Western Caribbean on Independence of Sea

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 0

Helpful Votes: 4

Review summary

I sailed on Independence of Seas January, 2013 for 6 night itinerary from Fort Lauderdale visiting Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Costa Maya. I have previously sailed with RCCL on Jewel of Seas. Independence is a beautiful, very large, very clean and well maintained ship. Room steward was very attentive and available if we needed him. Guest services were helpful and friendly. There were lots of activities going on around the ship. Ice show was very good. Given all the good things about this ship and staff it is so sad the food quality did not meet my expectations of Royal Caribbean. There were no trays of fresh sliced fruit only bowls of whole fruit, apples, bananas, kiwi and pears. There were no cook to order stations of any kind and no food outlet at the pool area. The hamburgers and hotdogs occupied a large section on the buffet. There was no omelet station at breakfast and a staff member confirmed that the scrambled eggs were powdered. The premade omelets looked as though they were pressed from a tortilla maker. The Windjammer Buffet area was too small for the number of passengers and was very, very congested every time we visited. The one main dining room was nice, service was very good, but food was below average. There were two other outlets that served pizza or finger sandwiches. The room service menu was the most limited of any ship I have traveled on. Three other food venues were available for a surcharge of $5 to $30. Although the Independence fell far short on food quality I know this is not the standard of all RCCL ships. I will most likely sail on RCCL again but not on the Independence.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Pros: Very clean\, well maintained ship

Cons: Low food quality

Recommends Independence of the Seas? No.