Won't Be Going On This Ship Again

Independence of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

CaptainCol

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 38

Overall rating:

2.6 out of 5

14 Night Mediterranean Highlights (Southampton Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 22, 2018

Ship: Independence of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7534

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Been on this ship before the re-fit and loved it. Now it is overcrowded, some of the staff seem very unhelpful and it is a job to get a seat anywhere along the promenade (Shopping/bar area). Royal Caribbean seem to be now aiming for a different class of clientele who like to do nothing but drink all day and get very loud with their opinions. I will not be travelling on this ship again. This is our personal view but I'm sure there will be people who love it!!!

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

The windjammer cafe was what you would expect it to be but the main dining room food was very poor. The choice was awful and sometimes what you ordered off the menu wasn't what you actually got. On three occasions the food wasn't even cooked properly.

Champagne Bar

4 out of 5

Lorenzo and the team made this the best bar on board.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Kept showing things on their App that took our fancy and when we arrived for them they had been cancelled and the app wasn't updated. This happened at least three times.

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Very poor this cruise. Same people for two weeks in the star lounge, schooner bar, pub in the promenade. The cruise director was totally useless.

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Our main waiter (Female) was very nice to start with but as the cruise went on she got quite miserable so we decided to eat in the windjammer cafe.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

The infrastructure of the ship is for 500 people less than they cram on. Very disappointing.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Cabin is very tired. Carpet was never vacuumed and not cleaned well before our arrival or during our stay.

Ship tip

Since the re-fit it is way over crowded and uncomfortable at the bars and seating area's.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Southampton (London), England Did not visit port

Thumbs Up 0

Gibraltar (U.K.)

2 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France

3 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

2 out of 5

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Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

3 out of 5

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Toulon, France

3 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Barcelona, Spain

3 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Lisbon, Portugal

4 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Vigo, Spain

2 out of 5

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

6 Comments

Jivechris 6 years ago

Agree - cruised on her before and after the refit. Now very overcrowded. Would never cruise on her again.

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Johndenise 6 years ago

Just done 14 days on Indy after 12 cruises on this ship it was the worst ever will not be using her again

Thumbs Up 1

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Sarahs58 6 years ago

Also seems to be the same theme that first time Indy cruisers love it but repeat cruisers are unhappy with the ship since the refit. As said before we still enjoyed our cruise but won't be going back on the ship.

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HarryHole 6 years ago

Norwegian and Celebrity are my favourites👌

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lrgd 6 years ago

Same here

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onlysail 6 years ago

Seems to be a common theme running through american cruises

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