2026

Independence of the Seas – Cozumel and around the ship

Written by Kim

Our last port was Cozumel and we went to Del Mar Latino. We enjoyed our time here last week and the price is right at $45 a head for all you can eat and drink. This week we docked at the International pier so it was a short walk to the resort. It took 20 minutes but once we finally got off the pier and through all the port stores it was about 5 minutes.

Nice pool

Del Mar Latino is a simple place but it works for us. The weather was beautiful and the pool was warm.

Nice cushioned loungers

The food and drinks are good. We had some nachos, shrimp cocktail, coconut shrimp and a burger.

Coconut shrimp
Fries & shrimp cocktail
View of Del Mar Latina from the pier
Until next time Cozumel

We enjoyed the ship. My favorite like I said in another post is walking in the morning on the deck.

Love a good sunrise
Yeah he’s always ahead of me

There are always lots of kids on this class ship because the water park is nice and not too big so prices are less expensive. We love kids but the pool deck & buffet were insane so either we will try a longer cruise next January or avoid this class ship. Just too hectic for us,

Kids waterpark

I do love the entertainment. The production show, The Tap Factory, was excellent. It was similar to Stomp on Broadway with lots of percussion on barrels, tap dancing and acrobats.

Tap Factory
The Quest, an adult scavenger hunt, is always fun too

We really liked the bartenders, Paul, Jude & Nava, in Playmakers so spent some time there and enjoyed lunch there on the last sea day to avoid the mayhem at the buffet.

Wings & nachos
The traditional 3 story main dining room is so pretty
On the pool deck there is a fish and chips restaurant but we didn’t try it
A cute couch for a picture
Some of our towel animals.

Our dinner at Giovanni’s, the specialty Italian restaurant, was our worst dining experience we ever had. The service was awful – we waited almost 30 minutes before they even took a drink order then they brought our soup 2 minutes after bringing our salad we just started to enjoy and he said I’ll just leave it here. I ordered chicken piccata and it wasn’t chicken piccata – it was breaded and fried very thin chicken cutlet with a little bit of sauce so it was dry as a bone, I just ate it but when you pay an up charge I expect something better. We won’t starve but it was a disappointment.

Burrata salad was good
A half a bowl of minestrone soup that was cold by the time we ate it – buy smaller bowls if you reduce the portion
Alex’s shrimp was good
Chicken piccata????

Of course we enjoyed trivia and won first place one night acquiring more pens and keychain bottle openers. Go Team Pork Roll. We missed you – Courtney and Benn 🙁

Sipping wine and sunsets in the balcony are always the best.

Sipping wine
Sunset from our balcony

Overall we did pretty well in the casino. On the last night, Alex won a bit at Texas Hold ‘Em so we decided to play a little craps. That used to be the game we played all the time but it’s so volatile and you can lose very quickly so we rarely play it anymore. We’re all about quantity and time of play on a lower volatility game. Anyhow, we played a bit and had some controversy at the table. The shooter rolled a hard 8 (two fours) and the stick girl called it a 10. The dice were right in front of us so Alex and I both said no it’s not it’s a hard 8. The pit boss came over and said they would go to the tape to check it. We didn’t have a lot of money on it but would have won $14. It was more the principal. There are 2 dealers, a stick man and pit boss all watching and no one saw the call. They came back after a while and said call stood at 10. I said that’s bullshit and we left the table. If you can’t ensure quality calls in the game we’re not playing craps anymore. We know it’s gambling but the casino already has the edge and we don’t need this BS.

Disembarkation was simple. We did self assist walk off and were off the ship and in the car in about 30 minutes.

Alex humping 2 of our suitcases
Goodbye Independence

Once off the ship we went to my happy place, the laundromat, to get all straightened out for another week. We have a few days at Hard Rock Hollywood and then head to Palm Beach Gardens to golf and see some friends before returning home. Myrtle is getting some really cold weather so we’re happy to be in Florida. God is so good to us.

kimba_grebel

Hi there! Welcome to our travel blog where we will share our adventures with family and friends.

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