Independence of the Seas Review
Excellent Holiday Cruise with Kids
Rating by category
Additional details
Background information - travelers were myself and my wife (early 30's) and our two boys (ages 3 and 1). It was a fairly last-minute vacation decision to get out of town and escape the cold, and we ended up getting a fairly good price on the trip. This was a) our first cruise with 2 children, and b) our first cruise without additional family/friends travelling with us, and one of the main reasons we chose this cruise/RC was the potential option of in-room babysitting. After obtaining advice from these boards, we headed directly (did not pass go) to Guest Services, only to be informed that this service wasn't available on our sailing. The thought of being hostages in our rooms at our kids' bedtime each night immediately overtook us, and we felt very deflated. We know of the nursery/kids programs and were directed there, but DW was somewhat hesitant. Needless to say, the Royal babies & tots program and Adventure Ocean really SAVED the vacation for us and was outstanding (more later), but the lack of an advertised service that was one of the main reasons we chose this adventure was still disheartening.
Hotel information - flew into FLL the night before and stayed at the Crowne Plaza Fort Lauderdale Aiport/Cruiseport. Hotel was in a great location with convenient shuttles (free from the airport, $8 pp to the cruise) and fully met our needs. Only thing would have been a complementary breakfast of some sort, which I have come to sort of expect from hotels of this class.
Ship information- I had read some questionable reviews of Indy going into this trip- a lot tipping towards the negative side of the scales (old, run-down, poor food, needs the refurb etc). However, overall, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I think this ship was perfect size (not too small, not too big) with a great variety of things for all to do. The condition of the ship was more than good- if you’re the type of person who lets the occasional worn carpet or scuffed paint get to you, then you may not be has satisfied as me, but since the primary goal of this trip was a relaxing vacation, these things had ZERO impact to me. This isn’t to be confused with cleanliness- the ship was VERY clean- everywhere you looked, someone was cleaning something. Obviously our sailing was 2 cruises after the big Noro cruise, and extra precautions were still probably somewhat in place, but this didn’t bother us in any way (we could self-serve at the buffet etc).
Cabin Review
Interior Stateroom
we booked connecting interior cabins on deck 9, starboard site, just aft to the centrum (back) elevators. Without knowing this in advance, this was the perfect location for us- 2 flights up the nearby stairs to the Windjammer, pool and 1 flight directly above that to Adventure Ocean; right down the elevator to the MDR. The only things more forward (like the Theatre), we never travelled to with the kids, so walking the shorter distance to the venues listed previously was super convenient. I had never analyzed deck plans in advance when choosing a room (obviously looked forward, midship, aft etc), but after seeing how easy it was for us/the kids to get to these places, it is definitely something I would consider again in the future. The rooms themselves were totally adequate. The connecting door was opened up within an hour of us getting there and requesting it. Having the 2 (small) washrooms was nice. The power outlet situation (which I know has been mentioned before) is a little poor, and it would be nice to have outlets closer to the bed. The beds were comfy and our rooms were very well attended by Sady. We got towel animals every night and my kids loved them.