Wonderful ship; not so wonderful ports
Independence of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
6 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 11, 2015
Ship: Independence of the Seas
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9576
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
Without a doubt, Royal Caribbean is the best cruise line by far. The ship is beautiful (as are all the Freedom class ships), and we loved our time on it. Food in the dining room was better than our previous cruise, but the Windjammer was the same old stuff (not so good). Shows were excellent, especially the ice show, but other than the orchestra the bands on the ship were definitely sub-par. There was no band that played good dance music, and this was the first cruise on which we didn't dance even once. Since that is usually one of the high points of a cruise, we were very disappointed in that. The cruise director seemed far more interested in showing off his own entertaining than in providing overall entertainment on the ship! Georgetown, Grand Cayman, is a disappointing port unless you go on one of the tours. There is nothing to do in town, not even good shopping or restaurants. Falmouth, Jamaica, is interesting if you get out of Royal Caribbean's new port area. The craft market there is a real blast if you don't mind being pestered by the many merchants. Other than that there is not a lot in town.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Be sure to attend all the shows: they are wonderful. Take some time to explore the ship, since it is an engineering marvel.
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)