Spring break time = horrible cruise

Independence of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 155

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
Independence of the Seas

5 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 07, 2016

Ship: Independence of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9318

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

We are always raving about Royal's high standards and took the in-laws along this time only to be highly disappointed in the vacation.  We got on the ship only to find it was over run by obnoxious spring breakers (we thought we had another week before that would be the case).  There were countless incidents on the cruise with a very large number being handed over to police.  Getting to the bar and getting served was almost impossible so we wasted a premium drink package essentially.  Our children had to deal with college kids spilling alcohol on them in the elevator (and this was at 6 pm), people being loud in the hallway at night, food on the floors of the hallway in the morning.  We hurried back to the ship when at port in attempt to get a few hours of normalness which was sad considering part of the reason we cruise is to visit other places.  The crew itself could do little to change the effect the students had because they can only do so much.  Every person we spoke to that was not on spring break complained of the actions, dress, etc they had to deal with while on this cruise.  I know this is a review of the cruise in general; however, it was difficult to separate the state the students put the ship in from the ACTUAL experience we could have had.  I will say the behind the scenes tour of the ship was nice even though we had to duck out early to get the kids from Adventure Ocean.  Zipline was a great experience as well.  The ports of call were nice.  I would say the cruise would have been the typical experience from Royal, just do NOT go in late Feb, March, or April unless you like essentially no clothing, no shoes, loud crowds all the time, and people being rude the entirety of the trip.

Disembarkment resulted in us being 2 hours later than we should have been leaving the lounge area thanks to so many self carrying and not going down until 9 am.  It was a very frustrating trip.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
This was a great cabin. It was close to an elevator but far enough that you couldn't hear people waiting for it. The pool deck was only 2 up so we often just took the stairs rather than elevator. It was not close to common areas so it would normally be quiet.

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

3 out of 5

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

5 out of 5

Falmouth, Jamaica

5 out of 5
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