We had previously done a 7 night cruise on the Freedom of the Seas and on the basis of that we booked a 14 night cruise on the Independance. The ships are essentially the same; very large, slightly impersonal, very busy at times but containing everything could want for a family holiday. We travelled with our 2 boys, aged 14 and 12 and they also found the facilities and the entertainment to be excellent. They went off to do there own thing some of the time but there is also a huge amount to do that we were able to enjoy as a family.

Embarkation/Disembarkation: this could not be faulted. I don't like queues, delays etc but there simply were none. We pulled up the pier at 1045. We had unloaded the cases and gone on to park the car by 1100. We were on the ship at 1130. We took our own luggage off at the end of the cruise and from leaving our cabins to pulling out of the car park took under 30 minutes.

The Itinerary; this was somewhat varied. We had particularly looked forward to the Italian stops and enjoyed these hugely. Vigo was a bit dull. Lisbon was glorious. The only RCI tour we took was in Lisbon. The walking tour was designated as being strenuous according to the excursions information. We are fairly active but it was extremely gentle and not at all tiring but also a good introduction to a place we had never been. The RCI tours are ruinously expensive. Taking the train into Rome from Civitavecchia cost the equivalent of £30 and the tickets include the Rome metro. A coach transfer only to Rome(no tour) put on by RCI would have cost about £160. Read more