Back from Independence of the sea.

[tanyababanya]

Hello everybody, my family was back on Sunday night. Thought that I would just let you all know that we did had a wonderful time!

We flew in the day before and stayed at Renaissance hotel, it is a very nice place to stay,we saw couple of ships from our window. We took a short taxi ride to port around 11:30 and was on the ship around noon. The first thing we did was go to check out our table in King Lear dining room, we had a table for six near window as requested. Then, we started to roam the ship, no word can describe the feeling, this ship so huge, beautiful and smelled good too

We went to Windjammer to have lunch then checked out our D1 cabins. We had 2 very nice cabins mid ship. We had Elwin from Philippines and Dany from India for first seating dinner. They are nice and my kids loved them. Though there was a table next to us, that came to eat almost every night and on the last night after dessert, they waited for the waiters to walk away, they then stood up and left without tipping. Our waiters got so upset, we felt bad for them so gave them extra big tips.

The first sea day was a little bit bumpy, I had to take some ginger pills, but by the time we reached Puerto Rico I felt wonderful since we had a beautiful day. We went to Trunk bay and it was a little bit windy, but my kids had a blast. I don't swim much so I got knocked under a couple times under the big waves, but I was so happy to be on a vacation I didn't mind that much

We had a tour with Bernard in St.Maarten, it was good,did some shopping in Marigot and I was suprised by the local vendor's behavior.They were rude, and acted like they didn't need to sell their merchandise. My daughter tried to buy some t-shirts and the lady yelled at her for touching them too many times. It is a shame they treat tourist this way.We had a better shopping experience last time. Went to Orient beach, Maho beach and had a great time.
Again at Labadee, it was windy, but we had a lot of fun. We did have a lot of kids on this cruise,they yelled and ran in the hall way at night but the bed was too comfy for me to get upset over these small things, in fact I slept very good every single night. On the second formal night, we went to Chops. The food and service was excellent. After the desert, they even brought out some complimentary chocolate covered strawberries!

We went to ice show, it wasn't good as on Mariner last time, but it was still very entertaining.My husband and I went to the see Battle of the sexes and had some good laughs. On the last night, the farewell show was great. I almost cried when I thought about leaving the ship the next day. We loved IOS so much, and it was a wonderful time for us.

Just one negative thing is that after the cruise,it was a nightmare when we were debarking. It got even worse when we went to Fll airport. I hated this airport. We were delayed for 4 hours and the airport was so crowded! They had no place to sit all the passengers, no decent places to eat, the bathrooms were super dirty, and the custodian people were rude to some of the women trying to wash their hands. We will cruise again, but will never return to this airport

[Sandy]

Though there was a table next to us, that came to eat almost every night and on the last night after dessert, they waited for the waiters to walk away, they then stood up and left without tipping. Roll Eyes Our waiters got so upset, we felt bad for them so gave them extra big tips.

Are you sure those other people hadn't pre-paid their gratuities and just didn't know to give their vouchers to the waiters?

Thanks for posting your review. It sounds like you had a great time. The one sure way to get over end-of-cruise remorse is to book another one!

Sorry for your bad experience at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. I usually fly in and out of that airport and have never experienced what you described. Sounds like the airport was having a bad air day!

Sandy

[Sonny V]

Now you know why the Indy is my new favorite ship.

Sonny

[penny3333]

Welcome Back, so glad to hear you had a great cruise! Wasn't Trunk Bay just beautiful! Sorry the wind was blowing so much. It's normally so calm there. Did you get to go on the snorkel trail? Usually, you can see everything because the water is so clear, but if it was windy, it may have stirred up the sand. So tell us, where's you next cruise to?

[chris 2486]

11 days to go till the inde. just hope the weathers going to be ok across the atlantic

[penny3333]

We'll all hold good thoughts and prayers for you chris2486! Bon Voyage

[peter l]

We have found Fll to be very busy as the cruise lines make it that way but have never had a really bad experience; just long lines with many having baggage in tow. Most any cruise is a GOOD cruise, glad to hear you had a great time.

Peter1

[TexCruise]

Welcome back! We had a wonderful cruise on her. Glad you had a good cruise. FLL can be a mess at times...that's for sure!

[tanyababanya]

Originally posted by Sandy:

Are you sure those other people hadn't pre-paid their gratuities and just didn't know to give their vouchers to the waiters?

That is a really good point. It just made us feel really bad to see how upset the guys were after working hard all week long.

Originally posted by SONNYV:

Now you know why the Indy is my new favorite ship.

I most definitely agree!

Originally posted by penny3333:

Wasn't Trunk Bay just beautiful! Sorry the wind was blowing so much. It's normally so calm there. Did you get to go on the snorkel
trail? Usually, you can see everything because the water is so clear, but if it was windy, it may have stirred up the sand. So tell us, where's you next cruise to?

It absolutely is! The surf wasn't that bad later on in the day. We were just a bit disappointed since we went there on the last cruise and the water was crystal clear and still. My daughters were really looking forward to going snorkeling again, but because of the swell, the trail was shut down for the morning. It was partially reopened later on but the rental store wouldn't give out any snorkels the entire day. It was a beautiful day out with clear skies and warm water though so we couldn't complain too much. We would really love to go on another cruise soon, the IOS especially, but with the way this economy is going down we can't really say when is our next cruise,especially for a family of six.But to tell you the true Penny,I 'm really feel the blues after the cruise .

Originally posted by TexCruise:

FLL can be a mess at times...that's for sure!

Originally posted by peter l:

We have found Fll to be very busy as the cruise lines make it that way but have never had a really bad experience; just long lines with many having baggage in tow.

I know that the cruise lines all unloading at once are sure to drag down the lines quite a bit, and it just seems like bad things kept piling up to create a really bad experience. In retrospect, we were really thankful that we were only delayed 3 and a half hours. Some of the people we talked to who arrived around when we did were delayed to several hours after us or the next day for one couple.

Also, I don't know if anyone else has heard of this but we flew with Southwest Airlines and they do a complimentary baggage check in right at the port. Right when we passed customs and were standing in the Taxi queue, we noticed the stand just right in front of the port's exit door. Basically, you check in at the stand, they give you boarding passes if you don't have them yet, and take your luggage to the airport for you! All we had to do was hop in the taxi and go through security at the airport. Not sure if this is a all the time thing or just because it was spring break when we went, but it sure made our day a whole lot easier. Has anyone else seen these stands at the ports before?

[penny3333]

No, I hadn't seen those stands at the port, but it sounds like a fantastic idea. I hope all the airlines start that, it would save so much confusion. FLL has always been a mess, and I've often thought if someone opened up a good restaurant they'd make a killing. I guess whoever designed the aiport wanted to not make people too comfortable. That way they'll grab a cab and spend money in the city.