Woody

We got off indy last year and it was as i said so hopefully someone who's getting off this year can let you know how it is

They must of changed it then as we were home before 9am and self assist were definitely off well before 7.30. I can't remember going through customs we just walked off got our bags and straight out of the terminal

We were automatically given a low number I think we were the 2nd group to get off, we were in the car driving out of the car park by 7.30, you can do self carry off from just after 6 from what I remember. It also said if you didn't like the time you were allocated you could take your tags to guest services to get a different number

I think we had a low number last Aug and were off and in the car by 7.30. If you are given a high number you can change to a lower number at guest services. I think self carry started at 6

On indy the only venues you have to pay extra are chops, giovannis, and hibachi isumi, Johnny rockets you pay a cover charge of used to be $9.95 and can order as much as you want. Hooked, playmakers and the pub all have food to order off menus with various prices. The free food areas are the main dining room, wind jammer, sorrentos and cafe promenade. Have a look in your cruise planner if you want to eat at any of the pay restaurants as it's sometimes cheaper to prepay although sometimes they run promotions on board. There is also chef's table which is at a supplement also.

It was only offered in the UK it just includes the deluxe beverage package so all drinks up to I think $12 are included, so that means speciality coffees (not Starbucks), freshly squeezed orange juice, soda, cocktails, beers, wine and spirits are included and if over the $12 I think you just pay the difference. Which ship are you sailing on

We were on indy last year, the fridge was cold enough to keep drinks slightly chilled but not much more we were in a balcony room don't know if that makes a difference

On indie last year with the refreshment package milkshakes were free but only if you ordered food

We did the photo package on a 14 night cruise last year we ended up with 384 photos on a USB they were all formatted to 8" x 10“ the same as they sell on board so the only thing to be aware of is they don't print off very well if you try to print them smaller. We were well impressed with ours and as its only the 2 of us was really nice to have some good quality pics of us together. We will definitely be getting one on our next cruise

I've learnt to expect anything from rci. We booked a next cruise last year whilst on board. A few days after we got back the new offer was bogo50% plus few deluxe drinks package. The surprising thing was when the price had gone up by over £800. We decided it equated to £29.50 extra pppn, so rebooked have never seen the deluxe package below £39 pppn. The more time you spend on her the more you realise you need to check each sale carefully as they're never what they seem, wish we were like USA and cold reprice

Having sailed Portsmouth to bilbao and back on a mini cruise and it being like a mill pond going and a awful storm coming back, we used the sea bands and can highly recommend them. It was on an old P&O ship the pride of bilboa which was tiny compared with the cruise ships

We were on Indy for a 14 night cruise in August, I too read all of the reviews and started to panic about the overcrowding but common sense prevailed and as it was our first cruise I boarded with both a bit of apprehension and tried to have an open mind trying not to think too much about the bad reviews. By day 3 we had already been to next cruise and booked another one for next year as we were enjoying ourselves so much. I can highly recommend this ship it seems to suit all ages and you will find all of the quiet spots and when to go where. It was. Amazing to see how all of the bars emptied just before the late dining began. Our cruise was fully booked so expected the worse and was pleasantly surprised

One thing to bear in mind you can get all inclusive buy one get one 50% off until I think 5th November with a £75 pp deposit. We’ve just changed our booking for next year so may be best looking at it before you go we only got $300 obc booking with next cruise and only changed it as it was now £827 more but includes deluxe drink package.

We’ve just done the med cruise and went for the beverage package when it was on offer just over £15 per person per day, it covered all specialty coffee’s, hot chocolate, soda’s (we asked for cans as the soda machine was always flat) fresh squeezed orange juice at breakfast (you have to ask for it) and any mock cocktail and bottles of still or sparkling water so it was worth the money. We found the free coffee to be quite bitter as we prefer latte’s. We went for this package as don’t really drink alcohol so we found it good value for money.

On our med cruise this year we went to Palma de Mallorca and did the Palma city sights tour which included the bull ring and pearl factory as well as the castles so can highly recommend it. In Barcelona I think we paid €5 each for a coach which dropped you of by The Ramblas. Front here you can easily walk to most things including the metro or get the hop on hop off bus which I think is €30 each. You can buy the hop on hop off tickets in advance also the Camp Nou tickets if you want to visit there.

We sailed from Southampton on the 11th August for 2 weeks, the ship was fully booked and had none of the problems other people had mentioned with regards to queuing for things, there was a good mix of people and wide range of ages. The journey going the bay was like a millpond and coming back was 3 metre swells but the ship hardly moved it was worse in the English Channel with 4 metre swells but with the stabilisers out we didn’t feel anything. We took seabands with us but didn’t need to use them. Hope this helps