Independence of the Seas: 2012 Transatlantic Day 1 - Southampton, England

On Thursday November 22nd 2012 the Independence of the Seas set out from Southampton on it's third westbound transatlantic, the first in two years. Leading up to the Thanksgiving day departure all of the news across England had been following a sever storm slowly crawling across Ireland and England. In it's wake a mess of severe winds and devastating flooding capable of taking out roads and rail lines. This forced many passengers to find alternate routes as travel was difficult. Unfortunately the departure day is when it finally reached London and Southampton. At the time of boarding the top decks were open but unusable on the starboard side due to the severe winds. Conditions were more comparable to a bad sea day than a typical port day complete with rocking (visible on the time-lapse video). Departure was original scheduled for 4PM. During the muster drill the captain came on to announce that due to delays in loading all of the luggage the ships would not be able to sail on time. The next available departure window was for 7pm. Our table for main seating in the dinning room was located on deck 5 against the port side windows. Shortly after 7 we could see the port start to drift away, a few minutes later it was back. This occurred about 2 or 3 times before coming to a final rest against the dock again. At this point I headed out to watch the departure only to find that all outside decks except the port side promenade were now closed due to the severe winds. While making my way around the cantilevered walkway around the dinning room on deck 5 I was surprised to be met by a series of high ranking officers including the captain and staff captain all looking over the rail to see the situation while another attempt to depart was made. After about a 30 minute break the azipods were once again turned to the dock and along with the thrusters were cranked up again, this time to near full force. Finally able to break free of the winds forces the Independence then speeded out of the harbor. Itinerary: --Video - Port Time-Lapse: http://youtu.be/q3hlrZZqMyo --Photos - All: http://picasaweb.google.com/DMPicone --Video - Captain Announcements: http://youtu.be/0DBjx2pEfoo Nov. 22: Southampton, England --Video - Day 1: http://youtu.be/3AGap9cUUFU --Video - Olympus Rocks Parade: http://youtu.be/FRoWryd0PgQ Nov. 23: At Sea --Video - Day 2: http://youtu.be/9D-kIAchHC0 Nov. 24: At Sea --Video - Day 3 - Morning Inside: http://youtu.be/3VVYBHi8cA8 --Video - Day 3 - Afternoon Outside: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW9MujvL_Qg Nov. 25: Lisbon, Portugal --Video - Day 4 - Arrival: http://youtu.be/MGgtyIAJfVQ --Video - Day 4 - Departure: http://youtu.be/3rTIg-9KG7s Nov. 26: At Sea --Video - Day 5: http://youtu.be/g7ve9ibo0wY Nov. 27: Ponta Delgada, Azures --Video - Day 6 - Arrival: http://youtu.be/h75r7KHK84Q --Video - Day 6 - Island & Departure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIeUKowQ1IM Nov. 28: At Sea --Video - Day 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPbX5Qcf_Gs --Video - Chef's Bake-A-Cake Challenge: http://youtu.be/gZ6Wiux3Unc --Video - Fourth Annual Interdepartmental Tug-O-War: http://youtu.be/DuzM0CZk4Kg Nov. 29: At Sea --Video - Day 8: http://youtu.be/L5I9C1QqszU Nov. 30: At Sea --Video - Day 9: http://youtu.be/hveWxvi5zLY --Video - Rock Britannia Party: http://youtu.be/s5MdBVedwbA Dec. 1: At Sea --Video - Day 10: http://youtu.be/lOx-7pUwXxU --Video - Mad Hatter's Ball Parade: http://youtu.be/UMewt7BiMaI Dec. 2: At Sea --Video - Day 11: http://youtu.be/h1L85nhtOtI Dec. 3: At Sea --Video - Day 12: http://youtu.be/Kzn50lS01Qw Dec. 4: Nassau, Bahamas --Video - Day 13: http://youtu.be/f_gcBTBFhx4 --Video - Lifeboat Testing: http://youtu.be/Cx7H84YDEIM --Video - Carnival Miracle Arrival: http://youtu.be/3Q_zDZo_-AU Dec. 5: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida --Video - Day 14: http://youtu.be/2mmtsDlZryc