Very disappointed with this cruise ship.Having high expectations after such a good time on the navigator last time as a family , this time not the case,from the time we got on the ship you could see that there was too many people on the ship,my first disappointment was the SWIMMING POOL AREA,Not enough sunbeds to cater for everyone which meant you either got up early to put your towels down or you did not have one, in fairness to the staff they were trying to prevent this happening but was an impossible task.SUN BEDS WERE CRAMMED IN, VERY DIFFICULT TO MOVE EITHER SIDE and has we have physical disabilities this made it very near impossible to get in or out. on sea days the pools was overcrowded , although there was a sign stating only 29 in pool at one time, I counted 45 numerous times in the pool, and obviously there was no room to move, this was also the case after people came back from excursions.SMOKING AREA there was a smoking area around the pool next to the fish and ships eating area, on the days the chef had barbeques paella and indian meals around by the swimming pool they would be cooking by the smoking area where children and non smokers were passing through ,as a non smoker I felt that this was not appropriate,also when we had the outside meal we had nowhere to sit as it was all smokers area,I have no issue with smoking areas, but surely they should be where it is more isolated than in a VERY BUSY ENVIRONMENT,no room in the pubs in the evening our dining times was 8.30 pm which meant by the time we had our meal no room to have a drink.WINDJAMMERS - the windjammers is a great restaurant with a varied menu daily and excellent staff but unfortunately once again due to overcrowding we could not eat a meal as a family, every morning it took us 10 minutes at least to get a seat then one of us had to stay there while the rest went to get their meal complete CHAOS, it was like a cattle market.very disappointed.when we booked this ship we did not realise that due to refurbishment you were putting in more cabins rather than adding more space for the guests ,on deck 13 where you had the new facilities the flowrider was exactly the same size as last year which meant longer queues, I feel you compromised comfort for greed,by overcrowding on the facilities that you already had ,last year we were on the navigator and had the best holiday ever it was wonderful, this year not the case felt more like an holiday camp,not knocking holiday camps but when you pay £8600 for two weeks you would expect better,we saved all year for this holiday and was glad to come home.Having had this experience on the independence and have been told you are refurbishing the Navigator for next year it looks like I will need to be looking at a cruise with another company that will not be commercialised and overcrowded,to ensure a restful break.I have to state that the staff across the ship were great could'nt do enough for you.