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This was our first ever family cruise and we loved it. Our little boy was just short of being three years old and we felt that travelling to Southampton in the car was a lot more appealing than flying into Europe to connect with a cruise ship.

It is so easy, you drive up and wait a while until it is your turn for your bags to be unloaded from your vehicle and then you go and park the car as instructed before we made the 2-3 minute walk back to the terminal to finalise check in before we boarded the 'Independence of the Seas'

Wow what a ship, it is amazing the size and the amount of facilities for everyone on board, impossible to get bored so much to see and do day and night.

We had booked a standard inside cabin which was better than we ever had hoped for, excellent large bed, really comfy with a small sofa, plasma tv..etc
The bathroom are fairly small, sink, toilet and a shower, no bath but all very nice.

Food on board Independence was very good with plenty of options for dining, we choose early sitting at 6.30pm for Dinner which is taken in the main restaurant which is all waiter service. We did dine in here a couple of times however with out little boy we felt the main buffet restaurant 'Windjammer' was better suited for our needs, we also the majority of the time would eat here for breakfast and lunch as the choices were fantastic and all prepared and cooked really nicely.

One thing I would say is that the Windjammer is really busy during breakfast time and again very busy at lunchtime especially if you had a day at sea. Other dining options are Jonny Rockets (American dinner serving, burgers, fries, milkshakes..etc), we ate in here and was very nice, good with kids.

There was also a couple of casual options on the Royal Promenade which runs through the middle of the ship offering sandwiches, cakes, pizzas..etc. Independence also does have a couple of speciality restaurants serving steaks and Italian food however we choose not to eat here, no reason.

Trust me, you will not go hungry!

The pool areas are excellent with plenty of sun beds, the kids area was very good, H20 zone, my little boy really enjoyed it and was hard to tear him away from the pools when it was time to leave.

The entertainment onboard is very good, plenty of shows in the theatre (nightly), ice skating shows, bars with entertainment and regular parades would take place at night on the Royal Promenade which were all excellent.
Unfortuntely I did not get to experience the nightclub or the casino however both of these did look really good and I was a little jealous for guests without children.

I must say the children's facilities onboard are amazing, not only for toddlers, but ages between say 4 and 12 and teenagers also had their own nightclub and bar. The staff were brilliant with our little boy and I would have no hesitation to leave him with the staff, facilities were first class.

Our cruise for the 10 nights took us first to Madeira which is beautiful, a very easy place to explore when the ship is in dock in Funchal, you can do this by foot, take about 30 minutes to walk into the centre or you can jump in a taxi or take an organised tour that you can pre book with Royal Caribbean.
We also visited Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and then Vigo on the return.
The best option if you want to laze on the beach for a while is definitely Gran Canaria, a 15 minute walk from the ship takes you right onto a fantastic sandy beach with facilities dotted along the sea front.

The sea was really smooth in both directions as the weather was pretty good for the whole cruise, I would just say though that probably the first full day at sea and the final full day was too cold to sit up on deck and use the pools as this also was very windy as the ship does travel at around 21 knots.
The weather in Madiera and the Canary Islands was really good, sunny and about 25 oc so plenty warm enough to soak up the sun and splash around in the pools.

Would I cruise again, YES!!