Royal Caribbean, Independence of the Seas Review

“We have just returned from a 4 night cruise to cork on...”

Written on: 07/05/2011 by kinkyboots45 (1 review written)

We have just returned from a 4 night cruise to cork on the independence of the seas. What greeted us at southampton was the mother of all ships, it's HUGE and magnificent. Its was our 1st cruise and I do recommend this type of taster cruise if you have not done it before. I will try and give an honest view.

Checkin went smoothly despite the volume of people. The ship is spotless, so are the staff, smartly dressed,very polite and friendly nothing was to much trouble, we had a balcony stateroom on deck 9 again very clean & comfortable with kettle,tea,milk etc a fridge stocked with chargeable water,coke etc. You can have room service available 24hrs for light snacks, beverages and if you are feeling lazy in the morning breakfast all free no charge except after midnight then a small charge applies. The food choice is vast and I found it to be hot & fresh all the time, I had no complaints although some did whinge abit, but you know the type they have to moan about something!! There can be queue's there are 4000 plus people but we never waited longer than 5 mins. On the down side, No indoor pool so if you wanted a swim you had to brave the weather elements on the top deck. Drinks are pricey example $15 for 2 bailey's ( large doubles ) Wine $10 a glass, a gentleman that was sat at our table for evening meal payed $61 for a bottle of wine WOW! 2 cocktails $19.50 there are drinks packages you can pay, for this does work out cheaper if you like a drink every night. We payed for a sode package which is coke or sprite this was £17 for the 4 days well worth is to us and also if you have children. Lots to do and the enertainment was excellent the ice show was very good. Bingo is a staggering $32 dollars for a book ( 6 games ) needless to say my friend only played once!! Disembarking when we arrived back was very quick all in all about 10mins and we where at our car, if you are able to take your own luggage off you can leave soon after it docks( 7.30am in our case) otherwise you have to leave your luggage out the night before to be collected and in the morning you have to wait in one of the lounges until your deck is called.

Would I go again? Yes another already planned for next year, please don't be put off by the bad reviews, do your homework and find out as much as you can about the ship, read lots of reviews good & bad.We where a little worried about all the bad comments but it's no where near as bad as some people make out. Happy cruising.