May 2015 - 7 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip) Cruise on Independence of the Seas
Great Experience but not Perfect
cindyjchambers
Purser
Joined 05/2015
1
Cruise1
Review31
Helpful VotesPast cruises
Independence of the Seas
Sail date: May 17, 2015
Great Experience but not Perfect
Being a first time cruiser it was difficult to figure out the schematics of the restaurants. For instance, it wasn't until the cruise was over that my husband and I found out that one of the restaurants during the lunch hour offered a salad buffet. This buffet was not located in the normal WindJammer/Jade buffet. Fresh vegetable in general were lacking in all meal areas. The food was okay. There was a lot of it, but the food quality was not healthy.
What was problematic for us on the day of arrival was knowing where to go with our service dog for toileting needs. Nobody, and I mean nobody knew where to send us. It was like we were asking for foreign request that simply was not being understood. We had to go to guest services 4 times. Each time we were sent off on our own to explore the port side of the ship to find this toileting area. Each time we were unsuccessful. It wasn't until a staff person on the port side of the deck asked us what we needed. She then told us exactly where to go and pointed us to the door this area was behind. The only reason she knew where this toileting area was located is due to another family that had the same issue, also traveling with a service dog. It was ridiculous. And the service behind this one issue was not at all professional. They actually seemed bothered by our request.
Another thing that would have been nice is for the captain of the ship to announce land areas the ship was passing. We would pass islands that were visible from the ship....but no one on board had a clue what islands we were passes as the captain never stated anything to this nature, Travelers like to know what they are viewing. Similar to an airline pilot making an announcement of noted land masses the plane is passing over, the captain could have done the same regarding the passing of different land masses.
Otherwise, our cruise was as good as expected. We learned a lot. The first time is always more difficult as there is a huge learning curve. There are hidden expenses that add a minimum of $500 to a total cruise cost that is not revealed until a passenger boards. Now that our first cruise is over....we know what do do on our next one.
Cruise tips
Love this port. We went on an excursion independent from the cruise line and it was fantastic. We were part of a small group of only 14 and went to areas in Jamica that most passengers didn't even know existed. Our tour guide was amazing and filled us with rich Jamaican history.
We loved Cozumel. We didn't participate on any excursion. We simply walked the streets and shopped. Had a meal and margaritas in a local resturant and swam in the sea. It was an awesome day.
Our excursion was a disappointment. Again independent of the cruise line, we took the Atlantis sub. It was very expensive, lasted 1.5 hours and simply did not offer a lot to view. We went on this excursion because friends of us highly recommended it. We would have been happier exploring on our own.
Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)
It was nice to just sit and enjoy the water, food and drink. Disappointing that all attractions cost a lot of money. We didn't do any of them.
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Didn't explore. No opinion
Independence of the Seas
Theater shows were okay. One out of five was really excellent. Food was average. Fresh veggies are very few and not healthy for the most part. State rooms are nice. Ship clean and tidy. Internet is not free and very slow. It hardly functioned and is certainly not worth the cost
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Being a first time cruiser it was difficult to figure out the schematics of the restaurants. For instance, it wasn't until the cruise was over that my husband and I found out that one of the restaurants during the lunch hour offered a salad buffet. This buffet was not located in the normal WindJammer/Jade buffet. Fresh vegetable in general were lacking in all meal areas. The food was okay. There was a lot of it, but the food quality was not healthy.
What was problematic for us on the day of arrival was knowing where to go with our service dog for toileting needs. Nobody, and I mean nobody knew where to send us. It was like we were asking for foreign request that simply was not being understood. We had to go to guest services 4 times. Each time we were sent off on our own to explore the port side of the ship to find this toileting area. Each time we were unsuccessful. It wasn't until a staff person on the port side of the deck asked us what we needed. She then told us exactly where to go and pointed us to the door this area was behind. The only reason she knew where this toileting area was located is due to another family that had the same issue, also traveling with a service dog. It was ridiculous. And the service behind this one issue was not at all professional. They actually seemed bothered by our request.
Another thing that would have been nice is for the captain of the ship to announce land areas the ship was passing. We would pass islands that were visible from the ship....but no one on board had a clue what islands we were passes as the captain never stated anything to this nature, Travelers like to know what they are viewing. Similar to an airline pilot making an announcement of noted land masses the plane is passing over, the captain could have done the same regarding the passing of different land masses.
Otherwise, our cruise was as good as expected. We learned a lot. The first time is always more difficult as there is a huge learning curve. There are hidden expenses that add a minimum of $500 to a total cruise cost that is not revealed until a passenger boards. Now that our first cruise is over....we know what do do on our next one.