Indepenance of the Seas

[caulder60]

Anyone have experience with Independence of the Seas, leaving out of Fort Lauderdale going to Belize and Mexico? I only went on one Royal Caribbean cruise and it was horible, not sure if I want to try another one.

[reedprincess]

Anyone have experience with Independence of the Seas, leaving out of Fort Lauderdale going to Belize and Mexico? I only went on one Royal Caribbean cruise and it was horible, not sure if I want to try another one.

 

There are thousands of reviews of the ship on here, just go to the Reviews section and click on the ship and read away.

[Ocean Boy]

So what do you want to know? And what did you dislike about your last experience with RCI?

[King George VI]

We did a three weeker around the Med sea. Good Food, Good Entertainment, Good Balcony Cabin. Good stability on bad seas.

 

Cabin cleaner could have been better, but was not too bad.

 

What went wrong on your cruise? We all have different likes and dislikes.

 

Only bad point our brand new cases bought two weeks before the cruise as our ones looked tatty, were bashed, scrapped and looked ten years old. they were worse than the ones we gave away when we bought new ones, no idea what on earth they did with them. After several discussions and going past reception up to senior purser we were given $100 on board spend.

[Marie51]

We did a three weeker around the Med sea. Good Food, Good Entertainment, Good Balcony Cabin. Good stability on bad seas.

 

Cabin cleaner could have been better, but was not too bad.

 

What went wrong on your cruise? We all have different likes and dislikes.

 

Only bad point our brand new cases bought two weeks before the cruise as our ones looked tatty, were bashed, scrapped and looked ten years old. they were worse than the ones we gave away when we bought new ones, no idea what on earth they did with them. After several discussions and going past reception up to senior purser we were given $100 on board spend.

 

If your luggage is damaged the travel insurance should cover it.

[King George VI]

Marie51

 

It was clearly the fault of the cruise ship handling of the luggage. Over here in England travel insurance is often awkward with claims and we have to pay the first £50 of any claim, so much easier to claim from the ship when they are "bang to rights". The ships said buy new cases in port and we will refund, but we did not want to waste a day in a foriegn port trying to find suicases.

 

Before the cruise my wife did not want to take old cases with a few scuff marks on a posh cruise thats why we bought new ones which ended up looking ten times worse than the ones we gave away.

[ivanrocko]

Anyone have experience with Independence of the Seas, leaving out of Fort Lauderdale going to Belize and Mexico? I only went on one Royal Caribbean cruise and it was horible, not sure if I want to try another one.

 

Yes, I went on RC Independence of the Seas in March 2014, and my family like it so much that now we are going on sister ship RC Liberty of the Seas. This is one of the biggest cruises and there is a lot of things to do, like the Royal Promenade, Ice Skating Show, Theater Shows, Swimming Pools including H2O Zone, Fitness Center, Mini Golf, Rock Climbing Wall, Flowrider(surfing), Adventure Ocean Kids Camp, etc...

Tours: 1) Belize - Altun Ha Mayan Ruins, 2) Cozumel, Mexico - Tulum Mayan Ruins. If I have to recommend only one of these two tours, I will choose the Tulum Mayan Ruins like a better option for been more beautiful and next to the beach.

We had been on 9 Cruises, and We really like Royal Caribbean better than Carnival and Disney. The newer and bigger cruises are the best.

[Marie51]

Marie51

 

It was clearly the fault of the cruise ship handling of the luggage. Over here in England travel insurance is often awkward with claims and we have to pay the first £50 of any claim, so much easier to claim from the ship when they are "bang to rights". The ships said buy new cases in port and we will refund, but we did not want to waste a day in a foriegn port trying to find suicases.

 

Before the cruise my wife did not want to take old cases with a few scuff marks on a posh cruise thats why we bought new ones which ended up looking ten times worse than the ones we gave away.

 

Yes, I understand. It was silly of them to expect you to hunt down a place to buy new luggage. I agree they should have a better way to handle this.

[matj2000]

If I were you I would skip it.

 

You are most likely to have a horrible experience again...

[Topo Gigio]

Anyone have experience with Independence of the Seas, leaving out of Fort Lauderdale going to Belize and Mexico? I only went on one Royal Caribbean cruise and it was horible, not sure if I want to try another one.

 

If you are not sure, I would suggest you to try another cruise line!

[lesarn]

We just retuned from b2b Alaskan cruise on princess and we had to throw 3 large suitcases away when we got home (no airline travel). Princess would assume no responsibility!

 

 

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[goldgirl2]

The Indy is our favorite ship! We loved cave tubing in Belize. Had a great time. We went to Cozumel and spent the day at chankenab park. It was excellent. I can not think of one thing I can complain about.

 

 

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[DarthGrady]

Anyone have experience with Independence of the Seas, leaving out of Fort Lauderdale going to Belize and Mexico? I only went on one Royal Caribbean cruise and it was horible, not sure if I want to try another one.

I don't do that itinerary, but I did have an excellent cruise on Indy back in January. The review and lots of pictures are linked in my signature.

[caulder60]

So what do you want to know? And what did you dislike about your last experience with RCI?

 

 

 

Thank you for responding. Let me first say I am a very down to earth type of person. There isn't a lot of things that I get upset or angry about. I am in my early 40's and I don't make a lot of money. I love cruising and researched a lot about what to bring, documents etc. So, for this particular cruise I had gone all out for my husband and I for his birthday. We cruise every January. I had paid extra for a balcony (our first time) to only be told he couldn't smoke on the balcony starting January 2014, for me this should have been stipulated when I chose and paid for it, previous smoking was permitted. That is the sole reason I got a balcony. I was then called and told there was a message for my husband ( they wouldn't give it to me), I told my husband, we went to the front desk (no message), 2 days later they apologized and said they lost the message and that the message was his father passed away. (unexpectedly of course). Of course that was a big part of our dislike. I did pay for the insurance, we should have been let off the ship and flown back to our home town to attend the funeral. And was not given that choice. The beds were so uncomfortable. There was no activity what so ever except for scrap-booking. I think we were the youngest on board, we don't mind the age difference but everything was geared toward people over 65. Yes, I did look at reviews etc before booking. We have only done Carnival and really enjoyed it. People said you have to do RC it's better. I spend $3500. and was really disappointed. I won't be able to afford that time of spending again. The food was horrible.

 

Any suggestions???

[jticarruthers]

Seems like a fairly extreme set of circumstances with the death in the family.

 

We have done the Belize/Cozumel itinerary on Liberty (sister of Independence) and enjoyed it.

 

Not sure what ship you were on for your last cruise, knowing that would help from a comparison standpoint. The Freedom class generally have pretty good amenities, nice pool deck, flowrider, bars, etc.

 

We didn't actually go ashore in Belize, tendered to a dive excursion then a small island and back to the boat but it was very pleasant.

 

Cozumel is Cozumel, lots of options and a good port but we have been there many times now so it is a bit blah for us, always fun to take new people there though.

[caulder60]

Seems like a fairly extreme set of circumstances with the death in the family.

 

We have done the Belize/Cozumel itinerary on Liberty (sister of Independence) and enjoyed it.

 

Not sure what ship you were on for your last cruise, knowing that would help from a comparison standpoint. The Freedom class generally have pretty good amenities, nice pool deck, flowrider, bars, etc.

 

We didn't actually go ashore in Belize, tendered to a dive excursion then a small island and back to the boat but it was very pleasant.

 

Cozumel is Cozumel, lots of options and a good port but we have been there many times now so it is a bit blah for us, always fun to take new people there though.

 

 

Grandeur of the Sea

[DonnaK]

Anyone have experience with Independence of the Seas, leaving out of Fort Lauderdale going to Belize and Mexico? I only went on one Royal Caribbean cruise and it was horible, not sure if I want to try another one.

 

Indy is one of the more popular ships in the fleet, and it gets consistently good reviews particularly on the Caribbean itinerary. An itinerary that includes Belize is a plus because that's a port which is not included on most western Caribbean itineraries.

 

It's a bigger, newer ship than Grandeur. You still cannot smoke on the balcony, though.

 

However, if your last experience with Royal Caribbean left a bad impression on you, and you love Carnival, then stick with what you know is good for you.

Edited September 9, 2014 by DonnaK

[Charger2008]

Anyone have experience with Independence of the Seas, leaving out of Fort Lauderdale going to Belize and Mexico? I only went on one Royal Caribbean cruise and it was horible, not sure if I want to try another one.

 

While we have not sailed the Western itinerary on the Independence, we have done the Eastern twice and are going back for a third time next March. Love the ship, lots to do, food was great, service even better and just an all around wonderful cruise. :D

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I am not sure what activities you like to do, but there is something for everyone on the ship.

 

P.S. I just read your response about your previous experience and you did not indicate which ship but I would hazard to guess it was not a Freedom Class or above, those have much more amenities for younger people. Also, I am so very sorry for your husband's loss and sorry that the ship did not get you the information in time for you to go back home.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Charger2008

[jticarruthers]

I have been on Grandeur (and sister Vision) as well as the Freedom and Liberty (both sisters of Independence).

 

The Grandeur is very much what I would call an "introductory" ship, it is nice but the activities are limited compared to the newer/bigger Freedom class.

 

With Freedom you will see more options and more venues to go and do things. Miniature golf, flowrider, more shows in the theater, etc. along with more dining/snacking options.

 

I don't think you will be disappointed by Indy but its always hard to know for sure.

 

FYI - Booked on Indy for Thanksgiving so I am certainly putting my money where my mouth is :)

[Marie51]

Thank you for responding. Let me first say I am a very down to earth type of person. There isn't a lot of things that I get upset or angry about. I am in my early 40's and I don't make a lot of money. I love cruising and researched a lot about what to bring, documents etc. So, for this particular cruise I had gone all out for my husband and I for his birthday. We cruise every January. I had paid extra for a balcony (our first time) to only be told he couldn't smoke on the balcony starting January 2014, for me this should have been stipulated when I chose and paid for it, previous smoking was permitted. That is the sole reason I got a balcony. I was then called and told there was a message for my husband ( they wouldn't give it to me), I told my husband, we went to the front desk (no message), 2 days later they apologized and said they lost the message and that the message was his father passed away. (unexpectedly of course). Of course that was a big part of our dislike. I did pay for the insurance, we should have been let off the ship and flown back to our home town to attend the funeral. And was not given that choice. The beds were so uncomfortable. There was no activity what so ever except for scrap-booking. I think we were the youngest on board, we don't mind the age difference but everything was geared toward people over 65. Yes, I did look at reviews etc before booking. We have only done Carnival and really enjoyed it. People said you have to do RC it's better. I spend $3500. and was really disappointed. I won't be able to afford that time of spending again. The food was horrible.

 

Any suggestions???

 

My suggestion is perhaps find a different type of vacation. Really...sounds like cruising is not for you.