It’s Day 2 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas and this is our first full day at sea as we travel to Cozumel, Mexico, the only port-of-call during this four-day western Caribbean cruise. The sea overnight was flat calm and made for a restful sleep.
I mentioned yesterday that the water pressure in the shower wins an award for “Best at Sea.” Today, I discovered just the right height, angle, and water pressure for the shower head to provide me with such an awesome back massage – one that would cost me a couple of bills if I hit up the local Massage Envy to receive the equivalent.
Needless to say, I paid zero attention to the signs asking us to conserve water, cranked that baby up, and spent about 25 minutes in the shower “tube.”
Once my skin resembled that of a prune, or 98% of the people at Thursday night “Boca Bingo,” I stepped out, threw on a clean pair of jockey shorts, and went to breakfast. I felt the need to say “clean pair” because last night at dinner, the table of six next to us was deeply involved in a discussion about one of their sons being “very European.”
It seems this young man needs to be reminded to bathe, brushes his teeth occasionally, and wears a pair of underwear twice. His mother said she discovered the underwear re-use policy when she found “skid marks” on both sides of his man panties. When questioned whether or not he wears a clean pair every day, he told her he wears a pair one day, then the next just flips them inside out and goes for day two.
If that’s what it’s like to be “very European,” all I can say is “God Bless America.”
We made our way up to the Windjammer around 10am. To say it was a complete disaster would be an understatement. It was packed, with lines at all the buffet stations. We did two full laps around the Windjammer before we were able to find an empty table. When we did we swooped in like a buzzard descending on roadkill.
“I’ll stay here so nobody takes the table,” I said as my cruise mate went to get his breakfast.
A server came over and asked if I wanted anything to drink, and I replied with “Coke and a Diet.” He returned with the soda and we never saw him again. While we were eating a recorded announcement played overhead asking people to please vacate their tables once they were done eating so other people could sit and enjoy their meal as well.
The breakfast buffet has your typical items, eggs, omelets, bacon (there is no limit to what you can take, so you can fill your plate up with fried pig if you wish), carved breakfast ham, sausage, cereal, baked goods, etc. Juice stations are set up around the dining area where you can get water, tea, and juice, however, if you want a soda or other beverage you have to track down a server (which is next to impossible – and that’s the case on EVERY ship I’ve been on) or walk over to the bar to get it yourself.
Not sure why cruise lines don’t put any emphasis on improving table service in the buffet areas. I understand it’s supposed to be a self-service option, but there needs to be more emphasis on drink service. If the staff were as quick as they are clearing a table to get it ready for the next guest, as they were with asking you if you need a drink, I and others would be very grateful.
After breakfast, we headed down to Deck 4, which would be considered the ship’s promenade deck. Unfortunately, you can’t walk completely around it. When you hit the bow, you need to go inside to cross over to the other side. There are chairs set up where you can grab a seat and watch the world pass you by – which is exactly what we did as I worked on the Day 1 review. (FYI – there are designated smoking areas outside on Deck 4 with ashtrays for those who smoke.)
As the afternoon went on, we did some further exploring around the ship. Most of the public areas were very busy since it was a sea day. Up on the pool deck, it wasn’t as busy as I would have expected it to be. Even with the ship at 100% capacity, there were plenty of empty lounge chairs all around the pool.
We stopped by the FlowRider, not to attempt to break our necks but to watch other people pretend their master surfers only to be tossed from the board and thrown back like a rag doll out a car window. In order to take a fall on the FlowRider, you must sign a waiver, which essentially makes you acknowledge that you’re of sound mind and body and willingly takes the risks associated with such activity which may or may not result in injury or death.
Willing participant? No.
Curious bystander? Absolutely!
We watched as one after another, young, old, too young, and too old, lined up for their chance to take on the wave. Your time on the board is up when you wipe out. Some make it a minute, some only a few seconds. One lady made it for about ten seconds before she slammed her head off one of the FlowRider’s padded walls, got up, shook off her injury, and played the role of a trooper as her son captured the entire moment on his GoPro.
Way to go, mom!
A few feet away, several people were making their way up the ship’s funnel on the rock climbing wall, while workers installing “scrubbers” on the Independence of the Seas worked on the smokestack.
In this same general area is a golf simulator (extra charge and reservations are required) and a mini-golf course. While you’re climbing the rock wall or catching a wave on the FlowRider, music blares. I mean blares. I commented that there would be no way I could come to work every day with music blaring in my ears like that all day long.
I guess the crew just learns to tune it out.
As the afternoon went on, we headed down to the Royal Promenade and grabbed a light snack in Sorrento’s pizza, before returning to our stateroom to hang out on our balcony to chill for a while before dinner.
Speaking of dinner, we’re dining at Giovanni’s Table, the ship’s $25 per person Italian restaurant which was added when the Independence of the Seas was in dry dock in 2013. Previously, Portofino Italian Restaurant was the Italian destination on board.
Before dinner though, we were going to catch the 7pm performance of “Invitation to Dance” in the ship’s Alhambra theatre. We arrived at 6:50pm and there were still plenty of seats the show began with the cruise director coming out and doing the usual warm-up. If you’ve been on more than one cruise, you can lip-synch along as all the guys and gals do the same schtick. Tell a few Speedo jokes, make a joke about the toilets and how they flush, comment about how someone asked if the crew lives on board, you get the drift.
The show featured the ship’s company of singers and dancers accompanied by a live orchestra. Set decoration and costumes were minimal. I remarked to my cruise mate that someone left the budget for this show back in Miami. Compared with entertainment on other Royal Caribbean ships, this was extremely low-budget – despite the fact we were told it was choreographed by some famous person associated with “Dancing with the Stars.”
For 45 minutes the cast danced and sang to a variety of songs as a single drape hung in the background with an LED wall and one different backdrop descended later in the show. This is the type of entertainment I would not expect from the cruise line that brought Broadway to sea with productions of CHICAGO, Abba, Starwater, and more. This is the type of entertainment I would expect to see on Holland America.
With that said, I wasn’t impressed at all with the show. It was a real disappointment coming from seeing other production shows on Royal Caribbean ships.
After the show, we headed up to the top of the ship to have dinner at Giovanni’s Table. On the way in I just had to stop and check out the self-service ice cream machine. Once again, it was a total pigsty with no ice cream cones on either side of the kiosk, crushed cones, and melting ice cream in the drip tray. After seeing this, I asked the lovely girl at the entrance of the Windjammer marketplace who was in charge of the ice cream machine. She had no idea and just asked if I wanted ice cream. I proceeded to tell her, that she needs to tell someone that the ice cream machine is a filthy, disgusting mess, she took her head and said, “Ok.”
She never left her post.
We were taken to a nice window-view table in Giovanni’s where our server took our drink order, brought out some freshly baked ciabatta bread, and presented us with some oil and balsamic vinegar.
For starters, we both ordered the Cioppino Con Pesce Misto (Fennel scented seafood-tomato stew with a garlic-herb crostini). It was brought out with a mixture of shrimp, bay scallops, white fish, and calamari in a bowl, and the server poured the semi-thick broth on top table side. The seafood was plenty and fresh, while the broth itself was average. It was pretty much a standard tomato soup – nothing special about it. Overall, an average dish.
I also ordered the Melanzane Alla Parmigiana (baked eggplant parmigiana Italian style.” It was brought out baked in a ramekin which our server pointed out as being “extremely hot.” The dish itself was loaded with cheese and only a few thin slices of eggplant with a light tomato sauce. While the ramekin may have been hot, the eggplant inside was lukewarm. Overall, the dish was non-descript. It lacked flavor, the eggplant was mushy and there was way too much cheese.
Next up were our main courses. My cruise mate took the safe route and asked for a bowl of penne pasta with bolognese sauce. The pasta was cooked al dente and the sauce had a fair share of meat in it. Overall, it was “enjoyable.”
I chose the Filetio di Pollo Ripieno de Ricotta e Funghi, Salsa Alla Salvia e Chardonnay – a long and fancy name for a chicken breast stuffed with ricotta and mushroom, wrapped in prosciutto and served with a Chardonnay-sage sauce. The portion was a good size and perhaps this dish could have been a winner had it not been overcooked. The prosciutto was cooked so that it was hard and would crack and break apart when touched with a fork. The chicken was also overcooked and dry. The filling, however, was very good. A disappointing dish for sure.
We also opted for a pasta course, and in hindsight, I would have gotten this as my main entree – Crespelle di Ricotta e Spinach. Essentially, baked ricotta and spinach crepes are served with either a pomodoro or bolognese sauce. The crepes were light and fluffy and the filling was tasty. The pomodoro sauce added a nice touch. Overall, a good choice.
When it came to dessert, our server wheeled over the cart with contained a selection of cannoli, a chocolate dessert, and tiramisu. I chose the cannoli and my cruise mate chose the chocolate dessert. Both were good.
It was midway through the meal when we started to notice some considerable movement of the ship. A table behind us had one person get up as he started to not feel so good from the motion. I began to feel a bit mal-de-mar as well, so we departed and headed down to lower decks to check out what was going on in the Royal Promenade.
Things were getting set up for a ’70s block party that was scheduled to start at 10:30pm – somewhat late for me I’m embarrassed to admit. As the ship continued to rock and roll, we headed down to Deck 4 and took a walk on the outside deck to get some air. After a few laps around, I decided to head to our stateroom, pop a few Dramamine, and lay down for a bit. Well, those things on top of a few glasses of wine, made me visit the Sandman rather than the Block Party.
I did wake up a few times in the night to answer nature’s call, and each time I ended up bouncing off the walls walking to the loo, so the motion of the ocean was rocking all of us to sleep throughout the night.
We arrived in Cozumel around 7:30am this morning and the ship received clearance to let passengers off shortly after 8am. Also in port today is another Royal Caribbean Ship, Brilliance of the Seas as well as Carnival Triumph and Emerald Princess The sun is shining bright and the temperature is in the high 70s and it’s breezy.
Tonight we don’t have dinner reservations at any particular restaurant, so we’re going to wing it and see where we end up. The entertainment tonight is an acapella group billed as the “Headliner” of the cruise. Again, I see this as a low-budget attempt at entertainment, and we’re probably going to skip it.
That’s all for today from the Independence of the Seas! We depart Cozumel today at 6pm and begin our journey back to Fort Lauderdale for a 6:30am arrival on Monday.
Personal Day-By-Day Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas Cruise Review:
Photo Tour of Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas:
During my cruise on Independence of the Seas, I took many photos of the ship’s impressive features and amenities. From the stateroom to the dining options and entertainment, there was always something to see and do on board. You can see what it’s like onboard by checking out my photo tour.