SpeedNoodles

Someday we will do Alaska!  I will be very interested to know if the bigger ship works well or if the smaller ones are fine,  I look forward to your comparisons since it looks like you have been to Alaska a lot!  Jane

Funny, I had started creating a scavenger hunt for our group that is sailing later this year.  We have a bunch of kids, and I thought it would be great for the first day when they were exploring the ship to do in families.  Here is what I started.
 
Symphony of the seas
Scavenger Hunt
 
Take a picture with a crew member.
Find the three interactive works of art.        
Daniel Canogar's all embracing Sound Shell
Alejandro Marote's out-of-the-ordinary, meteorite-inspired sound chamber.
dEmo's memorable Drier-Wig sculpture
Video someone playing the Piano Stairs.
Take a picture of someone under the Solarium Big Wonder (Art installation)
Video someone doing the zipline
Video someone going down the Ultimate Abyss
Find the Crystal Hallway inspired by a real-life cave in Mexico.
Find the 4 deep divers throughout the ship
Take a picture with the Ice Cream machines.
Take a picture of the Beetle Sphere
Take a picture of your favorite plant in central park.
Use the X-ray vision app on the Royal Caribbean app to virtual view around the bridge of symphony of the seas.
What are the Windjammers Hours?

Awesome, now the countdown begins!

I hosted a pub crawl on the Serenade of the Seas last year. The bar selection is different but the idea can be applied to yours. Our group consisted of 4 couples (8 people) and we had a blast! We caught the attention of many onlookers with our crawl. And the bartenders joined in the fun by dealing out the cards.
To keep people on pace, we turned the crawl into a poker run (7 card stud). And my wife and I flipped for a prize which ended up being $25 poker chip from the casino. That's just what we wanted to do, feel free to collect some cash from each person.
Make a loose plan of which bars you want to go to (we ended up adjusting a few on the way based on peoples feedback). Below is our plan from the Serenade Start at the top of the ship (it's easier going downstairs drunk than it is going up) Someone holds the deck of cards (no peeking) Someone deals out the cards (recommend getting a bartender to help, they love it) One card is handed out to each player at each new bar Everyone needs to finish their drink before you move on to the next bar (or make it a roadie) Best hand wins at the seventh bar!   Hope this helps and cheers!
 
Serenade of the Seas   Deck 12 Sky Bar   Deck 11 Rita’s Cantina   Deck 6  Crown & Castle Pub Schooner Bar Safari Club   Deck 4 Tropical Theatre R Bar

Just realized last night that I forgot to include a few pics. So here they are in no particular order:
Mariner Gym:





Ping Pong Table (deck 12, outside of Adventure Ocean)

Starbucks menu:

Dining Room:

And last but not least...Always dedicated to Royal Caribbean Blog ?

Thanks again all for following along this week ?❤️
 

Where is the tomato, celery salt, pickle slice and Poppy seed? Oops that's Chicago Style.

Our Sea day was spent relaxing by the pool, enjoying the nice weather and taking in the poolside activities while sipping some cocktails.
Unfortunately for me due to the rays from the sun and the lack of sun cream i now look like the Lava Flow cocktail i had been consuming at the time.
Having never cruised before i cant comment on or compare atmospheres between cruises out of different ports, but there is no doubt peurto ricans know how to have fun and enjoy themselves. The poolside was turned into one big party atmosphere with their own band playing while sitting in hottub. 
Formal night corresponded with St Andrews day so the kilt was worn, must admit most made the effort, however one woman turned up in the sportswear she had worn 7hrs earlier while doing poolside zumba in 28c sunshine. Noticed her again next day still wearing same outfit, must be the only woman who packs only a toiletry bag for a vacation. 
Next stop  St Maartan by far the best island on this cruise, we booked bernards tours after reading reports about them on here, and they Didnt dissapoint!
Our driver The Mailman delivered a great tour full on facts regarding the places we visited and also kept us laughing with his stories. 
Forget about the damaged buildings, this island is rebuilding and deserves eveyones support
For those that know the docks at st maartan the mailman made An interesting point, that being that RC are building a new pier on the land where bernards tours currently occupy for a ship to be homed there. 
back to San Juan and we disembark this wonderful ship very soon, Without doubt this is the first of many cruises 
Next stop new york 

We are also 1st time cruisers. Will be on Freedom in Feb for our 44th anniversary. Cannot wait, but not sleeping worrying about packing, planning ect.Was hoping Freedom wouldnt be too large to enjoy. We will have 2 sea days which sounds like that will be nice. We have a balcony on 9th deck. Any advice, do's donts?
Happy BD

Today is our first and only sea day and to be honest the rest is needed, now understand why so many of you prefer the sea days. 
Almost 8am and sitting in smoking area near pool, a rough guess over 50% of the chairs have already been claimed, towels and other items just left on them with very few people actually here.
This one was here at 6am and has not returned, it did cross my mind how funny it would be if the last page vanished ?

You should laugh, life is far to short to worry about things. 
What may appear as sarcasm is in fact just a weird sense of humour, nothing i say here i wouldnt say to my wifes face but she gives as good as she gets which is why we have been together 23 wonderful years. 
Admittedly the best times have been when shes sleeping that way shes not nipping my ear lol 

After the previous nights fun we docked in St Kitts, for some strange reason my wife decided against having breakfast, she believes it must have been the pizza at 1am that made her unwell, nothing to do with the 7 or 8 alcoholic drinks she consumed.
St Kitts
Nothing planned so we just walked about the port and enjoyed the sight of a Puerto Rican invasion of st kitts. Ive read elsewhere on other forums how some people will no longer sail out of san juan due to the fact the ship is full of Latinos whos only objective is to have fun. What an entrance they made to this beautiful island, lead by a small band the marched off the ship singing songs and carrying their national flag. 
Found out the best cure for a hangover is retail therapy, its amazing how quickly my wife recovered will looking at perfumes and jewellery. 
Back on ship had a walk about to parts we hadnt been to yet, a game of golf which my wife won ( she cheated but i let her off) was followed by a trip to johnny Rockets. After all the talk about Johnny Rockets milkshakesi had to try them out. Ok i now understsnd why everyone raves about them.
Another late night in various bars but pleased to say my wife decided to leave her singing voice in stateroom.
Antigua
Up early, breakfast and off ship
Decided to have a beach day, taxi to valley church beach $8 pp each way if sharing. $5 per chair $10 for an umbrella, $4 or $5 a beer, free wifi 
Great beach to just relax only downside was that beach is made of shell not sand which can be sore on feet. Water itself drops very steeply its either up to your knees or over your head, no inbetween so care is needed.
Had read about Pams massage on beach so went to beach hut and booked half hour session, $55 per couple and worth every penny. 
Taxi came back after our 4hrs as agreed and we headed back to port for more shopping.
Dinner was MDR for 1st time cant fault the food or service.
Evening was spent at ice show, few bars and karaoke just taking in all the different sights and experiences. 
As we walked along the promade heading back to room my wife stopped outside one of the outlets and completely shocked me! The sign above the entrance said " Next Cruise" and my wifes only words were " should be book our next cruise now?" 
Told her we would wait and plan! Im not in the YOLO group yet lol
St Lucia next nothing planned 
 

First pic of my home for the next week, i was sitting in the back of uber amazed at the sight before me.
Even my wife was amazed, in fact her exact words were  " ive never seen anything so big" 
Thanks dear!! Even the uber driver is sniggering while looking in her mirror 

Lets just say that I WISH that I was as slow as you guys at work, but what I will say is that passing my time here allows me to day or night dream as well, until my next cruise!  I do find that the closer that I get to my next cruise the more time I spend here.....?

With  the position I work at, the last two weeks have been extremely slow ((to the point that my new Samsung Smart Watch claims I was asleep for 3 hours on Wednesday!!)).
@Matt, coming here and reading and listening to this blog has been  my saving grace...as it is every time I am stir crazy at work. 
What is it about reading the Live Blogs, that is sooo stimulating, that you feel like you are on the cruise with them.  Is it just me??

My cousin was on the Carnival ship at the time.  All he got for his inconvenience was a certificate for  two free drinks.

Actually, that's a perfect answer. Long sleeves or extra sweater it is!  (It's a woman thing).

Gotta love The Onion!

I'm always freezing...go figure, I had to grow up and live in the Midwest!   I agree that the temps tend to fluctuate, and I'm so used to taking a sweater, I grabbed a really light weight one for theater, dinner and some sail aways (especially when you embark).  I have a black one and a white one I take with me...target and lands end both had good ones!  Otherwise, I'm that person wearing the sweatshirt too lol!  Have a great trip!  Jane

Disembarkation notes:
Sitting at FLL as I write this.
Lyft Plus to FLL $18.62
Ship to curb - 30min exactly.
Walking off the ship was a breeze. Same as every time we have disembarked from Port Everglades. Zero wait. The wait time came at customs. In the past, with suites, there is a separate area for suites customs. This morning I looked and there was not. Not that we would have qualified anyway this cruise, but basically that meant that everyone was passing through one area. Still not a bad wait but not as fast as previous cruises. We have done curb to ship in about 10-15min before at PE. 
Waiting for our flight back to DTW now. So far it’s on time. Our igloo awaits. 
Thanks again for following. You guys are awesome! 

Final Thoughts:
As I mentioned in a post by @twangster a few days ago, 2018 has been a great cruising year for us. After sailing mainly OA class for the last few years, we had a chance to revisit Voyager class and try out Quantum and Freedom Class.  I am, without a doubt, still an OA class girl.  There is simply no comparison.  Nothing comes close. My heart belongs to that class of ship. 
Indy is a great ship. Would I sail her again? Yes!  Will I? Maybe not. But that is because Hubby doesn’t like to sail the same ship in a short period of time. He already thought with this cruise that it was too similar to Mariner. So, we may not end up keeping our booking for next New Years. Time will tell.
Other than the MDR, I have no real complaints. The crew for the most part was friendly. The stateroom attendants seemed a bit overworked but they still took the time to acknowledge you while passing. The lines at the pool bars were long most days. The WJ crew was one of the friendliest I have encountered in a while on any cruise. Special shout out to the WJ “washy washy guys”. They turned that wash your hands song into a show every day. I will post a video when I get home. D12 has one on her device. 
The revitalization, IMO, was most definitely a step in the right direction. My kids loved the pools, sides, etc. and feedback from the Playmakers scope was that it is in a great location and is huge as a venue. The ship is showing her age in small areas like the chipped tiles and worn out chairs. I really wished they updated their furniture (couches and chairs) and curtains in the cabins. That really dates the ship. Like Mariner, only the newly added staterooms received new items.  But she was clean and functional for the most part. 
While I do not regret the stateroom that we booked, I did not care for it either. The additional space was nice but I completely hated the bathroom. For me that is a deal breaker. And I really missed not having a balcony. So for @WAAAYTOOO, @bellemiche,  @Boston Babe, and anyone else wondering, I have not left the suite snob club. Hubby is out of luck. His plan did not work. 
Once again, thank you all so much for following along. Blogging is so much more fun when you all are with me. And for people wondering if that consumes too much of my vacation time, it does not. I just don’t read anymore on a cruise. I blog instead. I have plenty of time to read back at home. I consider this relaxing and enjoyable. 
That’s all for now. I will report back on the disembarkation process tomorrow. We have never had issues at Terminal 18 so hopefully that is the case again tomorrow.
The countdown is finally on for our next adventure, and possibly the best cruise of my entire life...

67 days to go!! It’s Genie time! Excited is an understatement. 

I could make a meal out of the Diamond Happy Hour snacks. 5 more points and I"M THERE!

Hopelessly devoted to Royal Caribbean Blog. ❤️

I am an early riser, what time is breakfast available? I don't want the room service as my wife is not an early riser.
 
Sailing on Allure in 10 days!! Woot!!

I'm with Matt's wife its quiet cool in some places but very warm in others. I'm from Western NY and the evenings were much cooler than I expected in March I'll take a sweater and leggings this time for when I'm that cold. I didn't take a proper dress sweater the last time so plenty of pictures of me with a zip up fleece on with dresses.