Independence of the Seas Review

This Cruise Made Carnival Look Like A Luxury Cruise Line

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Independence of the Seas
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lynnacummings
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Mar 2017
Cabin: Interior Stateroom

Oh my (as I shake my head), where do I begin to describe how awful that this Royal Caribbean cruise experience was for my husband and I??? Let me begin by saying that there was one great thing about this cruise and that was the quality of the headliner shows on the March 25th sailing of the Independence of the Seas. The dance show was great and it got better and better after that with the comedy of Kivi Rogers, the sensational sounds of a men's acapella group called the Edge Effect and what can I say about the amazing production of Grease? We absolutely loved these shows but unfortunately, that is ALL we loved about any of this cruise experience and when I say ALL I mean all.

We had such bright expectations too, you know?! I had not been cruising since 2002 and I was really looking forward to the entire experience on the high seas. Actually, my experience in 1997, twenty years ago on Carnival Cruise Lines, was very good. I thought that Royal Caribbean was going to be a huge upgrade but instead it was a huge precipitous downgrade in all aspects. We had done so much research about this ship and had actually watched a bunch of YouTube videos that different people had made of their experience. Needless to say that we were so excited! The ship seemed huge and spacious but now looking back I realize why they made the ship so massive. It was simply to jam as many people into every available corner of the vessel that they possibly could. Except for when the ship was docked Costa Maya or in Cozumel (our two stops), this ship felt like a sardine can most of the time.

Going to the pools on the 11th deck was not a very satisfying nor sanitary experience whatsoever. We actually had to present our SeaPass card in order to "check out" two pool towels and get this, if you did not check it back in you were charged a whopping $25.00 per towel! Can you believe that??? They actually would charge you a fee for not bringing a common pool towel back to the staff??? I could not believe it? Couldn't they have just provided towels in the room instead? It just added to the overall lack of customer service that came to symbolize RCCL the best. Oh yeah, I almost forgot one more thing that was great was the fitness center. It was very nice and provided a great workout experience for sure. But again, if not for the shows and the gym, this would have rated a big fat zero in my book.

Cabin Review

Interior Stateroom

Cabin Q

Look out for the leaky shower. Other than that, a clean yet not very luxurious cabin.

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