This was my second cruise with RC Independence of the Seas. The first cruise was mediocre but I decided to give it another chance, as first impressions are not always correct. I should have stuck with my first impression. We travelled as a family, with my husband, 1 yr old, senior mother and aunt. My aunt has mobility issues so we requested (long beforehand) a wheelchair upon arrival. Upon arrival there were no wheelchairs available and the wait time for a wheelchair was 1/2 - 1 hour. They suggested we wait in an area that was already congested with people waiting for wheelchairs and no available seating. As it was a completely unreasonable request of us, we decided to do without it. Little did we know how long the process to embark would be.

After over an hour in line, we finally got onboard and went to our rooms. Despite requesting a king bed and crib, none of this was done. In addition, the washroom was unclean (dirty toilet with urine on the seat and dirty bowl, hair in the shower, dirty floor). There was no infant life vest, so as a replacement they gave me a children's life vest (which was far too big for a 1 yr old).

There was at least 1 bartender at every bar that was rude and had poor customer service. To be fair, on our first cruise the bartenders were fantastic and some of the friendliest people I have met. When we went to the kiddy pool area we were told that my daughter could not be in one of the areas (and we were told to move) because she was wearing a swim diaper. There were numerous other boys in the area which a parent could clearly see were wearing a swim diaper, but the staff did not recognize this and said nothing to this. No doubt many of those toddlers (without diapers) were peeing in the pool, so the logic of their request was lost. Read more