Independence of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We really enjoyed our cruise. It was for my husband and my 20th wedding anniversary. We went with another couple that had never been on a cruise, they also enjoyed it.

It was good, but there are few areas where i felt there is a need of improvement which have been listed below. The team needs to look into more understanding for kids and older people disembarkation...

This was my first cruise ever.  Royal Caribbean does an amazing job of making your vacation wonderful.  The staff on the ship is top notch, dedicated, and extremely hard working.  They all seemed to love their jobs.  I would absolutely choose Royal Caribbean again.  The ship was a great size - not to big or to small.  The logistics of getting on and off the ship just amazed me as to how smooth it all went.  So organized.  The public areas of the ship were always clean and sparkling.  The food was amazing.  The entire trip exceeded my expectations!!

Took the trip using miles. Candidly was disappointed.  The itinerary was ok; however people need to realize the costs for excursions, drinks, "tips" and non standard meals added more than $1000 to the cost of the trip. This is in addition to the miles and fees.. The shore excursions in Belize were not worth it and really overpriced. Cozumel was so-so. The submarine excursion was ok. The rooms and service were good. The food in the main dining was only average and actually quite disappointing for what you would expect. We had to have one of our meals replaced for being so bad.

The cruise line actually is having you subsidize the salaries by adding daily tips fees to your room. You really don't have a choice. This are over $25 dollars a day and went up even more this week. This is really why cruises should be forced to disclose total costs much like airlines..  I suggest taking your trip cost and doubling it or tripling it to get an actual cost. Of the 4 cruises I have been on, this was the most disappointing.

Ship was great! Perfect size with lots to do for all ages.  Easy to navigate around.  The service was great from the bars to the food places and Promenade shopping. They were friendly and help if you needed something.  

Independence of the Seas is truly a ship for all ages. This is my second time on this ship but a totally different experience from the first.   Two years ago I travelled with just my husband and totally enjoyed all the amenities. Last week I traveled with my grandchildren (7&10 years old) and had a totally different but fabulous experience. Activities and amenities are plentiful so regardless of age or interest you are guaranteed a fun time. 

Our cruise aboard the Independence of the Seas was very relaxing and enjoyable.  Cliff, our stateroom attendant, was very friendly and took excellent care of us.  Peter, our dining room waiter, always met us with a smile and made our dining experience pleasant.  He had a thorough knowledge of the menu options and was very helpful.  Throughout the ship, we encountered pleasant, friendly crew members who were always quick to take care of our needs.  The ship was clean and beautiful, the shows were entertaining, and the activities were a lot of fun.  Our embarkation and disembarkation at every port was well organized.  Thanks, RCCL for a wonderful time!!

My boyfriend and I took this cruise, let me start by saying the staff on this ship is ANAZING!!! They have a great great, great service!! MAKE SURE YOU GO TO THE LATE NIGHT SHOWS THEY ARE HILARIOUS! Labadee we did snorkeling and zip lining. The snorkeling was beautiful but hardly any sea life! The guy who did the tour said the area is over fished.. Zip line was fun but not as scary as I imagined. Jamaica... DO NOT waste your time at Dunn's! You cannot swim there! MUST GO TO BLUE HOLE!! It was amazing!!! 

There are interesting shows and delicous food.

Clean room every day. lots of activities and events to do every day.

Beautiful sea and restuarant together.

I definitely enjoyed staying there!!

This was my first cruise and it was a great trip.The personnel on the ship made sure this was an experience of a life time. Everyone was very friendly and made me feel so welcome.I'm looking forward to another cruise soon with Royal Caribbean.

The cruise was OK. Very rough seas on the way home. One day after arriving home, I became "violently" ill ... no exaggeration with the word "violently." Literally the sickest I've ever been in my life. I'm grateful I was not ill like that on the cruise or on the travel day home. My husband looked up my symptoms - and it appears I may have contracted norovirus on the cruise. Although the cruise was fun, I do not think our family will be cruising in the future.

If you are looking for a relaxing getaway, this could be for you. I went on this cruise with intentions of spending time with my friends and that is what I was able to do. There are plenty of spaces to sit and share each others company and we found many activities we were interested in.  Our room was kept spotless and clean  for the entire cruise, but I will mention that I stepped on a piece of glass and cut my foot in the room on the first evening. Our cabin steward was extremely nice and did an excellent job. The overall appearance of the ship was a reasonably good, but I felt the need to sit on a towel in any of the lounging chairs by the pool. The cushions were stained and not clean. Also the public washrooms were quite clean,  but the more highly trafficked ones could have used more attention.  We felt that  The entertainment was of excellent quality. Where the ship mostly fell down for me it was in the dining. I just cannot stress how disappointed I was in the quality of the food. In the past, we have enjoyed the dining room immensely.  Breakfast and lunch  were okay, but the dinners were unbelievably poor. I cannot stress this enough. I felt like I was being served in a bargain basement diner. The food was poorly cooked and in most cases not hot. Most importantly, it was of extreme low quality. To the point where, I ordered scallops  and I was served fake precessed fish!!!!! The shrimps were basically inedible. And I am just not sure how the vegetables were cooked so badly. No one in our group was satisfied with the food. I am extremely annoyed that I was served such poor quality and told that I should spend the extra money for the specialty dining. No one in our group had budgeted for that. What I will say about the dining room was that the service was excellent. Our servers were named James and Hiladio. No one in our group had budgeted for that. What I will say about the dining room was that the service was excellent. Our servers were named James and Hiladio.  We could not have asked for them to treat us any better. They elevated the dining experience greatly. 

 Overall, I would say that if you're looking for a quick getaway, this experience fits the bill. But again, I will not stress enough how disappointed I was in being fed such poor quality food. I would definitely consider this before booking again:(

I have been on the oasis and the allure ships and was completely satisfied with service, entertainment and food.  This cruise I brought 2 friends that had never been on a cruise before. The service was good.  Our servers for dinner were outstanding.  Givago Amaro DeSilva in guest services was fantastic handling a airconditioning problem we had.  The entertainment was ok, comedian was to vulger, shows a little lacking.   The food was terrible, couldnt believe how bad it was.  I was a bit embarrased with friends because I told them it was going to be great.  We were so hungry at the end of the trip, we went to a big dinner in Delray Beach.   The slow food service in johnny rockets was sickening.  salad bar had many empty bowls, I basically just had lettuce and a tiny amount of tomatoes.   fake eggs made me gag.  I think the employees were trying to be so nice but didn't know what to do, I feel they were a bit embarrased about it and were trying to hard to please us.  I would never go on this ship again because part of the cruising experience is eating good food, and it was terrible.  My girlfriend also ordered a 24 bottle water package for our room and it took over 24 hours to get it and they said they would credit her card and they never did,  her name is suzanne Hill.  I would like that to be done.  I asked her to come on the trip and I feel bad that I did.  Service was great the lady that took care of our room was perfect and kind.  All employees were helpful and nice.  Very happy with service.   

It was our first cruise and we weren't sure exactly what to expect.  The pre and post onboarding process went pretty smooth and was quick.  Once on the ship, there's just a ton of activities, food and you can pretty much do whatever you please.  Every aspect of the ship was abundant (food, shows, activities, etc) and you always have something to do.  We hardly rested since it was our first cruise and didn't want to miss out on anything exciting.  I would highly recommend attending as many shows and entertainment events as possible while on the ship since they are very professional and lots of fun.  The food on the ship was great.  There's unlimited amount of food.  You have to try hard not to order everything.  The sports activities are all fun, but too many people so hard to always participate at your leisure and you lines are sometimes long.  The destination we went to (Cozumel, Mexico) was beautiful and we were able to do an island tour.  We saw as many things as we wanted to, ate lunch, went to beach and even the Tequila factory and we did it all in under 4 hours.  Our driver was very courteous, gave us great recommendations and took all our family photos as well.  We negotiated with a taxi outside the terminal and did not wait on the long lines.  We got a great deal and had a fantastic time overall with the cruise and the destination.  I would highly recommend this ship and cruise, specially for first time cruisers like us, since it was only 4 nights and we were able to take advantage of most the ship and Cozumel had to offer!

First your company totally messed up our plans, to be together with friends, birthday for my wife and my special diet needs.  The ships food was lousy, they gave rules then let people who knew better violate them giving them a head start, had very limited entertainment and specialty times, had very little knowledge of dietary needs of gluten free and very limited and the same every day.  I would never recommend your company or Royal Carribean to anyone and have begun telling all of my patients about the experience.  Go Princess.

We have been on a number of cruises over the past several years-- at least 6-7 cruises total.

Normally we are over the moon after returning from our trip and rave about the food, customer service, activities and overall experience.

Sadly, this time we were shocked and disappointment in our entire experience.

The food in the WindJammer specifically was horrible. The quality wasn't fresh and the types of food were the same daily.  In the Cafe along deck 5- the staff was short and seemed annoyed with the vacationers.  A simple request about what a sandwich had on it and if it could be prepared without mayo- turned into a lashing about the food is what it is and to quickly make our decision on what we wanted.

The staff at the guest service desk were also unpleasant and seemed annoyed when asked questions. We had to cancel our excursion because we feel ill and was told first they canceled it and when pressed on it more- was told they couldn't help us, nor would they help us. There was a lot of eye rolling and huffing with the staff we experienced it first hand and saw other guests go through it as well.

We also were surprised with the guest services when we tried to book another cruise- We were going to take my parents and our daughters in the summer and thought the 50 percent discount would make for an affordable trip. We were going to book a different cruise, in hopes it would be better. The cruise staff employee was not helpful. Seemed annoyed we only wanted the 4 night cruise and didn't go over options with us. 

On our last day when leaving we weren't given clear instructions and there was confusion when trying to leave the ship at 730- we got turned around a few times and had to figure out the exit on our own.

Normally Royal Caribbean is known for their incredible service, food and entertainment. We were shocked by what we experienced.

Sadly, our experience may have us not taking another cruise with them again. 

The ship was very nice and clean. It was our first experience. We didn't expect such a crowd of children, little did we know so many people brought their families on a cruise. Live & learn!

The cruise was great, the shore excursions were ok, the one in Belize could of been longer, the one in Coszmel. ( 4 wheeler ride) could of been a lot longer...very disapointed in that one.

DINNER SELECTION WAS OK AT BEST, CELEBRITY HAS BETTER FOOD, SHORE EXCURSIONS DEPARTURE WHEN WE HAD TO MEET TO RECEIVE A NUMBER FOR DEPARTURE WAS VERY SLOW GOING. THEY ONLY HAD TWO EMPLOYEES TRYING TO CHECK IN OVER 1000 PEOPLE, HAD TO MEET AT 8:45 AND DID NOT LEAVE THE BOAT TILL 10:30

Very pretty and very big ship.  Staff were always super.  Dinner was nice, but buffet was better.  Ice show was super. Main shows were good, but were lacking.   Need more Comedy shows.   Gym was very nice.  Kids (18, 14, & 10) like other cruise better.   Basketball, FlowRider, Rock Wall were always too crowded.   Getting on the ship was bad and getting off was a nightmare.   Casino staff was very helpful in teaching us the games.