First Cruise

Independence of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

copplestone

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 53

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

14 Night Mediterranean Explorer (Southampton Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 01, 2017

Ship: Independence of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9370

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

My favourite part was walking around the outside decks and chilling looking out to sea, can't beat it. Entertainment was fabulous.

Improvement: Clientele was an eye opener to the extent of sharing everything no matter what you paid. Only the gold badge holders had a space/bar of there own.

Yes l would recommend the cruise to others, the ship and it's staff are a credit to Royal Caribbean.

Wouldn't working for them myself.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Shame the Windjammer was a little battle ground on some occasions and some people not respecting staff.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Plenty to keep us occupied if required.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Shows we saw were excellent.

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

N/A for us, but it did look like the children could have plenty of fun.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Can't fault, friendly and helpful.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

For a ten year old ship that is none stop with it's trips and turnarounds we couldn't fault.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Rumour has it the ship is due a refit. Cabin soft furnishings a little to fussy, perhaps l should say to Americanised (hope l'm not being to harsh, to British).

Ship tip

Watch out for the sadly disrespectful/common clientele sailing from Southampton.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Southampton (London), England

2 out of 5

Standard port.

Thumbs Up 0

Gibraltar (U.K.)

2 out of 5

Changed a lot since 1986.

Thumbs Up 1

Barcelona, Spain

3 out of 5

No organisation on the return bus travel back to the ship.

Thumbs Up 0

Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France

3 out of 5

Excellent.

Thumbs Up 0

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

1 out of 5

Sadly lots of rubbish, gravity and street sellers.

Thumbs Up 1

Valencia, Spain

2 out of 5

Not bad but the ship berthed miles away.

Thumbs Up 0

Malaga, Spain

2 out of 5

Typical Town, not much to sightsee.

Thumbs Up 0

Cadiz (Seville), Spain

3 out of 5

Would have liked to explored more.

Thumbs Up 0

Traveler Photos

5 Comments

copplestone 7 years ago

Yes. It was ok in there when you could use it though

Thumbs Up 0

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Johndenise 7 years ago

That is the Diamond lounge during those hours only available to Diamond and above in crown and anchor status

Thumbs Up 1

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copplestone 7 years ago

Sorry it's my first cruise and l'm not against anyone in particular. Friends we made onboard where asked to leave the bar on deck 14 Oliver Twist during 17:30 & 20:00hrs because of private functions that occurred every night.

Thumbs Up 1

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pamela27 7 years ago

Think it means the guests that are in a suite. Their seapass cards are gold. They have an area reserved for sunbathing but not sure about a private bar.

Thumbs Up 1

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charliesponghotmailcouk 7 years ago

what bar is just for gold badge holders? I assume you mean gold crown and anchor members?

Thumbs Up 0

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