This is yet another "review" of my transatlantic trip on the Independence. That's because I spent many hours on board drafting one for the Royal "mid-cruise feedback". 4 pages, noting the good, the bad and the ugly. What do I get for that? Taking off the internet charges from my bill and a promise to call me later - which never happened. So, once more:

After 6 cruises on Carnival in 2.5 years, my wife and I felt we wanted to "move up" to something else. Carnival is what Carnival is. Bottom line for us was the, how to put this nicely, Carnival deciding to become the cruise-line of the "unwashed masses". I guess that was not so nice. It caters to the 20s and 30s rudy-necked, part crowd with break dancing in the atrium for 3 hours during dinner, disco music replacing live bands, etc. So, with 6 cruises at Carnival as a comparison, we embarked on the Independence. We ended up seeing a LOT of good points about Carnival as a result. We'll probably try to "move up" again next cruise to Celebrity. My review here will mention Carnival a lot - sorry, but that is what we have it to compare against.

Of the 35 points I reported to Royal worthy I might modestly add of being a professional critics feedback about a third were applause, a third were suggestions and a third were complaints. Unfortunately for Royal, my trip is how I see Royal as a whole which means I will likely not be sailing them again - if just for the lack of response from management as anything else. I know, ho hum, they'll probably survive without me. Read more