First about us: Male 30 Female 26. We have been on 2 cruises prior to sailing on the Independence of the Seas. Both were with RC. We did the Allure and the Oasis. Because they are different classes I will try not to compare to much. We had a great time and the ship was nice and would go back but we did prefer the bigger ships but that is just personal preference.
Pre Cruise: Flew into Ft Lauderdale a day early from Philly. We decided to rent a car and stay at the Marriott Beach hotel in Key Largo. Hotel was really nice and not to far away (maybe and 115 from the airport). We got the car from Fox rental (had some minor issues). After returning the car on Sunday morning we flagged down a cab and was at the port in less then 10 minutes.
Embarkation: We arrived at the port around 930 am. We waited in line till about 10 am until the security doors were open. Once inside we checked in and sat in an older section of Pier 29. We waited for about 45 minutes until we were allowed to board the ship. Now This process was just ok. This pier is not that big and can not really handle the number of people that our going onto the ship. We were lucky because we arrived early. The section we were in was closed off around 1030 and all the other guest went to a different area of the building to check in. So my tip would be to get there early. You do have to wait a little bit but you are one of the firsts on the ship. I will have to say though that the RC people in the pier are helpful and they do their best to keep things moving.
Room 660. Really spacious. Plenty of storage and close to everything