A CRUISE LIKE NO OTHER! OUTSTANDING

Background - My husband and I have been sailing many times and the newest ship we had sailed was the Glory by Carnival Cruise Lines. We had thought that to be an excellent and wonderful ship until we sailed on the Independence of the Seas, the crème de la crème of cruise ships, in our opinion, to date.

We arrived by personal car to Port Everglades at approximately 10:15 a.m. on the sailing date. The port area was crowded and there were still passengers attempting to get taxi's or busses to the airport. It was confusing as to where to park and upon getting assistance from an irritated port worker found our way to gate 25 inside parking right across from the ship. Embarkation went smooth and we were escorted to a waiting area where we eventually boarded the ship at abut 11:45 a.m. I need to mention that upon checking in at the port, the customer service person photo'd our passport information which is something that I had never experienced before. Consequently, and I am getting ahead of myself, passengers did not need to carry their passports to any of the ports. I thought this was a great improvement as we have worried in the past about our passports getting lost. Read more