We recently set sail on a 3-day Bahamian cruise aboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Independence of the Seas departing from Port Canaveral, Florida. Our review is for this specific cruise only.
Our boarding time was scheduled for 11:00am on embarkation day so we decided to head down to Florida a day early to avoid missing our cruise. We stayed at the Hyatt Place Hotel in Titusville, Florida which is about 20-30min from Port Canaveral. It made for an easy commute to Port Canaveral.
Fun Fact: Embarkation is the process of loading a passenger ship
On the morning of our cruise, we left our hotel at 10:00am which turned out to be the perfect time to get us to the boarding station at 11:00am. As we crossed the Martin Andersen Beachline Expressway, our excitement level went through the roof at seeing the various cruise ships in port.
Our terminal was Terminal 1, which is Royal's main terminal at Port Canaveral. The signage at the port was good at getting us to the right entrance given there are two possible entrances to use. Go past Flounder Street and then turn left onto Discovery Place. When you pull up to the parking deck, you'll be greeted by port personnel. The signs here can be deceiving, so listen to the port staff. For instance, there is a sign that says "Drop Off" which made us think that's where you drop off passengers, but apparently it's where you will drop off luggage. There are other areas for dropping off passengers. We followed the cones as instructed which took us around the corner to where we unloaded our luggage. Make sure you have your luggage tags attached that you received in your pre-cruise e-documents. Also make sure to have a few bucks ready to tip the luggage handlers. They won't be shy about asking for it and it's a safe option to ensure your luggage makes it onboard. You'll then turn the corner again which brings you back to the front of the parking deck where you entered, but this time you'll head up. When you reach the second deck, you'll be greeted by a toll booth where you'll pre-pay for parking. You're then on your own to find a parking space.
At the time of our cruise, the cost of parking was $17.00 per day plus 7% tax which made our 4-day/3-night cruise parking total $72.76.
We then headed down the stairs (elevators were backed up) and headed toward the terminal. Staff is available on the ground floor of the parking deck to direct you.
Once in the terminal, we were directed to the first check point where our SetSail Pass was verified and our identification was verified (we used U.S. Passports). Remember to have your digital and/or paper SetSail Pass with you during the entire check-in process. We also did a pre-check-in online a few days before our cruise to get the health questions, safety briefing, and special requests out of the way. Also remember NOT to pack your SetSail Pass, identification documents, or any other items that you may need, in your checked luggage. Bring a carry on bag. You won't see you luggage again until after 1:00pm and as late as 6:00pm. We then went through security in which our carry-ons and our persons were scanned. From there, we went upstairs to the main terminal check-in where we were directed to an open staff member that scanned our SetSail Pass and took a picture of our identification. We then headed over to a holding area with chairs which was divided up by arrival times. At the time we sat down, it was exactly 11:00am which was our scheduled time. We stayed in the holding area for about 20 minutes and then we were allowed to head onboard. Our SetSail Pass was scanned one last time and we were on our way to the gangway.
Fun Fact: SetSail Pass is the name of your pre-boarding/check-in identification. You'll receive you pass after checking in online in your eDocuments.
Fund Fact: Gangway is a raised platform for providing passage.
We passed by some photographers who captured our picture which would be available later for purchase. Once on the gangway, we walked over the staging area below where the ship was being fueled and supplied as well as luggage being loaded. We boarded the ship on deck 4 and headed directly for our muster station (B15) to check-in and confirm we completed our safety briefing.
Fun Fact: A muster station is nautical term meaning a place to meet during an emergency and is assigned by stateroom.
We then headed inside and WOW! We were blown away by the shear size and grandeur of it all.
Day 1
After embarcation we were on our own to explore the ship and wait for our rooms to be ready at 1pm which is also when you'll receive your SeaPass which replaces your Set Sail Pass and acts as your room key, identification, and on-board charging account. We walked the entire length of the ship several times exploring all the various places and getting acclimated. As a nerd of such things, I found it very enjoyable. And of course, the kids wanted to hit the water slides since there weren't many people up there...so we did.
We initially thought sea sickness might be a problem for some of us, but with the shear size of the ship and the technology it has to counteract the waves, we actually didn't feel any effects of the ocean...that is until our last night. The only thing that took some getting use to for me was looking out a window or door and see the ocean fly buy. It was a little weird at first.
Day 2 - Bahamas
We actually decided to spend our Nassau day on the ship. We figured most people would be getting off and we could take advantage of the pools being freed up as well as several other amenities. We were half right. A lot of people did get off the ship, but a lot stayed and did the same thing we did.
We saw an ice skating show, played laser tag, got in some pool time and water slide time, ate, relaxed, and explored more of the ship. It might sound boring, but we enjoyed it alot.
While we didn't have much desire to explore Nassau, we did step off to get a couple pictures of one of our neighbor ships...Disney Cruise Line's newest ship, the Disney Wish.
Day 3 - Perfect Day at Coco Cay
I will have to say, it was a perfect day at Coco Cay. We purchased the water park excursion for the day which the kids enjoyed a lot. For me, it was not worth the added expense for only 5 different areas/attractions. We had experienced everything pretty quickly which left us wanting more. Of course we did ride the slides several times, but we found a lot of enjoyment in the free areas like Chill Island. We were able to swim in the lagoon, kayak if we wanted, play basketball, beach chess, and more. There was a lot to do and it was all spread out so it didn't feel like thousands of people were there.
One thing we didn't know was going to happen...another Royal Caribbean ship (Liberty of the Seas) joined us at Coco Cay. So there was twice the number of people we had originally thought there would be.
The island staff was nice for the most part, but you could tell they'd rather be elsewhere doing other things. The food was included and was amazing and our refreshment beverage package worked there too.
On the way back to Port Canaveral the Captain informed us we would be traveling through a storm with 15 foot waves. We all looked at each other with wide eyes and hoped for the best. Luckily the bad stuff didn't happen until we were fast asleep, but even then I woke up periodically to find the ship swaying with the curtains and a couple doors in our room swinging back and forth. It was a surreal feeling, but we had a good crew and ship that got us through it and safely back home.
Day 4 - Debarkation
Debarkation was slightly confusing for us. The night before, we found luggage tags in our stateroom to place on our luggage (luggage has to be outside your stateroom by 10pm). However, we decided to carry our luggage off the ship to make for an easier departure. But we were confused as to whether we could do that. Some documentation alluded to us having made a choice of which method to use, which we never saw that option. But staff informed us we could do either option. Then the times on the paper and app were different and so on...hence the confusion.
But we figured it out. We basically left when we were ready, grabbed some last minute food and beverages and headed down to deck 4. There were staff and signs to direct us along the way. Our Sea Pass cards were scanned one last time and we were on the gangway heading to shore. Once back in the terminal we walked down a series of ramps to the U.S. Customers area where our identification was check by a computer scanning our faces (I guess this came from our passports being scanned when we originally checked in). We were not stopped by Customs and headed out of the building and back to the parking deck.
Leaving the garage was quick and easy since everyone had staggered debarkation times.
Fun Fact: Debarkation is the process of unloading a passenger ship.
Pools
We were under impressed by the pools on Deck 11. The largest area was Splash Away Bay, but it was intended for small kids which my kids did not qualify. The resort and sports pool was undersized for the amount of people. So we ended up not partaking in the pool activities. We did however take full advantage of the Flowrider and Perfect Storm water activities on Deck 13 Aft.
Fun Fact: Aft is the rear part of the boat.
Moving Around the Ship
Admittedly, it took a little while to acclimate to the ship like keeping track of which way was forward, aft, starboard, and port. The ship has a total of 14 elevators located between the forward and aft sections of the boat. But with 1918 staterooms for a maximum capacity of 4,603 in such a tight setting, 14 elevators did not cut it. We often found ourselves waiting several minutes for one and even then, they were full and couldn't take on any additional people. We found out quick that using the stairs was more efficient, especially when going down. If we had one complaint for the entire cruise, it would be the elevator situation.
In general, moving around the ship was easy. There were a couple areas we wanted to go and had to figure out how to get there because it was not a direct shot. For instance, to get to certain areas, we couldn't walk direct, we had to go up and over. But overall, things were easy to find and the walk didn't seem that bad.
Fun Fact: Forward is the front part of the ship, Starboard is the right side of the ship, and Port is the left side of the ship.
Dining
We were assigned to the main dining room on Deck 4 and our server was Dilip. Each night of our cruise we were at the same table with the same wait staff. This made it easy when it came to dinner time because there was no guesswork or worrying about finding a table. We knew exactly where to go and by night two, our drink order was waiting on us when we arrived. Dilip was very accomodating by allowing us to make some changes to the preset menu for our tastes and needs.
We also visited the Windjammer on Deck 11 which is a buffet style dining area. It has a large capacity to accommodate many people at a time, but it never felt overcrowded. The menu items included several options being served in the main dining rooms plus additional items that really helped out with feeding the kids.
There were several other free dining area located on Deck 11 (Fish & Ships) and Deck 4 (Sorrento's) and don't forget the free ice cream station on Deck 11.
We didn't dine at any of the "premium" dining locations.
Onboard Charges
We racked up a few charges while on board. Not because of any hidden fees or anything, but because we participated in some arcade games and made a few souvenir purchases. Within a few minutes of each purchase, we were able to see them on our account using the Royal Caribbean app. However, the charges lacked information I thought would be helpful to identify the purchase later. For instance, it would say Service Fee on 4/8/2023 for $24.00. Well, what was that for? Luckily I keep track of things like a hawk and new it was for room service. But other than that, it can get very confusing if you're not keeping up with it. I would recommend more detail which could also possibly cut down on the number of trips guests need to make to the customer service desk.
Refreshment Beverage Plan
We tried out the Refreshment beverage package on this cruise. Once we started looking at how thirsty we were and the cost of purchasing individual beverages, we found out quickly this was a good option for us. The downside, the ship only had two Coca Cola Freestyle locations on the entire ship which seemed not adequate for the amount of people. We did find a few bars and other locations willing to help by refilling our cups when we needed so that was nice.
Conclusion
Overall, we enjoyed Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and the Independence of the Seas. We would definitely cruise with them again, but would like to experience a different ship. The staff was very nice and accommodating and the ship was very well cleaned and marked with signage to help find you was around. The food was enjoyable and the amenities, though lacking in size, was pleasant to experience when you were able to find space. If you haven't experienced cruising, we would highly recommend it...we're addicted now and are already planning the next one.
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