My First Ever Royal Caribbean Cruise -Independence Of The Seas – Ship Review

My first Royal Caribbean cruise

My first ever Royal Caribbean cruise was onboard the Independence of the Seas.

I had booked the cruise to try Royal as I had heard really good things and wanted to experience them for myself.

There was plenty to do onboard the ship, it was difficult to explore everything in 5 days.

We visited Bruges, Rotterdam, Le Havre, and Cherbourg on our little adventure. We departed from our local port, Southampton.

First impressions

It was freezing cold and drizzling when I first saw the Independence of the sea in Southampton.

The photo below was taken when we reached Le Havre in France where we saw a little patch of blue sky!

I like the look of Indy with her little yellow lifeboats, I do wonder though why Royal Caribbean never have any hull art like other cruise lines?

Inside cabin

I stayed in an inside cabin, no surprise there! I had read reviews before cruising that the ship was looking run down and in need of a refit.

I’m happy to say I didn’t find this to be the case at all. The cabin wasn’t particularly exciting, it had a little bit of a caravan-ey vibe, but it was perfectly clean, tidy and comfortable.

We had a small sofa in our inside cabin. It was really nice to be able to sit down there rather than always perching on the bed as I am used to.

My parents and brother also cruised with me during this particular holiday. They were in another inside cabin which meant I got to have a look at how 3 (or 4) people can fit in an inside cabin.

The 3rd and 4th beds in their cabin were Pullman beds, that fold down from the ceiling.

Watch my full video review of the inside cabins here:

Main promenade

The promenade is one of the most iconic things about Royal Caribbean ships.

I was absolutely blown away when I walked down the street for the first time. I’m not sure if I would want one of the inside cabins that look out on to the main promenade, it would be strange to have people peering into your bedroom at all hours of the day and night!

I imagine it might be loud too when the street parties are happening – although they don’t last for long.

Check out the video below to see the promenade preparing for the dancing in the street party.

Street Parties

The street parties were really fun to walk through, but it was strange though as they don’t really have anywhere for people to stop and watch. I always felt a little in the way.

I did, however, find my favourite lookout spot on deck 8. I like how there was a big red dog on one of the little balconies, it was strange as you walk down the corridor behind him as you just see a couple of red legs sticking out!

Shops

The promenade was filled with shops and other things to do. They had a cupcake store and a Ben and Jerry’s Shop, but I was disappointed though to find out that you had to pay extra for these.

There was a gift shop where I bought an inflatable independence of the seas (because why not?!)

A pub and wine bar are also located on the street and people often sat out on the tables in front of the pub, watching the world go by.

Royal Caribbean’s inspiration for designing ships with a central promenade believe it or not, came from a ground breaking ferry – the Silja Symphony

Find out all about that interesting story in the video below:

Sorrento’s and Promenade Café

One of the best things about the promenade is Sorrentos, a 24-hour pizza restaurant!

There is also a café which has a little selections of cakes and sandwiches.

Top decks

Pools

I never ventured into any of the pools because we were cruising the English channel in October, I appreciated the hot tubs though.

The top decks did look like they could do with a bit of updating, there were a few areas which were being worked on when we onboard. I’m sure it all would have looked better in the sunshine (not that any of it looked bad!)

The splash zone part for kids was huge and looked like so much fun, almost makes me wish I was a child!

Sports court

I loved the Flowrider, it was SO much fun, even on a cold October day.

If you want to see how I got on, check out the video below….

There was also a rock climbing wall and basketball/football court. We did see different groups of people playing basketball and football at the same time which was confusing!

The walls around the court were also a lot shorter than what I am used to meaning that the odd ball did come flying over.

It was always too busy to give the golf course a go, I did travel in half term though so the ship was full to maximum capacity.

Restaurants

Main dining room

I thought that the main dining room was gorgeous, it was spacious and tastefully decorated. We were always seated on the ground floor as we opted for ‘my time’ dining.

The main dining room was open in the middle, which made the room feel a lot more spacious, I cannot comment on the other levels of the restaurant as I never managed to get up there.

They did have a buffet breakfast in the main restaurant which I enjoyed.

I am not really a fan of breakfast so don’t like to sit down and have a formal meal, the buffet can get crazy at peak times though so I was glad to find this go-between.

The only thing that would have made the restaurant better for me would have been some more windows. I love ships like the Norwegian Spirit that has huge windows at the back.

Windjammer (Buffet)

The Windjammer was a good buffet, much better than you’d ever find in an all-inclusive hotel.

It had two parts down the side called ‘Jade’ and I never really understood what made these different from the main Windjammer.

The Windjammer had a lot of variety but I found myself just going for the same things over and over again (lemon cookies!)

It wasn’t my favourite buffet, I would say that I prefer those on the newer NCL ships. Mostly just because The Windjammer was often closed.

I am not used to buffets closing for any considerable amount of time. The Windjammer was closed between 4pm and 6pm in the afternoon – and it closed completely at 9pm at night.

This was a big problem for me as I like to come out of the theatre or whatever I am doing in the evening for a snack before bedtime. I could go to Sorrento’s or the Promenade Café but because I can’t eat too much dairy there were few food choices for me.

Johnny Rockets

Johnny Rockets was fun! I’m glad that I went. We sat outside and had the full ‘song and dance’ routine by the waiters. The food was very good.

Bars/Clubs

Labyrinth Club

I really loved the labyrinth club onboard Indy. It is a club designed with a ‘Tower of London’ theme.

Lots of crows and gothic chairs and doorways! They are able to ID people on the door which I found a little strange, who carries their ID around with them when on a cruise?

I definitely don’t. Onboard NCL they cut off the corner of your cruise card if you are under 18 so the staff easily know.

Deck 14 bar/Olive or Twist

We spent a lot of time in this bar, watching the world go by. From the top, you have the best view of the rest of the ship, a fantastic place to watch a sail away.

They also had some really comfy chairs which we would make use of after a long day exploring the port.

The bar had a place set up for a band to play although we only saw a band here on the last day.

Pyramid Lounge

We took part in a couple of quizzes at the Pyramid lounge. It was a strange lounge because it didn’t really have a lot of light (due to lifeboats outside the windows.)

For some reason it always seemed quieter in here than around the rest of the ship, which made it an easy place to grab a drink.

On Air

We watched karaoke here a couple of times, above the entrance it says ’15 minutes of fame or 15 minutes of shame’ we didn’t really see any shameful performances which was a bit rubbish.

I like to see people who are bad not good…

The bar is pretty small so it can be hard to get a seat when something is going on. I particularly like the quotes around the walls, this is one of my favourites…

Other bars

There were plenty of other bars around the ship and of course a few poolside bars.

I think I’ll be here forever if I write about them all…

Ice Skating Rink

I was totally wowed by finding an ice skating rink on a ship! Since then, I have been lucky enough to go on newer Royal Caribbean ships and MSC ships who also have large rinks.

I was amazed when we watched the ice skating show. There were so many ice skaters all skating so close to each other, it was a little bit terrifying, but really good fun.

They also use the ice skating rink for other events, we watched a game of ‘quest’ here late one evening.

During the game the team captains have to get things from their side of the audience, an example might be ‘find me a pair of sunglasses’.

The game escalated quickly and the teams were soon looking for bras, trousers and even dirty dancing.

It was at this moment I realised that this cruise would be pretty different from my last – onboard Cunard’s Queen Victoria!

There were a couple of posts around which massively got in the way, I would hate to be sat behind one of these during the shows!

Theatre

The theatre was huge and we enjoyed a lot of shows here. We watched Grease the musical, the Take That experience and various comedians/magicians.

We didn’t have to book to see the shows but that meant that you do have to arrive early to make sure that you get a seat.

We were on a 5 day cruise and they had tried to squeeze as much entertainment into the 5 days possible, one some days they had more than one show.

Overall impressions

I loved the Independence of the seas! She has so much to offer but I don’t think I really had enough time to try everything on the five-day cruise, though I gave it my best shot.

I would definitely consider cruising with Royal Caribbean again and would wholeheartedly recommend the Independence of the seas if you don’t mind a smaller, older ship.

To find how independence compares to the newer Royal Caribbean Mega ships, watch this video about Symphony of the Seas next:

Before You Go

Find about about my cruise to Norway onboard Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas here:

7 Days Onboard The Anthem of the Seas To Norway

Find out what the British cruise line Marella did with old Royal Caribbean ships when they bought them here:

How Marella Cruises Transformed Ex-Celebrity and Royal Caribbean Ships