Crusie Reviews - General Moaners !

[glenboy]

Hi,

 

Going on the IOTS for the first time 26th July. Who thinks the majority of people who review are people who like to moan in general and will always find fault and even more like to let people know about it.

 

I've been reading the latest reviews for IOTS which are all very bad.

 

ie overcrowded ?

Too many children ?

Service nothing special ?

Windjammer ( like a holiday camp - Butlin's )

Main Dining Room food - poor quality, warm to cold

 

I prefer to make my own mind up but it reading the latest reviews of IOTS it sounds as if standards etc are really slipping from years back.

 

 

 

Views ?

 

Cheers

[Adayatatime]

Hi there. We holidayed on IOS from Southampton last August (peak school hol season like you) and we have booked exactly the same cruise this year, so hope that puts your mind at ease a bit.

 

Overcrowded ... Peak times, I suppose it gets busy, but so does everywhere. There is always somewhere quiet to find and queues to down quick. But it is not the whole ship!

 

Too many children ... No different from any holiday resort. And again, easy to find places with no kids. Or if you have kids, you're used to it. Busy around the pools but that's the same everywhere.

 

Service nothing special .... It's brilliant for the price, and it depends what kind of service you're looking for but I would say as good as a 4 star hotel in the UK

 

Windjammer ... Gets busy at peak times, but ample places to go instead.

 

Main dining room .... Again great for the price, staff are lovey and environment nice and relaxed. No it isn't the Ritz, but you're not paying for the Ritz.

 

I can't wait to go. Don't worry. It's fab!

[glenboy]

Thanks for that, it has put my mind at ease a bit !

[mrobstad]

Since cruise lines read these threads, it's ok for folks to complain. It's also good for folks to applaud things they like on ships. I've found that a cruise is 60% what you make of it, 20% weather (rain is a bummer), and 20% ship related....some ships offer more/less, and if you know this, it's true that you get what you pay for. Have a great cruise !

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[davenew]

Hi there. We holidayed on IOS from Southampton last August (peak school hol season like you) and we have booked exactly the same cruise this year, so hope that puts your mind at ease a bit.

 

Overcrowded ... Peak times, I suppose it gets busy, but so does everywhere. There is always somewhere quiet to find and queues to down quick. But it is not the whole ship!

 

Too many children ... No different from any holiday resort. And again, easy to find places with no kids. Or if you have kids, you're used to it. Busy around the pools but that's the same everywhere.

 

Service nothing special .... It's brilliant for the price, and it depends what kind of service you're looking for but I would say as good as a 4 star hotel in the UK

 

Windjammer ... Gets busy at peak times, but ample places to go instead.

 

Main dining room .... Again great for the price, staff are lovey and environment nice and relaxed. No it isn't the Ritz, but you're not paying for the Ritz.

 

I can't wait to go. Don't worry. It's fab!

Totally agree with your comments.

We had a great time on this ship.

[BillOh]

I read a lot of reviews, probably most of them. What I have seen more than anything is people saying, " Why so many negative reviews about ....., I'm afraid to go on .....". I don't see that many negative reviews as compared to any other time, but there are issues that keep getting brought up on here even when people have a great time. I just did a Jewel Southern review and loved the itinerary, my cabin, and the islands. I did happen to get not good dinner service and spent a lot of time talking about one really bad excursion. I spend time on that excursion part, to be funny and it was an ordeal, but I also sense Royal is pushing extra hard to push their official excursions and actually try to steer people away from private tours.

[bigque]

I have only written two reviews thus far and neither has been negative. If there was something on my cruise that I didn't care for I mention it in my reviews and state that it is my opinion as someone else might not share that opinion (i.e. one of the shows or something). From what I see the reviews with in the forum tend to be more positive than the reviews I have seen in the Cruise Critic review section of the Web Site.

[hairymelon]

I have been on IOTS twice and will be going on again in November. That should reassure you for a start!

 

I find the MDR to be very very good. The food was of a high standard and if there were any problems with anything you always have the offer from your waiter to get you something else. However, you would hardly starve on a cruise! There are lots of places to eat if the food isn't to your taste.

 

I have to say as I am disabled I find the Windjammer harder to get food when it is busy whilst balancing on crutches so I avoid going here!

 

Yes it can get busy on the ship but mainly when people are gathering for an event like the theatre, dining etc. The elevators can get extremely busy and it is a 'dog eat dog' environment to try and get on board! However, outside these times it is usually fine.

 

All in all I love IOTS and am sad it is leaving the UK but that will just help me explore new horizons on different ships :)

[masonpips]

We cruised IOT last Thanksgiving (8 night cruise) and LOVED her. Service was great int he dining room, the food was excellent (escargot every night), the ship looked great, our room and steward were great! The shopping in the Promenade was our only real disappointment (not the stores we were used to due to the ship being in Europe half the year). If that's all I can find to complain about (not spending extra $), it was a GREAT trip!

 

I'm with you, you typically hear the extremes on reviews. Someone who loved every second and those that HATE it all.

 

Here's my review after the cruise last year: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1951234

[impatientlywaiting]

Hi,

 

Going on the IOTS for the first time 26th July. Who thinks the majority of people who review are people who like to moan in general and will always find fault and even more like to let people know about it.

 

Thanks for posting this comment. :D I've been wanting to say the exact same thing for awhile now. I get so tired of all the complainers and have decided there are just people who live their life complaining. Sure glad I'm not one of them! It's not that hard to be a positive person and live drama free! Have a great cruise! :)

[sailawaybellaluna]

We took this ship in October out of Southampton, and had an amazing time! Gorgeous ship and wonderful service! My (non-moaning) review is below! :)

[grab007]

I've said this before and will repeat it here: My worst day cruising was still better than my best day at work!!

The majority of folks on CC are veteran cruisers. We all LOVE to cruise. So picking one cruise over another will usually get down to looking at the fine details. Sometimes this may seem like nit-picking or complaining. But when it gets right down to it, this is how we choose to spend our vacation. Picking one ship or cruise line over another is part of the FUN!!

 

Cruise Critic is a fun way for us to compare and contrast doing the thing we LOVE to do!!

[patl95]

We are going to be on the cruise just before yours... We'll be getting off as you are getting on... This will be our second time on the ship... we were on the IOTS back in February and loved the ship and are looking forward to sailing on her again. This will be our first time sailing on her in Europe - there is someone on our cruise that this will be her 5th trip on her! That says something!

 

I think you will always find people who like to complain... Do I love absolutely everything about it .. well no... but do I love it overall... a big YES!!!!

 

Patty

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Hi,

 

Going on the IOTS for the first time 26th July. Who thinks the majority of people who review are people who like to moan in general and will always find fault and even more like to let people know about it.

 

I've been reading the latest reviews for IOTS which are all very bad.

 

ie overcrowded ?

Too many children ?

Service nothing special ?

Windjammer ( like a holiday camp - Butlin's )

Main Dining Room food - poor quality, warm to cold

 

I prefer to make my own mind up but it reading the latest reviews of IOTS it sounds as if standards etc are really slipping from years back.

 

Views ?

Before sharing our recent firsthand experiences...let me preface those by saying the obvious:

 

When you ask a group of folks a subjective question (like did you like....", or else "what didn't you like....", you'll probably get a range of answers.

 

In our case, our Independence of the Seas Western Caribbean cruise was a great experience overall. Some specifics:

 

1) The ship itself was very nice. A lot to offer onboard. The only "limits were in terms of the logo shop having a small inventory since it tends to cater to the Europe crowd items for those itineraries...a very small disappointment.

2) The food was very good - even Windjammer exceeded past cruises.

3) The staff was professional and did a great job.

4) Falmouth Jamaica was a bit of the typical boring shipping experience...but Grand Cayman was fantastic, and Labadee was better than expected thanks to a fellow cruiser brokering a cabana share on Barefoot Beach.

5) The cabins were clean and roomy (we had a D2 balcony).

6) Both boarding and disembarking were a breeze.

 

Based on our experiences...we'd cruise INDY again for sure...albeit on a different route.

[gnocchi_mommy]

We did Indy out of Southampton in 2011- honestly it was the most overcrowded ship we have ever sailed- things like trying to grab a seat at piano bar in the evening were nearly impossible some nights, they ran out of pub quiz room all the time, etc.

 

That said, we LOVED that cruise- the food was great in my opinion, I especially loved having a big English breakfast every day. Service was great. Windjammer was fine for breakfast and lunch at - is it "Jades"? The asian spot. My teens and tween went and they had a great time in the teen programs. The other passengers were mostly British and Irish it seemed, with a handful of Canadians- we found very few other Americans, but everyone was very friendly toward us. We had our best casino wins ever on a cruise, on that ship too which also made it great ;-) Loved the ports of call. Don't do a lot of shows, but did love the ice show and Quest.

 

So my opinion is yes, it is a overcrowded ship- I believe it's the occupancy to open space rate, its a HUGE ship.... but there are a lot of cabins stuffed in there. It's a BEAUTIFUL ship though, and everything else makes the overcrowding very tolerable.

 

Hi,

 

Going on the IOTS for the first time 26th July. Who thinks the majority of people who review are people who like to moan in general and will always find fault and even more like to let people know about it.

 

I've been reading the latest reviews for IOTS which are all very bad.

 

ie overcrowded ?

Too many children ?

Service nothing special ?

Windjammer ( like a holiday camp - Butlin's )

Main Dining Room food - poor quality, warm to cold

 

I prefer to make my own mind up but it reading the latest reviews of IOTS it sounds as if standards etc are really slipping from years back.

 

 

 

Views ?

 

Cheers