As you can see from my previous blog my Nan and Gramps went off on the Ventura a couple of weeks ago. They will be back on Saturday so cant wait to catch up with them and see how they got on. I will try and get some of their pictures to post so you can have a look at the Ventura if you have never been on her before. Well this Sunday my other Nan is going on the Independence of the Seas with Royal Caribbean. Having only ever been on the Ocean Village before to say she is excited is a bit of an understatement.

 She has been out and got some new outfits and even brought my Granddad John a fancy new long black coat. I hardly recognised him last week he looked very posh! Nan has had a bit of a rough year so I am hoping she really enjoys her 18 nights onboard the ship. I was lucky enough to have stayed onboard the Independence for a day and night on an agent trip and I can honestly say it is one of my favourite ships ever. When you first pull up into the port she is very impressive, especially if you have never been on a larger ship before. She holds over 3,500 thousand passengers and is 160,000 tonnes. We had a full day to wonder round the ship and I was so impressed at some of the facilities onboard, particularly the H2O zone for the children. This is a water zone area with jets and streams and water cannons. Having children, I loved the fact that the sun loungers were round the edge of this area so you could happily let the kids have a play and a splash about and you can still keep a watchful eye on them. We also got to see the rock climbing wall and the flowrider on the top deck which is so great for those of you who like a bit more adventure on your holidays. I personally wasn’t brave enough to try the flowrider as there was quite a crowd and I think you have to be very brave to give it a go in front of everyone especially if you fall off I don’t think it looks like the softest landing (maybe you should give that one a miss Nan). The Independence also has the Royal Promenade that runs down the middle of it. I loved this as it had such a great atmosphere down there with everybody wandering about and taking it all in and they even do carnival style parades down here on the evenings. There is also a traditional pub on the promenade where we spent a wonderful evening and was even pulled up by the singer on stage to belt out a few tunes. All in all I could go on and on about why I think this ship is such a perfect choice for a cruise holiday but I will give you the main highlights below.