Cruising on the Independence of the Seas- My honest review and tips!

We have recently got back from our first family cruise on Independence of the Seas.  Now although I have been on many cruises in the past this is the first one where I brought the children on-board.  Here’s our experience and what we thought of it:

 

The cabin

We booked an interior cabin which was allocated to us on deck six, just by the balcony overlooking the Royal Promenade.  I must admit this location was a bit noisy until about 11pm due to music from the street parties on the promenade.  If you would like a quieter cabin, then I advise to choose a cabin a bit further away.   We had 4 sharing and had a queen bed and 2 upper Pullmans above which are fine for children and smaller adults.  This was very cosy, but we managed to fit all our luggage into the wardrobe, drawers and bedside cabinets available… you get what you pay for and we got a great price so wouldn’t complain!  The bathroom included a shower, wash basin and toilet and basic shampoo and soap.  A hairdryer was provided but I would suggest taking your own as this was not very powerful!  Some members of our family that we travelled with who were in a different inside cabin got upgraded free of charge to a spacious ocean-view cabin as the steward saw that they were struggling with one of the adults in the upper Pullman.  I thought this was a great gesture from Royal Caribbean!

The food

 

For breakfast we went to the Windjammer restaurant only when we had to (due to one morning waking up later).  Although the food was great and a wide variety in the buffet restaurant it did sometimes get very busy and there was too much going backwards and forwards getting food and drinks for the kids and ourselves.  We enjoyed eating in the Main restaurant for breakfast the most.  As one of our fellow cruisers stated whilst waiting to be seated ‘you don’t come on a cruise to serve yourself’ and I agree completely!  We were seated and offered hot drinks, juices and pastries whilst waiting for our orders.  This was particularly nice whilst sailing into Rotterdam on the 2^nd morning watching the world go by!  We also tried out the Café Promenade for breakfast and this was a great option for a quick breakfast and they have beautiful waffles with sauces and toppings which went down a treat with the kids (and us!)

 

For lunch we used the Windjammer once.  We preferred Café promenade which offered some yummy baguettes, wraps, scones and cakes and Sorrento’s where we had a choice of pizza, pie and some puddings.  These are both on the Royal Promenade and was especially nice when there was a band playing on one of the bridges!  This was the perfect treat after a morning exploring our new destination!

 

For Dinner we only dined in the main restaurant. We had a table for 10 and had 2 very attentive waiters who could not do enough for us.  We were pleased that in here they offered not just water free of charge but also their lemonade and apple juice which saved a lot of money with the children!  The food was a little bit hit and miss here but the waiters were happy to get you a new dish if you weren’t happy with what was ordered.  The children’s menu was always the same and I feel this could benefit from amending daily (although there was a good amount of choices on the menu).

 

There is ice cream available through the day on deck which was very popular with the children!  There are also baguettes available on deck, so this is great when you are swimming and can’t venture any further!

 

The drinks

 

When you get over the shock of paying in dollars and everything seeming much more expensive the prices weren’t as scary as I thought.  You can get cocktails from about $10.50 each, beers from about $7 and sodas for about $3.50 each.  You can take 2 bottles of wine or champagne per cabin onto the cruise (in your hand luggage) for cabin consumption so this is good for a pre-dinner drink!  There are lots of bars to try out.  I partularly liked the Schooner bar which had a nice relaxed atmosphere and the Olive or Twist for great views from the top of the ship and live entertainment.  The children loved the Pyramid Lounge at night for all the room that they had to play and dance after kid’s club!

 

The entertainment

 

 

The entertainment on-board was excellent!  The shows were first class from the Take That experience, full length Grease the musical show to the ice show which mesmerised both adults and children alike!  All included in the price of the cruise. There was also a comedian and magician along with bands and musicians playing in areas around the ship!  The street parties on the Royal Promenade occurred nearly every night with a different theme ranging from Rule Britannia to 70’s and 80’s.  These were great fun and everyone was ‘dancing in the street!’.  I recommend attending the captain’s welcome on the Promenade which was a great was to see the captain and also to get free glass of prosecco!  Who doesn’t like a free drink?  In the daytime we took part in some game shows and quizzes which were great fun for the whole family!

 

The kids club

 

 

 

All our children attended Explorers as they are aged between 6 and 8.  There is a service called MYFAMILYTIME where the children can be fed within 40 minutes and picked up from the Main restaurant to go to kid’s club.  This is great if they don’t like sitting over dinner for nearly 2 hours!  We didn’t like to rush so dropped the kids off half way through dinner to the kid’s club which was just a quick journey in the lift from the dining room.  The children enjoyed the games, crafts and disco which were on offer and my son particularly loved it when one of the leaders got splatted!  All in all, great fun for them and allowed us to spend time dining and at the shows without the children moaning they were ‘bored’.  The kids club is included in the price and open for most of the day (with breaks for lunch and dinner).  You must pick the children up by 10pm unless you pay for them to stay in the ‘late night party zone’ which is available at an hourly rate.

 

The facilities

 

 

We loved the pools on deck.  There was a splash pad and shallow pool for younger kids.  Our children particularly liked the hamster wheel which was a mini rapids.  They also enjoyed the deeper pools which was even better for them as they had the independence to swim around themselves as there were life jackets provided on deck.  There were lots of Jacuzzi’s which were lovely to warm up in and we never found we were short of space (which you tend to be on some cruises).

 

The kids enjoyed the arcade, but I must say this was a bit over-priced, so we used it sparingly!  We enjoyed a few games of mini golf on deck and my daughter had a good try at tackling the climbing wall!

 

Conclusion

All in all, we had an excellent cruise and would recommend Royal Caribbean and the Independence of the Sea’s!  The ship has so many facilities for adults and children and this is only going to get better with the re-fit next year bringing cruisers a trampoline park on deck, escape room, laser quest and water slides!  The food was overall good, and the entertainment was first class!  The kids gave their cruise two big thumbs up and I would very much recommend for families as there is so much to do!  We would like to go with just us adults again though, so we can sample the bars more and the Labyrinth nightclub which looked great!

 

Take a look at our latest Royal Caribbean ships and experience the for yourself!

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