Independence of the Seas - several questions from essentially a first time family

[The Fun Researcher]

Indy is a great ship.  Very easy to navigate with the awesome Royal Promenade inside. Also, it's fun to go to the helipad at night (exit side of deck 4 and take the walking track all the way to the front and up the steps) Sometimes it's closed.  

 

I would also recommend leaving earlier, just in case.  Maybe 7 am.  You miss the ship and your entire vacation is ruined.  If you get there early, just get in line early.

 

Since you are eating lunch so late anyway it may be best just to grab a little pizza and finger sandwiches at Sorrento's and Cafe Promenade respectively.  Dinner will come quickly and you don't want be stuffed for that nice meal.  The bonus is that your room should be ready right away so not much lugging around of luggage.

 

When on board, ask how they are doing the ice shows, if you need to reserve or not.  That's the only show I can think of that might need a reservation, otherwise it's first come first serve for shows in the Main Theater.

 

The drivers license and birth certificate will be fine.  She's not married with a change to the last name right? (if so she would also need marriage certificate)

 

Pro tip:  Each of you should bring your evening dinner wear, and perhaps a bathing suit with you in a carry-on or backpack.  Sometimes the luggage that you drop off with the porters doesn't arrive to your room until after dinner.

Dan

 

 

[The Fun Researcher]

BTW. the Independence is anything but small.  It is HUGE!  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

It's just not colossal like Oasis class, but no other ships are.

Dan

[Cmessier]

Well....we did make it in plenty of time. They let us board at approximately 12:30. We whisked right through. 

 

I cant say enough good things about the ship, the staff and Royal Caribbean in general. 

 

We booked our next one on the third night. 9 night Canadian on her sister ship set for next year 😁

[jean87510]

Following along here as I will be on this class of ships for the 1st time this August.  I had to laugh at the comments about the passenger finding a hotel while driving.  We have had to do that a couple of times with hotels and airbnbs not being quite what was advertised!  It's reason 5078 why I keep my phone on during vacation.  

We are doing an opposite with Savannah.  We are disembarking a 3 day Indy cruise then driving to Savannah for conference for my husband's job.  Thought about flying but decided to do the road trip.  Then we have to drive from Savannah to Jacksonville for a 4 day Carnival Elation cruise.  We luckily can putter along both routes and find some fun things to see and do.

[Tree_skier]

31 minutes ago, Cmessier said:

Well....we did make it in plenty of time. They let us board at approximately 12:30. We whisked right through. 

 

I cant say enough good things about the ship, the staff and Royal Caribbean in general. 

 

We booked our next one on the third night. 9 night Canadian on her sister ship set for next year 😁

We're on the same itinerary... Which sailing are you on?

[Cmessier]

1 minute ago, Tree_skier said:

We're on the same itinerary... Which sailing are you on?

We were on the April 7th sailing. Disembarked on Monday. 

[Tree_skier]

31 minutes ago, Cmessier said:

We were on the April 7th sailing. Disembarked on Monday. 

Oops sorry I meant which sailing for the fall 9 night Canadian... That's the itinerary we are on also. 🙂 

[Cmessier]

33 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Oops sorry I meant which sailing for the fall 9 night Canadian... That's the itinerary we are on also. 🙂 

Oh. Hah. Sorry. 

 

October 10th 2024. 

[Tree_skier]

Just now, Cmessier said:

Oh. Hah. Sorry. 

 

October 10th 2024. 

 

We'll miss you by one sailing.  We are on the Sept 26th sailing.  I'll make sure not to break her before you get on. 😉 

[simon.hed]

2 hours ago, Cmessier said:

Well....we did make it in plenty of time. They let us board at approximately 12:30. We whisked right through. 

 

I cant say enough good things about the ship, the staff and Royal Caribbean in general. 

 

We booked our next one on the third night. 9 night Canadian on her sister ship set for next year 😁

Awesome, great that you had a good time.

[JerseyGirlJen]

Good info, I'm going on the Independence in November.  

[topanga49er]

Hi.  We are going on Independence next spring break.  Can you please tell me what they replaced the Skypad Experience with?  Thank you

[Cmessier]

On 7/1/2023 at 4:28 PM, topanga49er said:

Hi.  We are going on Independence next spring break.  Can you please tell me what they replaced the Skypad Experience with?  Thank you

The big yellow ball? It was just empty when we were on it. My wife and kids walked right into it. 

 

Still a magnificent experience overall. You'll enjoy it! 

[cruisegal40]

Thank you for the information. Newly looking at this cruise and as OP stated, hardly anything on this ship.  Any intel is always appreciated.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, cruisegal40 said:

Newly looking at this cruise and as OP stated, hardly anything on this ship.  Any intel is always appreciated.

Some of the info for Indy is also true on the rest of the Freedom class so looking at those can also glean some info.

 

Biker, who is enjoying thread resurrection day.

[cruisegal40]

Biker19 Thank you for this info.  Very helpful. 

[The Fun Researcher]

https://www.tomlovescruising.com/2019/01/28/independenceots/

 

The Indy was Amped so that's a big positive.  Love what Royal does with their AMPED ships!