Cruising with the Family
From the moment, we arrived at Southampton port it was “plain sailing”, our bags were taken from us kerb side by the Royal Caribbean porters, allowing us to proceed baggage free to the seamless check in and security area which took us a max of 30 minutes from start to finish.
When we boarded the ship one word came to mind ‘Wow’. No expense has been spared either on creating the opulent ship interiors or providing a dizzying amount of services. After walking along the bustling Royal Promenade with its variety of shops, bars and cafes and checking out the wonderful pool deck with an abundance of sun beds, it’s tempting Jacuzzis and the thrilling Flow Rider we knew this was going to be a holiday to remember.
Entering our cabin, I was pleasantly surprised with the room size and the amount of storage space. Our friendly cabin steward tidied up morning and evening, he even took time to create animal shapes with the towels (a different one every day!).
We spent our first 2 days at sea exploring the ship. The girls climbed the rock wall, went ice skating, took line dancing lessons and enjoyed all the facilities that the teens program offered. They were given a daily teen cruise planner with multiple activities and even had their own supervised “Living Room” on deck 12 to just hang out. While the girls were entertained we took the opportunity to chill by the pool sipping cocktails and having the occasional flutter in the onboard casino.
We even got to experience watching dolphins swim alongside the ship from the glass fronted ‘Olive and Twist’ on deck 14. Our ports of call on this cruise were Madeira, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and finally the highly recommended city of Vigo, a real hidden gem. We didn’t book any organised excursions but we went onshore at each stop and explored at our own pace. What other holiday can give an opportunity to visit this number of places in 10 days.
The food on the ship was second to none. From the casual dining buffet style in the Windjammer to the formal setting of the main dining room not forgetting the café serving sweet and savoury treats all day and Sorrento’s serving pizza until 3am. There’s even serve yourself frozen yogurt stations by the pool. Luckily, I had packed some loose clothing, it was all I could get into by the time we returned.
Overall, we enjoyed our first cruise experience so much that we booked another! We are sailing in September on ‘Freedom of The Sea’s’, a sister ship of Independence, along with 10 members of my family who were so impressed by our cruise experience that they booked to come with us…. Roll on September!!