Independence of the Seas has to be one of the UK’s favourite cruise ships; just look at the outcry when it was announced she wouldn’t be sailing from Southampton in 2015 or how quickly people booked her up when it was announced she was coming back for 2016.
‘This was my 3rd time on this ship. Still love her shame she’s now left Southampton’ Jessop of Aldershot – Read their full review here
Clearly Brit’s have a soft spot in their hearts for Indy (as she’s often referred to)!
Part of Royal Caribbean’s (winners of the People’s Choice Award 2016) fleet of ships it just goes to show there’s an awful lot of UK guests sailing on her each year.
And lots of people sailing on her means lots of people writing reviews about her.
We’ve a lot of cruise reviews on our site. A LOT. They’re an invaluable tool in researching your next cruise as they’re all written by you, the public, and are completely unedited by us.
Good or bad, the review will stay up.
Writing a review isn’t also just useful for other cruisers, you also get a free copy of the Berlitz guide to cruising (worth £18.99 in the shops).
However, the reason for today’s post (and all of the above intro) is that we got to wondering… With all those cruise ship reviews could we discover exactly what everybody thought about one particular ship?
With that thought in mind we copied all of the reviews for Independence of the Seas from the last eighteen months into a single word document then loaded them into a word cloud tool.
We obviously had to delete a lot of the words that weren’t directly related to the ship like and, the, is, and but etc. but once we were done it left us with the image that you can see at the top of this page which highlights exactly what all the reviews had in common.
The Staff. Great. The Shows. The People. The Cabin. The Food. Nice. Excellent. Dining. Food. Loved. Good Service. Helpful. Kids. Enjoyed. Family. Couples. Fantastic.
Clearly people love Independence of the Seas!
‘Another fantastic cruise on the Independence of the Seas’ – Al-Sharif from Fort William – Read their full review here
Still… what’s not to love? At 4,000 plus passengers she’s the biggest ship sailing from Southampton (with the exception of Harmony of the Seas this year) and has loads to do on-board for both adults, children and families alike.
Best holiday ever on the Independence of the Seas , food amazing , especially in Johnny Rockets ,the entertainment great every night , not possible to get bored as so much to do , the crew were all pleasant, friendly and very hard working , cabin lovely, always cleaned every day. Could not fault anything – Harvey from Clacton on Sea – Read their full review here
For the adult’s there’s two cantilevered hot tubs in the adult’s only spa that actually extend twelve feet over the side of the ship (as well as the adults only spa obviously).
There’s the H2O zone for kids which is a dedicated splash zone with water cannons and fountains as well as a sports pool slightly further down the deck with activities such as jousting and other water related games and sports. (There’s also a third adult only pool on a separate section of the deck for those that like their peace and privacy).
There’s sixteen bars and lounges scattered around the ship with the majority of them being located around the Royal Promenade, a giant three storey walkway running through the centre of the ship filled with shops, restaurants and bars to enjoy – Royal Caribbean even hold parades in it.
Used the main dining room most nights, good, friendly service, good food, also visited the main dining room for breakfast on a few mornings again lovely food & service Plenty of choice of food , which I always found to be hot , especially enjoyed the Chinese dishes. The activities team , they were all so friendly & enthusiastic, really put on a good show. Al-Sharif from Fort William – Read their full review here
And best of all? If you’re a fan of inside cabins you can book one with a window and an amazing view of all that!
In terms of entertainment there’s a giant theatre, several show lounges and an ice skating rink that you can use during the day or watch shows on of an evening.
(As well as Royal Caribbean’s iconic flow rider, rock-climbing walls and golf course on the top deck of course).
We loved both the ice shows, it is amazing how they manage to skate at such a high standard on a moving platform like that. The street parties, dancing in the street and rock Britannia were great. The shows in the evenings were very varied, so there was pretty much something for everyone. Lloyd from Davies. Read their full review here
What’s your thoughts on the Indy? Have you sailed on her? Would you agree with our reviewer’s opinion of her?
Let us know in the comments below…
You can learn more about the Independence of the Seas here>>
Or you can submit your own review (and get a free copy of the Berlitz Guide To Cruising) here>>
