indie review

Well done if you managed to make it this far! I'll draw up some conclusions now. Independence of the Seas is a fantastic ship. What I didn't mention above is that she is very stable. We didn't suffer any sea sickness (I am very sensitive to the motion of the sea) and the stabilisers did their job just fine when they were needed. (For those who think that cruise companies hold back on using stabilisers to save money/fuel. In the clear waters near Funchal, I could see one of them through the water doing a lovely job...and they are huge!)

The facilities on board are second to none. Aside from some poor service in the restaurant the Crew and staff on board were exceptional. The entertainment crew also did a fine job!

If you haven't tried a RCI cruise before, don't let the size of the ship put you off. You soon forget that the ship is the biggest in the world! Yes, I know I didn't mention the pool deck at all. I didn't swim!

Independence of the Seas is a fantastic alternative to a more traditional British cruise and is well worth trying out!

RCI, Independence of the Seas 26th Oct - 6 Nov 08

Spain, Portugal & the Canary Islands.

A review of the ship rather than the cruise itinerary. Part 1 by Brad

Our first sight of IOTS was from quite a distance away as we drove into Southampton docks. We knew she was the largest ship in the world but nothing could prepare us for the reality of how big she really is. IOTS dwarfed everything around her, including nearby buildings! First impressions of IOTS are shock and awe, followed by questions regarding how she stays afloat.

Checking in took about five minutes. As soon as our luggage was taken and the car was parked, we were directed into the terminal. RCI had plenty of check in desks ready for the 3000+ passengers who were ready to descend on them. We arrived at around 11:30 am and were allowed to check in straight away. As I said, check in takes about 5 mins. You give the check in attendant your passport and sea pass (which you will have already printed off at home) & confirm how you will be settling your on board account. Before you know it you are wandering towards the gang-plank, sea pass card in hand. Your sea pass card is your stateroom door key and your method for payment of everything on board......so don't lose it!

We joined the ship on deck 4 (promenade deck) and were ushered indoors quickly. Staterooms were unavailable until around 1pm so we had a little time to explore the ship. We wandered without the aid of a map for a short time before walking up a flight of stairs to deck 5.....The Royal Promenade!

Continuing our shock & surprise from the exterior of IOTS, our first look at the Royal Promenade was truly awe inspiring. To say that it massive would be an understatement! We were surrounded by bright lights, bars, assorted eating areas, shops, a barber shop and even a Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlour. So with all of this surrounding us, we did the natural thing of heading straight for a bar for a drink!

The Dog & Badger pub was right in front of us, so it won!

Now, this is where the fun begins. Our only previous cruise experience was on P&O Aurora. A classically British ship with a very traditional format. So, Aurora was going to be our frame of reference. Royal Caribbean International is obviously a very different cruise company to P&O so comparison was difficult and in a lot of cases, not applicable at all!

Anyway, back to The Dog & Badger. I think that the best way to describe the pub would be to say if Disney were to try and replicate a British bar, The Dog & Badger would be the result. The walls are covered in fake book cases with pretend leather books everywhere. There are also large mock paintings on the walls and low lighting to try and give the bar a traditional British feel. The D&B is a very Americanised take of a British tradition, and to be fair to RCI, it is great! It is all done in good harmless fun and made us chuckle! The D&B helped me adjust my P&O cruises expectations into more of a theme park at sea very quickly. This was going to be a lot of fun!

After a couple of sherry's, we went for a little explore. Our intention was to find the Windjammer Cafe for a spot of lunch before finding our stateroom. We found it in the end (deck 11, aft) and joined in with the usual buffet at sea ballet. Windjammer is split into different sections. There is 'Jade' offering Asian & Indian buffet food. Chops Grille, a traditional steak restaurant which has a cover charge to eat there (you will need to book). There is another specialist restaurant with a cover charge, Portofino. Portofino is an Italian restaurant which requires booking. Anyway, more about the food onboard IOTS later.

OK. We've been fed, watered & entertained. I guess that leaves our stateroom. Remember, you don't stay in a cabin on RCI, its staterooms all the way.

We were staying in a 'Deluxe' Ocean view stateroom with a balcony. Our room was brilliant. We had loads of space, the most comfortable bed in the world, a large sofa and coffee table, flat screen TV as well as the usual stuff such as fridge, safe, hair drier, loads of wardrobe space. Staterooms also had tea & coffee making facilities. We were told that the kettles were in for the British cruise market and may not stay after IOTS moves to the Caribbean at the end of November 08.

For those of you who need to know, IOTS staterooms have 2 American electricity sockets and one European one. They are easily accessible and not hidden behind a TV. so, don't forget your plug adapters folks.

Our stateroom attendant was a lovely girl who did a great job of clearing up after us! As with most RCI staff, she worked really hard and deserved a tip at the end of the cruise.

Following on from my favourite bar, I'll mention boozing on board in a bit more depth. RCI have a very large selection of cocktails, most are available in every bar! Every day they have a 'Drink of the Day' at special price of $7.95 (and you get to keep the posh glass for free!) We ploughed our way through plenty of different cocktails but my favourite was a strawberry Daiquiri. Extremely strong but tasted like a slush puppy!

As well as cocktails, RCI have a massive selection of liquors, Beers & wines. choice of drink was never an issue. I could often be found stumbling from point to point with a Bud Light bottle in hand. Prices were comparable with U.K bar pricing but measures were generally more generous.

The other thing to mention is RCI do not permit you to bring alcohol on board for private consumption. We did see people bringing bottles on board at ports of call and they were always confiscated to be returned at the end of the cruise. We did bring on soft drinks from time to time and they allowed them through without a problem.

Because the ship is so large, you may think that finding your way around would be a nightmare. I can safely say it isn't a problem at all. After some initial acclimatisation to the ship, finding our way around was pretty straight forward. The Royal Promenade serves as a starting point for pretty much any ship board navigation. Most public areas branch from here via the Centrum (like an atrium) towards the rear of the ship. The Centrum is where the customer service desk is housed as well as 8 elevators! From the Centrum, you are only an elevator ride up to decks 3,4 & 5 for the main restaurants and deck 11 where Windjammer and the other restaurants can be found.

Other public areas such as the Alhambra theatre and cinema are easy to find as they are located at the other end of the Royal Promenade on various decks which can be accessed by at least 6 more elevators!

royal promenade

Very clever design work has been used on the Freedom class ships to make them feel smaller than they really are. As mentioned above, the dining areas use lots of curves to create an intimate atmosphere. Other bars such as the Champagne bar & Boleros feel smaller just by using a preventing people form walking straight through them as they move through the ship. A bit of clever lighting also helps with the illusion. There are areas of the ship which remain large but are not imposing. The Pyramid Lounge for example is a large bar at the front of the ship with a dance floor in the middle. It is used for music, parties etc. Even though it was a large area you still didn't feel like you were on a large ship.

Moving on from drinking, I'll talk about eating. Food on board is everywhere! You can eat 24 hours a day should you choose to and on top of that IOTS had a great room service menu at no extra charge.

Talking about the food could be a problem because there was so much of it so I'll split it into different meal times.

Before we go through the food, RCI are very hot on hand sanitizing. Automatic hand sanitizers were everywhere along with a nice member of staff to remind you!

Extra note: RCI have real milk on board!!!! not UHT, sterilised rubbish. well done RCI!

Breakfast. Plenty of choices at the Windjammer. You could choose cereals, full on cooked breakfasts, Lots of different pastries, pancakes & waffles, fruit and even Asian choices in the 'Jade' section of the restaurant. Breakfast time in Windjammer was often very busy and very crowded when trying to get your food. This isn't RCI's fault. I honestly feel it was down to the passengers who would just float around the food stations unable to make a choice. This annoyed me more than once. Windjammer is set out in such a way that you should be able to get around it without having to go through an 'Orangery style scrum' easily. but this didn't happen often. The staff & crew in windjammers were always very pleasant and helpful. The restaurant was always kept very clean and tidy so a thumbs up there.

Breakfast was also available in the main restaurant. We didn't use it though so nothing to say there. You could also get pastries, cookies, tea & coffee etc from the cafe promenade which was very good!

We had room service breakfast many times. They had a great selection and it always arrived very quickly!

Lunch time. Again, plenty of choice in windjammer and it was always good. An additional point is that tea, coffee, iced water and a selection of fruit drinks were free of charge and available in windjammer or at most bars all day. Another plus point for RCI as it kept our bar bill down as we didn't drink loads of coca cola!

Lunch was also available in the main restaurant. We only ate there once because the food was pretty bad to be honest. We kept an eye on the lunch menu every day and it remained quite limited so we didn't go back again.

Again, other venues like the cafe promenade had good food choices for lunch if you wanted a lighter bite!

Evening meal. We were on second sitting in the main restaurant on a table for six. Our table mates were good company but unfortunately the food and service was not very good. On the first night our table mates ordered some wine for their meal and even with constant badgering, it did not arrive until dessert. Our waiter seemed to prefer to chat than to serve dinner and the assistant waiter could well have been invisible. Thumbs down for service I'm afraid. The food wasn't much better either. I ordered a rare steak for my main main course. When I finally received it, what I got was well done and about 80% fat. very poor indeed. In addition to that, our waiting staff did not offer any additional veg for the table so our meals were quite small. RCI do not really go in for a fine dinning experience like what you may find on a P&O ship. Meals were 3 courses and the choice of menu was not that great. However, if you chose to, you could order as many dishes as you please. So if you wanted to fill your face, you were able to!!!! We heard plenty of similar stories from other passengers too. Lots of people were not particularly happy with the quality of food in the main restaurant. We do have an explanation of sorts though and here it is:

The main restaurant is split over three decks. The three way split gives each deck a different restaurant name: Othello, King Lear and Romeo & Juliet. Each restaurant is service by its own kitchen, they are independent from each other in all ways from food preparation al the way through to food service. We believe that most of the complaints were coming form our restaurant, 'King Lear' on deck 5. So, if you cruise with RCI and find you are dining on deck 5, I'd suggest talking to the head waiter as soon as you board to get moved. We tried to change our dining option to 'My time to dine' (freedom dining) a couple of days into the cruise but were too late.

Other Evening dining Options. This is where RCI shined. We ate at Johnny Rockets (American Diner) once. Portofino (Itallian Restaraunt) once and Chopps Grille (steakhouse) twice. All of these options came with a cover charge but were worth every penny. The quality of the food in all three was spectacular, as was the service. Steaks were cooked perfectly, and were some of the best quality ever. Seafood options got the thumbs up and the desserts were really, really naughty! If you cruise on IOTS, book into Chops & Portofino and give Johnny Rockets a try too, it was really good fun!

Again, Windjammer had a decent selection in the evening but was still just a buffet rather than a 'proper' sit down meal.

To conclude my thoughts on food on IOTS. sometimes exceptional, and sometimes dire! I'd be interested to read how other passengers got on.

Casual or formal? Our 11 night cruise had two formal nights. The formal dress policy on RCI is nowhere near as strict as say, a P&O cruise. Dressing up is not mandatory, only a suggested option for the evening. All other nights were 'casual' or 'smart casual'. There is no difference between the two. The only real dress policy is 'no bare feet in windjammer' and 'no shorts & vests' in the main dining room.

So, we found making are way around the ship straightforward and we had a choice of plenty of different bars to while the hours away. My personal favourite was the Olive or Twist bar (deck 14, Viking Crown section of the ship. Olive or twist was very similar to Crow's Nest bars found on P&O ships. Lots of comfortable seating and a wrap around view of outside. The Viking Crown section is located towards the rear of the ship and is a tradition on board RCI ships. From this vantage point you are able to see the pool decks in front of you as well as plenty of Ocean! My only minor criticism would be that this lounge would have been better located at the front of the ship (above the bridge) where the gym can be found Since it is a RCI tradition I won't get too upset!

Moving away from our first look at IOTS, I'll give you my opinions of the ship and her services.

Yes, IOTS is big, really big but once you are onboard, the feeling that you are on a gigantic ship really goes away quite quickly. The Royal Promenade looks large and imposing the first few times you walk along it but you soon get used to the scale of it. I've heard a lot of people say that they won't cruise on a Freedom class ship because they are too big and lack the intimacy of a smaller more traditional ship. Having spent nearly two weeks onboard IOTS, I think that it is a terrible shame to rule her out because she is so big. Most lounges and bars on board are no bigger than any other cruise ship. Our comparison is with P&O Aurora and most public areas are around the same sort of scale. Even the initially imposing Dining room (covering 3 decks) doesn't feel massive once you are seated as the dining area is designed with lots of curves and turns which create a feeling that the dining area isn't really that big at all!