Independence of the Seas

Satisfactory but not thrilled

February

Pros: Staff on board were great. Loved the top shelf liquor.

Cons: Food was average. Not enough adult space on deck. Shows were unimpressive.

Recommended: No

I hate it when you have to pay up, to get the premium food. Shouldn’t I get a lobster tail at one meal? Most of the deck space was for kids. Who’s paying for the cruise? Give them their own space, but make sure adults have room on deck. I was impressed by the quality of top shelf refreshments. Nice to get premium liquor, by paying $ upscale price. The excursions were so so. One good, one lame. And last, but not least: if you’re going to ask for our opinions, make changes based upon them.

Great time

February

Pros: Food service friendly staff and cleanliness of the ship Shows were great

Cons: Hot tub could be 10° warmer laugh out loud

Recommended: Yes

Royal Caribbean is one of my favorite cruise ships lots to do everywhere on the ship just not enough time to get it all done We did miss one port due to the weather that can’t be helped I guess

Excellent relaxing cruise

November

Pros: Friendly staff, clean ship, great entertainment

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

I wish they would not charge for departure day when buying beverage packages. You have to be off ship by 8 am We were leary about Labadee Haiti but it turned out to be one of our favorites a little bit of vendor pressure but we just walked away Jamaica also very beautiful

Sailing in the Rain

July

Pros: Staff very attentive,

Cons: The smell of cigarettes coming from the casino area was too overwhelming and the food was not as good as our last trip

Recommended: Yes

the food in the my time dining was average, however, the sushi at Izumi was excellent. the Ice Skating show and Juggling acts were fantastic. the cost to truly explore and enjoy Coco Cay was way too expensive and I think this is why the pools were overcrowded.

Great vacation

June

Pros: Friendly staff, clean, not a high ship and not a tiny ship either

Cons: Adult slide was too hard to get to with circular stairs. Need to be able to get up there without all that climbing

Recommended: Yes

A great ship to sail on. Georgia Travel Experts was a great travel agency. Trish Mercer handled everything.

First Cruise!

June

Pros: Top of the line customer service and ammenities

Cons: Noise from neighbors on the ship on each side of our cabin.

Recommended: Yes

Perfect Day at Coco Cay

May

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

The name says it all. My husband never slows down but for 6 hours on Coco Cay he did just that. We spent 5 1/2 hours swinging in a hammock and the other half an hour eating. It was the most perfect day.

Enjoyable weekend on the Indy

August

Pros: Excellent food and service. Staff helpful and accommodating.

Cons: Internet ia little spotty at times.

Recommended: Yes

We traveled on tha Independence of the Seas world a weekend cruise. The boarding process was more streamlined than previous sailings. Food and service were excellent, The specialty restaurants were very good. The comedy show was excellent. A very nice experience all the way around.

Great birthdays cruise.

July

Pros: Junior suite was well appointed and spacious. Friendly staff

Cons: Limited alcohol selection

Recommended: Yes

We had a great time. This wasn’t my favorite boat. Buffet food was mediocre and they had very limited alcohol selection. Specialty restaurants were very good and it was a relaxing trip

Independence cruise

April

Pros: Pretty good pricing, staff very friendly over the top!!!

Cons: There is none!

Recommended: Yes

The food on this cruise ship was outstanding the only item I would say was not really good was the scrambled eggs, however, the different omelets were good.

Fun Short Cruise

February

Pros: Stop at Coco Cay, great food in the main dining room, friendly staff, nice sized ship with plenty of activities

Cons: Older ship showing some signs of age. 4 nights just too short .

Recommended: Yes

The crew was fantastic. From bar tenders, waiters, guest services and room attendants, everyone was awesome. The only complaint is that some of the activities, like game shows, were very late.

Very enjoyable

December

Pros: LOVED having it 2/3 full. Staff were all top notch. Very kid friendly. Veggie options in the buffet were great!

Cons: the dinners were sometimes room temp instead of actually hot. Would love more veggie options that were not pasta based.

Recommended: Yes

Trivia needed a bigger room! The only time I felt crowded on the ship was during trivia. I actually enjoyed that there were not pool-side games every hour. It made that space more relaxing, even with the little kids all around. Not shockingly, the drink quality varied depending on the bartender. Perhaps a bit more training in that regard?

Great short excursion

December

Pros: Great service on board

Cons: Confusing covid policies

Recommended: Yes

I had a great time with the kids relaxing for the weekend.

Our february fun cruise

February

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

We had a wonderfull time cruising we’ll do it again

My Christmas Vacation

December

Pros: My suite, Comedians, specialty restaurants, ice skating

Cons: Windjammer food - fair at best, no place to sit, have a drink & listen to relaxing music, no quiet public place to have a conversation. Wrong ship for me

Recommended: No

Smoking in Casino was intolerable

Quick getaway five day cruise.

December

Pros: Jr. Suite very large balcony

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

We purchase the dinner package also came with lunch on sea days can’t go wrong at that price. Playmakers, Chops Grille, Giovanni’s and Izumi all included. Food was excellent.

Atlantic breezes

June

Pros: Beautiful places and good food. High quality entertainment. The registration process ran smoothly.

Cons: Having to return to port a couple of times because of unexpected health emergencies.

Recommended: Yes

We loved our waiters Francisco and Sumardi. The dining room experience was quite positive: variety and quality. Everything was sparkly clean in the dining areas. The dancing and singing shows were quite entertaining, really original.

Great experience for a first time cruiser

January

Pros: staff, activities, food,

Cons: not a lot of place to get water, amount of time spent driving during the Jamaica excursion

Recommended: Yes

Overall the experience was great! The only feedback I have is I would have liked to have known that I was going to spend 2.5 hours of the 6 hour excursion on the road, driving from place to place. This would have caused me not to pick this specific trip and try something that allowed me to have more time seeing the island. Also, I would have liked to have more water stations to fill up my water. Particular staff that made the experience fantastic were our waiters - Jai and Andras.

5 night western caribbean cruise

November

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Fantastic ship, lots to do, friendly staff, great shows. Disappointed in the food. Not as good as in the past.

March 2017 Cruise

March

Pros: Nice sized ship that has a promanade deck where there are shops and eating places. It has the Flow Rider and rock climbing walls

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

We had a junior suite which was nice and spacious that also had a balcony. The only downside was that the balcony was constantly covered in salt water which also was on the chairs and table. We weren't able to really sit out on it very much without having to first wipe off the chairs, and even that didn't remove the layer of salt that was on them including the balcony railing. Because of high winds, we weren't able to stop at Labadee, Haiti, so we had an extra day at sea. There were high winds most of the cruise.

Great cruise

March

Pros: More pros thanks cons

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

All was excellent. A constructive comment: Would like to have had more information on declaration on dollar amounts of what can be brought into the country and through the custom's procedure. It was not a problem for us, but I had wished we had know what to expect before the excursion.

Me

February

Pros: excellent food, clean environment, clean adult entertainment.

Cons: not enough time to experience all that was available

Recommended: Yes

Would highly recommend this ship and cruise. Will go again.

Jamica and Hatti

February

Pros: Relaxing, entertainment great, staff very friendly, no worries everything taken care of.

Cons: Dolphin swim was disorganized. Bus trip wS an hour each way. Got back just in time to board ship. No time to shop in Jamica. Passengers very disappointed. We were not told that dolphin excursion would take two hours of traveling by bus. Would not recommend this excursion. Only ride dolphin once after waiting hours.

Recommended: Yes

Royal Caribbean ( Awesome)

February

Pros: Professional Staff, Courteous, Friendly,

Cons: Not explanation on how to ship back purchased duty free alcohol.

Recommended: Yes

I didn't know and wasn't aware that I couldn't hand carry my duty free alcohol back through TSA after the cruise. Fortunately, I had a person that was able to take my purchases for me, they drove and parked at the airport. Other than that, exceptional Cruise!!!!!!

nice

February

Pros: nice

Cons: Stateroom attendees, need to wait until I answer the door before sticking their pass key in the door.

Recommended: Yes

Nice boat

Our first cruise

February

Pros: Quality service, Awesome entertainment, wonderful food choices,

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

We had a great first time cruising with Royal Caribbean. We met some wonderful people and enjoyed everyday being entertained and enjoying our shore excursions. Will be booking again real soon

Great Cruise

February

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Great Experience!

F IVE DAY CRUISE , ROYAL WAS JUST THE BEST.

January

Pros: FOOD EXCELLENT,, SERVICE WAS JUST WONDERFULL,ENTERTAMENT WAS EXCELLENT, WE SAW GREESE,NCE POND A TIME.,

Cons: NONE

Recommended: Yes

BEST, SHORT CRUISE EVER.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Independence of the Seas

December

Pros: We were very satisfied and had a wonderful time

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Judy thank you for planning this cruise. We were pleased to have bus service going and coming back. It made the trip much easier not dealing with a parking situation a special touch.

value for money

November

Pros: ship

Cons: food

Recommended: Yes

none

cruise experience

June

Pros: great food and service; amazing efficiencies by the RCCL in their embarking and debarking procedures!!!

Cons: smokers on board......

Recommended: Yes

overall experience = wonderful - had great tours guides and loved the la sacrada familia! thank you for everything - well done

2016 Cruise

April

Pros: very clean, fabulous customer service,good food,great activities

Cons: smoking section by the pool

Recommended: Yes

overall my wife and I had a great time, except for walking by the smoking section by the pool area. Smell was horrible!

weekend Away

March

Pros: Great room,great service,great entertainmaent

Cons: Disembarking was a nightmare!!!

Recommended: Yes

I am an emerald level with Royal Caribbean, I always ask for early departure so I can go straight to work on Monday. THis was the most disorganized disembarkation I have ever had. Not only did I not get to work on time I was 1 hour late! This was a first and hopefully a last, hopefully all the complaints wont fall on deaf ears.

Royal Caribbean Cruise was nice

March

Pros: Shows were good. Ship clean. Service great

Cons: Some rude bartenders. Could not understand some servers. Getting off the ship was a nightmare

Recommended: Yes

Ship was very nice and fun. Did not hear much on excursions. Captain did not announce we use ship time and several passengers were seen running to the ship but left in Jamaica. Getting off the ship itself was unorganized and took 4 hours. A nightmare. The ship itself was very nice and the shows were good.

Amazing!

February

Pros: Food, Staff, and Entertainment

Cons: Disembarking

Recommended: Yes

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and everything about it except for when it was time to leave.

Cruise on the Indepencence

January

Pros: Great accommodations, super friendly staff, and excellent service

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

We had a great time on the Independence. We were very impressed with our stateroom and balcony. It was well arranged, nicely decorated, very clean, and had lots of storage space. The stateroom attendant was attentive and friendly, and did a wonderful job. The ship was large with a lot of people, but it never felt crowded. Good organization! The afternoon and evening shows were very good as were the shore trips to Belize and Cozumel. We can't say enough good things about the food and service in the dining room. We were glad you suggested making dining arrangements and times before getting on the ship - nice to walk right to our table and be seated. Many thanks for all your assistance in planning our cruise. It was just perfect !

25th Anniversary Mexico Trip

January

Pros: The class type of ship ensured maximum entertainment value!!!

Cons: Cinema needs to be closed area, on deck parties constantly interrupted movie!

Recommended: Yes

Great trip, we truly enjoyed trip. We plan to visit the eastern ship of the Caribbean in the coming years.

Thanksgiving

November

Pros: Staff

Cons: Destination

Recommended: Yes

None

Anniversary Cruise

November

Pros: Stateroom attendant and dinner waiter

Cons: Showers too small

Recommended: No

Overall marvelous experience.

Review of Independence of the Seas

November

Pros: House cleaning, dining room service and childrens camps were excellant

Cons: tHE DEBARKING PROCESS SUCKS. IT TOOK ME AS A WALK OFF ALMOST TWO HOURS TO EXIT CUSTOMS.

Recommended: Yes

Get a better Port for Debarking

I had a very good time

November

Pros:

Cons: NO CONS

Recommended: Yes

I had a very good time. Grate ship, excellent service, good food. Nice shows. No complains.

A wonderful experience

November

Pros: Dinning experience

Cons: Heavy rain and windy weather kept us from visiting the last port

Recommended: Yes

Cruising on the Independence of the Seas was a great experience. For the first time, my wife and I with the rest of the family can say we really took a time off for some vacation. The foods were great and the crew was really kind and careful. I will definitely cruise with the Royal Caribbean again.

It was ok

October

Pros: The waiter we had at dinner, but not the ones for breakfast and lunch.

Cons: The spa did high pressure sales but low pressure massage.

Recommended: Yes

It was ok. Not much to write home about. The ship is looking dated. The staff seemed like they were new. Several times we noticed dirty dishes piled up in the middle of the day, and some staff were not helpful and were rude. Granted some cruise ship guest were demanding so and sos but still...

ROYAL CARIBBEAN SHIPS

October

Pros: I love the promenade & ice shows especially!

Cons: none

Recommended: Yes

We are Concierge level-Diamond Plus & have traveled on over 60 RCCL cruises.

nice ship

October

Pros: nice rooms and stable ship

Cons: bartenders on pool deck were rude. restaurants close early

Recommended: Yes

Great cruise, Chops grill was amazing. Nice ports but wish there was a day in between some of them. Drink package was good but seems like they are still trying to figure it out. Easy boarding and unboarding. All and all will cruise with then again

very good quality

July

Pros: Staff and food was great. Chops grill restaurant was amazing

Cons: Spa Experience was horrible

Recommended: Yes

Don't book your spa treatment during port stops, relaxing music was every five minutes interrupted because of staff emergency drill and rooms were way too cold!

Eastern Carribean Cruise

June

Pros: Staff, Cruise Ship, Food, St. Martin/St Kitts

Cons: Not much to do in San Juan, and the restaurants were expensive.

Recommended: Yes

Overall great experience

Mixed Bag on a Big Boat

June

Pros: Very nice and large Jr. Suite with large balcony

Cons: Behind the Tour was expensive ($150) since there was no SWAG given to the participants afterwards. On Princess (for the same price) participants got plush bathrobes, waiter jackets and a framed picture of the participant on the Bridge

Recommended: Yes

Dining room for breakfast was a very slow and unappetizing experience - Windjammer was very crowded most of the morning.

Wonderful experience!

April

Pros: Embarkation was a breeze!

Cons: De embarkation was a nightmare.

Recommended: Yes

Express check out was until 7:30 but at 7:30 they also called the first group. That created a lot of people and long lines waiting to get off.

Independance of the Seas is big and lots of fun

April

Pros: Huge (4600 passengers) and fairly new (7 years old); surf pool, rock wall, mini golf, basketball court, staff excellent, Johnny Rockets, steak and Italian specialties restaurants, dining superb, lots of pools and hot tubs. Has a promenade with shops, etc..

Cons: It's big, so not as many intimate encounters, gets crowded at times.

Recommended: Yes

We enjoyed our 8 day journey to Eastern Caribbean out of Ft Lauderdale. Easy on and off ship, crew was always organized, lots of activities. Weather was great, smooth sailing, nice Ports of Call (St Marteen, St Kitts, San Juan, PR, Labadee, Haiti). Had lots of places to eat, so did buffets, main dining room, Johnny Rockets, pizza - also available were steak and Italian specialty but we didn't choose those. Activities for everyone, had a good kids program, several pool, including one just for kids, lots of hot tubs too. Everyone on the crew was great, and very nice 99% of the time, (1% of the time they were merely nice). Lots of bars, entertainment, casino, places to shop and eat.

Cruise of a lifetime!

March

Pros: Many but for brevity I'll just name one or two. The dining experience and service was absolutely incredible! Additionally the onboard enertainment was also fantastic.

Cons: Three or four more hours in San Juan, Puerto Rico would have been much better. There was sufficient time to take the old/new city tour but little time left for any other opportunities while in Puerto Rico.

Recommended: Yes

?

January

Pros: Beautiful, clean ship,good entertainment, good buffets, good food, head waiter was more than efficient, good personality, room was clean

Cons: Never was introduced to our room attendant nor saw him or her, felt the dinner wait staff was accommodating but felt uneasy with their response to our requests sometimes...not the usual treatment.

Recommended: Yes

thank you for a relaxing enjoyable cruise.

Recent cruise

January

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

1/11 6 day cruise

January

Pros: Excellent entertainment, many complimentary dining options, very clean

Cons: Insufficient supervision of adult areas, underage use in solarium and fitness ctr.

Recommended: Yes

Tony & Judy Scalfaro

November

Pros: Great Trip with the honeymooners

Cons: too short

Recommended: Yes

Great Trip

Parkinsons fight club Jan11-Jan17 2015

January

Pros: ship shows service

Cons: food

Recommended: No

everything was perfect ship, service, shows, but the food it was ok but not like the excellent food from past cruses

Bon Voyage

January

Pros: Accommodations, food, staff, and of course the ship overall.

Cons: There was a glitch with the transportation service arriving home within The Villages, which we are sure you are aware of.

Recommended: Yes

Caribbean Cruise

January

Pros: Enjoyed the Royal Promenade

Cons: Was disappointed in menu choices for dinner.

Recommended: Yes

Would said on Independence of the Seas again.

Independence of the Seas

January

Pros: cabin/Cabin stewards/appearance of ship/ shows/

Cons: Dining room experience/ food in dining room/ customer service not giving consistant information each one I spoke to had a different answer

Recommended: Yes

The entertainment was great Ice show terrific as were the dancers and singers As will most say the trip was a huge success. We especially enjoyed Labadee this was a truly fun stop. We cannot express our opinion on late night or the club venue's as we did not participate.

Royal Caribbean International - Independence of the Seas

January

Pros: We loved the whole trip.

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Trip, Food and Service was great would do it again.

2nd Honeymooners Caribbean Cruise

January

Pros: A wonderful cruise and a beautiful ship

Cons: cruise was tooooooo short

Recommended: Yes

We will go again; you should go too.

Western Caribbean

January

Pros: Shows were excellent, especially the ice shows & singing & dancing.

Cons: Would like to have some lectures.

Recommended: Yes

On a cruise aboard the Radiance of the Seas we had lectures by two geography professors preparing us for what we were going to see in Alaska. I would like to see more cultural courses offered such as cooking, art and music pertaining to the areas that are being visited. Also a favorite of women would be book reviews and fashion shows being staged by owners of the shops on board.

Independence of the Seas July 12, 2014

July

Pros: entertainment and the concierge club.

Cons: food

Recommended: Yes

We boarded our large and beautiful cruise ship in Southhampton, England and was greeted by numerous staff that welcomed us and showed us the way to our suite. Our suite was enormous and very clean. Ann Marie was our attendant and she had the most beautiful smile, which she continued throughout the cruise. There was plenty of activities throughout the cruise and the entertainment was great. There were 2 different ice shows in the 16 days and numerous comedians as well as dancing and music. Our concierge was Raj and he was the best at keeping us up to date on shows and making our trip enjoyable. If there is any weakness with this cruise it would lie with the food. Being that we had a suite we were able to enjoy breakfast in the Chops Specialty Restaurant every morning or room service. I was not happy with the buffet at breakfast. Too much shoving and it was difficult to find a seat for 3. Dinner in the dining room was fine as long as you did assigned seating. The Any Time Dining is a disaster. They are not able to handle the passengers who come between 7 and 8. Waiting time could be as long as 1 hour. Was not pleased with that but we were able to join a group at 8:30 who had openings at their table and it worked out fine everynight. The ports were beautiful but time is short in them especially if you do excursions. All in all I will say Royal Caribbean treated us very warmly and we made some lovely friends that made the cruise even more delightful. One big plus was the cruise director. What a ball of talent and boy did he put on three great shows in the Prominade that were incredible. On a scale of 10 I give it a 8 plus.

Independence of the sea

May

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: No

Food was only so so, ie not as good as Celebrity

Western Caribbean cruise

February

Pros: Helpful and friendly staff

Cons: none

Recommended: No