We just returned from another RCCL cruise. This time, we chose Independence of The Seas departing 03/22/2015. The overall experience was nice (What could be so bad about a cruise?) I was surprised by the differences between two ships in the same class. We have cruised on the sister ship Liberty and enjoyed it completely. Little things, that mean a lot, leave you with a touch of disappointment. I noticed that overall rating of this ship is less than the two sister ships in the same class. I now do understand why.

Embarkation

The port area was very busy with at least 6 ships. The shuttle ride was long due to being the last stop (not RCCL related). We got a real nice tour of the port area and many of the other ships. I was slightly disappointed by our terminal after seeing what the others lines or ships offered for their passengers. Ours was basically a warehouse or a barn you might shuttle livestock through. We arrived at dock 29 around noon. The boarding process had already started. The line was not long. The check in process was quick and efficient. We received our SeaPass card, made our way to the picture taking torture station, a couple of bad photos taken and on to the ship! I think directly off of the ramp is a bad place to shove drink packages in your face. It was causing a crowded confused messy area. We finally fought our way through the crowd and into the ship deck 4. By this time, it was a little before 1:00 and we were surprised to find the rooms ready. We unloaded the carryon luggage and did some exploring prior to making our way to the passenger jammer café. Our room steward never introduced himself and was not very friendly throughout the entire cruise. We had a hard time getting him to change towels. This was the first time we included a very small tip. We’re not used to that. Read more