February 2013. We just got back from an 8 day cruise to St. Martin, St. Kitts, Puerto Rico, Haiti private island. I will be brief. Food in dining room and on the buffet was fair at best. The specialty restaurants were excellent. The rooms were typical cabins, tiny showers and a typical balcony with two chairs and a lounge, nice. The facilities and recreation activities were lacking. The shows were fair. We had only one full production show in 8 days. Not happy about that. The other shows were ok, but nothing special. The ice show was good.
Service was excellent. Both for the rooms and in the dining room. All the staff throughout the ship were helpful, friendly, and a pleasure to work with.
The overall ambiance was low key and quiet. Too much so for us. Not that we are party people at all. Just a quiet ship. Actually, a bit boring. The music was fair at best. Very few musical options in the lounges. The bands were low key also and not very exciting to listen to. This was where there was a severe cut back. Throughout the ship you could see subtle cutbacks in many ways which to a new cruising person would not be noticed. But to those who have cruised before, they are noticed. Music, shows, number of staff, quality and selection of food, to name a few.
Independence of the sea room 7312. Nice room. Decent closet space. Great balcony. Quiet location. Bathroom shower like a standup tube. Very small. There are no electrical plugs except by the TV, so forget any device by the bed unless you have an extension to run across the room. Comfortable bed. Temp control works ok. Had to ask for ice, shampoo. Hair dryer in a draw by TV. Cannot be moved. Bathroom has a special plug for an electric shaver in the ceiling. That's it. Toilet is small. No irons.