Fall Getaway on Independence of the Seas

The Jaques Family needed to fit in a fall cruise to get away and relax. There was a great deal on a 4 Night on Independence of the Seas out of Port Canaveral so we decided to jump on it. We got extremely lucky because the week before we left we got hit with a Hurricane so we were not sure if it would impact us being able to go or even if the ports would be open for us to leave on time. We didn't loose power and the ports were back up and running so on Monday October 3rd we headed out. One thing that was different about this cruise is that we did not have our typical Balcony or Suite we had 2 inside rooms. The price different for 2 inside rooms to a Balcony was a few thousand so we decided to give it a try considering it was a shorter cruise and we wouldn't be in the room that much with our port days and pool days.

The day we left I still had to work so we boarded the ship and went straight to Playmakers so I could work while we ate and waited for the room to be ready. Independence had just gotten the new internet which I was excited for but they had not worked out all the issues with it yet so it wasn't very reliable. After lunch we went to do Adventure Ocean registration and our muster drill. Both we knew would be very quick. Our rooms were then ready and our luggage was already there. We took a few minutes to get unpacked. Since there was no internet or cell service in the inside room I took my laptop up to the Diamond Lounge to work. Since no one is in the Diamond Lounge before 4:30 it was a nice quiet space to work. My husband took the girls to walk around, climb on the pringle wall, the sky pad, etc. I finished working just in time to drop off my laptop in the room and head out for Sail Away.

We headed to the main dinning room to try it again for dinner, if you have been following us then you know that we have not been impressed with the main dinning room but we always say we have to give it a try. It wasn't bad but wasn't great. We had the 8pm dinning and by 9:30 we still didn't even have all of our main course so we got up and left. We decided to call it an early night as we were going to Coco Cay the next day and knew it would be an early morning.

I really didn't mind the inside room it was quiet and dark. The extra space was also really nice. The only thing I didn't like was not being able to see where we were coming into port and if we were tied up etc. I looked at the TV but it was hard to tell. I got up and got ready early with my youngest daughter and we headed of right when the gangway opened. I am pretty sure we were the 2nd family off. We wanted to get our normal seats out by the Oasis Lagoon Pool. The nice thing about going to the same spot is that I can go early with our youngest who gets up early and my husband and oldest can take their time getting up and ready and just meet us when they want.

The nice thing is the Oasis Lagoon Bar is open early so you can get whatever you want which I enjoy a good Bloody Mary while sitting in the peace and quiet by the pool.

Usually within an hour my husband and oldest join us. We have a favorite bartender that lives on the Island so it is always nice to see him. We take the time to walk down to the beach and play some of the games, take some pictures etc before it gets really busy.

The girls want to snorkel the next time we are there so that is on our to do list. Our day at Coco Cay is basically the same every time we go and honestly we love it. We enjoy the pool, the beach, the swim up bar, the buffet, snack shack and the pirate splash pad. Maybe at some point we will venture out and do a cabana or the balloon but for now we like our norm. We did one thing a little different this time, instead of walking back to the Pirate Ship we hopped on the tram and took a little tour to get back. It was cool to see the rest of the Island while resting our feet from walking.

We got back to the ship in the early afternoon and took advantage of the pool area not being busy and hung out in the hot tubs and pool area. The splash pad and slides in the kids area is a big hit for my youngest.

We decided to do room service for dinner and just make it a more low key night. We did some things around the ship and then ordered food around 7 and it took about an hour but then we could eat and go to bed.

The next day we were in Nassau which we knew we would not be getting off the ship. We rarely get off in Nassau. The last time was in March when we were on 5 night B2B sailings on Mariner and had a lot of sea days and wanted to break it up but when we are on shorter cruises we enjoy a quiet day.

I took my youngest out to the pool early and then she went off to the kids club. My oldest hung out for a while then decided she just wanted to go to the room to relax so we moved into the solarium. At noon we had to pick up from kids club and get lunch and then the girls were off to find ducks and play mini golf. My youngest opted to go back to kids club from 2-5pm while my oldest wanted to go to the room again - this was a week of downtime for her that she needed so I was all for her relaxing wherever she wanted. We went to the Schooner Bar to have some drinks and relax before it was dinner time. We had dinner scheduled at Izumi which is always good. We don't do the Hibbachi, we just prefer the table service. My Husband loves Sushi and always says how good it is. It looks good, I just don't like it. I always opt for the Ramen Bowl which is so much food but so good. The kids tried some different protein and rice from the kids menu.

Our last day was a Sea Day which I was a love hate with. I love being at Sea and relaxing but it also means everyone else is on the ship doing the same thing so the pool area gets a little crazy. In true fashion I got up early and to the pool by 7am to get our chairs.

I knew my youngest was planning to do kids club 9am-12pm and 2pm-5pm. We had our family time in the morning by the pool until she went to kids club. Once I picked her up I got the kids some quick lunch and then they were off to do more duck hunting and mini golf. Since it was so busy we wanted to move to the Solarium. I noticed a family had chairs by the doors and they had little ones but also had grandparents sailing with them. I overheard them saying they couldn't find anything by the main pool so I approached then and asked if they wanted to trade. They had 2 chairs in the Solarium and we had 4 by the pool so the grandma waited for me to bring my stuff back and the parents with the children came and took my chairs. It was perfect timing. We spent the afternoon in the Solarium and then went to pick up at Adventure Ocean and off to shower for our last night. We decided to do room service again and get packed up. The nice thing is the kids were already off school that Friday so we didn't have to rush off the ship to get them to school. They had missed 4 days for this trip but it was totally worth it and some downtime they really needed.

This time we had an amazing stateroom steward. Probably one of our favorites from all of our cruises. His personality was great, he really interacted with the kids well. Check back to hear about our cruise just before Christmas on Brillance of the Seas!