Independence of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The Independence of the Seas is huge! It was very clean, easy to find your way around and I loved the flow rider and the gym.

We loved the Independence of the Seas. Our waiter Jan Michel has left us spoiled. We will never be able to eat in another restuarant again.The best service we have ever had dining.. The Cruise director Graham was also very impressive and funny.

My wife and I have taken six previous cruises over the years and had never experienced one that came close to this one in total satisfaction! Everything was well planned from the booking experience to the leaving of the ship on the final day.

First, the bad news. There is an oddly thin veneer of glamour about Royal Carribean, like someone showed them a short movie about elegant living and they cobbled together a vacation experience from that. Telling your guests to put on black tie does not a formal affair make, particularly not when your wait-staff are trying to sell your guests an extra glass of soda or wine throughout the entire meal. A well worn rule of thumb in polite society says that whenever you ask someone for their wallet at a formal gathering, you had better be affiliated with a charity, a cause, or a candidate. If you ignore this rule, any air of formality that you hoped to establish at your occasion will sink like the Titanic. Royal Carribean either doesn't know this rule, or doesn't care. It seems to us that there is a system in place from the moment you board the ship to constantly sell you things. I'm talking about drinks, both soft and alcoholic, excursions, trinkets, momentos, gambling, massages, facials, accupuncture, haircuts, shaves, manicures, etc, etc, etc. Anything and everything that they can make an extra dime on, they will sell you. Calls home are $8.00/minute, internet access is $0.55/minute, small bottles of water for shore excursions, $3.50, pay per view movies in your room, $12.99 each. It wouldn't be so bad if they came through with the goods when you paid, but the tropical drinks they serve for $8.50 have never even met a peice of fresh fruit, their burgers from "Johnny Rockets" are extrordinarily bad, and their roulette wheels all have double zeros, thus improving the odds for the house. With that said, there is, to be fair, some good news. The ship itself is spectacular. You have to see it for yourself to understand what I mean. The "low level," least senior staff were fantastic. I'm speaking about the people who bus your table, clean your cabin, refresh your water or coffee, and just generally look after you. About these people, I just can't say enough. They are smart, attentive, polite, pleasant, and go about the business of making you as comfortable as possible almost invisibly. Unfortunately, these marvelous people are hindered by Royal Carribean's previously mentioned zest for revenue enhancements.

overall a great trip. Everything was organized and executed flawlessly.

This is our third cruise. We have sailed on the Mariner of the Seas, a Carnival ship, and now the Independence of the Seas. The ship is massive which makes for great sailing and the open feeling is very nice.

WHEN YOU TRAVEL WITH RC THERE IS NOTHING NOT TO LIKE. WE HAVE BEEN ON OVER 35 CRUISES< NONE AS WONDERFUL AS RC, WE LOVE THE SHIP WE LOVE THE STAFF WE LOVE THE ROOMS WE LOVE THE FOOD. IN LIFE YOU LEARN IF YOU ARE SMART TO ENJOY EVERY MOMENT. WE ENJOY EVERY MOMENT ON RC.

Its worth taking this cruise. Lots of fun and lots to do.

I Highly recommend taking this cruise.

It is a tewrrific ship with lots to do. Beware the ship holds over 4,000 tourists and a crew of 1,500.

The best travel agent in the world is Janet Castro with Cruises Only.

no comment

Wow this ship is big and they are going to get a bigger one in a year called the oasis. I loved the ship and had lots of fun.

Brand new ship was very clean and very high quality of service. This cruise had more activities for both adults and children than other cruse ships (Carnival, Disney, NCL) The Flowrider is worth the price of admission if your active in water sports. Rock climbing was huge and looked lke fun, I did not try it.

This is a "Huge Ship" there is plenty to see and do... first night we watched our team "NY Gaints" beat the Panthers in a sports bar! We loved the street vendor look and the free pizza and free sandwiches and drinks!!!

I don't like getting riped of

I was very impressed with the Independence of the Seas! It's the largest ship I've been on. I loved the Flow Rider, it was fun to watch people try it out. I also tried Portofino for the first time. It was outstanding!!! I will definitely have dine there again.

Independence of the Seas is a beautiful ship with lots to offer. The thought of being on a ship with 4,000+ people was overwhelming to say the least, but to our surprise it was smooth sailing. Except for disembarkation day, you were able to get an elevator without a long wait. The areas of the ship did not seem crowded. We were wondering where everyone had gone. The food in the main dining room was excellent and great variety. Our waiter and assistant waiter were excellent. We ate at Chops to celebrate a birthday and it went beyond our expectations. The ship was very clean and very nicely decorated. If you dont like the rocking motion, this is the ship for you. I was hoping the size of the ship would help it be more stable and so it was. The beds, we could not say enough about how comfortable the beds and pillows were. That is rare to say, but now that we are home, we actually miss the bed. I dont like to sleep in and I found myself doing it just to stay in bed longer. Overall we had a great cruise, weather was wonderful, staff was courteous, friendly and professional. We enjoyed this cruise more than any other (out of 5) we have taken. The only part we did not enjoy was embarkation day at Ft Laud. It needs to come up to the same standards as Miami because embarkation was horrible. The traffic to get in is horrible and the traffic around the terminals is a nightmare. Yes, there were a lot of people, but no organization. We were told to head to the ship without checking in. Staff did not have it clear on what to tell us to do. Miami is much better organized. I will probably choose my cruises to come out of Miami from now on in order to avoid Ft Laud.

One word; Unbelievable !

in someways we enjoy the Liberty best....seems that some little things have been over looked on the Independence, i.e. no scales in the mens changing room....cash machines in the casino were not always operational..no green tea available at Seattles....