If you’re a frequent cruiser, it’s not uncommon to find yourself in the same cruise routine. Humans are creatures of habit and gravitate towards familiar, comfortable experiences. This can be true even while traveling when you’re already outside of your normal comfort zone!
For one Royal Caribbean cruiser, switching things up during her recent Royal Caribbean cruise was an eye-opening experience. Seasoned cruiser, Patty, recently sailed onboard Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas on a 5-night sailing to the Western Caribbean.
Patty explained that she’s been cruising for over 30 years with her first cruise in 1992 with Norwegian Cruise Line. She has cruised around the world, including a recent sailing to Australia and Bali with her family. In addition, she has cruised to Europe and Asia with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises. However, she has visited the Caribbean more times than any other port of call in the world.
During her 5-night sailing, Patty visited Cozumel, Mexico, and Royal Caribbean’s private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay. For some cruisers, the ports of call will always be the highlight of any sailing. However, Patty normally finds the onboard experience to be her favorite part of any cruise. From the delectable dining to the onboard activities and show-stopping entertainment, Patty finds herself enjoying the ship as much as she’s exploring ashore.
Looking to expand her cruising horizons, Patty decided to try a few new things instead of sticking to her 30-year cruising routine. Some changes were small while others were more significant. Overall, these new experiences resulted in an “exceptional” Royal Caribbean cruise.
Skipping the buffet and heading straight to the bar
When boarding a cruise ship, embarkation day can be quite hectic. Between busy cruise terminals, muster drill requirements, unpacking your suitcase, and getting settled, some might be surprised by the chaotic nature of embarkation day.
To kick off her vacation on the right foot, Patty decided to head straight to the bar after boarding. It’s not an unusual stop for most vacationers, but Patty shares she often doesn’t have a cocktail until later in the evening when cruising. Normally, she is in a hurry to visit the Windjammer buffet after boarding, along with dropping off carry-on luggage and checking her table location in the Main Dining Room.
Speaking of the Windjammer, Patty decided on the first day of her cruise that she wanted to skip the crazy buffet for lunch. Most cruisers head straight to the buffet on embarkation day, creating long lines. Sometimes, it’s hard even to find a table for lunch during this time!
Instead, Patty decided to visit a new quick-casual dining option on Independence of the Seas: Fish and Ships. As a seafood lover, Patty was eager to try the new-to-her restaurant. The complimentary dining option is only available on Independence of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas.
Located on the pool deck, Patty found there was no one in line at Fish and Ships. This was a welcomed change from the crowded buffet. The menu included a few no-cost options, such as fried shrimp with chips, fish sandwich, fish and chips, and chicken fingers.
Patty was excited to try the fish and chips, along with the breaded shrimp. She found the fish to be very tasty and fried with a thick breading. Although the shrimp was smaller than expected, these were enjoyable as well. Patty’s travel companion was not a seafood fan, so instead, she ordered the chicken tenders with French fries. The tenders were so small, Patty said they seemed mislabeled and should have been called chicken nuggets.
Visiting the sauna and steam room in the spa
After visiting Cozumel more times than she can count, Patty decided to stay aboard Independence of the Seas rather than heading ashore. In addition, the weather was hot and muggy. With this, Patty wanted to experience a quieter cruise ship while most guests decided to go ashore.
Even after cruising for more than three decades, Patty had never been in the spa to visit the sauna or steam room before. Without allocating dedicated time to try the spa’s amenities, it’s always too busy for her to stop by. In addition, some cruise ships charge to visit these spa amenities, so Patty was happy to try both for free.
Unsurprisingly, Patty was the only person in the women’s sauna and steam room. As suspected, most passengers had disembarked for the itinerary’s port of call, especially with only two stops on the sailing. Patty shared that the facilities were clean, as she anticipated, and she appreciated being the only person in the space. “It was calming since I had no idea what I was doing,” she explained.
Although she had some questions, Patty stated the spa had signage with instructions and warnings for passengers. While some might glaze over these, Patty felt it was important to understand the facilities.
First, she decided to try the sauna. The instructions stated to add water to the coals, so Patty did as instructed. The rules also advised that spa visitors should only stay in the sauna for 10 minutes or less. To be safe, Patty shared she only stayed in the sauna for 7 minutes due to being alone and having high blood pressure.
Up next, she ventured over to the steam room in the spa. She described the space as having a single-tile seat to rest on. Unfortunately, the steam room was claustrophobic to Patty because the steam was so thick. Again, she decided to only stay in the steam room for less than 10 minutes - not that she wanted to spend any extra time.
To complete her spa visit, Patty cooled off in the shower. She shared how she enjoyed using the extra-large shower in the spa compared to her interior cabin’s tiny shower. Although she was glad to try the sauna and steam room for the first time, Patty doesn’t necessarily need to visit these facilities again.
Enhancing her interior cabin
Staying in an inside stateroom, Patty wanted to try a few small changes to enhance her cabin experience. After reading a blog post on our site about questions to ask your cabin steward, she learned about the option to ask for mattress toppers. Because cruise beds are often too firm for her liking, Patty wanted to see if the mattress topper would enhance her quality of sleep.
After boarding on the first day of her cruise, Patty asked the cabin steward if she could have a mattress topper added to her bed. She returned that evening to find the mattress topper already on her bed. Patty was pleased with the mattress topper, stating how she slept better on the softened mattress.
To optimize the cabin space, Patty wanted to try another new strategy. Originally, she explained her interior cabin had one nightstand on both sides of the bed. Patty decided to rearrange the cabin so each bed was against the cabin wall, allowing more space between the beds for navigating the room.
By pushing the beds against the wall, Patty was also able to stack pillows along the side of the wall for comfortable side sleeping. This prevents the pillows from falling all over the floor as well, so Patty will continue separating her bed like this in the future.
Other small changes included extra pillows and more hangers for the closet to provide more hanging space for her clothes. Finally, Patty requested a paper Cruise Compass to be delivered daily because she doesn’t always enjoy using the Royal Caribbean app.
Luckily, their cabin steward was happy to accommodate these requests and Patty found the small enhancements to make a big difference during her cruise.
Repeat specialty dining visits
When Patty cruises, she typically only visits a specialty dining restaurant once during her sailing. Never before had she thought to revisit the same specialty dining restaurant more than once during the same cruise.
During her time on Independence of the Seas, Patty had onboard credit to spend before the end of the cruise. She opted to try Giovanni’s Table for lunch on the first sea day for only $22.99 compared to $54.99 per person for dinner to save money.
Patty described the lunch as fantastic, starting with the crispy calamari. She felt the serving size was easily five times the size of what the Main Dining Room would serve. The lightly breaded calamari had a crispy coating and was served with lemon garlic aioli and tomato sauce. In fact, she couldn’t stop talking about how good the heavenly calamari was!
For her main entree, Patty decided to try the fillet mignon after her waiter highly recommended it. She decided to try the fillet with smaller pasta dishes for the sides. Patty said the waiter was right and the steak was incredible, cooked to perfection, and very tender. She argues the fillet is better than what she’s had in Chops Grille Steakhouse on Royal Caribbean.
After a wonderful first visit, they returned to Giovanni’s. On the last day of her cruise, Patty shared how her waiter from lunch was promoting the restaurant. He remembered her and offered to make her a deal to return that night. To her surprise, the waiter offered a BOGO deal for both Patty and her guest to dine for only $54.99 each.
Read more: Everything I ate on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas: Food review and pictures
After a subpar experience in the Main Dining Room, Patty didn’t hesitate to accept the BOGO offer. Normally, she enjoys connecting with the waitstaff in the dining room throughout her cruise, but found this wasn’t the case on her short cruise. She stated, “This was the first time I can ever remember not wanting to be in the Main Dining Room on the last night of a cruise.”
As such, Patty dined at Giovanni’s for the final night of her cruise and ordered nearly the same meal. She couldn’t resist ordering the amazing calamari once more, along with the fantastic fillet.
Trying new breakfast options
When cruising with Royal Caribbean, Patty normally enjoys breakfast in the Windjammer or Main Dining Room. While she’s considered ordering room service before, she had never found the right opportunity to do so.
On this cruise, she wanted to splurge and try Royal Caribbean’s complimentary room service option for breakfast. She ordered her breakfast to be delivered between 9 and 9:30 a.m., hoping her must-have coffee wouldn’t be served lukewarm. Patty also ordered an English muffin and fruit plate for breakfast.
At promptly 8:50 a.m., the room service department rang her cabin to ensure she was awake to receive the order. A few minutes later, the meal was delivered to her stateroom. Patty was delighted to find her coffee was in a carafe and served very hot - just the way she likes it. She anticipated the English muffin might also be served lukewarm, but found it was still warm as well.
Overall, she was very impressed by the experience and found it was a nice way to start the day while her roommate wanted to sleep in. Patty questioned why she had never ordered room service before and will definitely continue doing so in the future!
Another thing Patty wanted to try was the light breakfast in the Diamond Lounge for top-tier loyalty members. She describes how breakfast was served until 10 a.m. on sea days and this particular sailing had very few top-tier loyalty members. Patty was the only person in the lounge for breakfast, so it was quite relaxing.
The lounge served a nice continental breakfast, which included pastries, yogurt, fruit, juice, and specialty coffee. Even better, the lounge featured a beautiful view of the ocean!
Formal night at the buffet
During her sailing on Independence of the Seas, the musical Grease was showing at 7:00 p.m. on formal night. Patty was looking forward to seeing the Broadway musical during her cruise, although the time conflicted with dinner in the Main Dining Room.
Instead, Patty opted to skip the dining room to have dinner in the Windjammer buffet on formal night. This was the first time Patty had ever skipped formal night in the dining room after 30-plus years of cruising. Following the musical, she made her way to the buffet for a late dinner. While she is usually pleased with the Main Dining Room, Patty enjoyed trying something different on formal night.
To start, she was surprised to find that the buffet had a similar theme as the Main Dining Room. The formal night theme in the main dining room was “Savor La France” while the Windjammer theme was “A Taste of France.” Because of this, most of the food being served in the Main Dining Room was also available in the buffet.
One of the highlights of their casual dining experience was finding a nice window seat to enjoy the aft-facing views of the ship. Patty was able to watch the sunset during her dinner in the Windjammer; in comparison, her Main Dining Room table was smack-dab in the middle of the large dining hall, far away from any ocean views. Being able to savor the sunset without battling any crowds made for a memorable dinner.
The Windjammer offered a crepe bar with tasty toppings to try, so Patty opted to try the strawberry and chocolate crepe. Although the food was fine, she likely won’t return to the buffet for formal dinner when given the option.
In the future, Patty also concludes she probably won’t get dressed up for formal night if she isn’t heading to the dining room anyway. Grabbing buffet food in her gown seemed too casual for formal night, and Patty shared she missed having a longer meal in the dining room.
Other small changes that added to the cruise experience
During this short cruise, Patty challenged herself to do little things differently in hopes of creating some new cruise traditions and routines. You never know unless you try!
Patty is a relatively new diabetic and wanted to see how Royal Caribbean could accommodate her dietary needs. As such, she ordered the low-sugar options in the dining room for dessert. These included vanilla ice cream, coffee pot de creme, coconut cake, and dark chocolate custard.
Of course, Patty found the desserts were not as good as full-sugar desserts. But, she was happy to see options provided as a choice for those trying to watch their weight or needing to monitor their blood sugar. Even as a diabetic, Patty was able to enjoy one of her favorite things about cruising, which is always the food!
In the same way, Patty found Johnny Rockets was accommodating to her dietary requests. She felt guilty ordering a full milkshake because of the sugar content, but she didn’t want to be wasteful. Instead, she inquired about whether she could order a half-size milkshake instead of the full-size. To her surprise, the crew was happy to accommodate the request and the smaller size satisfied her sweet tooth.
Additionally, Patty shared how she sat on the promenade deck one evening after sunset and gazed at the stars. This was a new way to relax while finding a serene place away from other cruisers. It almost felt like having the ship to herself.
Finally, Patty decided on disembarkation day to visit the coffee shop while waiting for their numbers to be called. She was surprised that her Diamond voucher was accepted for the specialty coffee, and felt this was a wonderful way to end her vacation. She never considered this as a possibility, but she was glad she asked about using her voucher before heading home.
“Maybe it's my age, but it's funny how you can get in a rut doing the same routines while cruising. I enjoyed pushing myself to make some changes. They were small, but they added to the overall experience on our Independence of the Seas cruise. Anytime I can cruise with one of my daughters, I’m in,” concluded Patty.
