This was our third Royal Caribbean cruise out of about 30 cruises in total with various lines - I should say that the other two were both transatlantic and the most recent (albeit several years ago) was blighted by bad weather and missed ports. We had intended to try RC again ever since and a good value Canaries itinerary in March looked to be a good one to try - and it was.

We were notified a few days before sailing that embarcation would be delayed by a few hours because norovirus was present and the ship was having a deep clean. The notice also informed us that, due to my husband's pre-existing medical conditions, we could have transferred onto a later cruise on request, but we were looking forward to it, had kept the dates clear and decided to go. Full marks to RC for giving us honest information and the choice, though. For the first 4 days the usual norovirus precautions were in place, so staff served both food and drinks at the buffet and everything unnecessary that could be touched was removed (salt and pepper, bar menus etc)and hand shaking was banned. It seemed that the ship had experienced several outbreaks over the last few months so the staff were well versed in the procedures so there was no real inconvenience but it was nice when the buffet went back to self service on day 5.

The food throughout in the main dining room and windjammer buffet was very good, in fact better than our previous RC experiences. Not gourmet, we did not expect that for the price paid, but the majority of food served was very good. The menus seemed to have been Anglicised to some extent, eg there was a version of roast beef (under slightly varying descriptions) most evenings. We were in the minority in having signed up for 'My Time' dining and it worked well. We always asked to share a table and only waited a couple of times and then not for many minutes.All the waiters we encountered were exceptionally friendly, helpful and efficient. In fact the crew in general were fantastic - I know cruise ship staff are always great, but we felt the atmosphere among the crew on board Indie was exceptional. Read more