Odds and Ends
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Odds and Ends
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This page, as always, is where we put stuff that doesn't fit in elsewhere ... We had treated ourselves to a Junior Suite. Very nice - almost twice
the size of a normal stateroom, with a full bath and walk-in closet.
Here's a picture of it before we settled in and started to
The Bay of Biscay has a reputation of being a little rough. We sailed
across it in steady winds of Force 10, gusting up to force 12, and with wave heights of
10 meters (30
feet). Spray was level with our balcony on level 9. In such conditions, it was remarkable how stable the ship remained
(although all the outside decks had to be closed to prevent people from
The food and staged entertainment on board were consistently excellent. The main dining rooms delivered consistently high standards (including, slightly surprisingly, some very inventive and subtle curries) and the windjammer buffet was also good, with greater variety and quality than expected. The 4 main production shows were outstanding, with the choreography and dancing in particular being first rate. The 2 shows on the ice rink were also superb, and there was also an interesting variety of talented speciality acts (including one night a performance by Teatro). As always, the final key question. Would we do this cruise again, and on the Independence of the Seas? Well, to be honest probably the only destination (that we actually arrived at) that we would hurry back to is Lisbon (although we have been to Maderia in the past, and liked it a lot). Frankly, there was too little to see or do that interested us (beyond shopping) in a short period of time in the Canary Islands (with the possible exception of Lanzarote) and Vigo. Equally, at this time of the year (November) you are taking a big gamble with the weather, one which we lost. On the other hand, we would love to sail again on the Independence of the Seas (especially in a Junior Suite) to different destinations, and hopefully one day we will. |
