A Great Trip for Fun in the Med Sun

Independence of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 49

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Verified Review
Independence of the Seas

14 Night Mediterranean Beaches (Southampton Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 18, 2016

Ship: Independence of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 8613

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This is a great cruise to have fun in the sun all along the Western Med.  Just don't look for pool weather until you get south of Lisbon.   The ship is well maintained with a friendly crew.  We were surprised to find many more Brits than Americans on this cruise and the cruise line follows those interests in both entertainment and menus. The Brits seemed more polite and a bit more reserved than yanks except when it comes to football and we enjoyed their company.  I can't say we enjoyed the brit comedy shows as their accent and sense of humor were quite different.  We found plenty of food variety in the Windjammer so we did not need to develop a taste for black pudding or bangers and mash.

We enjoyed all out tours and all ran flawlessly. 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

Brit comics must be an acquired taste but all the other shows were great.

Children's Programs

3 out of 5
Great program for those under 12 but not much for young teens.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
A nice ship but I miss OASIS class in this size ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Nice size cabin and surprising well sound insulated from the noise of parties below on the Royal Prominade

Ports of call

Southampton (London), England

5 out of 5

Gibraltar (U.K.)

5 out of 5
They are not kidding about giving those monkeys a wide berth. If you have food you will not have it for long..pay attention to your guide and you will be fine. The view is not to be missed.

Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France

5 out of 5

Toulon, France

5 out of 5

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

5 out of 5

Malaga, Spain

5 out of 5

Cadiz (Seville), Spain

3 out of 5
Seville is not to be missed but needed a longer port stop as we only had 3.5 hours in town. The drop off is a short 10 min walk from the Alcazar which would have been nice to know in advance.
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2 Comments

tracy30    8 years ago

We sailed on 2nd July for 2 weeks. Fab weather even the last day sailing (Friday) was good weather though not as hot as all previous days. The time we left Southampton after muster stations it rained and it even snowed but following day lovely

whitebriony    8 years ago

I'm hopeful the weather will be good all the way in August, it's about time we had some sunshine in the UK. This summer has seen rubbish. When did you sail?