I don't know about RCI IOS but Celebrity their Sister company has just changed their dress policy. Now 3 formal nights on a 12 night cruise with the remainder being smart casual. They used to have informal or semi formal nights as well as casual and I am afraid I will be wearing informal on some of the nights as well as the 3 formal. I am heading off on Tuesday and am packing what I wish to wear rather than how they ask me to dress. I like to dress for dinner and anyway I have invested a lot in building up my cruise wardrobe.

Sue

My first post... just back from our first cruise - 4 nights to Cork (Cobn) on Indepence of the seas.

1st off - that good we've booked to go again (taking the kids this time)

We can't compare to other cruise lines as this was our first cruise but in all it was excellent. We received a free upgrade to a deluxe outside cabin with balcony - spoilt rotten - can't afford this measure of luxury for the next one - much more the pity! (RCI - pretty please??)

The staff in all areas were excellent, inparticular Lucky our stateroom attendant - he went the extra mile every night with little querky gifts. Those in s/r 7650 will know what I mean - don't want to spoil it for future guests!

The waiting staff couldn't be faulted, very attentive.

The ship - WOW - massive, elegant with excellent facilities. The flowrider is super fun, climbed the wall, went ice skating, saw shows each night, even played the tables in the casino! Children are extremely well catered for, they have their own bar, areas to chill out in, great water park and Johny Rockets Diner have periods when only youngsters are allowed to dine!

"Food, glorious food what more could you ask for?" We ate dinner in the main dining hall every night as the food and service were that good, we did however had the added bonus of being seated right next to one of the huge windows providing an ever changing panorma!

Only one night on this cruise is formal (3rd night) which is a delight to see everyone making the effort.

Advice....

To get good seats for the shows arrive 30 mins early

Ice shows are ticket only and very limited. To our disappointment we missed this, but will ensure we don't next time.

Get the soft drink package - $26 (note only Coke, diet coke and lemonade)

Beer isn't cheap $6-$9.50, but then you're on holiday so who cares! We don't drink wine so can't comment on price/quality

Cobn - what a place - looks like Balamory with all the painted houses. The ship was met with marching bands and crowds of people lined the hill roads to see the ship. There was a French market on and singing in the band stand. Plenty of pubs to sample Guinness "where it's made"

RCI have many excursions available, but the train station is on the dock with regular service into Cork - much cheaper.

I think I've covered most of it, we were exhausted from all the relaxing, can't wait to go again, role on May!!!!

Hi and welcome to HT!

Glad you had such a good time on your first cruise, the first of many probably!

If you haven't done so already, I would really appreciate it if you could copy and paste your review into our Cruise Reviews at the top of the page. This will take a couple of weeks to appear as the Admin who approves cruise reviews is away from the site at the moment.

luci

Cruise review added

Many thanks. Reviews are more easily found on the reviews site as they tend to get lost among post in here, although it is useful to have a few reviews in a topic about a particular ship.

Apologies for the delay in it appearing. It could be a while, but it will eventually.

luci

looking forward to going on IOTS may 09 have been on smaller cruises this i our 1st with one of the bigger ships,probably get lost!

IOTS followed us back from Lisbon last week and she is HUGE!!!

luci

hi all we (my wife and i )....go on this ship on the 6/11/08 ...crossing over the atlantic..really looking forward to it ....is any other member on that cruise..........

Not a question, just a comment!!! IOTS was in port here in Arrecife yesterday so I drove down to have a look at her. Yeh, I know, sad! But since booking my very first cruise for next year I am looking at all the ships coming in here just now. She was massive

myboyoz, which cruise you doing?

We are booked for May 09, doing the short cruise to Cork again, taking the kids this time!!

Going on the I.O.T.S Canary Cruise in 4 days, can't wait

our cruise is the 09/05/09 14 nights med treasures can,t wait looking forward to spending more time in barcelona as we only did day trip before fab city!

Hi Johndoe

Myself and my husband are on the cruise leaving Southampton on 6th November, counting down now.

Joan & Ken

hi...joan....will ask the captain to buy you and ken a drink........ ....i may as well have one too.... .......david.

Hi all,

We booked for 23 May 2009 straight after our last cruise, but could only afford a cabin with a portal as we're taking the kids this time!!

However I checked RC's website last night after receiving our crown and anchor stuff and found that a D1 cabin with balcony was now cheaper.

Called RC today and they have moved us to the bacony cabin at the lower cost without any charge!!!

Great result and well chuffed, RC couldn't have been any more helpful

So for all who've booked, get on the site and see if you can organise your own upgrade

hi

Hope this is correct putting this here....just had a flyer from cruise specialists and got some good deals fo IOTS in June 2009...for a Balcony on the 6th June 2009 it is offering it at £1559 with £200 OBC can anyone plssss advise is this a good deal...as you cruisers seem to get some good bargains....dont wanna miss out....the other half is well up for it....who am i to refuse

Thanks in advance

catsmum xx

Hi Catsmum,

Try the RC website for an online booking. See if that gives a comparable price.

Also worth phoning RC as you can then negotiate package direct with them!

Rob.

6 June is well out of the main season, and therefore ship should be relatively quiet. In days of "credit crunch" etc. it could be that nearer the time the prices could come down. Depends how relaxed you are about waiting off, certainly we would not book at this stage. Other options too for last minute, with similar itineries out of Southampton e.g. Norwegian Jade and Grand Princess. Remember they will each be competing for your business.

We are due to sail on the IOTS in May 09 from Southampton. We have been reading various sites on the vessel but have come stuck on the drinks scenario. We understand that there are adult packages for wine at the table with 15 pct tip as standard, we are also aware of adult soda packages for US$6 per day over 2 wk sailing. However we have heard various prices raised from £2.50 a beer to £5, £3.50 to £7 other spirits.

Can anyone please advise me of a true reflection on the alcholic drinks aspect so that we can work out roughly how much spending money to take with us, it gets more confusing since we will have to work on both the Euro and the US Dollar

no cracks about typical scots please !!!