(Slightly less so) Cheapo dad's trip report on Independence of the Seas

[harryfat1]

Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family Harry.

 

Will you be posting some of your New Years food spread? Hope so!

 

 

Happy New Year to you as well.

 

Sorry, no restaurant pictures this year as I had to work today and they had the brunch/lunch today so our family didn’t make it to the meal. Tomorrow’s dinner is at our house but that’s home cooking so nothing worth showing online.

 

Last year pictures on the Freedom report were special because it was a rare weekend event and we were able to go. Typically we don’t make it to those as we have to work and my kids have to go to school as we don’t live within the city limits of SF and we don’t have the same day off schedule like they do.

[harryfat1]

(OK, back to the story line)

 

After the lunch, time to go back to the cabin and shower. Tried to rinse out the grain of sand. Didn't work. Now the corner is turning red as I was worried that I might be getting an eye infection and need to go to medical center to get some help. Maybe tomorrow.

 

For now, we have to attend the "Broadway musical", Grease. The ship touted every chance possible during the whole cruise with the CD also referring to the "great singers from the Grease show". The show itself is 90 minutes long, twice as long as their typical 45 minute show.

In order to squeeze this in, they have the show at 5:30 pre-dinner. So we had to shower pretty quickly before getting into the theater. It was pretty crowded. Probably the most attended show the entire cruise, minus the one we missed which I assume isn’t that well attended given the time slot with people still walking around in San Juan.

 

As always, we had to walk past the casino to get to the theater from deck 2 up to 4 and then across the ship.

 

The reason I took a picture of this slot machine is that I was amazed they still have this "old school" type machine around. I thought all casinos have upgraded to the all digital display machines. Guess not.

 

 

10 Minutes before show time

 

 

5 minutes before show time - not going to be able to find a whole block of seats for family if you come in this late

 

 

 

Downstairs is pretty much full 2 minutes before showtime. If you are the last minute type, go upstairs for the side seats

 

[harryfat1]

OK, let’s just start with the usual disclaimer. Entertainment/musical selection is subjective. What songs I have picked so far in this review may not be your cup of tea (I know it’s shocking but maybe not everyone likes the Baby Got Back song). No problem. I get that. We like what we like.

 

Having said all that and reading how many people loved Grease on CC reviews, for me (and the rest of the family), the show was meh at best. Maybe I was looking for the actual Olivia Newton John as I saw the movie from eons ago. Maybe I was tired from being on 5 ports in a row. Maybe my left eye was bothering me enough that I couldn’t open it for 90 minutes straight. Maybe….

 

Find whatever reason you like. I just can’t agree with the people on CC that says the Grease was great. Maybe I am just not into Broadway musicals and more into the visual performances like the water show or comedy show with my warped sense of humor. Personal preference thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

So as mentioned previously, the all aboard is an earlier one at 4:30 and sail away was at 5 PM. The Grease show started at 5:30 and ended at 7 PM. So when the front of the ship started shaking violently just right before the show ended, we all knew something wasn’t right.

 

It wasn’t as if we hit anything. It was a lot of shuttering/vibrating at the front of the ship just before 7 PM and then you noticed the ship was NOT moving at all. Then at the end of the show, you typically have the CD come out to give the spiel on what’s happening the rest of the night. That never happened. The show just ended like that with no post show announcement.

 

Something is not right. Seems like everyone in the theater has the same conclusion as hundreds of people pile out to deck 4 to look outside and only to see that we are back in St. Kitts after sailing off almost 2 hours ago? Ehhh?

 

We at first went to the wrong side of the ship and didn’t see anything other than the water and pier. Then we saw a whole lot more people over on the other side so we hurried over to the other side to see what is happening.

 

Nope, not this side

 

 

This is the side with all the people

 

[harryfat1]

After talking to enough people by the railing, the general story was that the ship came back for some stranded passengers that missed the early 4:30 all aboard time and was stranded at the dockside. But supposedly they had some special mediation that was on board the ship that is not available at the local hospital so the ship came back to get them.

 

I can’t vouch for authenticity of the story. Just passing along what we heard. We did hear a loud cheer and a lot of people applauding as we were walking up over to the other side of the ship as I guess the stranded passengers made it back to the ship. So I guess the applause was for them rejoining us. But I couldn’t get to the railing on time as the place as packed. Wasn’t easy to even get a spot. You had to go pretty far back to be able to stick your neck out to see.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the ship sailed 1 hour earlier than the official posted time from the itinerary but the captain and daily compass changed that to be one hour less. I wonder if that one hour change screwed up these people?

 

OK, now that they are back, why aren’t we moving and why is the ambulance backing up to the gangway below? Something else is going on and nobody is leaving the area as everyone wanted to see what else is happening.

 

I mentioned this at the beginning of the trip report and I will say it again, it’s a bit nerve wrecking to take these pictures with cell phone as you are elbow to elbow with people that are moving in and out every minute. In theory, they could give you a hard bump and knock the cell phone out of your hand and drop it 40 feet below and there goes your fancy new phone as well as all the vacation pictures you have stored up to this point on day 7.

 

Not as if the cell phone as a neck strap like a regular camera that we didn’t bring to the show. So yeah, my palms were sweating taking these pictures over the railing using my death grip.

 

 

Ambulance backing up

 

[harryfat1]

It’s like peeling an onion as we slowly get the clue on what was happening. First an empty gurney was taken off the ambulance and brought onto the ship so you know they were there to pick up somebody. Then there was a rumor that someone had actually died and they were there to get a dead body. Errr, that’s not good.

 

Then we started to see some suitcases being taken out and finally a person (alive) is strapped to the stretcher and being carted off the ship into the ambulance along with his female companion as they made their way to the ambulance. Hopefully whoever that person is was ok after he got off the ship and made it home safely.

 

Another ship docked across the way from us

 

 

They are curious to see what is happening also

 

 

Trying to squeeze in here will be impossible

 

 

You have to come further out to find a spot

 

 

The guy made it into the ambulance

 

[harryfat1]

OK, now that the excitement is over, time to get ready for dinner. Interesting that this took place at the time we were at the show as typically the pre-dinner show is 7 to 8 but since this was their big production show, it was 5:30 to 7 so we had an extra hour free time to see this event unfold.

 

Later on the captain went on the PA to say we would be on our way shortly. As we were scheduled to be back in FLL in 2 days, he said he will need to go faster in order to make up for lost time. He would update the ship at his 12 noon daily update then on if we can still make the 7 AM FLL arrival time as now there is slight doubt since we had to double back.

 

Since we didn’t have any early flights leaving on day 10, I wasn’t concerned but if I had an early flight like some really aggressive people with the 9 AM flights, I might start to feel the blood pressure increase just a tad bit…

[harryfat1]

I don't believe I ever took a picture of our table before anyone sat in it

 

 

Tonight menu theme is Basil

 

 

 

 

 

We have the warm bread nightly but I never remember taking a picture of it until day 7. Some nights some of us had two when the main course was slow in coming out and Simona (asst. waiter) comes by to give everybody something to munch on while we waited.

 

 

[harryfat1]

Crab Cake

 

 

Cold Soup (more like a juice than soup)

 

 

Hot soup (no chandelier) - Fish and Tomato Chowder (spiced rock fish- pretty good)

 

 

My older son got this Greek Moussaka

 

 

I got the beef duo

 

[harryfat1]

Dessert

 

 

[harryfat1]

One last event for the night. I have read many trip reports on the Quest game but since the official version is adults only, we never attended those. This time, they have a family version of Quest so we decided to check it out.

 

They divide Studio B into 5 different groups/sections depending on where you sit and different groups compete against each other with activities. Each group has 2 captains to lead the group and they get to go on the floor.

 

The competition is how fast you can produce or do what is asked of everybody. The first team that provides it or can do it gets 5 points, next team gets 4 and so on. For example, we actually contributed to getting some points when they asked for a business card. My wife happens to have her business card in her travel purse so we whipped out that sucker and passed it down to the captain to turn it in.

 

They also have periodic dancing where everyone gets up and dance and the section that has most number of people dancing wildly/differently gets 10 bonus points. So we all had to stand up and dance wildly in order to and get 10 points.

 

Now here is a public service announcement – if you want to be a stick in the mud and not participate at the game. That’s fine. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want on a cruise. But don’t sit in a section where everyone else is dancing. It’s a bad look when ¼ of the section doesn’t to stand up and dance when you are competing against other sections that have over 90% of the people dancing wildly. It’s not fair to people in your section that is trying to get the points.

 

If you don’t want to participate. Fine. Just get your buns out of the section and go stand in the back and watch from there. Just don’t sit in your section and drag down the average participating rate.

 

Overall, it was a lot of fun. Our section didn’t win as we had too many stick in the mud types that just sat there. There are not the old folks with hip surgery that can’t dance. These were under 30 crowd that were too lazy to get up and participate and rather look down at their phones instead.

 

Walking to Studio B

 

 

I see Brandon and family

 

 

We have our 2 captains and one RCI worker/coordinator

 

 

The section that dances the best/wildest gets 10 points. Others get zip

 

[harryfat1]

 

People had to get down there to participate to get points

 

 

 

 

So if you have kids and can't typically do the Quest show, go to the family version. It's a lot of fun if you participate

[harryfat1]

OK, as that was the last picture of the day, this concludes the day 7 trip report.

 

Oh, one final thought on advantage of being on a longer cruise. Whereas on your average 7 night cruise, we would be packing up our suitcases tonight to get ready to get off the ship next morning. However, since we have a 9 day cruise, we have 2 extra days on the cruise. Woo Hoo.

 

I like 9 day cruises a lot more than 7 day cruise.

 

For those of you that feels this trip report is way too long, well, have no fear. It will go on even longer for another 2 sea days. ;p

[JamesEM]

Happy year of the Dog.

[cruisemeister8]

Happy New Year to you and your family, Harry!

 

Oh, no! We've seen your final port embarkation. It was actually a little sad when your Windjammer pictures came up. Since this re-telling of the trip is so authentic, arriving at the WJ for the final post-port lunch produces the same sigh of disappointment that is felt when one is really onboard. Thank Goodness we've got 2 more sea days!!! So not ready for the fat lady to come to the stage yet!

 

All the St. Kitts pics make it look like a great port to stop. I liked your beach pics because in Post 1150 you can start to see a ship in the distance everytime the picture is to the right. As the beach series continues, you can see the ship coming closer and eventually turn in. There must have been another dock in that direction since your dock was full with Indy and Celebrity. It kind of made me wonder about your evening return. Since you ended up next to another lesser-known ship, did you go back to the same dock? Since it was a couple hours later, Celebrity could have sailed and the new ship came in. (And if the pick-up-a-straggler rumor is true, it had to be the same dock.) But since that U.S.S. (Unidentified Smaller Ship) was seen going to another dock, it made me wonder something in general principle. In emergencies, can ships high-tail it to the closest dock and not necessarily the regular port stops?

 

EDIT: Just double checked your ambulance pics. You can see the arch building, so yeah, same dock.

Edited February 17, 2018 by cruisemeister8

[LuCruise]

OK, as that was the last picture of the day, this concludes the day 7 trip report.

 

Oh, one final thought on advantage of being on a longer cruise. Whereas on your average 7 night cruise, we would be packing up our suitcases tonight to get ready to get off the ship next morning. However, since we have a 9 day cruise, we have 2 extra days on the cruise. Woo Hoo.

 

I like 9 day cruises a lot more than 7 day cruise.

 

For those of you that feels this trip report is way too long, well, have no fear. It will go on even longer for another 2 sea days. ;p

 

You're too funny....always make me laugh. :D

[DebbieMo]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you’re only allowed to stay in the port area? Cannot go into the island?

 

Anyone know why?

 

ETA: Looks like it’s a large enough area that you do get to see. Thanks for sharing!

Edited February 17, 2018 by DebbieMo

[seaair100]

Just a suggestion,Harry.I am sure you have seen iphone ring or many variations of it, just google it.I use it one on my phone ,to be more assured I do not drop my phone ,espec.while taking pics.And I am a daytime laynard wearer,So I can also clip phone to that, via ring.

[Canadian1]

Hi Harry! I just got caught up after coming back. I saw the pics of the menu and reminded me that you had mentioned before that they were going to change the menu.... well apparently ours was the first. I feel bad because I have no photos of it (don't usually carry a camera or my phone around the ship now a days). I would say that there are no longer themes or explanations just a menu. It is landscape now instead of portrait and doesn't have a section for the classics. The classics are just written in the menu and you notice from night to night which ones stay on the menu regularly. There is also the paying options on the bottom of the menu. I would hazard to guess there may be less selections but still enough. Oh and the dessert menu is one the main menu too. Sorry I don't have pics....

 

Happy Chinese New Year! Woof woof 🐶

[harryfat1]

Happy year of the Dog.

 

Thanks, Jim, Happy New Year to you as well.

[harryfat1]

Happy New Year to you and your family, Harry!

 

Oh, no! We've seen your final port embarkation. It was actually a little sad when your Windjammer pictures came up. Since this re-telling of the trip is so authentic, arriving at the WJ for the final post-port lunch produces the same sigh of disappointment that is felt when one is really onboard. Thank Goodness we've got 2 more sea days!!! So not ready for the fat lady to come to the stage yet!

 

All the St. Kitts pics make it look like a great port to stop. I liked your beach pics because in Post 1150 you can start to see a ship in the distance everytime the picture is to the right. As the beach series continues, you can see the ship coming closer and eventually turn in. There must have been another dock in that direction since your dock was full with Indy and Celebrity. It kind of made me wonder about your evening return. Since you ended up next to another lesser-known ship, did you go back to the same dock? Since it was a couple hours later, Celebrity could have sailed and the new ship came in. (And if the pick-up-a-straggler rumor is true, it had to be the same dock.) But since that U.S.S. (Unidentified Smaller Ship) was seen going to another dock, it made me wonder something in general principle. In emergencies, can ships high-tail it to the closest dock and not necessarily the regular port stops?

 

EDIT: Just double checked your ambulance pics. You can see the arch building, so yeah, same dock.

 

I believe the smaller ship is the GNV ship that houses the medical students from post 1060? Weatherman says they come back at night after we depart as there are not enough slots in the cruise terminal to fit everyone.

 

Check out their video:

 

http://www.gnv.it/en/gnv/the-gnv-fleet-grandi-navi-veloci-s-ferries/excellent.html

 

Yeah, 2 more sea days and then 1 tour of Miami before this is all done but day 8 will go by real fast as we did nothing worthwhile. So the fat lady has just arrived and inside the building and getting into the dressing room but not ready to come on the stage yet.

 

For those who are not familiar with the American sports lingo, it's from the phrase it ain't over until the fat lady sings. Wiki can explain it better than I can:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_ain%27t_over_till_the_fat_lady_sings

[harryfat1]

You're too funny....always make me laugh. :D

 

Thanks for continuing to follow along. As my best friend will say, this is vintage Harry...

[harryfat1]

So you’re only allowed to stay in the port area? Cannot go into the island?

 

Anyone know why?

 

ETA: Looks like it’s a large enough area that you do get to see. Thanks for sharing!

 

Hi, Debbie,

 

I think you are asking about 2 different topics here.

 

The first is just my warped sense of humor in mentioning the conflicting message at the top that says they welcome you but at the bottom says "no entry". They just meant you can't use that gate to go in. You have to use the side gate.

 

As for visiting the rest of Haiti, no, you are restricted from seeing what is presented to you at Labadee. I have read that in some special cases, people have obtained clearance to visit relatives outside the area but for most of the passengers, they are restricted to the area.

 

Other people can chime in why, but I assume the deal made between RCI and Haiti is for the lease of the land and uses of the area only and not allowed inland. There is enough to do for the 6 to 8 hours you are there.

[harryfat1]

Just a suggestion,Harry.I am sure you have seen iphone ring or many variations of it, just google it.I use it one on my phone ,to be more assured I do not drop my phone ,espec.while taking pics.And I am a daytime laynard wearer,So I can also clip phone to that, via ring.

 

Great idea. I might get it for my next cruise. I don't need it on a day to day basis but on a cruise or maybe in vacation in general when you are high above the ground, a ring is a much better option.

 

The note 8 is a pretty hefty phone. I wouldn't want to wear it on my neck walking around the ship but if I need to take pictures over the railings, it's a good thing to attach it to lanyard.

 

Found this on Amazon:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Spigen-Holder-Kickstand-iPhone-Galaxy/dp/B0193VF09W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518885524&sr=8-1&keywords=spigen+ring

[berjdrberjdr]

Hi Harry, happy Chinese New Year. Was just able to catch up on your day 7 pictures now, as it has been madness here with the recent school shooting, which happened just down the road from our house at the high school here. Just a crazy situation here. But fortunately, everyone we know, including my brother, is okay.

 

Regarding St. Kitts, it's interesting because we also went with Grey but somehow we ended up on a different type of tour. Originally we requested to do the tour you did, only with the rainforest hike and Black Rocks on the Atlantic side as well. When we got there, however, we discovered it was a private tour with just us, which was pretty nice! Our driver was great as well. Brimstone Fort was our favorite stop of the cruise. Looking forward to the sea days ahead!