Independence of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We were supposed to go on a 5 day cruise to Haiti and Jamaica.  A medical emergency for a passenger caused us to turn around and fall behind so much that we were unable to make Haiti. So what's the reward? Another FULL day at sea.  If I wanted that I would have purchased that.  I think it's very unfair that the cruise line has no standards to reimburse us. 

I probably will not take another cruise without that guarantee.  I will just fly and skip the annoying spring breakers and missed ports of call.

Also, when in Jamaica, we docked early because of the same emergency, and were there when Alure of the Seas was also there.  The Jamaica excursion line was total chaos and wasted another 2 hours there.  We were unable to shop in Jamaica because we had to go straight to the ship or miss it!

Very disappointed! The other part was that this was 2 of our party's 1st cruise and this is their impression :(

The dinner service we received was phenomenal. Other than that, the cruise was mediocre. They had to cancel one of our two ports, which seriously diminished the experience. We ended up with 3 days at sea, and only 1 port stop, on a 5 night cruise. Unfortunately, RCI did not offer any type of compensation for the cancelled port. Not that I expected much. However, it would have been a nice gesture to offer a credit towards a future booking, a discount on excursions for the one port we actually did visit, or discount on specialty dining. We'll be booking our next cruise on Carnival. We enjoyed the Carival Sunshine much more than any of our experiences on RCI.

- still waiting on response from cruise line for the major disappointment of last min cxl of stop at private island due to a "medical emergency".

- long lines/wait to embark / disembark (need to use more than one entrance/exit

- very unorganized shore excursions (long wait to get started once on shore which cut into actual excursion time)

- most staff were very friendly and profession but the few that weren't stood out)

- most male staff in casino were interested in leering and "grading" the young spring break women than interacting with playing guests.  Women casino staff were very accommodating and professional.

- food was above average at best (not the caliber of Disney)

- need more variety in daily entertainment than constant trivia and bingo.

- ship was clean with very good HK staff

- too many times the answer was no, instead of staff offering an alternate  solution or options to resolve guests' needs (i.e - asked for copies of on board ship photos on last day but was simply turned away saying we were too late - don't they keep these on file till at least the ship is emptied of its guests?)

My favorite part of the cruise was my stateroom with a balcony looking over the ship to the open seas and seeing God's creation. What I think needs to be improved on Royal Caribbean is a distinction between gratuities being added to your daily sea pass account; also provide a lower price on movies and a better movie selection with better TV viewing selection in the stateroom. I would recommend to first-time cruisers to be prepared for the check-in (border security checkpoints) process and check-out process; you cannot bring everything you buy back to United States.

This ship had great entertainment!  Ship is outdated.  I was disappointed that there are only 9 places to eat,  3 of these places you have set times you can eat at or it's closed.  The ship's "buffet" leaves a lot to be desired.  Between the poor food choices, flavors of the food and the trashy looking pots they serve food in, the pizza parlor on deck 5 was sadly your best bet.  It would have been nice to be warned that there would be OVER 400 college kids on spring break.  We couldn't get near the pools or a bar!  I'm only 48 but found this annoying.  We won't cruise with Royal Caribbean anytime soon.  Going back to Norwegian!

The ship is tastefully decorated with exquisite art and statues throughout. Balcony rooms are large & nice. Not much variety in choices of activities for non-athletic travelers. Staff was friendly and helpful. Food portions are small, but it's unlimited so you can order more if needed. Very difficult to get a plain chocolate dessert, most were mixed with mocha or expresso. Do not recommend sailing in March as drunken college kids on spring break are the majority of travelers & make for an unpleasant trip. Staff didn't enforce the posted rule of no glass in hot tubs and we witnessed many dumped drinks and floating and broken glasses in Serenity hot tubs. Adult karaoke turned into frat vs sorority singing and cheering sections. Our trip had a medical emergency and ship had to return to US, resulting in 1 of 2 ports not being made. While this was unfortunate and understandable, the cruise line did nothing for this inconvenience of missed port. We expected they would have added some fun activities to compensate for missing port of Labadee, but only a few additional activities  were added and no compensation for only making 1 port of call. (They actually blamed it on weather even though the captain and many crew members had previously said we likely wouldn't have time for port due to having to return to US). If you are traveling with 18-20, it's difficult for them to connect with similar travelers. If you are traveling with a cane, recommend renting a scooter or wheelchair as drunken passengers have little courtesy and you will be bumped. There's a 1am curfew for passengers 17 and under. Recommend 18-20 yr olds carry license to show age to get into 18+ clubs & obtain late night snacks. Staff at Promenade cafe (only open late night food venue) denied serving food to my 19 yr old even after she showed ID resulting in an embarrassing situation for her & a migraine. The dining room manager addressed & rectified the situation the following day but was unavailable to address it at the time it happened. If you need help, guest services on 5th floor is open 24 hrs. In Jamaica we did the Dunn's river waterfall climb and swimming with the dolphins & it was well worth the $149 excursion fee. However other excursions (the accessible Jamaica tour & dune buggy excursion were disappointing and not as described. Recommend avoiding both) This was our 6th cruise and first & last time on Royal Caribbean. If you don't have the unlimited drink package, you will notice prices at bars vary & the same drink will cost more depending on which bar you buy it. 

favorite was the ship. unfavorite was the food, horrible and the leaving the cruise no system every number left at the same; time causing a buildup on the stairs.

The ship was beautiful.  The cruise was fun and will be going again.  The only problem that needs to be addressed is the dining room service with the anytime dining.  The server was rude.  Will not do anytime dining again on that ship.

Best part of my cruise was the crew members. They did a great job. The worst part wad the departure. The lines were long unorganized and no one there to assist. Definitely going back and will heavily recommend.

Dinner in the dining room was very nice and service was very good.  The Windjammer was not good. Too many people, not enough plates or silverware and no place to sit cause tables were scarce. Tried it two days in a row and then decided to have breakfast in the Romeo and Juliet dining where we could get a table and have service provided instead of a chaotic free for all in the Windjammer.

This was a much different experience than we had on the Adventure of the Seas last year.  

I really enjoyed the tour of the plantation. The tour guide really went out of their way to make it enjoyable. The drink package was well worth the price.

We have been disappointed that we had not a Captain supper has usual in the past with other cruse line.

However we are ready to recommand Royal Carribbean  to anybody among our friends and parents. Thank you, Marie and Jean-Claude

We had a great time, food was good at all times, we took the upgrade package to dining in both the steak house and the Italian grill and that was a great experience. We did not buy the drink package but ordered bottles of wine instead as they are being kept at the restaurant for as long as the bottle isn't finished and that worked out better for us.

The stateroom with balcony was perfect, our attendant Cliff was awesome.

Can't say anything bad about this one!

Oh, and I greatly appreciated the cigar lounge!

The entertainment was great. Food and service in dining room was very good but the food selection in the Windjammer left a lot to be desired. Overall, it was a pleasant cruise but not exciting.

The ship experience was vary good however getting on and off the ship was a long time in line. The shore excursion in Jamaica was a let down with the long bus ride and no time to shop or experience the Island.

staff was not as friendly as other cruise lines i have taken, food was terrible, and ship was outdated. on-board show was nice, but staff needs better training and more personality

I enjoyed this cruise.  I only wish that all the food was inclusive.  But the weather was great, the food was pretty good, the excursion in Mexico was awesome, the shows were wonderful.  Overall, pretty good!

RC and Independence of the Sea was a great cruise, very upset with offload of the ship. The crew did nothing to notice that only 3 customs agents were working because of the Holiday, but continued on normal off load schedule, ignoring the cramming of passengers at the exit.  Highly disappointed with them.  When I said something to one of the crew, it went on deaf ears....for this reason alone.  I won't travel again.

Favorite:

•The ship with its atrium style is spectacular.

•Our balcony room was spacious with equally spacious balcony

• Crew were ALLL wonderful and they work their butts off [While we always prepay our tips, we ALWAYS throw then more, because they deserve it!]

Needs Work:

•Chef's Table: They use a space in the dining room so very difficult to hear the course 7 wine explanations. We have participated on other cruise line Chef's Table;  we are are newly met friend, who said they ALAYS do the Chef's Table and rated this as the lowest, as did my wife and I.

•Carnival Cruise offers small wash / dry with and free iron / ironing board area to touch up clothes in a quick manner. On Royal Caribbean, you have to give to your cabin steward in the morning for use that evening. 

* Royal Caribbean has hot dogs and NO sauerkraut.

* I love having a comedy act every night on Carnival, NOT on RC.

• We like going to the special restaurants and have no problem paying the extra fee. On RC, their steakhouse bills the extra PLUS has another extra if you want certain items. [I have NEVER seen that in the special restaurants, only in the main dining room] They do NOT do that in the Italian restaurant.

Our party of 15 did have a wonderful time.  The food was great, the shows were great and the activities wonderful.   I reason our rating cam down from excellent to good was because of a major incident that marred the trip.  

In the middle of the night our adult daughter came down to our room crying and said "Jimmy" our 6 year old grandson was missing.  We carefully searched all four staterooms, literally screaming his name,  then pool areas and finally went down to guest services.  I felt that the staff lacked compassion and tact in the following moments.  First we were asked if we had checked the rooms and questioned about Jimmy's behavior by the "captain in charge" .  There was a very kind woman who did have compassion and she was the one go up to the room.  She again checked under the bed and to our relief found Jimmy between the bedskirts of the bed...far up toward the top of the bed.  

When Jimmy was pulled out he had no idea of the commotion, he had caused.

We returned to guest services to fill out the paper work and the first thing the "captain said was "I told you to check the room!", Then he went on to ask Kate "Why was he running away from you?"  and to top it off "Is he always a naughty boy?" All of which were hurtful and unnecessary remarks.

I am responding to this issue as although I am the grandmother...I was the one who paid for all four rooms, as this was our 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration.  Now it will be remembered for not only the event but how it was handled by the "captain". Lynn Reeves