Independence of the Seas Review

Cruising on IOTS versus Ventura with young children

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Independence of the Seas

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Additional details

Sail Date: May 2011
Cabin: Family Oceanview Stateroom
Traveled with children

After returning from a cruise with P&O Ventura last year we were total cruise converts and so as soon as we came home we began searching for another fantastic family holiday. After much searching we were recommended RCI Independence of the seas. As they claim to be great for families and with a slogan "cruising is for kids too!" we thought we would be onto a winner. However, unfortunately, we found this to be completely wrong.

Last year we went on Ventura which really is fantastic for families with young children. Firstly, they had a night nursery for under 5 year olds, completely free and you were issued with a pager so that they could get in touch with you if there were any problems. This was in a group setting and allowed us to have a few hours every night for dinner, drinks and entertainment. This is a fantastic service particularly as this is something we never get at home due to lack of babysitters. If your child preferred to stay up, they had a 'night time slumber party' where they tired the kids out first with loud and fun games, then dimmed the lights, put on a film and each child had a little sleeping bag where they either watched the film or slept. It also meant that the kids were fully rested each night and so were on good form the following day. We were hoping for something similar with RCI and had been led to believe that there was some form of babysitting available. When we boarded this time we found out to our dismay that, yes there was a babysitting service, but that it would cost us $19 per hour and would be in our cabin. We couldnt believe how expensive this was! And we wern't nearly as comfortable with a stranger being alone in the cabin with our children as we feared that they may be frightened if they woke up and found a stranger there. Plus we were told that it was 'just volunteers' that did this -(i dont know how this can be the case as surely a volunteer would be free?) But obviously this meant we didnt know if these people were vetted in any way either. Anyway, this meant that we never had a babysitter throughout our cruise as it was simply too expensive. So not only did we have our children with us every night, but also we were unable to sample any of the night time entertainment, something which is supposely included in the price when you book. It also meant that we had 3 grumpy, tired children every day as we did keep them up longer than they would have been at home in order to at least enjoy part of the evening on the holiday. On top of all this, from around 10pm we sat in a darkened cabin every night in order to let our kids sleep.

Kids clubs:

Cabin Review

Family Oceanview Stateroom

Cabin FO

Lovely spacious cabin for families. Kids area separated by curtain, could only have been better if it had been slightly bigger so we could have put cot in there too. This was probably the best thing about our cruise.

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