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Independence of the Seas Review

Independence of the Seas - Nice, But Did Not Live Up to My Expectation

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Independence of the Seas
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AshleyW6
2-5 Cruises • Age 30s

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Sail Date: Dec 2013

The vacation itself started off as a disaster when my morning flight to Florida was canceled due to 3 inches of snow. We were re-booked on another flight an hour away, sat on the runway for 2 hours, and missed our connecting flight to Fort Lauderdale. Needless to say, the ship left without us and our only choice to salvage the trip was to fly to Grand Cayman and board there.

We called Royal Caribbean's customer service center, where I found the service to be disgraceful. I realize that it wasn't their fault and it wasn't their money at stake, but I wasn't looking for a refund, I was just looking for assistance. The first person we talked to first said she could transfer our cruise to another date within the next few months, and after getting our hopes up completely, she came back on the line and said she couldn't do it. That really upset me because the offer was on the table and they totally reneged on it. The lady assured us we would be able to board in Cayman, but we called later to verify before we spent another $500 on 2 plane tickets there. Another representative, a perky to the point of rude woman, informed us that we would need a note from the airport stating why we missed our flight or we would not be allowed it. It would have been nice if the first person told us that, and it was extremely lucky that we were still in the airport. We were also annoyed with Royal Caribbean at that point because I had called to inquire about purchasing trip insurance about a month or so prior to the cruise and they refused, stating that I had paid the cruise in full and therefore it was impossible to add insurance. I should have bought it in the first place, yes, but if they hadn't refused me insurance post-payment, I wouldn't have ended up in the predicament in which I found myself.

We flew to Cayman the next morning, stayed in a lovely hotel on 7 Mile Beach, Comfort Suites, which provided a small breakfast and coffee and was situated 70 yards from the beach. We were fortunately able to board the ship there and I was vastly disappointed. This was my first Royal Caribbean cruise and I had been looking forward to it for months, with expectations that the ship would be phenomenal. It was a nice ship, and we had a very nice balcony room, but the ship itself was nowhere near what I thought it was going to be.

Cabin Review

Lovely cabin, complete with 2 twin beds, a nice couch, a coffee table, desk, and a beautiful balcony. We were very happy with the room.

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