Pleasantly surprised
Independence of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
4 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: January 05, 2017
Ship: Independence of the Seas
Cabin type: Oceanview
Cabin number: 2648
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
15 foot seas not withstanding on the last day - this was a very good cruise. First time with Royal Caribbean. Ship was huge, but beautiful and well run. We've used Carnival (never again) and Princess (amazing). RC was definitely on the Princess scale!
Food was good - not exceptional. Ate dinner in main dining room each night.
Service was top notch throughout the entire ship.
Entertainment was quite good and there was always plenty to do.
Unexpected pleasant surprises - Comedian was actually hysterical. Ice Skating show was incredible.
Critique - We would have liked was the ability to borrow cards or board games when we wanted some quiet family time. Were able to buy cards on board, but never found any board games.
Bingo was prohibitively expensive. Lower charge would have resulted in more participation - meaning their net profit would've probably been the same with more passengers happily participating.
*Not thrilled with the extra cost associated with some things (activities, certain menu items in the main dining room [lobster for instance], ship tour, etc.) - we found none of these costs to be 'nominal' so we chose not to partake in any of them.
* realize this might be industry standard now and not just reflective of Royal Caribbean.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Go to the ice skating show, even if ice skating is not particularly your thing. Rocky seas mean show will be cancelled for skaters' safety (you'll understand if you see the show) so make sure to go to the first possible show.
Ports of call
Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida
Traveler Photos
