Bad Karaoke

Item: Independence of the Seas
Rating: 3.9
Author: NYSensation

Independence of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

NYSensation

Contributor Level: Second Mate

629 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5

5 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 17, 2018

Ship: Independence of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 9501

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Ultimately, cruise was fun. Bad cruise still beats a great day of work anytime. For me, Karaoke and My Time Dining are very important and this ship lacked for me. It was still memorable and I got to do and see some amazing things. I will still cruise, just not with Royal Caribbean. It was not my cup of tea.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

It actually went really quick except for my fiance and her mom are not US citizens. They are here legally and have residency cards. All was submitted to RC in advance and approved but still had to wait to board. For a little while I thought they were not going to allow us to board. Thankfully all wound up ok and we were cleared.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

I thought food was ok. My son had cold dinner twice in the MDR. We also ate dinner twice in the Lido buffet because if you do not make a reservation for my time dining, you may not be seated until after 8 at night. Also, other then pizza and room service, food is not available after 10.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Ship itself is awesome. Flowrider was great. Rock climbing was great. VR trampoline was cool. Karaoke was poor. Only 1 book, not a lot of choices compared to Carnival and only did it 3 days for 1 hour each. Only 13 people were able to sign up. We got there 45 minutes early the third day and still did not get to sing. That was very frustrating.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Singers and musicians were very talented. Comedians were really funny with very little cursing. Deck parties were lame as ship is designed to have their parties indoors at the Royal Promenade. 70's dance party was cool, but did not like the setup. Was more of a show then a dance party.

Children's Programs

2 out of 5

My kids are 17 and 18 so I probably should not comment. All I can say is our kids stayed with us the whole cruise. None of the printed plans for youth group interested them and the 1 time my son went to check things out, he came back 20 minutes later saying they were just sitting around doing nothing. He was bored.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Waiters in MDR were very good.our room service person (Calwyn) was phenomenal. Barely ever saw cruise director until last day. When we complained at Guest Services, we were told someone would call us the next day to discuss with us, and we are still waiting. Obviously they just say that to get rid of you.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Ship seemed pretty clean, and it was very easy to find things on board. What I do not like is there is not enough room on deck for deck parties. Sailaways were very boring. One deck party for dancing under the stars was lame. Nobody was there. Ship staff did not support it.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

It was always kept clean. Not much storage for your clothes. First cruise I ever had where I basically lived out of my suitcase. Calwyn was awesome. Bar soap they give you made our skin dry. After calling, they provided travel size body gels instead.