Has anyone ever cruised on the Independence of the Seas?

What are your experiences?






Answer :
I have not cruised on the Independence but I have cruised on the Freedom of the Seas which is identical. The Freedom Class ships are identical but have different names and color schemes and decor. They are the exact same size, and all have the same features.

All three ships have the rock climbing wall, the "flowrider" where you can surf right on ship, an ice skating rink, a fabulous free Ice Capades type ice show that you should not miss (tickets are free but you have to go to a designated place to get them.), a mini-golf course, a H2O Zone water park for kids, the best gymnasium on any ship, several pools and hot tubs on the pool deck, and a solarium (covered area) for adults only.

The ship has a mall down its center with shops and eating places, a casino, a show room, and a bunch of lounges with a variety of music, and a disco that's really unusual because its in an unusual location.

We enjoyed our cruise on it and do recommend it and that's why we'll be cruising the Freedom Class again, next time on the Liberty. The ship is huge but even with 4,000 passengers it doesn't seem crowded. It took us about 30 minutes to get through the checkin line and board the ship.

A couple good things about the ship, as far as crowds are concerned, is the H2O Zone is a kids water park area where the youngsters can enjoy the water. Then there is the regular pool and then an adults only pool and hit tub. So if you have kids there is a place for them to enjoy but if you don't there are places for adults only.

The kids also have Adventure Ocean which is an area of the ship just for them that has a professionally trained staff person to supervise them in activities. It includes a teen disco that is open until 2:00 AM for all of the teens to use.

The Freedom and Liberty ships do pretty much the same itinerary rotating their itinerary between Eastern and Western Caribbean each week. So no matter which you you go on you can get almost the exact same thing. The Independence, as I understand it right now, will be permanently stationed in Europe. RC also plans to move the Freedom's home port from Miami to Port Canaveral next year and move the Mariner of the Seas (which home ports there now) to Los Angeles, Ca.


The Eastern Caribbean is usually St Thomas, St Maarten, and maybe another island like San Juan or Tortolla. The Western Caribbean is usually Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Then both itineraries usually always include Royal Caribbean's private island, Labadee, Haite.

Labidee is in my opinion THE best private island. It's huge and has a free tram to take you around the island to the various beaches and activities. It has multiple beaches, an ocean water park, a zip line, and a lot of water related activities like snorkeling, ocean kayaking, jet ski and para sailing.

Yes I do recommend the ship for adults and especially for kids.