Cruise review: Independence of the Seas (15-29 August 2009)

[Esprit]

Driving into Southampton we spotted Grand Princess first. We last saw it in Venice when we disembarked from what was our best cruise ever. Then we saw the Independence in the distance. It looked a lot bigger but we expected it to be. What we didn’t expect was all that green glass. The blue we had be accustomed to on Princess ships was so much better.

Embarkation was straightforward with the only wait being at the luggage drop off point. Once we’d parked the car and taken a short walk to the terminal we were soon on board. Having done 7 cruises before (4 P&O and 3 Princess) boarding seems to have lost its specialness for us so we just headed to our rooms without bothering to see much else. I did notice the thick carpet pile and the fixtures and fittings were sparkly clean but then the ship is only a year old.

We had a deluxe balcony stateroom on deck 7 port side and forward. This turned out to be an ideal location as it wasn’t far from the lifts/stairs and the theatre and show lounge. Despite the green furnishings (I hate green) the room was the biggest we’d ever had (even had a 3 seat settee). No walk in wardrobe but plenty of hanging space and drawers. We had been spoilt on our Princess cruises by having one of those huge balconies on C deck so it was no surprise to find ours this time was smaller with only 2 chairs instead of 4 but nevertheless perfectly adequate. The highlights for me in this cabin were the bed (by far the widest we’ve ever had) and the shower. A proper power shower with doors and not the awful curtains we’d had on previous cruises, We also had a huge flat screen TV which we could use to review our on board account and more importantly what our kids had been spending. This was there first cruise where they could buy their own alcohol (daughter 21 and son 18)!

Very happy with the room we went to the buffet restaurant (Windjammers) for lunch. This place can best be described as a motorway service station. Just awful. Free tables were difficult to see and almost impossible to find. The food was a huge disappointment too. No where near as good as on our previous Princess ships and the desserts were particularly poor.

Sailaway was as I expected. Uneventful under a grey overcast sky. What a contrast to sailing down the Grand Canal in Venice aboard Emerald Princess a year ago. Then followed a further two overcast breezy days at sea until we reached Gibraltar. Berthed next to Grand Princess we all wished we were aboard it instead.

In just two days we had concluded that despite the ship having the right ingredients it just wasn’t for us. Too big and too many Brits on board. The main dining room was fantastic and reminded me of the Britannia on QM2 but the food was bland and rarely hot. Every meal came with jacket or mash potatoes (unless you had a rice dish of course) and the desserts were really poor. Often these were served in tiny plastic dessert bowls. Only the soufflés were an absolute delight.

Our head waiter initially seemed to struggle (not helped by his inept assistant) but he won us over by the end of cruise. In general all the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. I’d dare to say they were the best out of all our cruises. The reception desk was almost a pleasure to visit with rarely any queuing and manned by competent helpful people.

As well as great staff the entertainment was also mostly excellent. We saw more shows than on any other cruise. We missed Bernie Flint the first night (very funny when they repeated his performance on the cabin TV’s) Darren Day was very good (but not everyone’s cup of tea) and David Copperfield (not the US magician but the comedian from Three of a kind) was really enjoyable. Also amazing was Crazeehorse (guy and girl) who performed strongman /woman acrobatics and the ice show was quite spectacular.

What wasn’t spectacular (in my eyes anyway) was the Royal Promenade. This was the huge 3 storey high street that ran through the middle of the ship. It had all the usual shops you’d expect on a ship plus a café, pizza restaurant, wine bar, ice cream parlour, barbers shop and the British themed pub, The Dog and Badger. I cringed every time I walked along the street. In the evenings it was just like being in town on Saturday night and the occasional big parades were so tacky. One night we walked passed the pub to hear the resident guitarist/singer playing the song Alice with everyone inside singing ….”Alice, Alice….who the fu*k is Alice”.

The only bars we sat in were the Schooner bar (where Andres served me a pint of Stella as soon as I walked in. A great guy) The Olive or Twist bar (small club lounge overlooking the top deck) and Boleros (Latin music bar). This was the first cruise ever that I didn’t use any of the open deck bars. They just seemed full of typical pub blokes (not lager louts though).

My wife and I are into Ballroom/Latin dancing and on our Princess cruises there were three venues with adequate dance floors. We thought that as IOTS was the biggest cruise ship is would have similar if not bigger dances floors. We were wrong. They were pathetic. In Boleros, 3 couples was the limit and in Olive or Twist you could get 4 providing no music equipment was placed on it. The Pyramid lounge had a larger dance floor but was no where near a big or as good as the Explorers Lounge on the Grand class ships. Ballroom music would be played here from 5.15 pm until 6 and then 9 pm until 10 most evenings but as we were on second sitting this was no good whatsoever.

For those interested in costs a pint of Stella was $6.50, a glass of Pinot Grigio $5.50 and cocktail of the day $6.75 (and no 15% service charge added). Shuttle buses were not always free and in four ports (Cagliari, Livorno, Barcelona, and Malaga) you were charged between $4.75 and $5.50 each for a one way ticket. These were a rip off. Only experienced cruisers complained about these charges as many on the ship were first timer cruisers. I would also say the mean age of the passengers was 45 – 50 hence the reason for some 1,300 kids on board. They were well catered for and the H2o zone with its water features was fantastic if you had little ones. For the bigger kids like my son and me you had at the back the rock wall, sports court and the Flow Rider. I could have happily spent hours on the Flow Rider. I t was entertaining to watch and a real thrill to ride. When you wiped out it could sometimes be a bit painful and even embarrassing for those with weak elastic!

Being such a large ship, there were plenty of space for sunbathing and deck attendants were seen regularly putting notices on unoccupied sun beds with 30 minute warnings. On sea days the sun decks were packed (except on the last when we had 4 metre swells and force 8 winds!) and this was when you realised just how many people were on board. All the walkways were constantly busy and there never seemed to be a moment of calm and tranquillity. The many pools aboard were also packed. I really missed the water jet machine in the adult only Princess pools so didn’t bother to swim. I also missed the Movies under the Stars video screen. What I did like however was the Mr Whipee free ice cream machine but this was a poor replacement for the Burger bar and Pizza parlour you had on the Princess ships. The burgers and pizzas on IOTS were dreadful by comparison.

Like on previous cruises we met some great people and heard very few moans (except amongst ourselves!). The formal nights saw the vast majority dressed up and the few exceptions tried to make a point of the fact they hadn’t bothered. Around the ship in the evenings peoples interpretation of casual and smart casual was to say the least varied, but football shirts were very few and far between. On clothes of all the people I thought wouldn’t need mentioning was the cruise director (Mr Graham Seymour). He would often wear a T shirt with a suit and on the night of his late night adult only comedy show he wore ripped jeans which on a 43 year old looked hideous. As for his humour this was spoilt by the unnecessary use of the “F” word.

I guess by now many of you will be thinking this all sounds like a Butlins/Pontins holiday. We actually go to Pontins for a weekend every year and have a great time but for our main holiday we didn’t want Pontins at sea. It just seems inevitable now though that with this size of ship Royal Caribbean have to cast their nets far and wide and offer a package that attracts a diverse range of people. I can understand why so many first timers would have been wowed by IOTS and will no doubt book for next year. For us however, it lacked the refinement and cosmopolitan feel we had on our Princess fly cruises.

Peter

[Esprit]

Forgot to say we will probably not sail again from Southampton. The poor weather out and the last day back effectively meant I lost 3 precious holiday days outside.

Flying to Barcelona was easy 2 years ago and the Docks are only 30 minutes from the airport.

Peter

[jaz33]

Thanks for this Peter

As you know we were on the same cruise and this just about sums the cruise up for us as well, although we did like sailing out of and into Southampton. We won't be cruising with RCI again. We will stick with Celebrity and may try Princess in the future.

[wato1963]

excellent review

My friend was on the IOTS the fortnight before you and basically said the same as you,but he won $400 in the casino so he was happy

[silentbob007]

Interesting review. Thanks. I have to say I agree about the general quality of desserts.

[cruisemimic]

We were on the same trip and had a similar experence. Interestingly our only other cruises (2) have been with Princess.

I think if you had nothing to compare it with then the Independence experience would wow you. Otherwise the sheer size of the ship made this an impersonal cruise compared to our others. Not so much Butlins on a boat - but quite like Benidorm!

Will post a full review soon.

[bossy_01]

Intresting review and thank you for posting.
We will be travelling out of school holidays so are hoping for a slightly quieter and less busy experience.
How rough were the seas on the way back? Did you notice much motion?
Also I thought the pools on IOS were supposed to be heated, but I have read in another review that they were too cold to swim in? Was this true?

Thanks in advance for any answers
Chris

[vermontcruisers]

Kinda makes me want to cruise on Princess.

[Seatravelers]

To each his own imho. Have been on the other 2 Freedom class ships and will be doing the TA on Independence in Nov and can't wait. Of course, it will have a better mixture of passengers and very few children which should make it better. We have been on Princess cruise and will never go back. Food was horrid and service worse, the anytime dining was a fiasco and lots of very unhappy passengers and crew. Suite was no where as nice as the suites we get on RCCL! No cruise line can please everyone all the time. Enjoy Princess.

[livylotte]

Thankyou for you review. I have to say I agree with everything you say. I would not sail on Independence again either but I'm still happy with RCI and will continue sailing on her ships - just not the big ones!

[Esprit]

It was interesting to read others share my view. I'm not saying at all RCL are awful and Princess cruises sailing out of Southampton could well be the same.

Other than P&O we've only sailed on 3 Princess fly cruises from the Med' and these generate a much greater mix of nationalities particularly Americans and as a result I think the standards are slightly higher and food choices more varied. Briits can moan a lot but can be inclined to accept what they are given rather than make constructive criticisms.

Peter

[Bobal]

Excellent review Peter, well balanced and well thought out. You've only confirmed what we've been thinking when having doubts about whether to sail from Southampton - too many Brits and weather too poor. I think you also have a point about the size of the ship. We've sailed on 4 RCCL ships and both the Voyager and the Explorer attracted a different type of person and certainly more families than the Splendour and the Legend (smaller ships). Although we cruise with late teens they are also happy on smaller ships as the teen groups tends to get to know each other better.

With the price of flights to places like Barcelona, Rome, Malaga we prefer to cruise from a place with more of a mix of nationalities and sunshine all the way. We cruised from Civitavecchia on Splendour in the summer and it was the best cruise we've had - great mix of nationalities, good food, excellent crew.

[Esprit]

Thank you Bobal

You clearly undrstand where I was coming from.

I will happily recommend IOTS to those people looking for a young family cruise and recommend Princess to those that are wanting a less family focused holiday.

Isn't it great that not all cruise lines are the same.

Peter