review - Independance of the seas Oct 2008

[LouiseB]

I thought I'd write a review of my recent cruise on Independance. 11 day canaries cruise

 

4th October - Travelled down to Southampton last night and stayed at the holiday inn alongside the port gate, was up at 5.30 to see Indy dock.

Arrived at the terminal at approx 10.30am - no queues, boarded at approximately 11.15am. Luggage arrived at approximaelty 4.30pm.

 

The Ship - was as good as I remember from the maiden cruise, although there appeared to be less staff (particularly bar staff around the pool area)

 

The cabin - stayed in cabin no. 8246, a balcony cabin forward. The cabin was spacious with plenty of room for two. Asked the cabin steward for bathrobes and they arrived within minutes.

 

Dining - asked for main dining and a table for two which we were allocated. I confirmed with the diningroom on boarding the ship with no problems.

 

Entertainment - highlight of the 11 days were the American Drifters - great show, one not to be missed. Found as usual that there were never enough seats inthe Alhambra on most nights you had to arrive at the theatre at least 25 minutes prior to show starts to get a seat - god only knows what time you had to start queuing for a seat without an obstructed view!! The evening parades - mad hatters ball and best of bristish were of course superb and well worth staying up for! Graham Seymour - cruise director - execllent, so very funny, the rest of te cruise directors staff left a little to be desired.

 

Food - food was on the whole good, little disappointed that the ship appeared to have some problems with its procurement process, They run out of cornflakes on day two and by the end of the week, you often ended up with second or third choice of food and drink

 

Weather - was not great a couple of days of sun, but otherwise ovrcast. The initial crossing down from southampton was a little rough but settled into the evening of day two.

 

The ports of call - visited madeira, gran canaria, tenerife, lanzarote, lisbon and vigo

 

Madeira - did our own thing, got a cab out to the centre of town and spent the day wandering around the shops and market (we'd visited madeira a couple of times before and had already been up on the cable car and done the basket rise - well worth doing though if you've not done them before)

 

Gran Canaria - again did our own thing, weather was not good this day, so we had a sort wander round the town and then spent the day on board

 

Tenerife - did the ships tour to Lore Parc ( a zoo and sealife centre on the other sie of the island) A great day, well worth the visit for kids and adults alike

 

Lanzarote - got the shuttle bus into Arrecife - wouldnt bother again - nothing to see, little open, spent an hour or so here an then got back on board

 

Lisbon - Excellent day - the highlight of the cruise, got the shuttle bus downtown, then boarded an open top sightseeing bus (14E for the day hop on hop off) Beautiful city, lots to see and do, spent some time people watching from an outside cafe admiring the town and eating the most wonderful pastries!

 

Vigo - again a good day, town is within walking distance although all uphill!! Great for spending those hard earned euros!!

 

So in conclusion, the ship was for the most part still as good as I remember although not without some problems relating to availability of choices of food and drink and the apparent lack of bar staff. Still very much enjoyed the cruise, would I go again? o course but think I'd try a different itinarary.

[truffles2]

Hmmmmm, getting on soon for the transatlantic. Hope the procurement process has been perfected by then as there will be no where to procure anything the last 6 or so days!:eek:

[OPSoccermom]

Interesting comment about the staffing levels.

 

When we were aboard in June (14 day Italian Med), a bartender that we used for the entire cruise told us that once the shakedown was completed, they were staffing Independence with the number of crew that the Voyager class ships were meant to have.