twangster

15!   (The limit of the Cheers! drink package)
To me it's very close to something you buy at a big box store, preheat to 450 and bake for 12-15 mins. but greasier.  Like dab paper towels on it to soak up some of the liquid oil on top before consuming.  Sorrentos is generally better but to each their own.  On Indy it's a weird taste but at least it doesn't ooze oil.  

Freedom has a area where it is posted that topless sunbathing is allowed. This was right after she came back from Europe while sailing out Florida.

I didn't see similar sign on Indy.  
Generally the answer is going to be no.
On this trip in Antigua the new MSC Seaside was across the pier from us.  An older woman on the large side was on her balcony right across from us in plain view as she was people watching on the pier between us.  She was completely naked.  Some things can't be unseen. 

In Canada where I grew up we had the Molson scale.  While normally applied to other subjects I find it applicable to Sorrentos. I'm on Indy now and pizza is a 10!  (On the Molson scale). 

Day 9 - Sea Day
As @Matt observed on his Indy cruise, Voom performance is quite good on Indy.  4 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, ~210ms latency.  Wifi phone calls worked quite well.  
Last night the Diamond lounge bartender asked if I wanted one last drink as they were winding down.  I wanted a shot of Scotch as a night cap, she returned with a tumbler full to the brim.  I fell to sleep on my bed while thinking "I'll just rest my eyes for a minute before heading to the comedy show".  Needless to say I missed the comedy show.  A bottle of sparking wine was waiting for me in my cabin.  It's a French Brut and quite pleasant with Windjammer OJ this morning.  For those not yet Diamond it's worth it to be loyal and achieve Diamond.  For those long timers I know benefits have changed over time but from a newbie's perspective it's still pretty good.
The Diamond concierge was enforcing the dress policy on formal night last night.  A couple of guests wearing shorts and t-shirts objected and asked "Is there a sign?" to which she marched them out front and showed them the sign.    Everyone else was dressed up and you are going to challenge a polite request from crew to observe the dress policy?  Later she told me this happens a lot with suite guests who aren't Diamond members.  I personally was glad to see it enforced.  Long pants and a collared shirt would have sufficed.
On the future deck plans for Indy the current Diamond lounge is labelled 'Suite Lounge' so we'll see what happens.  On Freedom on certain nights the Viking Crown lounge or "Olive or Twist" bar was Diamond and above during Diamond happy hour.  It will be interesting to see how Diamond overflow is handled on Indy in the future.
Darn it - I just got the email that it's time to check in for my flight.  That confirms it, cruise is almost over.  Time to pack.
I'm working on a brief photo tour of select spots on the ship but time is getting away from.  Nine nights is not enough.  

o dear, besides a gofundme page for extra twangster cruise foto's we need to start one for him to go in therapy to unsee things to avoid cruise fears and we stop getting thoose good pictures :)

Between gratuity and Voom price increases I found a mirror in the stairwell On Indy and captured my feelings on price increases:
 

Freedom has a area where it is posted that topless sunbathing is allowed. This was right after she came back from Europe while sailing out Florida.

I didn't see similar sign on Indy.  
Generally the answer is going to be no.
On this trip in Antigua the new MSC Seaside was across the pier from us.  An older woman on the large side was on her balcony right across from us in plain view as she was people watching on the pier between us.  She was completely naked.  Some things can't be unseen. 

Freedom has a area where it is posted that topless sunbathing is allowed. This was right after she came back from Europe while sailing out Florida.

I didn't see similar sign on Indy.  
Generally the answer is going to be no.
On this trip in Antigua the new MSC Seaside was across the pier from us.  An older woman on the large side was on her balcony right across from us in plain view as she was people watching on the pier between us.  She was completely naked.  Some things can't be unseen. 

Freedom has a area where it is posted that topless sunbathing is allowed. This was right after she came back from Europe while sailing out Florida.

I didn't see similar sign on Indy.  
Generally the answer is going to be no.
On this trip in Antigua the new MSC Seaside was across the pier from us.  An older woman on the large side was on her balcony right across from us in plain view as she was people watching on the pier between us.  She was completely naked.  Some things can't be unseen. 

Day 9 - Sea Day
As @Matt observed on his Indy cruise, Voom performance is quite good on Indy.  4 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, ~210ms latency.  Wifi phone calls worked quite well.  
Last night the Diamond lounge bartender asked if I wanted one last drink as they were winding down.  I wanted a shot of Scotch as a night cap, she returned with a tumbler full to the brim.  I fell to sleep on my bed while thinking "I'll just rest my eyes for a minute before heading to the comedy show".  Needless to say I missed the comedy show.  A bottle of sparking wine was waiting for me in my cabin.  It's a French Brut and quite pleasant with Windjammer OJ this morning.  For those not yet Diamond it's worth it to be loyal and achieve Diamond.  For those long timers I know benefits have changed over time but from a newbie's perspective it's still pretty good.
The Diamond concierge was enforcing the dress policy on formal night last night.  A couple of guests wearing shorts and t-shirts objected and asked "Is there a sign?" to which she marched them out front and showed them the sign.    Everyone else was dressed up and you are going to challenge a polite request from crew to observe the dress policy?  Later she told me this happens a lot with suite guests who aren't Diamond members.  I personally was glad to see it enforced.  Long pants and a collared shirt would have sufficed.
On the future deck plans for Indy the current Diamond lounge is labelled 'Suite Lounge' so we'll see what happens.  On Freedom on certain nights the Viking Crown lounge or "Olive or Twist" bar was Diamond and above during Diamond happy hour.  It will be interesting to see how Diamond overflow is handled on Indy in the future.
Darn it - I just got the email that it's time to check in for my flight.  That confirms it, cruise is almost over.  Time to pack.
I'm working on a brief photo tour of select spots on the ship but time is getting away from.  Nine nights is not enough.  

Between gratuity and Voom price increases I found a mirror in the stairwell On Indy and captured my feelings on price increases:
 

Between gratuity and Voom price increases I found a mirror in the stairwell On Indy and captured my feelings on price increases:
 

Between gratuity and Voom price increases I found a mirror in the stairwell On Indy and captured my feelings on price increases:
 

Based on that story, it sounds like @Big Dawg Ron is one of the contractors they hired?

Between gratuity and Voom price increases I found a mirror in the stairwell On Indy and captured my feelings on price increases:
 

Noted. Still using it as a selling point to hubby lol...

Housekeeping items
Three formal nights on this holiday cruise.  The regular sea day formal nights plus Christmas Day.
The $25 OBC offered upon boarding has been rescinded.  Since they boarded on time they've decided it doesn't apply.
The announcement channel control in my cabin actually works!  During the day it plays the same background music that plays in the halls and public areas.
Changing time back to Eastern overnight at 2am.
While Freedom had sliding doors from deck 11 aft elevator lobby to the H2O pool area, Indy has revolving doors.  I have found the revolving doors to be slow and less efficient.  A pop rain storm occurred earlier.  The revolving doors really impeded traffic flow trying to escape the rain.  I'll be curious to see if these are changed during the dry dock.   
I wandered around looking at some areas of the ship that we known will be changed in the dry dock based on this blog post:
Deck by deck drydock changes to Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas
 It should be interesting, looking forward to seeing how she looks afterwards.
Crew has been excellent.  Not a single grumpy crew experience so far.  My Time MDR service possibly the best I've experienced.  
No signs of any viruses so far with one day left to go.  Washy washy.

Day Two, Part One
 
We slept in almost 8am, which is astonishing for us as we’re usually pretty early risers, but we also don’t usually sleep in a pitch-dark room.  We got ready and headed up to the main dining room for breakfast and were seated by 8:45.  We were seated at a ten-top with a family of three and an older couple, all of whom were friendly and had a nice conversation.  We ordered off the menu, it looked like there was a buffet area set up, but we didn’t go over to check it out.
After breakfast we went up topside to watch the ship pull in to Nassau.  We were early and arrived a little after 11.  The cruise director decided to postpone the belly flop competition until the sea day so we could maximize our time in Nassau.
We decided to do the Discover Nassau Land & Sea tour.  There was a bit of a wait after getting off the ship for the tour operator to corral us towards the tour boat, but once we were aboard, we got underway fairly quickly.  The boat was a comfortably sized catamaran with ample seating for everybody, unlimited rum punch (and plain punch for the kiddies or those who prefer a non-alcoholic option), and the crew was very friendly and accommodating.  Our guide, Chris, was very energetic and entertaining and pointed out many of the houses of the rich and famous and we saw lots of different kinds of fish over the side of the boat down in the crystal-clear water.
We had a few minutes of excitement when the tour guide announced that two of the passengers intended for this tour had accidentally boarded the snorkeling boat instead.  They decided to meet in the middle of the water and have the guests jump over from the other boat!  If you’ve seen how they drive boats in the Bahamas, you’ll understand why this was exciting.  We matched speed, pulled up alongside, threw some ropes to the other boat while they crew held us together and the guide had the two guests step off the snorkeling boat and on to ours.  Nobody fell in the water and everybody clapped as we went on our merry way.
At the end of the boat tour, we pulled back in to the docks to board tour busses for the other portion of the tour.  This took us into town and narrated about what we were seeing.  We stopped for a few minutes at the queen’s staircase and then went over the bridge to Paradise island to Atlantis.  There was an interesting sculpture at the entrance to the casino at Atlantis.  It reminded me of the Iron Thrown from Game of Thrones, except made out of ice instead of swords.  After walking around there a few minutes, we went back on the bus back to the ship.  To be perfectly honest, I would’ve just as much skipped the bus tour and walked around on our own.  The boat tour was a lot of fun, but I don’t think the bus tour was worth the time.
We boarded the ship again and hung out on deck a little while before dinner.  We also had ice cream from the pool deck before dinner because we are adults and we can make those kind of decisions!

Okay, here we go.  It was tough to pick the best, but here are some of the photos from the ice skating show "Strings".
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With virtually no time between scenes these folks are masters at fast wardrobe changes.
On this cruise free tickets were required for all Ice Skating shows.  They made announcements when they could be obtained or for Diamond level folks the concierge in the lounge also had tickets. 

Bridge Tour!
I'm like a little kid when it comes to seeing the bridge.  Maybe it's all the lights, dials, buttons and knobs.  Maybe it's the incredible power under their control.  
 
 
In the holiday spirit the port bridge wing was decorated with red garland while the starboard bridge wing was decorated with green garland.
 
 
A bridge officer gave a little talk showing the various navigation and radar systems at their disposal.  
 
 
We would normally be doing 18 knots but with the medical diversions yesterday we are doing 20 knots.  That requires operating four of the main engines or generators.  Normally we would be using three.  To reach the top speed of 22 knots they would call on five generators.
Independence of the Seas like other Freedom class has ample power.  With 13,000 sq. meters of side surface approaching a pier in high winds uses a lot of that power.  In St. Kitts yesterday a Carnival ship approached but aborted and skipped the port because of the winds.  We had no issue making port and could have with an additional 10 knots of wind speed working against us. 
One last look at the Captain's chair and the Master's view forward.
 
 

First , wonderful pictures like all your blogs picture , enjoying reading (and nice reminder to my cruise).
funny about the tickets for the ice show , they did not said anything about tickets  (on the 5 days cruise)  the ship was full so I wonder how they decide if ticket is needed or not.

Hope the injured crew member is okay.  I got up looking for the windjammer this morning and couldn't seem to find the elevator. I called for room service....wife hung up her cell phone on me. ;-(   8 more days baby till i sail...with all these pic's i'm ready to go!

Okay, here we go.  It was tough to pick the best, but here are some of the photos from the ice skating show "Strings".
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With virtually no time between scenes these folks are masters at fast wardrobe changes.
On this cruise free tickets were required for all Ice Skating shows.  They made announcements when they could be obtained or for Diamond level folks the concierge in the lounge also had tickets. 

I am reading your posts. I will be using my fisheye on my cruise. I will be posting for your opinions. Be on the lookout.

Okay, here we go.  It was tough to pick the best, but here are some of the photos from the ice skating show "Strings".
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With virtually no time between scenes these folks are masters at fast wardrobe changes.
On this cruise free tickets were required for all Ice Skating shows.  They made announcements when they could be obtained or for Diamond level folks the concierge in the lounge also had tickets.