Independence of the Seas

Returned on Saturday from 5 night cruise on Independence of the Seas. We had a great time.

The room was fine. We had an ocean view balcony. Beds were comfortable and everything worked. Our room steward was very good and accomodating.

We had dinner in the MDR all nights except one. We found the food to be good and the service excellent. Favorites were escargot, beef short rib, chicken cordon bleu, steak.

The other night we had room service. We thought the food was very good. We had wings, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, nachos and chocolate chip cookies. Well worth the extra charge.

Food in the windjammer was hit or miss. I really enjoyed the Indian dishes.

Lots of activities. I'm not much of a show person but we went to the ice show and enjoyed it a lot.

Favorite bar was Bolaros. Excellent service and the bartenders know how to make drinks correctly. Not the case at some of the bars. They also had good entertainment every night in Bolaros.

Had lots of fun at Ocho Rios. I did the horseback ride and swim and my son did the snorkel/Dunn's river falls excursion . No complaints. My son is 22 and he had several people approach him to sell him drugs.

Labadee was very nice but we had to leave early due to weather.

Much of the cruise we had strong winds and rough seas and you could definitely feel the ship rocking. I liked it for sleeping but not so much for walking around the ship.

Disembarkation took a very long time. We left around 9, self assist. Will definitely get up earlier next time.

The only thing that was annoying was we had to spend way too much time at guest services. Our port got changed from Falmouth to Ocho Rios and we could only book new excursions on the ship so you can imagine how many people were trying to do this every time we went there. Also, my sea pass card had all the lettering come off due to sunscreen. When I got a new one they didn't put the drink package on so I had to go back. My son's card stopped working for drinks after a few days and he went to guest services where he was told it was fine and then it still didn't work so he went back and was told it was fine again but he insisted it wasn't so the lady went with him to try to buy a drink and saw that it didn't work so she got someone to fix it.

All in all we had a fantastic time . Would recommend this cruise to anyone!

What was the reason they gave for switching Falmouth to Ocho Rios?

I was on this cruise as well. We really enjoyed it. Glad you did as well! I never did hear why our port and port order were changed, or why we

docked so early on our return Saturday.

I was able to use the interactive feature of our room TV to book our Ocho Rios excursion. I had never done that before, but the line at Guest Services convinced me to give it a try. It was amazingly quick and easy.

What was the reason they gave for switching Falmouth to Ocho Rios?[/quote

 

They didn't give a reason as far as I know. Someone in Ocho Rios told me that there were already 2 ships in port at Falmouth so we had were switched but I have no idea if that is true.

I was on this cruise as well. We really enjoyed it. Glad you did as well! I never did hear why our port and port order were changed, or why we

docked so early on our return Saturday.

I was able to use the interactive feature of our room TV to book our Ocho Rios excursion. I had never done that before, but the line at Guest Services convinced me to give it a try. It was amazingly quick and easy.

We tried to do that but it said "there are no excursions available for Ocho Rios ".

What was the state of the ship? With Indy going in for refurbishment soon, I know people have concerns. Also, what was the atmosphere on board like? With it being a short cruise, was there a big party atmosphere? Thanks in advance.

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. I am sailing this Thursday 3/1. I sailed onboard 10 years ago when she was brand new!

What was the state of the ship? With Indy going in for refurbishment soon, I know people have concerns. Also, what was the atmosphere on board like? With it being a short cruise, was there a big party atmosphere? Thanks in advance.

I thought the ship looked fine. Curtains and carpets were a little worn. There were quite a few families on board but all the children I saw were well behaved. Didn't seem like such a party atmosphere but I don't stay up really late.

Thank you for taking the time to post a reviews. I am sailing this Thursday 3/1. I sailed onboard 10 years ago when she was brand new!

You will have a great time!

What type of weather caused the ship to leave Labadee early?

What type of weather caused the ship to leave Labadee early?

It was very windy and the sea was pretty rough. The ship was being batted around a lot at the pier. I think that was why.

Thanks for the reply. That would have been interesting to see. I really do like Indy.

Thank you for the review , how was the cruise director?

Thank you for the review , how was the cruise director?

Well she wasn't funny and she had a strong accent that made her hard to understand sometimes. She did seem to be at a lot of the events though.

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. I am sailing this Thursday 3/1. I sailed onboard 10 years ago when she was brand new!

We will be joining you on Thursday as well!

Well she wasn't funny and she had a strong accent that made her hard to understand sometimes. She did seem to be at a lot of the events though.

What a bummer. When I saw the CD name and realized it was a woman, I was kind of turned off just because I was afraid that it wouldn't be so good. We have had some awesome cruise directors in the past and was hoping for a good one this time since it's my dad's first cruise. Oh well...other things to be enjoying anyway.

My family was on this sailing also. It was our first cruise and we had a mostly good time. We were disappointed in the port changes as we really didn't have much time to properly research what in Ocho Rios we wanted to replace our Falmouth beach excursion. With 5 of us, we didn't want to invest such a large amount of money in something without an unbiased endorsement. The internet was a hit or miss at times and trying to read reviews proved difficult. In the end, we ended up at Margaritaville after shopping in the port and had a fun time before heading back to the ship. We did the zipline in Labadee first thing in the morning (an absolute blast) and then headed over to the beach. Bummed to have over 2 hours shaved off our beach time due to the winds/weather.

The crew was wonderful and my kids really loved our waiters, Gaetano & Christian, in the MDR (same table every night). Food was decent and we all gained a pound or two. One thing that I regret was purchasing the Soda package for my family. It was nearly impossible to get a soda from the 3 bars near the pool for much of the trip. Sometimes the bars were understaffed (1 bartender for the entire "Squeeze" bar?) and sometimes the other passengers looking for booze were just too aggressive. I walked away empty handed out of frustration quite a few times.

We went to the "Billy Joel" show and "Grease" and enjoyed both.

The lettering on my husband's seapass was erased from sunscreen also!

Debarkation seemed to take forever but with it being our first cruise, we had nothing to compare it to. Good to hear your opinion of it also.

My family was on this sailing also. It was our first cruise and we had a mostly good time. We were disappointed in the port changes as we really didn't have much time to properly research what in Ocho Rios we wanted to replace our Falmouth beach excursion. With 5 of us, we didn't want to invest such a large amount of money in something without an unbiased endorsement. The internet was a hit or miss at times and trying to read reviews proved difficult. In the end, we ended up at Margaritaville after shopping in the port and had a fun time before heading back to the ship. We did the zipline in Labadee first thing in the morning (an absolute blast) and then headed over to the beach. Bummed to have over 2 hours shaved off our beach time due to the winds/weather.

 

The crew was wonderful and my kids really loved our waiters, Gaetano & Christian, in the MDR (same table every night). Food was decent and we all gained a pound or two. One thing that I regret was purchasing the Soda package for my family. It was nearly impossible to get a soda from the 3 bars near the pool for much of the trip. Sometimes the bars were understaffed (1 bartender for the entire "Squeeze" bar?) and sometimes the other passengers looking for booze were just too aggressive. I walked away empty handed out of frustration quite a few times.

 

We went to the "Billy Joel" show and "Grease" and enjoyed both.

 

The lettering on my husband's seapass was erased from sunscreen also!

 

Debarkation seemed to take forever but with it being our first cruise, we had nothing to compare it to. Good to hear your opinion of it also.

I do agree with everything you said. :p

Hello! I am new to cruising and my sister and I are taking this cruise in a couple weeks. It will go to Cozumel Mexico. I was just wondering what you all do for currency? We are doing the dolphin encounter and it said to take a credit card, which I assume means they accept credit cards there. What about the shopping around the rest of the port?

Hello! I am new to cruising and my sister and I are taking this cruise in a couple weeks. It will go to Cozumel Mexico. I was just wondering what you all do for currency? We are doing the dolphin encounter and it said to take a credit card, which I assume means they accept credit cards there. What about the shopping around the rest of the port?

Cozumel and virtually all Caribbean ports take US currency.

Cozumel and virtually all Caribbean ports take US currency.

Thank you! That's what I heard but I called Royal Caribbean to double check and was told we needed pesos and could convert on the ship. It seemed unlikely to me with how touristy I assume it is.

Thank you! That's what I heard but I called Royal Caribbean to double check and was told we needed pesos and could convert on the ship. It seemed unlikely to me with how touristy I assume it is.

Unfortunately, if you continue to cruise on Royal Caribbean, you will find that RC customer service reps often do not give accurate info. I'm not saying we are perfect here, but if someone says something wrong here, corrections usually come very fast.

Thank you! That's what I heard but I called Royal Caribbean to double check and was told we needed pesos and could convert on the ship. It seemed unlikely to me with how touristy I assume it is.

Wow! That's crazy. Yes. They always take U.S. currency in Cozumel. I shop in the port area every time I'm on a cruise that stops there. NEVER buy from the first or second store closest to the ship. You'll walk a little further and regret that purchase because the same item gets less expensive as you continue down the path. I've also learned they are VERY open to bartering! I will walk into a jewelry store just to look. When I ask for a price, they'll tell me $380. As I start to walk out, they come down. By the time I hit the door, they're willing to sell it to me for the $50 I have in my pocket.