Do NOT go on Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas

If you haven't booked a Royal Caribbean Cruise do NOT book one. As a seasoned traveler and a 5 time cruiser I am telling you DO NOT BOOK ROYAL CARIBBEAN—OR-- cancel your cruise if you are unfortunate enough to have already booked the Independence of the Seas. Here is why:

• The worst food of any cruise I have ever sailed • No 24 food service in the Windjammer • Food police guard the Windjammer so even if you wanted an apple around 5 pm the cops are there to stop you and direct 6 floors below to the pizza place. • They shut down the Windjammer from 5 pm until 6:30 and then again at 11 pm • Unhappy people serving the food All of them wanted to get off the ship • Nothing special on the Buffet EVER—Hamburgers, Hot dogs and then slop that was bland enough to cater to the over 80 crowd and let them gum it down without their teeth • Overcrowded and horrible boarding and departing procedures • Over priced drinks and watered down cocktails • Any alcohol brought onto the ship is taken off you and given back on the last day • Automatic gratuities and then the servers try to get you to tip on the 18% saying they don't get it all • NO FOOD SERVICE at the pools so even if you wanted some of the slop you have to go back to the Windjammer and tote it out yourself • Don't purchase their drinking water packages. It costs about $4.50 for a bottle of water. • They try to ding you for every minor thing as if they built the ship and now YOU have to pay for it every nickel dime they can extract All the time we were on the ship Royal Caribbean was incessantly attempting to fleece the last penny from your pockets. If it wasn't for official photographs at $20 a photo, it was cocktails at the pool side, art auctions, paying for fitness classes or paying for the shuttle buses at some of the Ports that convey you from the boat into the local town Read more