Independence of the Seas Review
Best holiday - amazing ports backed up by fab services onboard
Rating by category
Additional details
I spent so much time being anxious about going on this cruise having read a few reviews on here, but what a waste of time that was as there was nothing to worry about and we had one of our best holidays ever!
This wasn't our first cruise but was our first RCI and first from Southampton. Right from parking our car at the port, everything was seamless. We had an outside cabin on deck 3 and it had all we needed. The large window was great for having our first look at each port. The shower was surprisingly powerful, the bed quite comfortable and the cabin steward was thorough and flexible with our timings (we are not early risers!).
We received the wine and beer package FOC when booking, but paid the $10pd each to upgrade to deluxe. We were in our element with the range of branded spirits, and the frozen cocktails were great. The wine on the package was also lovely for when at dinner. We spent most time in Schooners in the early evening for the quizzes etc, then after dinner would tend to go to the Dog and Badger before heading to the Pyramid lounge for live music from Pulse, then rounding our evening off in Labyrinth nightclub. We visited all other bars a few times and enjoyed each. They all had very different characteristics which meant you need never be bored over 2 weeks. The evening shows in the Alhambra Theater were generally of good quality we enjoyed Darren Day, Grease, the comedian and the comedy juggler. The RCI singers were probably the least exciting nights.
Cabin Review
Oceanview Stateroom
Had everything we needed. Decent size (on Thomson we paid a lot to 'upgrade' to get this size of cabin) and was good to have a sofa as well as the bed and chair at dressing table. Bed was comfortable, good wardrobe space and surprisingly powerful shower! Our cabin steward was great. We always ended up chatting for a good few mins in passing and he was lovely as well as thorough. We picked the cabin location as my husband has Crohns so this was near public bathrooms should he need the bathroom when I was, say, in the shower. I worried this might be too close/noisey as these were the facilities for the nightclub, but not once did we hear anything outside our cabin
Port Reviews
Gibraltar
Surprised how much we enjoyed it! Good 20 min walk into the main square which we spent time around and hit a few shops for unexpected bargains. Had lunch in the marina which was lovely, and you could do some plane spotting too given the unique runway. Didn't go up the rock but it was great to see it - and again when sailing home and passing it at midnight one evening
Cartagena (Spain)
Walked off ship and onto a City Sightseeing bus. There was only one an hour and it's a very short tour that wasn't too fascinating so glad it was less than €10pp. Glad to have saw this city, but wouldn't go back for any length of time as I'm not sure there's much more to see
Palma de Mallorca (Majorca)
I don't think the ship could have docked further away if it tried!! We didn't pay for the shuttle service out of the port as we wondered how bad it could actually be, but we were easily 15 mins walk and then realised once outside the terminal that walking into the centre would have taken forever! We hopped in an €8 taxi to get us towards the Cathedral. Fellow passengers complained at night that the RCI transfer didn't take the, anywhere central so it was still a big walk. It was a Sunday so the place was quieter. We went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch (always go if we haven't tried the one in the city we are in before) and them walked around a small crafts market before heading back.
Valencia
Paid the €10 to get out of commercial port and into somewhere slightly more central. Glad we did as it was a 25 min bus journey! It rained in Valencia so we sat inside on the open top bus tour we paid €17 each for. This was the port we were most looking forward to, but we were disappointed. Didn't have the buzz we expected it too. I think we were under so much time pressure with the early departure that we didn't spend enough time checking out the centre. The shuttle bus queue back to ship was so long and everyone was complaining, so we were glad to just get back to the ship eventually
Malaga
Paid €5 for the shuttle and the price went on a big red one top bus. That was great value and took us around a beautiful and fantastic city. We loved it and can't wait to return. So much charm, more history than I expected, and amazing views from the castle over the sea. We enjoyed an authentic paella for lunch in many of the restaurants down the narrow, cobbled lanes and were sad to have to leave to head back. Really surprised with how much we enjoyed Malaga
Seville
We decided Cadiz was bound to be a beautiful city in its own right so didn't bother with the 2+hrs to Seville, and we were so glad we stayed 'local'. Again, we walked off the ship and onto a sightseeing bus. This showed us everything for the history down at the port, the beautiful and unspoilt coastline/beaches, and all the beautiful architecture. We then hopped off and spent time walking around the lovely centre. It's beautiful and has such a lovely feel to it. I would love to return to Cadiz in the future, and perhaps then I would travel via train to Seville which has to be quicker than the coach!!
Lisbon
Love, love, loved Lisbon! Again, it was the hop on-hop off bus for us and it let us see so much in a short space of time to know we wil definitely be back. It's charming with all the colourful buildings and has a lovely mix of old and new. Sailing away from Lisbon at night was special as the sun was just setting as we went under the April 25th bridge. There were even a few tears as we did that as it was the last port and the beginning of the sea days to go us back to the UK