Royal Caribbean, Independence of the Seas

Firstly we were disappointed at first that our drinks package costing £144 only included 5 bottles of wine!!We complained to reception who looked at us as if we had horns coming out of our heads!!

The cabin was fine but had no coffee!!Unbelievable on an American ship.When complained was told to use room service!!What!!Not labour saving at all.

The food in the waiter service restaurants was poor.I went to the restaurant on my birthday expecting great things but was very disappointed!

We found the buffet restaurant much better.

Dont think the slavery issue has left the Americans as most of the menial jobs were carried out by non-whites but most of the shop staff and officers were white.

The Reception staff were particularly rude to customers.I heard one man complaining about the $30 wi-fi saying it did not work and could not believe they said it was his fault!!

The Americans need to learn a lot from the Italians and Spanish!!

Also at every port we were made to queue for at least 30 minutes in the rain.This is unacceptable.

I have been on 25 cruises and this was my 5th RC cruise. It was the most horrible cruise ever. RC adds $12 per person per day for tips so there is no motivation for the staff to provide good service. Most of the cruise staff had bad attitudes. Everything seemed like an effort when we asked for something. It was as if everyone was at the end of their contracts and fed up with their job.

We had a balcony stateroom which was a good size and nicely furnished. The bathroom was the typical small cabin bathroom. The cabin attendant kept the cabin fairly clean but the toilet had a horrible odor.

The public restrooms were disgustingly dirty. It seemed that there was always toilet paper on the floor, urine on the seats and water on the floor and counters. The water was scalding hot. There were food and plates littered around the ship including on the stairs. Understandably, this was the fault of the passengers but it did take a long time before someone cleaned it up. We observed the staff cleaning the chairs and seats in the Windjammer/Jade cafe and then using the same cloth to clean the tables after it was used on the seats.

There was an outbreak of Norovirus so the shopping was limited. The staff became even more unfriendly when they were forced to seve the food in the Windjammer/Jade cafe. The food was good overall but somewhat salty. The service in the main dining room was good. The menus could use some revamping. For instance, there was salmon on the first and second night and lamb on the 7th and 8th night.

The ports were great and there was a good variety of tours. Unfortunately, we tried to book some tours when we got on board and most were sold out.

The shows were good but there wre not enough of them. The entertainment was geared mostly towards kids and young families.

I am not a complainer by nature and didn't say anything until the 5th day. Instead of an apology, the guest services manager offered explanations and excuses. RC lost my business for sure.

Recently returned from a cruise on Independence of the Seas. Lovely ports of call and interesting sights. We had an inside stateroom which was adequate but began to feel a little claustrophic after the first week! Meals were very good all round. We ate in the main dining room each evening and tried the outlets like Johnny Rockets a few times. Very good fun!

I agree with previous comments though that RCCL could do so much better with regard to stateroom facilities and I did get the feeling that everything was geared to "extracting" as much money as possible from passengers

The cost of the Spa treatments was extortianate compared with major hotels. Many of the lectures on board were promotions for services on board, basically sales pitches

15% is added onto all drinks bills and along with the 12 dollars per person per day, we felt that this was taking the gratuity issue to a new level!

We had a problem with the wine package on board and were charged twice for it and at 389 dollars (inclusive of the statutary 15% addition) this was just one charge too many!

We have travelled with RCCL four times now and for me, I will try a different cruise line next time. We felt that we were paying above and beyond for services at every turn

I researched P and O tips on my return and they appear to be more sensibly priced so I think we will give P and O a try next time

We love cruises and enjpoy the many lovely places to visit. My guess is that all the mid priced cruise lines offer a very similar product

Have sailed on this ship before and was so disappointed to find so many annoying things about it.

1 No coffee in the cabins. Why? This is an American ship.

2 No shower gel just a small bar of soap. If I had known that this time there would be no toileteries then I would have brought my own.

3 Ordered wine with lunch but had finished our lunch before the wine arrived. Had to remind three different waiters.

4 The outragous price of drinks. We expect to pay more on board but compared to other ships the prices were unreasonable.

5 We were aware that it was half term but lots of things were geared to children and very little of interest to us unless we went to a so called seminar which ultimatley were trying to sell you products.

On the good side. The cabins are large and very very clean and the food is of excellent quality.

We will not be travelling with R.C again as there are other ships we have been on where standards haven't dropped.

We have just returned from our cruise on independence of the seas. The highlight for us the band rock the boat. They are fabulous kept us entertained every night. The ship is fabulous and offers lots of facilities. The food in the dining room was not up to previous standards but was ok. The food in the windjammer was excellent lots of choice and very hot. A lot of children on the cruise at this time of year. But didn't spoil it for us. The soda package has changed they only offer you the cheapest soda. I paid for it and then cancelled it not a problem royal carribean happy to do that. If you pay each time you can have proper coke or orange. Drinks are a little expensive but its a luxury ship so you expect it. Chops Grille is wonderful well worth the £20 charge. We visited Vigo, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Valencia, Barcelona, Palma, Ibiza and Cadiz. All really nice places. A wonderful holiday and would go again.

We have never travelled RCI before and have no criticism except the drinks package which was not value for money and did NOT include adecent cup of coffee.

The crew, under the excellent Cspt.Remo wre fasntastic in every respect - profssional, attentive, caring and helpful.

The food wss amazing considering the fact that after 6 nights at sea, 150,000 meals had been served.

The facilitis were excellent - lovely spoacious stateroom, great balcony, fabulous ice skating show, enjoyabkle entertainment and so many activities!!! Rock wall climbing, surf board riding, mini golf, pools, jacuzzis, and endless dining opportunities both formal, informal and snacks - many open 24 hours.

We enjoyd it so much - a stable ship in Force 7 and a scary foghorn when we entered fog on return in North Sea.

Hot plates,endless food choices,. friendly helpful waiters and, we even found our drinks on the table on th 2nd night, based no what we drank the first night!

Imprssive all round and a Capt. who instilled confidence from leaving dock in Southampton.

This was a nice little break for me and my boyfriend. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and got lucky with excellent weather the whole time. The ship itself is MASSIVE and you can easily get lost. I read reviews of the ship being really rocky and I was worried about getting seasick but it turned out to be okay. Maybe we just got lucky but the water was really calm. Thoroughly enjoyable trip. My only complaint...drinks should be part of the price! The drinks at the bar were so expensive. My boyfriend and I were spending more per day on drinks then the price of our room! If you are nice to the staff though they may sneak you an extra cheeky shot in your Rumrunners...don't tell them I told you that though ;)

This was our first cruise we went with our children 12 and 9 and my parents who had been on Indepedence twice before. We were greeted with chaos in Southampton and found out they had had norovirus on the cruise before and were deep cleaning. Once onboard although a little nervous about catching the sickness bug we found the ship to be spotless and constant cleaning was carried out. There were hand sanitizers everywhere which gave you the chance to be as careful as possible. The sea was very rough for the first 24 hours and my daughter who does suffer with travel sickness spent this time attached to a paper sick bag and was quite poorly. Her prescription tablets would not stay down so the crew gave us some of theirs which I would highly recommend if you encounter rough seas. The whole cruise was fabulous the staff were so friendly and could not do enough for you. O'haney our cabin steward was lovely, Pat and Anthony in the Champagne Bar were brilliant and our waiter Airel and wine waiter Norman in King Lears were fabulous. This ship is huge it takes a while to find your way around but I will be saving up to return. The weather could have been better but you cannot plan for that. People moaned about the drinks prices but they are certainly cheaper than London hotels we bought an all inclusive package for $55 dollars each a day about £34 which may sound expensive but you don't have to think about money when you are on holiday. The food was lovely and I am a fussy eater, we found the windjammer too busy for breakfast but ate there for a late lunch. I really enjoyed this holiday it is suitable for young and old and our children had a fabulous time.

For a first cruise we were a little apprehensive after reading various other reviews. There were four of us booked on this cruise and we all agreed what a fantastic 14 days. The Windjammer got a little crowded at times but after a few days we worked out the best times to go for breakfast, where the choice of food was excellent. We dined in the Romeo and Juliet Restaurant where we had pre-booked our dining time, our food and drinks waiters were brilliant and made us feel special and not just part of the crowd. Leroy our room attendant was also a star nothing was too much trouble for him, our balcony stateroom was visited twice a day

and towels etc replaced if needed. The entertainment was varied enough to cover all tastes and there was plenty of bars to choose from. We opted to pay for the beverage packages up front but in hindsight it would have been better value for us to have paid as and when we had drinks.Gratuities seems to be another bugbear with some people, but we tipped the staff as we went rather than pay upfront and we certainly did not feel pressured to do anything differently. We would have no hesitation in recommending a cruise on this ship after our experience and can't wait to do it again.

traveled from 24 Sep to 12 Oct Radiance of Sea

cought a most shocking cough near end of cruise

High prices on coffee, chai latte and tea outside of dining and then it was delivered in paper cups. Had to stand in line - no service.

food was of learners standard. My granddaughter can create better mains and sweets. Very disapointed

as for entertainment - very poor quality.

nothing to do except dance (bad hip) gamble (obscene)

will not use this company again.

Yes I have cruised many time.