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

[harryfat1]

Harry I feel like you’re setting us up for a luggage mishap here...

Oh, you looking for spoiler alert? ;p

It’s a short story line so you will find out soon enough.

Nothing bad happened. Just pointing out how they separate the luggage between what airport you will return to and the time slot – so 2 airports and 2 time slots makes 4 options on how they store your luggage and how you get it back.

[harryfat1]

Post count at 1445. Where do I go to complain and get some OBC?

 

Yeah, I will fall short on the final count.

So check your credit card statement and call the 800 number on the charges from CC and complain that the fat guy failed in his quota and demand couple months credit as you should get your money’s worth when you read these boards…

 

Just out of curiosity, I went back and looked at the Freedom report and I posted my closing statements around 1337 mark and then rest of the CC posted their comments to get to the closing count of 1550 or so.

Thus you might need to add 200 more potential post closing if we are comparing end to end?

 

Also I was checking all the pictures from day 10 and I didn’t realize my wife took that many pictures on the tour as I didn’t take as many. So it might take longer than expected to wrap up day 10 as I keep thinking I can get it done in one real time day but that is not going to happen with real life obligations elsewhere so I guess folks will need to come back again tomorrow (or a day after that?) for the closing comments.

So what is the measuring stick here on post count? Based on my closing statement or when we get off the ship? If based on my closing statement, I’m not done yet and maybe add another 200 to that at the end, depending on how many people choose to comment weeks/months later as not everyone read the trip reports in real time.

[harryfat1]

We did this same tour on December 10, after our Carnival Vista cruise. It was freezing! Of course, we didn't have any appropriate clothing. Only my husband was smart enough to drag his winter coat from home (outside Washington, DC) onto the ship. I had a sweater underneath a "gym-"type zip up, with another sweater on top. The couple traveling with us had even less -- she was wearing capris and ballet flats. I at least had socks and sneakers with jean capris. We had to sit up top, too. Otherwise, what's the point!! Traveling over the bridge was the worst -- so windy! But I'm still glad we did it. Now I'd like to spend a couple of nights in South Beach -- do they let old people stay there?

 

I'm looking forward to the rest of the story -- hope you didn't have as long a walk to your terminal as we did.

 

So I guess these guys are cornering the post cruise market in getting the RCI and Carnival business. There is a strong demand as many people have late flights since they are cheaper and they need something to do for that last day before flying home.

 

For me, the key thing is that they store your luggage and transport you to MIA from FLL and then to the airport. Unless you have the patience to sit hours at the airport like my honeymoon buddy that posted awhile back, many people will opt to do something instead of looking to sit at the airport from 10 AM to 6 PM or whenever their flight takes off.

 

Yeah, we were all surprised by the weather. I always thought of MIA as being hot and humid. I had packed my long pants away for the flight home as well as the bigger jacket. We couldn’t change our clothes in the parking lot of the terminal to the more winter like clothes by time we realized it was crazy cold.

 

Oh, yeah, the worst part of the tour is crossing the bridge out in the unprotected windy area. The tour guide warned everyone to hold onto their belongings just prior to the windy area. None of us felt too good after having to go through that ordeal twice – once going and once coming back.

[Disney Sheep]

Just wanted to say that I am back from our Independence of the Seas cruise over our kids’ university reading week. I truly appreciated the info you provided in this review as it helped manage my expectations for the IOS. We had a good time overall, but prefer to sail on the Oasis or Quantum class. And we liked Grease more than you did, but as my daughter put it, the singers are able to hit all of the notes, but the transitions within the songs aren’t on point...

[Hobcat]

Thanks Harry for this entertaining & informative report. I was searching CC for reviews on Indy which we will board shortly for the 1st time & fortunately found your report. Your photos are wonderful, including the rock pics. Those are some of our favorite places in the Southwest. High five to you & your family for making the trek to Delicate Arch. We only made it to a view area and it was a challenge.

[harryfat1]

We did this same HOHO tour at Thanksgiving. The weather was beautiful (sorry to make everyone jealous)! We got the Go Miami Card so admission to some attractions were included with the bus ride. The buses are not on any real schedule (although they are supposed to be). At the Bayside Market, our bus was pulling in & the bus we needed to get on was trying to leave. If we didn't get on there, the wait was 2 hours until the next one! I ran ahead & made them wait (but the bus driver wasn't happy about it). They need better organization & scheduling!

We spent 2 days doing the HOHO tours on all 4 routes. There was 1 stop that we went by at least 4 times (coming & going) that they NEVER stopped at, it was a designated stop but I couldn't even tell WHERE they were supposed to pull over. We skipped that one. LOL

 

Yeah, I think it’d be a more much enjoyable experience if the weather was nicer and we were properly dressed for it.

 

For those of us that did the HOHO as an excursion, we only had few hours in Miami instead of 2 days so if there were any big delays, the people would have missed their bus to take them to the airport.

 

The whole company/process is not organized. Too bad we can’t leave any comments on the RCI web site so future cruisers can see.

[harryfat1]

I will.. and Yes.. We are going to Nassau, Key West and Havana.. My Wife and I are really looking forward to it..

 

Oh, very nice.

 

I have been to Nassau and Key West but obviously very few Americans have been to Cuba. It would be very nice to see the place before it gets too commercialized with more cruise passengers. I am not as adventurous as you to want to go at the early stages but also don’t want to go 20 later when they might have 5 ships in port daily. I’m looking forward to seeing Cuba in your trip report.

[harryfat1]

Thanks for your wonderful review. Have no idea what I will do every night now that you are almost done. We are also from California where In n Out is king. Our fries are usually excellent (unless they are cold) If that happens, they go back for a fresh batch.We will be b2b on the Jewel in April and go to some of the same ports and are using some of the same tour guides. Until next time.

 

Donna

 

 

Hi, Donna,

 

Oh, thank you for the kind words.

I think you will be very busy with your cruise planning on a B2B to be missing another cheapo dad trip report. Once I am out of pictures to share, I am pretty boring so I need to go off and plan for the next vacation in order to gather more pictures of rocks or Mickey to add as next trip report’s digression.

Using my analogy of the annual holiday party, at certain point the party will need to end in order to clean up and then the planning/gathering for the next party will start later on.

Have a great cruise in April.

[harryfat1]

If history is any indication, this thread is FAR from over. Harry still has the rest of Miami and the return trip to CA left to go. I agree with the previous poster that there may also be some sort of luggage story still to come. Then there's typically 300-350 additional posts spread out over several weeks as people continue to offer their thanks to Harry and ask questions. We won't be done until sometime in Spring.

 

If you're not satisfied with this response, you can wait in line at Cruise Critic Guest Services to get your On "Board" Credit (get it?...Cruise Critic discussion "board"?...never mind)

 

Hi, Bob,

 

I think you and I both need to attend night time comedy school to brush up on our comedy material. It’d be an interesting job to be a cruise ship guest comedian where you board the ship at Port X and then gets dropped off at port Y to be picked up by another ship and then finally be done at port Z.

 

Sometimes people comment months later on my trip reports since not everyone reads these trip reports in real time so they might stumble onto the report much later and then post comments after the fact. No big deal. I’m always here to respond as anyone who cares enough to make a comment, I care enough to reply. That’s how I roll.

 

So I was looking at the pictures of Miami and I was surprised we took quite a few on the tour so it will be a tad longer to show all of that as I thought I could be done tonight but now unlikely. There are no pictures on the way home as the fam wasn’t feeling great from being in the cold from the bus on the way home so it was pretty low key flight.

[harryfat1]

Just wanted to say that I am back from our Independence of the Seas cruise over our kids’ university reading week. I truly appreciated the info you provided in this review as it helped manage my expectations for the IOS. We had a good time overall, but prefer to sail on the Oasis or Quantum class. And we liked Grease more than you did, but as my daughter put it, the singers are able to hit all of the notes, but the transitions within the songs aren’t on point...

 

Welcome back.

 

Glad the info was helpful & happy to know you folks had a good time on the cruise. Family time is important and cruises ae great for that.

 

Yeah, I like the bigger ships as I like them big and round...

 

I need to sail on the Anthem next year as that's still one class of ship we haven't been on. So you folks liked the Anthem?

[harryfat1]

Thanks Harry for this entertaining & informative report. I was searching CC for reviews on Indy which we will board shortly for the 1st time & fortunately found your report. Your photos are wonderful, including the rock pics. Those are some of our favorite places in the Southwest. High five to you & your family for making the trek to Delicate Arch. We only made it to a view area and it was a challenge.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the kind words. Glad the info was helpful.

 

The trek to the Delicate Arch was tough for people like us who are not in solid shape to hike in the heat. Glad we made it without anyone having a heat stroke.

 

Have a great cruise in couple weeks.

[harryfat1]

Interesting to note that that I received quite a few email requests over the weekend in the cheapo dad email address as I think the post from the other day triggered some people's interest.

 

It seems that many people are interested in the travel agent info. I just replied to all of the requests so check your email/spam box to make sure it made it to your inbox.

[harryfat1]

(OK, back to the story line)

 

View of one of many condos in Miami area. Think tour guide says Miami has one of the highest density of sky scrappers tall buildings in the US

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

OK, this is the worst part that was discussed previously. On a warm day, this would be great to get the sea breeze as you sail pass the ships along the water front. On a cold day, it was miserable experience sitting on an open deck bus as you can barely open your eyes.

 

Took some pictures of the cruise ships all lined up

 

 

 

We have the Celebrity ship and we see the MSC ship once again and 2 Carnival ships

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

We were on the Carnival Glory back in 2013 sailing from Boston to north east Canada so it's always nice to see a previously sailed ship. Like seeing an old friend at a different port

 

[harryfat1]

Carnival Vista with its outdoor bike track on the top

 

 

 

NCL Escape

 

 

 

 

Gee, who would take a picture with a branch right in front of it???

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

This reminds me of FLL when we were on the water taxi last year

 

 

[harryfat1]

For those people who are Star Wars fans, they have these cranes at the Oakland ports and legend has it that George Lucas got the inspiration to create his walker tanks from the movies based on these cranes. Many BART (subway for bay area) operators on weekends like to tell this story to the riders

 

 

Where is the dang sun?

 

 

Looks like a small sliver of the sun is reflecting on the water

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

Someone on the bus took this picture for us

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

According to the tour guide, this Burger King that serves alcohol (beer), which is why the name outside is the Whopper BAR

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Various hotels at Miami Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

My wife took a picture of the bus ad. I didn't realize there was a bird sitting on top of it until now

 

 

I'm not hip or fashionable but I guess this "Kith" place is the high end place to go...

 

[harryfat1]

So before I stop for the night, I want to ask a question on the Anthem/Ovation as we might go on her next year since we haven't been on that class of ship. Since there are many veteran cruisers here, someone should know this:

I can’t seem to find connecting double/double ocean view cabins on those ships as they all seem to be double/triple connecting cabins. So if I upgrade to obstructed balcony, can they open balcony partitions between cabins for that category as that is the cheapest balcony category? I know they can be opened for the balcony cabins on the Allure but don’t know about balconies on the Quantum class. Thanks.

[JamesEM]

I'm a little behind the curve here, but having been to SF on business and cruising (when cruise ships did Mexico) over a dozen times I really liked In n Out, and staying at that end of town, however the wife was more of the Taddish Grill persuasion and staying at that end of town.

[joand452]

Since it’s just the two of us, I’m not familiar with connecting cabins on Anthem/Quantum. But we did see a junior suite that held four people (mom, dad and two big teenage sons). The interesting thing was in addition to the regular bathroom, there was also a powder room (toilet and sink) in the cabin. If you look at the deck plans, look at the *232 and *632 cabins. There’s also a regular balcony cabin in that corner, as well as an interior cabin. They all have separate doors, but are set in a little hallway.

 

We obviously like that class, since we’ve just booked our third cruise on that class. It’s very different from other Royal ships, but I understand it’s very similar to the newer Celebrity ships. And we can drive to Cape Liberty!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[harryfat1]

I'm a little behind the curve here, but having been to SF on business and cruising (when cruise ships did Mexico) over a dozen times I really liked In n Out, and staying at that end of town, however the wife was more of the Taddish Grill persuasion and staying at that end of town.

 

Yeah, those two are on the slightly different end of the food spectrum. Think you can get 10 burgers for price of one dish at the Tadich Grill...