Independence of the Seas Review

IOTS February 15th 2009 (Presidents Week) Western Caribbean

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Independence of the Seas
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IamJPT
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Feb 2009
Cabin: Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony
Traveled with children

Let me start by saying this was an AWESOME cruise.

Pre Cruise - we stayed at the FLL Airport Sheraton. I had enough SPG points so this was a free stay. The room was a corner room on the 3rd floor and overlooked an air conditioning tower (well the room was for free!!!). Unfortunately the room had bugs - I think they were spider mites. Our lunch hamburgers were over cooked and not good. For dinner we went to the River Walk area (cab ride was about $20). It was very nice but expensive. We ate at the Grill Room and the food was excellent. DW then went shopping at Chicos and DS and I went shopping at Tommy Bahamas. Close to a grand later we headed back to the hotel (I told you it was expensive!!!). We woke up early, had a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel, and took a van to the port. The van cost $24 plus tip. All things considered, I would not stay at this hotel again.

Embarkation - we arrived at the port around 11:00 am and there was a long line of cars waiting to get thru the security check point. It took us about ½ hour to eventually get to the luggage drop off area but once there the rest of the embarkation process was a breeze. I thought the luggage drop off area at Miami was much better organized than at Everglades. I actually worried a bit that our luggage was going to go to the wrong ship as they seemed to store it very close to where they were storing the luggage for the Costa ship that was docked nearby. Can you imagine a 6 day cruise and no luggage (I hope not !!!). The line to check in was quick and we were on the ship in about 20 minutes. Interestingly, while docked, our cabin looked out on the security check point and luggage drop off area. When we got to our cabin around 1:00 pm and looked at both areas there were no lines! I think next time we may wait until a bit later to get on.

Cabin Review

Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

Cabin D1

Cabin - we had 1400 which is a corner aft on deck 10. This was a great cabin. The walk aft was not an issue (especially after eating). The peace and quiet was nice. The view was unbelievable. I am now a committed aft cabin junkie. There is nothing like wake watching at sunset with a glass of wine!!! The cabin was much larger than a typical D1 balcony (it was almost as big as a JS). The room does have the infamous "stripper" pole. It is located at the foot of the bed and was not an issue in walking around (it did provide some interesting entertainment on several evenings!!!). The balcony was huge. It had 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a table. The room and balcony are directly underneath the Windjammer floor structure. We did not hear any noise from the Windjammer. The overhead did cause most of the balcony to have limited sun and lots of shade. While the ship was moving there was a nice breeze but while the ship was still the air was a bit stuffy. The overhead did also protect us from the smokestack dust that was visible on the aft cabin balconies that were below us. They seemed to do a very nice job of cleaning the dust every day but one of our Meet and Mingle friends that had an aft on deck 9 reported that the dust was not only on the deck but also on the loungers and table. I would imagine it could have gotten on your clothes if you left them out to dry. I probably would not take that risk and would aim for a deck 10 aft next time. Another thing about our balcony - the ships structure was sloped toward the corner. I am very tall so the far corner parts of the balcony were a bit low to my liking but I never bumped my head. Again - this was a great cabin and I would try to book it again. Wait a minute - strike all of this - the cabin was terrible and you should avoid it at all costs (so that I can get it again)!!!

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