Cruising On Independance Of The Seas August 2009

Being a young cruiser of fourteen the first glimpses of a ship, are vital and usually breath-taking. My first glimpse of ‘The Independence of the Seas’ was truly spectacular and lived up to the name of being ‘The biggest cruise ship in the world’! The cruise was 4 nights long and stopped off at Ireland, Cork for a night. We didn’t have to wait long to get onto the ship and each family got their photo taken. Once on the ship and the celebrations started the atmosphere became relaxed and holiday-like. The ship is beautifully designed and elegant, for example; when walking down the promenade it is easy to believe you are in an amazing shopping centre, rather than on a ship!

Onboard there is a huge variety of food anything ranging from American pancakes to spicy chicken wings. Being an American ship you can guarantee there will be food 24/7. Anyone at anytime can access food on the ship either via room service or the windjammer cafe. All of the restaurants and cafes on the ship had one thing in common...a majority of the time the food had little flaws and when they rarely did, the staff was more than helpful trying to cook you something else. Another thing I found was the presentation of the food, which was intricately designed and placed to please its consumers.

I would go to say all staff were happy, nice people who would go out of their way to help you. On our first night we had this waiter serve us our evening meal and because he made conversation and made the experience jolly we asked to sit in his area every night. The same waiter took the time to find me a non-alcoholic cocktail which was surprisingly delicious! Overall most staff took the time to help you, laugh with you and have fun with you.

One of the ships novelties are some of its facilities. The Flo-Rider was a brilliant experience however we queued up for ages therefore didn’t get many goes, but the people helping you were intimidating because they stood there and frowned all day! Another facility was the ice-rink which is a good idea, the seating is pretty good and the ice show was amazing, however because of poor organisation (due to some of the entertainment staff) many people couldn’t get near it. The problem was the staff was only letting the public go onto the ice rink for an hour or two a day for half of the cruise and being a mini cruise it was only open two days for a few hours! I had walked past the rock climbing wall many of times and only seen a few people on it. However it looked professional and fully equipped.

Although I didn’t go and watch the main show on at the theatre I walked through there at the end of a stand up comedian. I was surprised at the amount of seating and how well laid out it was. Another room which had a good layout was the Library: it was simplistic and spacious. You would think the point of a library is to choose and read books, however this library didn’t have a good range of books and was a bit empty. After being quite disappointed with the library I went up to the games room where the view was wonderful and good selection of different games. The Arcade was fun, well-equipped and full of younger people! A very good place to have fun and hang out with newly made friends. It even had Guitar Hero!

All-in-all the ship was top-notch, the people were fun and kind and the food and activities were brilliant. I would go as far to say one of the best holidays I have been on!

Review by Caroline Dewar