OK the negatives first just to give you an idea of the Independence. We noticed quite a difference from the first time we cruised with the Independence, and for that matter any Royal Caribbean or sister ship Celebrity cruise, in the 'quality of clientele'. Also the Headliner Acts in the theatre were average, the comedian was very poor, as were some of the jokes told by the Britains Got Talent impressionist (Paul?). As usual the RC's own singers and dancers were good if you like cheesy Music from the Shows etc. The food in the restaurant was poor, a very small choice on the menu - OK if you want meat and two veg in the evening and we really don't like waiters fawning over us asking if we want wine, night after night.

We noticed that a lot of people didn't dress up on formal nights even wearing jeans or shorts and T shirts in the dining rooms. Again the 'quality of clientele'. It does say in the brochure that jeans and shorts aren't allowed in the dining room especially on formal nights but no-one stopped them coming in. (but on the other hand, who is to say what we should wear on our holiday?) And three formal nights on an 11 night cruise was too much, surely once is enough, its not relaxing. As we were on MyTime dining (go when you want rather than 6.00 or 8.30) our tips were paid in advance which was a bit cheeky as we didnt use the dining room every night. And what is the point of the Maitre'd? Everyone we spoke to said the same, he just walks around asking if everything is OK and he gets a tip end of it.

As soon as we sat down in the Theatre or at a bar, a waiter appeared with a tray pushing drinks on us. RC tend to be 'money money money how much can we make'. A bottle of water in the room fridge was $4.55. So we brought glasses of water down from the Windjammer, as did a lot of other people. Read more