Having only cruised on smaller vessels, the thought of The Independence of the Seas was somewhat daunting, but we wanted a trip to include Florence, so we took a chance.
And guess what? We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise.
It was the 14 day Italian Experience, calling at Gibraltar, Toulon, Florence, Rome, Corsica, Cadiz, Lisbon and Vigo.
Getting to the port was a breeze, even though it was Southampton Boat Show, luggage drop off easy, registration quick (we had registered on line previously) and our cabin was ready on Deck 8 with a nice balcony so we could have a sneeky peep at the Boat Show before we set sail.
Expecting queues for everything, we were surprised to find this didn’t happen.
We did My time dining and although it was a long job if you got on a big table, we asked for a table for two and from day 2 we had one every night.
We were in an area where there where a number of smaller tables (2s and 3s) (Tables nos 512, 513, 514, 515 etc.) and we got to know most of the people around us who were dining at the same time.
Past cruisers on the IOTS complained that the shows were the same as they had seen before, but it was all new to us so we were happy and loved the ice shows.
There were also complaints about having to pay for shuttle buses at the ports away from town, but you could always walk or catch a local bus.
We went on the excursion to Florence (do it on your own), but alot of time was wasted walking from the bus park to the meeting point at Piza and the same again at Florence.
But, to be fair, parking a bus at these busy pedestrian places, must be a nightmare.
All in all, all our fears of being crowded on a large ship were unfounded and we found many quiet places to enjoy the sun, although the Solarium could get busy and noise from the main pool area filtered through.
Only one small niggle – not sure about the Grand Parade of shops down the centre of the ship – when they had a handbag sale on, it was as crowded as Harrods on Sale Day and just as frantic! Impossible to get through all the ladies (?) fighting for yet another designer bag!!
