independence of the seas

[Danielmills13]

Morning

Myself and my wife are looking to book our first cruise this evening for may 20th on independence of the seas sailing to the norwegian fjords for 8 nights.

the only standard staterooms that are left are a guaranteed interior on deck 2 are these suitable and do the interiors differ at all depending on decks are they all the same? We will be looking to purchase some packages and also some dining during our stay on board but wondering if its easy enough to determine whats included on your stay and what is extra? Also im not a smoker but i do use a vaping device and im wondering if anyone uses these in the rooms or not? i totally respect smoking rules and laws but when it comes to vaping i still cant comprehend that they are compared to each other in terms of having to go outside, obviously i wouldn't use in a public enclosed space but i would like to vape in my room if possible?

 

Finally i know everyone is different but i don't drink alcohol and my wife isn't a big drinker so im stuck on how much extra i will roughly spend on board i.e how much to take? will i also need to change currency up for when we dock in norway or can you do this on board.

 

many thanks for your help in advance

 

Dan

[Traveler]

Let me try and answer some of your questions  :

Regarding the interior room , were did you saw it is deck 2 ? usually when you book grantee room they do not say which deck it is .

The size of to cabin appears on RC site  as 109 Sq ft , this is quite small , they are usually around 150 sq ft  , but it depends what you are planning.

If you are planning to go to each port and every evening to use all the wonderful option the ship offers (and this ship offer allot) it should be OK. There is allot of hiding storage room and enough space for two.

And no , not all the interior rooms are the same.

Regarding what is include and what is not include : 

All the shows and entertainment are includes in your cruise  

Food - main dining room include , Cafe promenaded which serves 24/7 sandwiches , Sorrento Pizza , WJ - the buffet  are all include and free.

Drinking  - Water, regular coffee/tea , "lemonade" , Orange juice in the morning (not freshly squeezed) and some flavored water are free.

Not include:

Special restaurants -  Steak house , Sushi restaurant, Italian  are not free and starting around 30 $ PP , you can buy packages for the restaurants in the cruise planner.

Alcohol not free  and around 12 $ for a liqueur/cocktail  ,  6-8 $for beer , 8 and above for glass of wine , please mind you can bring two bottles of wine with you (per each cabin) which can be opened at your room for free  or at any dining place for some fee.

All shore excursions are for fee.

Regarding smoking  - I do not think it is allowed at all even if it is vaping device , but I might be wrong, smoking is allowed at deck 4 and deck 11 (in one side of the ship) + in the Casino.

It is better to bring some local currency with you , but I think they except credit cards , usually you can change also change dollars and euros near the ports but you will need to check in each port.

Hope you will Enjoy the cruise. the ship is very good choice for a first cruise.

[monctonguy]

As for smoking/vaping.....only on deck 5(portside?) pool deck(same side as deck 5) and the casino......at least this is the case when cruising in North America.

 

You really wont notice much difference with any interior room to be honest. So I wouldn't worry about that at all.

Drinks in North America run around $12 USD for mixed and $6ish for beers....not sure over there. If you google drinks prices for Royal there will be actual drink lists you can verify with.

[Danielmills13]

6 minutes ago, Traveler said:

Let me try and answer some of your questions  :

Regarding the interior room , were did you saw it is deck 2 ? usually when you book grantee room they do not say which deck it is .

The size of to cabin appears on RC site  as 109 Sq ft , this is quite small , they are usually around 150 sq ft  , but it depends what you are planning.

If you are planning to go to each port and every evening to use all the wonderful option the ship offers (and this ship offer allot) it should be OK. There is allot of hiding storage room and enough space for two.

And no , not all the interior rooms are the same.

Regarding what is include and what is not include : 

All the shows and entertainment are includes in your cruise  

Food - main dining room include , Cafe promenaded which serves 24/7 sandwiches , Sorrento Pizza , WJ - the buffet  are all include and free.

Drinking  - Water, regular coffee/tea , "lemonade" , Orange juice in the morning (not freshly squeezed) and some flavored water are free.

Not include:

Special restaurants -  Steak house , Sushi restaurant, Italian  are not free and starting around 30 $ PP , you can buy packages for the restaurants in the cruise planner.

Alcohol not free  and around 12 $ for a liqueur/cocktail  ,  6-8 $for beer , 8 and above for glass of wine , please mind you can bring two bottles of wine with you (per each cabin) which can be opened at your room for free  or at any dining place for some fee.

All shore excursions are for fee.

Regarding smoking  - I do not think it is allowed at all even if it is vaping device , but I might be wrong, smoking is allowed at deck 4 and deck 11 (in one side of the ship) + in the Casino.

It is better to bring some local currency with you , but I think they except credit cards , usually you can change also change dollars and euros near the ports but you will need to check in each port.

Hope you will Enjoy the cruise. the ship is very good choice for a first cruise.

Thank you very much for your reply some great info there for us, asa for the deck 2 comment im really not sure where i got that from so thank you for letting me know, i dont however see the size of the room your advising anywhere? we would travel via balcony option but atm its £850pp extra for this!! and i really cant justify that price just for a balcony when we will hardly be in the room, thanks agin

[Traveler]

You most welcome , 

Regarding the size , you can see it once you try to book , I have tried to do a fake book to see if I get the deck number and the size , got only the size,

Regarding the balcony , this is something which each person will tell you differently but I think like you , 850 PP extra just to have the balcony is not worse it , although there is allot to see from in Norway you can always get to deck 11 ,12 or 4 and see the view (sometime its even better as you will be able to see the 360 view and not just one side ...).

For me , I would take the interior and use the money I saved for shore excursions and maybe visit a special  restaurant or two.

 

[monctonguy]

I cant believe that on Indy, the interior is 109sq ft...that sounds more like Majesty or maybe Enchantment size...I sailed on Indy, inside room and pretty sure it was around 144 or maybe even 160sq ft.

 

I am too lazy to do a mock booking this morning to confirm though....first work day of 2018 is tough...lol

[monctonguy]

Ok..so I did a quick search....150sq ft is the smallest on deck 2

 

https://www.icruise.com/deckplans/royal-caribbean-cruises-independence-of-the-seas-deckplans-deck-2.html

 

 

 

 

 

[Traveler]

12 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

I cant believe that on Indy, the interior is 109sq ft...that sounds more like Majesty or maybe Enchantment size...I sailed on Indy, inside room and pretty sure it was around 144 or maybe even 160sq ft.

 

I am too lazy to do a mock booking this morning to confirm though....first work day of 2018 is tough...lol

I agree with you regarding the size , I think it is around 150 and more , 

What happened is that the wonderful RC site when you choose grantee room shows you the minimal size in the fleet .. 

[Sarah]

Norway is beautiful; beautiful but expensive!  I would suggest either taking some Norwegian currency with you - buy before you go; I can imagine RCI will charge a fee for changing currency on board.  Or you could use debit / card as you go - very commonly accepted.

If you buy an alcohol package each person in the stateroom has to buy the package; as you say your wife doesn't drink much so possibly not worth getting a drinks package.  Again, it's quite expensive - US $ 55 per day + 18% gratuity - it depends how much / what you drink as it may be cheaper to buy drinks as you go.  You can buy the package partway through the cruise and it's then valid for that day and all subsequent days.

I don't think you can "vape" in your room - you'd have to use the designated smoking areas.

When you cruise you register a debit / credit card either as part of your online check in before your cruise or at the departure point - this card covers all of your onboard purchases - drinks package, shore excursions, shops - you do not hand over cash whilst onboard.  Your seapass is your door key and is linked to your payment card - you hand that over to pay onboard.

There are sometimes offers of drinks packages, shore excursions etc before you sail - look online once you've booked.  The most recent offer for UK bookings was 30% of drink packages purchased before sailing

Enjoy and welcome to the world of cruising!!

[NS8VN]

On 1/2/2018 at 7:10 AM, Danielmills13 said:

 i totally respect smoking rules and laws but when it comes to vaping i still cant comprehend that they are compared to each other in terms of having to go outside, obviously i wouldn't use in a public enclosed space but i would like to vape in my room if possible?

Smoking policy is pretty cut and dry and specifically classifies vaping as smoking: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-smoking-policy

@twangster actually had the opportunity to speak with the captain of the Independence itself and the question of smoking on a balcony came up.

 

On 1/7/2018 at 9:05 PM, twangster said:

This question was raised during Captains Corner on Indy.  The Captain stated the 1st offense will be a $250 fine.  The second offense and you will be disembarked at the next port to find your own way home. "Don't do it" he added. 

[Lud]

59 minutes ago, Sarah said:

Norway is beautiful; beautiful but expensive!  I would suggest either taking some Norwegian currency with you - buy before you go; I can imagine RCI will charge a fee for changing currency on board.  Or you could use debit / card as you go - very commonly accepted.

I agree with @Sarah, Norway is absolutely one of the most beautiful places on earth, the fjords are just like in a fairytale! I wouldn't exchange money at all. Debit/Credit card are almost excepted everywhere in Norway (and the rest of Scandinavia too). Some places don't even take cash anymore. 

Instead (if you don't have one already) you could sign up for a credit card with no exchange fee and use it during your cruise. Saves you both time and money.