Independence Of The Seas B2B with over 100 pictures

My wife and I had the pleasure of doing back-to-back cruises on Independence Of The Seas recently. We visited St Maarten, St Kitts, San Juan, Grand Cayman, Jamaica... and visited Labadee twice!

We had been on Allure Of The Seas last year, so I had somewhat low expectations for this cruise. I felt sure that this somewhat older ship was going to feel like a step down from Allure. Boy, did I have that wrong! In several areas that are important to me, Independence Of The Seas not only beat out Allure... but beat just about every one of the other cruise ships we had ever been on.

But before I dig in to the full story of our cruise, let me start off by doing a proper introduction...

I'm Jim Zimmerlin (everyone calls me Jim Zim) and I always cruise with my wife, Kellyn. (Pronunciation tip: it rhymes with Helen.) We're from Grover Beach, California... a little beach town on the California coast about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. We've been cruising since 1996... and have now taken 30 cruises on 20 different cruise ships. Up until 2013, almost all of our cruises were with Carnival cruise line.

We were very happy with Carnival, but felt like we wanted to try some new experiences and see what the competition had to offer. So, in 2014 we made a point of cruising with some of the other cruise lines. We had very good experiences on two Princess cruises in 2014, and an outrageously great experience on the brand new Norwegian Getaway. Then we decided to try the largest ship in the world. We had a nice cruise on Allure Of The Seas... loved some things about it, but felt let down by a few other things. You can read the full story of our cruise on Allure Of The Seas here.

One thing I've noticed in my previous cruises is that I've always enjoyed the newest ships the most. They tend to have the best features, most up-to-date styling, and you can easily see how bad design ideas from previous generations of ships are re-thought and improved upon with each new ship that comes along.

That brings us to this cruise. Independence Of The Seas made her debut in 2008, making her 7 years old when we sailed on her. Since there were some things about the 4-year-old Allure that bothered me, my expectations for a 7 year old ship were fairly low. Boy, did Independence Of The Seas surprise me!

An Introduction to "Indy"

 

Independence Of The Seas is one of three Freedom-class ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet. At the time those three ships were introduced, they were the largest cruise ships in the world. She carries over 4300 passengers.

Here's a little diagram, provided by Royal Caribbean, that gives you a general overview of her layout...

Onboard the ship, near the elevators, you'll find nifty 3D versions of that diagram to help you figure out where things are:

There are also very cool electronic interactive maps posted on the walls near the elevators that can help you find things. For example, you can type in your cabin number and the interactive map will display the exact route you should take to get to your cabin. Very handy on your first day on the ship! The interactive display is also really helpful with locating the nearest public restroom, or to find dining venues that are open at any particular point in time.

If you're going to be sailing on Independence Of The Seas, do yourself a favor and download the complete deck plans to your cell phone, tablet, or laptop. It's nice to be able to bring up a set of deck plans on your mobile device when you're wondering about some detail of the ship's layout... or when you're wandering around the ship completely lost!

Whenever I post one of these cruise reviews, people always ask if I happen to have copies of the daily schedules, which are known on Royal Caribbean as the Cruise Compass. We did two cruises back-to-back so that we could stretch our vacation out to 14 days. I scanned and saved the Cruise Compass newsletters in to two files: one from the 8-day cruise, and one from the 6-day cruise.

My idea of a great vacation involves a LOT of time in the water... either at a sunny beach on a tropical island, or in a swimming pool or Jacuzzi. So, let me show you around Independence Of The Seas, and let's start up on deck 11 where all the swimming pools and Jacuzzis are.

Officers versus passengers volleyball in the sports pool

On a day at sea in the Caribbean, there's no better place to be than on deck 11. There's plenty of sun, and several swimming pools and Jacuzzis to choose from, each with a little different vibe. The sports pool is located on the starboard side of the ship. It's home to the officers versus passengers volleyball games, as well as several other competitions such as the belly-flop contest and cannon-ball competition.

In this shot, you can see that adjacent to the sports pool you'll find another pool, which they simply call the main pool. It's open to people of all ages. You can also see that there's a big outdoor TV screen by those two pools, and underneath the TV is a bandstand that often features a Reggae band. Next to the big TV are two Jacuzzis that each have a big sunscreen above them to help you keep from getting sunburned. Over on the far right of that photo is a third Jacuzzi, but this one is open to the air with no sunscreen covering it. Here's a better look at that Jacuzzi, from a different angle:

You can see the "pool bar" is located right there... and because of its location next to the pools and the Jacuzzis, it's one of the most busy bars on the whole ship. If you just walk up those steps to the next level, you can get to a less-crowded bar, the Sky Bar...

Right in front of the sky bar is a nice little seating area with a great view of the big screen TV and all the stuff happening in the pools and Jacuzzis...

Make sure you're wearing plenty of sunscreen if you sit out in this area... there's no shade here, and the sun in the Caribbean will burn much more quickly than it does back home. Two things I really liked about sitting in this area were that it was somewhat wind-blocked by the Sky Bar and also that there were a lot of girls in bikinis walking around here!

If you like girls in bikinis, you'll love deck 11 early in the morning when they do aerobics by the pool...

Sarah Fretwell from the entertainment staff leads a poolside "dance fitness" class

Another beautiful sight I photographed in this same area of deck 11 was a beautiful sunset. If you look real closely at the picture, you'll see that there was another cruise ship sailing along side of us at that point...

As nice as the main pool area looks, it actually wasn't my favorite place to hang out... because it tends to be a little noisy and rowdy out there, between the Reggae band, the athletic games, and a whole bunch of kids. My favorite swimming pool can be seen in the next picture. It's known as the Solarium pool...

The solarium pool is a much quieter, adults-only pool that is partially wind-blocked by that structure you see behind the little bridge. This was the pool for me! There was no music playing, and no kids. But what really sweetened up the deal for me was the way they heated this pool up on the second week of our cruise. As I mentioned earlier, we did two cruises back-to-back, for a total of 14 days onboard. For the first week, the solarium pool was about the same temperature as the other pools. But for some reason, on the second week, they heated the solarium pool up to Jacuzzi-like temperatures. I'm certain the water was somewhere around 95 degrees. I totally loved it in this pool during the second week. I have no idea why they heated it up the second week (or why they didn't the first week)... and I don't know whether or not they heat it on a normal week. But I sure did enjoy it that second week!

Here's a picture that Kellyn took of me relaxing in the solarium pool. It's one of my favorite pictures from the cruise, because I think it perfectly captures me on vacation, totally relaxed.

A lot of my friends have commented to me about the picture... several of them quite concerned for my watch! Not to worry... I consider a waterproof watch to be a "must have" item on vacation. There are so many things that happen at specific times on a cruise ship that wearing a watch is mandatory, as far as I'm concerned. With as much swimming and snorkeling as I do on vacation... I would never buy a watch that wasn't waterproof!

Here's another look at the Solarium pool, this time from deck 12 above...

 

You can see that it's a fairly small area, without a whole lot of loungers. These fill up early in the day, and it becomes impossible to get a lounger until close to dinner time. The way I ended up working around this was to just toss my towel and any other personal belongings on the deck by the base of those three copper-colored poles. It was a good place to safely stash my stuff, without hogging a lounger, while I spent time in the pool.

A couple of other things to point out in that previous picture...

The little bridge that arches over the solarium pool offers some nice shade. I liked to sit in the pool right under that bridge so that my shoulders would be in the shade and wouldn't burn. Also, notice those four dark circles in the water, under the bridge. Those are underwater stools, like you might find at a swim-up bar. It was a popular place for people to sit and chat while staying cool in the pool, and I found it to be a great place to meet people and make some new friends.

If you want to see a really nice solarium... take a cruise on Allure Of The Seas. They really came up with a great design for that ship. The solarium sits at the very front of the ship and is wind protected by glass panels. The glass panels are open at the top to allow hot Caribbean air to escape, so the temperature stays just right inside.

...it would certainly go to the two Jacuzzis located on either side of the ship, adjacent to the Solarium pool. I spent a lot of time in these Jacuzzis!

These two Jacuzzis, one on the port side of the ship and one on the starboard side, had fantastic views... because they hang over the side of the ship! A picture taken from the pier shows it best:

These big Jacuzzis, cantilevered over the sides of the ship, are a standard feature on all the Oasis-class and Freedom-class ships... and I can definitely see why. They were big, warm, and the views were fantastic. And they're for adults only, too.

The only down side to these Jacuzzis is that they're pretty popular... so it's smart to time your visits to sometime "off peak" to miss the big crowds. I liked to come here early in the morning, or in the very late afternoon or early evening hours, to catch it when it wasn't crammed full of people.

The H2O Zone

 

The children's water park area on deck 11 is known as the H2O Zone. It's very popular with kids and families. Note the swimming pool with the waterfall, at the left side of that last picture. That's just one of several kids pools in this area. There are also FOUR Jacuzzis in this area, which tend to be popular with kids and their families. This next picture shows them late in the afternoon, when most of the kids had tired out and the Jacuzzis had become more popular with cruisers of all ages.

A very popular attraction in this area is the frozen yogurt machine. Help yourself... it's free, and delicious! However, this is one of those things that Carnival does better. Independence Of The Seas just has one frozen yogurt machine, and it's only open from 11 AM to 7 PM. At times, there can be 20 people in line to use it. On all of Carnival's ships, even the oldest ones, they have multiple machines around the ship and they offer both frozen yogurt and ice cream... 24 hours a day.

This next picture shows the H2O Zone from a different angle. Towering over the area, almost as if a flying saucer was mounted on top of the ship, you can't help but notice all those big picture windows and wonder what's behind them. If you take the elevator up to deck 14, you'll find out... and you'll be treated to some spectacular views up there!

The "Olive Or Twist" lounge is up there, and it's a great place to watch the ship go in and out of port without being exposed to any wind. Here's the view from inside, when the ship was docked in St Kitts:

One word of caution, though, about the "Olive Or Twist" lounge. From about 5 PM on, the people that hang out there tend to be very nicely dressed. So, at that hour, if you're going to visit this lounge... don't show up in shorts and a t-shirt. Dress like you're going to an upscale charity event at a country club, and you'll fit in just fine. I learned that lesson the hard way the first time I visited!

From deck 14, if you take the stairs up to deck 15, you'll find the wedding chapel...

I had a funny encounter with a group of teenagers in one of the elevators one day. I'm assuming they had been exploring the ship and had discovered the wedding chapel. They were all giggling when I got in the elevator and finally they couldn't stand it anymore and one of them pointed to a boy and a girl in the elevator and said "they just got married!" I replied with "Really? Who performed the ceremony?" and one of the kids said "I did". I said "Hello, Reverend", and then turned to the alleged newlyweds and asked them if they would be consummating the marriage that night. There were giggles all around, and I left the elevator wishing I could have hung out with them for a while because they were a fun group!

As I mentioned, the Olive Or Twist lounge is a great place to see the view when the ship is in motion and it's windy on deck. If the weather is good and the winds are light, though, there's an even better place to watch the ship go in and out of port. It's the bow of the ship, on deck 5. Unlike every other cruise ship I've ever been on, the bow of the ship is open to all passengers on Independence Of The Seas. On all the other ships, it's been "crew only".

On the bow, you're standing on a helicopter landing zone that is used in cases of medical emergencies. Looking towards the back of the ship, you have a view of the navigational bridge and all the forward-facing cabins. There are many benches in this area, if you'd like to sit... but most folks just stand up along the railing for a nice unobstructed view of what's in front of the ship.

My wife, in the pink sweatshirt, checked out the city of Basseterre from the ship's bow

as Independence Of The Seas docked in St Kitts

I was really impressed with how the design of Royal Caribbean's Freedom-class ships allowed for passenger access to the ship's bow. It was really cool to be able to go right up to the front of the ship on a sea day and do the classic "I'm The King Of The World!" thing from Titanic.

Another good viewing area with a nice view forward is up on deck 12. Just follow the jogging track to the front of the ship. Here's a picture I shot of the crowd enjoying the view as several other cruise ships departed Ft Lauderdale just before we did.

We had a beautiful view of the harbor as we sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale...

 



People waving to Independence Of The Seas as she exited the harbor at sailaway

I shot a funny video as we were sailing away from Ft Lauderdale on the second week of our back-to-back cruises. I noticed during sailaway on the first week that the captain blows the ship's horn at a very specific part of the sailaway... and that it scares the hell out of the passengers who happen to be standing directly under the horn! So, for sailaway on week #2, I positioned myself in the perfect position and pointed the camera at the unsuspecting passengers standing directly beneath the ship's horn. Watch what happened:

The forward viewing areas on deck 12 and 13 tend to be a bit crowded... because it's very obvious how to find those areas. The viewing area on deck 5 at the ship's bow is much trickier to find, so it tends to be less crowded. To get there, take the elevator to deck FOUR. Even though the bow viewing area is on deck five, access is via deck four. That's why a lot of people never find it!

On deck four, step outside on to this nice outdoor area:

From there, go towards the front of the ship and look for a stairway leading up. Take that stairway, and you'll end up on deck 5, and keeping walking forward until you reach the bow of the ship.

The Sports Zone

 

The Sports Zone, located at the aft end of deck 13, is where you'll find the rock-climbing wall, the miniature golf course, the Flowrider surf simulator, a basketball/soccer court, and the arcade.

I've never really understood the fascination with having a rock climbing wall on a cruise ship, but kids seem to enjoy it. I think Carnival's choice to have waterslides appeals to more ages. It was interesting to read recently that Royal Caribbean is going to put waterslides on her next generation of ships, and is also considering adding waterslides to Oasis Of The Seas and Allure Of The Seas.

Don't wear a hat if you're going to play miniature golf on a sea day. It gets real windy up there!

 



The "sports court" can be used for either basketball or soccer

Wow really loving this review. I like the detail and great pictures. Looking forward to the rest of it.

The best feature of the Sports Zone is the Flowrider surf simulator.

 



 

Sometimes, if I had nothing better to do, I would just come up here and watch the people surf.

 

 



At the back of the ship, just below the Flowrider, there are a whole lot of loungers that very few people ever use.

If you get annoyed by large crowds at the main pool, come back here for some peace and quiet.

 

 



After cruising a lot with Carnival, where there is no such thing as deck 13,

it was nice to see one on Royal Caribbean's ships.

I like to think of myself as slightly more intelligent and evolved than men of 500 years ago. I will walk under a ladder if I want to. I don't keep garlic around the house to ward off vampires. Black cats don't bother me. And I see absolutely no reason that the deck above deck 12 should be deck 14. I like knowing that rational people are running Royal Caribbean.

Here's another great Royal Caribbean idea that Carnival should steal... every night at midnight, they change out these little carpet sections in the elevator, to provide a little reminder to the passengers about what day it is. It's easy to lose track of the days of the week when you're on vacation!

Wow really loving this review. I like the detail and great pictures. Looking forward to the rest of it.

Thank you. I was beginning to wonder when someone else was going to chime in!

Johnny Rockets

 

I've been mentioning a few comparisons between Carnival and Royal Caribbean... and this is one where Royal Caribbean definitely loses. Carnival's "Guy Fieri Burger" absolutely beats Royal Caribbean's "Johnny Rockets" burger... both on taste, and on price. The Guy Burgers on Carnival are not only free, but they're much better tasting than the $5 Johnny Rockets burgers on Royal Caribbean.

One of the things I've really enjoyed about having cruised on twenty different cruise ships is seeing how cruise ship designs evolve over time. For example, on Carnival, you look at the waterslide on their oldest ship and then take a look at the waterslides on each newer ship design and see how they got a little better with each generation. Taking that a step further, it's also interesting to see how some of the competing cruise lines will take an idea from a competitor and improve upon it. Using waterslides as an example again... Carnival gradually improved their waterslides over the years, culminating in

So, I was somewhat amused on Independence Of The Seas to see the root of another idea that Norwegian Cruise Line has gone on to steal and improve upon in their newest ships. It's the idea of offering both indoor and outdoor seating at a specialty restaurant along the side of the ship. On Independence Of The Seas, you can eat your Johnny Rockets hamburger inside, or you can eat it outside in a covered dining area along the side of the ship:

 

Here's a picture I shot on Norwegian Getaway last year, of the same basic idea...

only instead of just offering it at one specialty restaurant like RCCL does,

NCL offers it at four different specialty restaurants and several different bars

in an area of the ship known as "the Waterfront"

 



"The Waterfront" outdoor dining on Norwegian Getaway

Now while we're on the subject of food and dining, I have to tell you something about my wife and I that may shock you! There's something we do on cruises that some people find a little bizarre... we eat just about every meal in the buffet restaurant rather than ever having a fancy sit-down meal in one of the main dining rooms.

Unless we go to one of the specialty restaurants, such as Chops Grille or Giovanni's Table on Independence Of The Seas, we totally avoid the main dining room and just eat all of our meals -- breakfast, lunch, and dinner -- in the buffet. There are several reasons for this:

First off, we both like to be able to actually see the food before we decide if we want it or not. In the main dining room, you might see "beef stroganoff" on the menu, but that doesn't tell you much about what's in it and whether or not you're going to like it. It's so much easier to decide if you want the beef stroganoff if you can actually look at it first.

Second, we both like being able to control the portion sizes. Maybe I'd like to try just a little of the beef stroganoff AND a little of the veal parmesan and then decide which one is best and go back and get some more. Or maybe I already know that I really like the lasagna and I want a gigantic portion of it. All of this is easy to do in the buffet, and I've had nothing but trouble in the main dining rooms.

The other thing is that my wife and I have been together for 35 years now. We don't have a lot to say to each other over dinner anymore! It was all said years ago. A typical dinner in the main dining room can last for anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours. We just don't have enough stuff to talk about anymore to fill 90 minutes a night for every night of a two week cruise! So, a quick twenty or thirty minute meal at the buffet works out much better for us.

Finally, and most importantly, there's one thing about eating in the main dining room of a cruise ship that just drives us crazy! It's the lack of any privacy. Here's an example of where they'll seat you if you ask for "a table for two" in the main dining room on Independence Of The Seas:

Look at how close those "tables for two" are to each other! You might as well just be at a table for 12, because you're going to hear every single word that the people at the next table say to each other, and they're going to hear every word of yours, too. I absolutely hate that, and it's the #1 thing that keeps me eating in the Windjammer buffet restaurant on Royal Caribbean... where there are real tables for two with some decent spacing from the next table!

We really liked the Windjammer buffet restaurant on Independence Of The Seas... and we didn't expect to, after our experience in the Windjammer on Allure Of The Seas last year. Whoever's running the Food & Dining on Indy is doing a much better job than their counterpart on Allure. The variety of food in the Windjammer was excellent. I always use Carnival as my frame of reference, since I've cruised so many times with them. At dinner in the Carnival buffet, it always irritated me that they would just serve baked potatoes every night. No matter what the main entree was, it was offered with a baked potato. And it wasn't even a very well cooked baked potato at that! I always wondered why Carnival didn't mix it up a little and serve baked potatoes one night, mashed potatoes the next night, and steak fries the next. Something to provide some variety. Well, I was certainly in potato heaven at dinner time in the Windjammer on Independence Of The Seas. Every night, there was generally three different varieties of potatoes available. Mashed potatoes every night, some kind of French Fries or steak fries every night, and then some other kind of potato like a baked potato or a an Au Gratin potato or a country-styled potato. This meat-and-potato lover was totally comfortable on Independence Of The Seas!

The only bad thing I can say about the Windjammer is that they opened for dinner way too late. Opening at 6:30 PM, it was the latest opening time I've ever seen on any cruise ship. And it totally messed up our evening! If they had opened at 5:00, or even 5:30... it would have been no problem to make it to the 7 PM show in the main theater. But because they didn't open until 6:30, we always had to end up going to the 9 PM show instead.

Kellyn and I don't drink a whole lot, but when we're on a cruise it's fun to have a margarita every now and then. Having been on 30 cruises now, we learned long ago that it's never inexpensive to get a drink on a cruise ship... except for perhaps at some special VIP party for frequent cruisers where the drinks tend to be free! But Royal Caribbean has seemed to set some kind of new record for sky-high drink prices with the new pricing they recently implemented. I didn't pay much attention to it when I first read about it here on Cruise Critic... because I don't think of myself as being much of a drinker. But if definitely got my attention the first time we ordered Margaritas on Independence Of The Seas and the bill, including gratuities, came to $28.

$28 seems like an awful lot for a pair of margaritas! On Carnival, you can go to the BlueIguana tequila bar and get a PITCHER of margaritas for $25 plus tip. It certainly wouldn't cost anywhere near $28 if we ordered a pair of margaritas at our favorite Mexican restaurant here at home. Thinking about the fact that we were going to be onboard Independence Of The Seas for 14 days... let's say we each wanted one margarita every other day. That would be nearly $200 just for a margarita every other day. Seems high to me.

Eventually, we figured out ways around it. The best solution I came up with was to switch to rum & cokes instead of margaritas. Those were only about $8 each. The other thing was to watch the Cruise Compass newsletter for occasional margarita specials. Every now and then they would offer two-for-one margaritas at certain bars for an hour or two.

The Royal Promenade

 

The Royal Promenade is a unique concept to Royal Caribbean, as far as I know. It's one of those things that when you see it... you know you're on a Royal Caribbean ship. Kind of like Carnival and their signature whale-tail funnel.

If you've never sailed on a Royal Caribbean ship with a Royal Promenade, the best way I can describe it to you is to ask you to imagine a big-city shopping mall... but in the middle of a cruise ship... and with hotel rooms in the upper levels.

Thank you. I was beginning to wonder when someone else was going to chime in!

Keep going. You are doing great. We will be on Indy in September so I am enjoying all your pictures. Gives me something to look forward to.

For the life of me, I really can't figure out why anyone would want to stay in a cabin that overlooked the Royal Promenade. I'd sooner book an inside cabin without any windows at all. The worst part is the fact that they have some 10:30 PM parties in the Royal Promenade, complete with VERY loud music... and the speakers are located right underneath the cabin windows. If for some reason you wanted to go to bed early that night and you were in one of those cabins overlooking the Royal Promenade, you'd be totally screwed.

Here's a photo of one of those parties that takes place in the Royal Promenade. You'll see it listed in the Cruise Compass as "Dancin' In The Streets"...

 

A still picture doesn't do it justice, though! You've absolutely GOT to take a look at this short video:

 

(Click the triangle in the center of the picture to start the video playing!)

 

[YOUTUBE]UeZk0lloJfo[/YOUTUBE]

To avoid copyright issues, when the entertainment staff does their Village People impersonation, they don't call themselves the Village People. I believe they get around it by referring to themselves as the "Yillage People"... with a Y instead of a V. Funny idea, actually! I also got a good laugh out of seeing what a commotion the Yillage People caused among the ladies when they came down from their elevated stage and actually walked through the crowd:

As a dog lover, and someone who bred puppies for 15 years, I also got a kick out of a whimsical piece of artwork that overlooks the Royal Promenade...

 

Here's the back side...

 

Remember how earlier I was discussing how much I enjoy seeing a cruise line take an idea from an older ship and improve upon it with each new generation of ships? On Independence Of The Seas they have the big red dog overlooking the Royal Promenade. On Quantum Of The Seas it became a big red bear overlooking the rock climbing wall. And on Anthem Of The Seas, it became a big Giraffe!

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this wonderful review. Did you try Chops or Giovannis?

Speaking of dogs... we always miss our Cocker Spaniel, Morgan, when we go on a cruise. We got a good laugh out of seeing this on Independence Of The Seas:

A 2008 Morgan Roadster on display in the Royal Promenade

My wife is totally in to embroidery, sewing, and quilting... so she got a real kick out of seeing this unique piece of art hanging in the atrium above the entrance to the Royal Promenade:

That photo is a little difficult to interpret at first glance, so let me explain what you're seeing. Look at the bottom of that last photo. That's the entrance to the Royal Promenade, as seen from above. Then, look above that and you'll see a curved grey wall with a piece of artwork on it. The artwork looks something like an embroidered picture of something involving a wine glass. The amazing thing is that it's not actually embroidered, although it is made of thread! If you could get way up close to that piece of artwork, you'd see this:

The lower-right corner of that big piece of art. It's made entirely of spools of thread!

My wife totally went nuts over this. Me too, actually.

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this wonderful review. Did you try Chops or Giovannis?

Yes, we enjoyed both.

We went to Giovanni's at lunch time... for two reasons. First, it's cheaper at lunch time... but more importantly, they have lasagna on the lunch menu but not on the dinner menu.

We enjoyed Chops a lot, too... however, we made one tiny mistake. We went there on formal night, not realizing that there was an even larger extra fee for eating there on formal night than there is on a regular night. On a regular night, it sets you back $70 per couple. On formal night, that goes up to a whopping $80 per couple.

Our Cabin, Stateroom 7386

 



Cabin 7386 on Royal Caribbean's "Independence Of The Seas"

We stayed in a regular balcony cabin... or, as Royal Caribbean calls it, a "superior ocean-view cabin with balcony". It seemed fairly roomy and compared well to the balcony cabins we've had in other cruise ships. The big couch was a handy place to sit to watch a little TV and was also great for spreading out our suitcases when unpacking or packing. The desk had plenty of room, and two electrical outlets... one more than Carnival ships of this era.

My only complaint about the cabin was that it was difficult to store our suitcases under the bed because the cabin steward had stashed a whole bunch of stuff down there (a big comforter, for example) which took up a lot of room.

The balcony was exceptionally roomy... comparable to an "extended balcony" on Carnival's Spirit-class ships. I liked the way the balcony dividers worked. If you're travelling in a group with multiple cabins together, you can have the stateroom steward slide the balcony dividers open to create a big balcony that your whole group can share. On Carnival, these balcony dividers swing open, and it's a little awkward. Here, the balcony dividers slide open... which makes more sense. Also, notice that the glass door to the cabin slides open and closed rather than swinging open and closed like it does on Carnival. Again, Royal Caribbean's design makes more sense, as it is easy to leave the balcony door open without needing a bungie cord or a door stopper to get the door to stay open.

Here's a look at the bathroom in our cabin:

The bathroom was adequate. Not luxurious by any means, but it got the job done. I liked the sliding glass door on the shower, rather than the shower curtains that Carnival uses in their showers. The shower was the bare minimum size that I can accept. I had an issue with the showers in the standard balcony cabins on Princess... they were just too small for me. I absolutely will not stay in a regular balcony cabin on Princess again, because of those annoyingly small shower stalls. Royal Caribbean's were just enough bigger that it was OK. They don't hold a candle to the super-luxurious shower I experienced on my cruise on the Norwegian Getaway, but it's not a fair comparison because that was a more expensive cabin.

I liked the styling of the cabin doors and the hallways on the Independence Of The Seas, too.

Here's the door to our cabin:

 

Notice the pink tint to the door and the walls in the hallway. Also, the 3-dimensional pattern in the door. It was a minor thing, but I thought it gave a slightly-upgraded look to things in the hallway and that it was a nice little design touch. One other little design thing that I liked was that the hallways weren't just long straight corridors that ran perfectly straight down the entire length of the ship. There were curves to the hallways in a couple of places...

The shows on Independence Of The Seas seemed a little out of date to me... like something in the style of the shows on Carnival 10 years ago. The production values were certainly nowhere near as advanced as the shows I had seen on Allure Of The Seas last year, or as technically advanced as what Carnival does in the "Playlist Productions" shows these days. Where Carnival's new shows use electronic displays that can put backgrounds in to motion and move with the music, the shows on Independence Of The Seas utilized old-school physical sets. The shows were very much the traditional song and dance style of show that have been featured on cruise ships for years and years.

Sure, they have wireless microphones now... there are smoke machines, and lights that move all around... and a lot of the music is contemporary... but at their core, these shows were very traditional cruise ship song and dance shows.

The one thing I did see that wowed me was the set in this Pinocchio scene. The stuffed Teddy bears up on the top shelf danced to the music... something along the lines of the enchanted Tiki garden at Disneyland.

While I really enjoyed my cruise on Independence Of The Seas, and in some very important areas this ship was the best I had seen among the 20 cruise ships I've sailed on... I didn't think it fared very well in the areas of production shows, headliner shows, and general entertainment. There was a LOT that I liked about Independence Of The Seas, but the evenings... when I expected to be entertained... were a bit of a disappointment. I've seen far better headliner shows on Carnival.

One tip for you, if you attend any kind of musical show in the Alhambra theater: sit up in the balcony on deck four, not down in the lower seating area on deck three. The sound mix is much better up in the balcony. Down below, you're too close to the instruments in the orchestra... especially the drums. The drums really overpower the mix down in the lower seating area. Up in the balcony, the sound mix is much better.