Even major cruise lines do not have crystal balls to see how holidaymakers would react to certain decisions. This is why they sometimes experiment to see whether a particular move would go down well with the average cruise passenger.

One such experiment that is fast nearing its end is Royal Caribbean’s year-round sailings from Southampton. Wide open decks with surf simulators, water parks and whirlpool baths are apparently not ideal for icy winter days, the company has discovered.

Next winter (2012/13) the 154,000 ton Independence of the Seas will no longer head for the Mediterranean or the Canaries from Southampton. Instead it will head for Fort Lauderdale, from where it will embark on a series of six and eight-night cruises to the Caribbean.

So if a winter holiday in the Mediterranean on board Independence of the Seas is high on your agenda, you only have this winter left to make it become a reality. The ship will remain in UK waters until November next year, when she will cross the Atlantic on her way to Fort Lauderdale – where she will remain until April 2013.

The decision comes at a time when both Fred Olsen and P&O Cruises are reducing their Caribbean winter cruises. In fact Fred Olsen is withdrawing these cruises completely.

Royal Caribbean’s General Manager and Associate Vice President for UK and Ireland, Jo Rzymowska, said that Independence “has performed well during the winter months. However, having listened to guest feedback we believe that the sunshine of the Caribbean in the winter season is currently the best deployment for the ship.”