Independence of the Seas Review

Feral kids and disabled scooters

Review for Canary Islands Cruise on Independence of the Seas

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Sail Date: Apr 2011
Cabin: Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

To start with the good points: the ship was clean, the cabin was spacious with a good balcony, the steward was excellent. the food available was of good but not cruise standard fare. But: be prepared they do not put ant toiletries in the cabin this does seem very penny pinching as you get these at a 2 star hotel, the toilet paper is useful if you have children as it can substitute for tracing paper "good money saver there LOL". So best tip take your own toiletries as the are very expensive on the ship and the first day is at sea so no local shops for 2 nights. We had major issues with the dining though this was not universal, we were shown to a table for two (as we had booked this for ruby wedding celebration) on the first night we sat down ordered wine and food from a very attentive waiter, then after a short wait were told we were on the wrong table ( even though no one used it during the cruise) we were then moved to a table of 8. The waiter was very inept, we waited 45 minutes for him to take the order and that was only after we asked him to do so, we never got our wine and everyone on the table got the wrong order, all in all nearly 2 hours start to finish.We made a complaint to customer relations and we were moved to a table of 2, this looked like it had been pushed in between two others (the table number ended in A) so was an add on. Again the waiter was very slow taking as long as the first waiter. So back to customer relations, the reason given was that the waiter had just come back from holiday, I would had thought this would have refreshed him. Next day still on the same table being waited on by the head waiter, things did pick up but the food is only OK not the usual cruise standard Very few people had wine on the table so can only presume the the cruise line had priced there selves out of the marked, as with the cost of most drinks; this is false economy if they kept the prices realistic more people would use the service.Be careful with your expensive drinks, one night when we were dancing 2 full drinks were taken off the table by the waiter, when we approached him he just shrugged and walked away. So back to customer relations they started an enquiry (for $7.50)this took two days before we were given a refund.Feral kids abound on the ship, running wild in the entertainment venues until the early hours, they also seem to think the lifts are part of the entertainment making it very difficult to get one when you need it.The next thing you need to be aware of is the mobility scooters, there are a lot and you do have to keep you wits about you to avoid being hit by one.The shows on board were very good if a little short (45 Min's) the ice show is very good but you will need to get tickets at 8.30 on the first show day and be early for the show to get a decent seat. For the evening show people are saving seats as early as an hour before the show, even though you are not supposed to save seats. this also goes on with sun beds, people start saving beds early with towels, one in and one out of the sun and then just keep swapping. they make announcements about this but do seem to do anything. but having said all this still had a good holiday but need a rest to get over it.

Cabin Review

Superior Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

Cabin D2

Very impressed with the size of the cabin and had a good balcony, it was quiet at night, and had a very good steward assigned to it.

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