ABOUT ME. This cruise was myself and my cousin, this being my 15th cruise with Royal (Diamond) and my cousin’s second. I’ve also cruised with Princess, Carnival, and Norwegian and my preference is RCCL but within RCCL my favorites are the Freedom and Voyager classes, mostly because of the Royal Promenade – it makes mobility around the ship so easy. There is plenty (free) to do for everyone with lots of entertainment choices. Even with some negative comments, I thought it was an excellent cruise and I can’t wait for my next one!

PRE CRUISE ARRIVAL AND HOTEL. I always like arriving to the departure port city a day in advance just to be on the safe side of making sure I get on board! I lucked into a Groupon for Rodeway Inn Airport and Cruise Port. The hotel offers both airport and cruise ship pick up/drop off as a part of the hotel stay price. We also had breakfast that morning included. Couldn’t have been any easier. There is also a restaurant on site which made it very easy and convenient to have dinner. There was also live music in the restaurant that evening, more of a sports bar type place. We were both happy with the food. Staff at the hotel was friendly and accommodating. Great customer service is not gone – it still exists at this cute property. Izzy, the manager, is always a cruise fanatic so I believe he has us cruisers as a priority. Thanks Izzy and Rodeway for making our pre-cruise stay easy and enjoyable! Lots of photo spots around and pretty landscaping too. I’d definitely go back, even without a Groupon, and as a matter of fact, I booked there for my next pre-cruise stay in a couple weeks when I return to the Indy for a five night cruise with my mom.

SHIP HIGHLIGTS AND LOW LIGHTS. I have been on the Indy once before and I noticed some of the changes made to the ship since 2009, though minor really for my point of view. The boxing ring was gone and the cupcake shop is on board, and a few other changes. We chose MDR, late seating which works best for my cousin. We both enjoyed the food but the soups were wonderful. I prefer the MDR over Windjammer just because of crowds and lines and looking for tables, though we did have lunch there a few days. We did not go into any of the specialty restaurants. Room service daily for coffee, prompt and coffee was hot each time. We booked a standard inside cabin this time to keep costs down and I definitely missed having a balcony, especially for that morning coffee time! Read more