! We have known and sailed with him for a long time. Raj is THE BEST!! Love him!

 

 

Tonight we all went to Chops for dinner to take advantage of the BOGO. This is tradition. Dinner was excellent but it took forever for them to start bringing us any food!! We were just enjoying the conversation so much and we finally realized that we had been sitting there for almost an hour with no appetizers yet. Unacceptable! We prodded them a little and the food started coming. It was excellent! I had the warm goat cheese salad and the petit filet. We split the cheesecake for dessert. Hopefully our other meals during the week will move a long a little faster.

 

 

 

After dinner we parted ways. We ended up in the casino for just a little bit. It was very quiet there. I think I lost about $7. It could have been worse. I wasn't hitting anything, so I just stopped. We went back to the cabin after that and on to bed. Great first day.[/size][/font]

[Joe12]

Yey!

Another one of your reviews!

It has been WAY too long since the last one.

Love the Indy too.

Hoping you are looking forward to Jewel next week!

Joe

[kleo30]

I'm looking forward to your review. We are going Western for the first time next month. You always go to great beaches, and I can't wait to see where you went for ideas.

[fish6]

Hi Jane,

 

I love your photo reviews and really appreciate all the time and effort you put into them for all of us to enjoy.

 

My DH and I are heading on the Jewel November 8th for the very first time when you are disembarking her. We missed you by one week :( I am really looking forward to Jewel, and we just made Diamond Plus so we will be sure to enjoy the Concierge lounge and Diego as I have heard so many good things about him.

 

Enjoy Jewel soon and then Serenade in December :) I will be extremely interested in your Serenade review as we sail next on her for 11 glorious days in March.

 

Thanks again!

Donna

[kandj05]

Yea...Jane is doing another review!! Love them!

[maxs mom]

Monday ~ September 21, 2015 ~ At Sea

 

Up very early this morning. Routine each morning is the same. I go to the CL to have coffee with Raj. Then we always go to the D/D +/P area of the MDR for breakfast. We even get the same thing for breakfast every day.

 

This is the breakfast offered in the CL. We stay away from most carbs, so it's just coffee for me here.

 

 

This is the wonderful coffee machine that worked perfectly all week, and the coffee was really good!! Can't say that about all CL machines!!

 

 

In the MDR.....we get to go around any lines that might be at the door to get to our special area. This area was well used for the two weeks but was not overly crowded. Very nice food and service here.

 

 

 

This is what we get for breakfast every day. For me.....eggs over easy, turkey sausage and we split a bowl of grits. We also get a half a grapefruit.

 

 

In the whole two weeks, I only saw a line to get into the MDR for breakfast one time, and this was on the second week. Not bad.

 

 

Mario (Super) always eats breakfast here around the same time we did. Saw him this morning and got a big hug. We've been on several cruises together. He'll be leaving Indy and moving over to the Navigator soon. Interesting life!

[maxs mom]

After breakfast, we went up to the Viking Crown and settled in there for some reading time before the Meet and Mingle. We chatted with several people there. Franca joined us. The M & M started at 10:30. The activities manager ( who was awesome, by the way) ran that. Not much to it, though. He had some prizes to raffle off and got to that straight away. There were some coke drink packages, internet time, shirts, wine, etc. As soon as all the nice prizes were chosen, he called Franc's number and then my number. He didn't call John's number at all. Franca and I both got a little backpack that really turned out to be a very nice prize. We used it a lot. Mainly to put water shoes in, but it came in handy!!

 

 

 

 

Nobody wanted to say anything or introduce themselves, so that was it! This was not a very active roll call.

 

At 11:30, we were invited to a special Brunch in Chops. This was mostly for Suite Guests but some other folks got invitations, too, and we were lucky to be among them. John didn't go, so I met Gerry and Sandy there and we sat together. This was a very nice affair with all the officers in attendance. They served us our food and nice drinks were also brought around to the tables.

 

 

 

 

There were crab cakes, scallops, tenderloin, lamb chops, all kinds of sushi. I even had eel! Everything was delicious.

[maxs mom]

Gerry, Sandy, and I decided to drink our dessert, so we ordered another Bloody Mary. The bar tender had already left by that time, but they went up to Olive or Twist to get some for us. These were really good!!!! Very strong and spicy. I made mine last all afternoon!!

 

 

Very nice party!! I hope we get invited next week!

 

The rest of the day was spent in complete relaxation in our cabin or on the balcony. The Bloody Mary helped with that relaxation!

 

 

Tonight is formal night so we met everyone in the CL for drinks first. We met a nice couple from Texas there and they joined us for a while.

 

 

 

 

Always have to get a big hug from Raj each night!!

 

[heatherb1958]

Hi Jane , we have never met , yet , it is bound to happen one day :)

Always love your pictorial reviews to see who we know amongst your fellow guests. We sailed with Tamer last week and we know your friends Franca & Bill, Mario and Raj know us.

Returning RCI guests are part of the biggest cruising family on earth it seems :D.

I love the Chops suite brunch thing they do on Indie , every ship is different in what they do.

Explorer had theirs in Izumi, did not care for that.

[maxs mom]

Hi Jane , we have never met , yet , it is bound to happen one day :)

Always love your pictorial reviews to see who we know amongst your fellow guests. We sailed with Tamer last week and we know your friends Franca & Bill, Mario and Raj know us.

Returning RCI guests are part of the biggest cruising family on earth it seems :D.

I love the Chops suite brunch thing they do on Indie , every ship is different in what they do.

Explorer had theirs in Izumi, did not care for that.

 

You are so right!! Our cruising family is the best!!! We have some wonderful, wonderful friends as a result of our cruising. Lifelong friends! The best!!! Hope to get to cruise with you one of these days!

[britty1]

Jane, a great start to your Indy review, look forward to reading it. Wow you don't have long to go before your on your way again. Looking forward to reading about your beach stops for western and eastern which will be followed by the southern beaches when you board the jewel.

[maxs mom]

This was our first night in the dining room.....MTD......we got in right away ......no waiting. Our waiter was Marlon and assistant...Torrington, who I believe we've had before on the Explorer. Great team!! We would have them for the whole two weeks.

 

I just got a salad tonight and the salmon off the alternative menu. No dessert. Lots of cruises coming up and I need to eat smart.

 

 

Loved spending the week with these folks!!

 

 

After a quick picture on the bridge.....the casino called. No luck there except on the Spin to Win machine where I won a t-shirt.

 

 

Back to the cabin after that. Good Night!

 

Edited October 18, 2015 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Tuesday ~ September 22, 2015 ~ Labadee

 

Absolute favorite beach stop!! We were invited to share a cabana on Barefoot today. Hanging out with Pinnacle folks is a good idea!! We had to hurry to get out to the beach today because there was going to be a medevac early. A helicopter would be landing on the pier and everything would be shut down for about an hour. We got out just ahead of the closure. We didn't see the helicopter land and take off, but we heard it.

 

Here we go!

 

 

We got over to Barefoot and had Cabana S3.....in the shade. We settled in for the day and really relaxed.

 

 

Some of us got Labadoozies!

 

 

 

Raj came to check on us!

 

 

The water was absolutely perfect!

 

 

 

 

We got our lunch around noon or so. The food was the best I've ever had there. The desserts were also nice.

[ckrobyn]

Hi Jane - Thanks for posting this review! My b2b on Indy is in a few weeks and I am loving the pictures :)

I will definitely be spending time in the CL and I look forward to meeting Raj :D

[maxs mom]

Did I say the water was perfect?!

 

 

This was the only port where Bill got off the ship. We were glad he joined us today. He did real well. For some reason or other when we first got out there he called John ..."Bob". We all looked at each other and said, "Who's Bob?" From then on we called John, "Bob"!

 

 

Here are Franca and Bill enjoying the day!!

 

 

Super relaxation!! We are pros at that!!

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2015 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Hi Jane - Thanks for posting this review! My b2b on Indy is in a few weeks and I am loving the pictures :)

I will definitely be spending time in the CL and I look forward to meeting Raj :D

 

You will love it!!! Be sure and tell Raj that you know me!!

[ckrobyn]

You will love it!!! Be sure and tell Raj that you know me!!

 

Of course I will!

I see you are headed to San Juan next - have a fabulous cruise :p we will be there in February on the Adventure! One of these days our paths have to cross don't you think?

Have a great cruise!

[maxs mom]

It was just a beautiful day. Not crowded at all. It was just great!

 

 

 

 

Here is Raj on patrol!!

 

 

 

[maxs mom]

Of course I will!

I see you are headed to San Juan next - have a fabulous cruise :p we will be there in February on the Adventure! One of these days our paths have to cross don't you think?

Have a great cruise!

 

Oh most definitely!! We must cruise together!! As much as we love cruising from San Juan.....it's inevitable!!

[maxs mom]

We stayed out the longest of our group and headed back to the ship around 2:15.

 

 

 

 

Nice rest time this afternoon!

 

We were the only ones in our group to go to dinner tonight. The menu tonight was the one that is usually served on the last night.....you know....turkey and seafood mash.....not my favorite menu.....but for some reason.....tonight....it was pretty good. I kind of liked the change up!

 

A little casino losing time before bed tonight. A quick bridge picture and off to bed! Another good day.

 

Edited October 18, 2015 by max'smom

[maxs mom]

Wednesday ~ September 23, 2015 ~ Falmouth, Jamaica

 

We enjoyed having breakfast with Franca and Bill every morning. We weren't getting in to Falmouth until around 10:30 today so, we could linger and not hurry!

 

 

Nice sail in. The Disney Fantasy was already there.