Independence of the Seas Review
Family fun on the Independence
Rating by category
Additional details
We are a family of 4 and this was our 6th cruise with RCCL but our first on a Freedom Class ship. Our daughters are 8 and 5 and this was their 3rd cruise.
We drove down from Scotland the day before and stayed in a local Premier Inn. It was fantastic to sail from the UK and our first cruise where we did not need to go near an airport and all the hassle that involves - what a difference!! We drove straight up to the ship and offloaded our bags before being directed to our parking space. We checked in almost straight away (after security) and boarding commenced at around 11.15 which was well organised and efficient. The Independence of the Seas was absolutely immaculate with cleaning teams evident throughout the cruise.
Our cabin was an inside stateroom on deck 10 and it was well maintained as always. Arif our room steward was very attentive and sorted out extra coat hangers for us when requested and the girls loved his towel animals each evening. We normally book a 4 berth cabin which is either inside or an outside window because the idea of a balcony with small children made us uneasy. However this was the first cruise where I found this cabin layout just too restricting. It was particularly challenging when we were all getting ready for dinner in the evening and I did not find the Pullman bed easy to get into or out of (this was strange as I do not recall this being an issue when I used a Pullman on the Voyager and Explorer)! We are booked on the Independence for next summer and on the back of this when we returned home we upgraded our booking to a D1 category cabin which has a balcony and a sofa bed. I would recommend to anyone traveling with children to look at the pricing as we found that the price for the children was the same regardless of cabin grade. Our upgrade cost £950 (£425 each for my wife and I) and we will have more space, a sofa bed for the girls, a balcony and I will get a proper bed instead of a Pullman. We decided that the cost of the upgrade split over 14 nights was worth the these benefits.