Captain Arnolf Remo

Independence of the Seas has a lot going for it.  She is currently the largest cruise ship in the world, a title she holds along with her sister ships Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas.  She is full of entertainment and dining venues and has both traditional and innovative outdoor facilities such as a surfing simulator.  Just as importantly, the crew is engaged in a near constant effort to entertain the passengers with parades, singing and dancing waiters as well as the usual set of shipboard activities such as trivia contests and bingo.

 

The ship follows Royal Caribbean’s style of cruising.  This style was developed serving the American market.  Consequently, the décor, the informality and the emphasis on activity all reflect the country where Royal Caribbean first achieved success.

 Recently, however, Royal Caribbean announced that Independence of the Seas’ first summer season sailing out of Southampton, England had been so successful that the ship would be homeported there all year in 2010.  What makes this so surprising is that the vast majority of passengers traveling on Independence have not been vacationing Americans but rather British.

 

When I was onboard Independence, I had the opportunity to talk with Captain Arnolf Remo, Hotel Director Darren Budden and Cruise Director Allan Brooks about Independence and her success in Britain.  The resulting article appears at: http://beyondships.com/RCI-IOS-article-UK.html  Also, to see what Independence of the Seas looks like, there is the photo tour beginning at http://beyondships.com/RCI-IOS-tour.html