Independence of the Seas needs refurbishing

Independence of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

frenchrebel

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 17

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

8 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 21, 2013

Ship: Independence of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7632

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

The ship is huge, but we didn't feel like we were on a marathon to get from one place to another...the design is good.

The entertainment was fantastic....each night 2 shows for early & late seating...singers & dancers every night (not just for the production shows). Atrium parades also great.

The food was good. The Windjammer area wasn't cleaned up quickly enough & some tables were left that way for a long time. That was a turn-off, since people needed tables. It wasn't as clean as I like.

In general, the ship needs refurbishing. Some carpeting was stained, upholstered items had stains & some furniture had chips & discoloration. Time for a facelift!

Having been on 35+ cruises, Princess Cruises is cleaner...there's always a crew doing work, polishing, vacuuming, dusting, etc. Didn't see much of that on the Independence.

However, this ship had shows that made Princess look like a beginner. Actually, while in San Juan, the Emerald Princess was alongside us & their passengers were on the balconies & decks, dancing & singing to our pool deck event. I've never seen anything like this & I think our cruise director is one of the absolute BEST!

The pool deck tables & area wasn't kept clean & with so many people, this was unacceptable, especially on a holiday cruise.

Princess has a good system with pool towels. Each cabin has these towels, so there's no need to wait in line & to sign in/out. The cabin steward knows immediately when they've been used or are missing.