This was a late 'summer holiday' for my wife and I, and we've done six cruises (including RCCI Independence of the Seas last year).
We stayed at the Sofitel in Lisbon the night before the cruise and in the morning, took a short taxi ride to the port area - we dropped off our luggage and were on the ship 15 minutes later (around 11.30 am) - if you do all the necessary 'admin' and print your cruise boarding pass online before the cruise, embarkation is a total breeze!
As the staterooms weren't available until 1.00 pm, we looked around the ship a little and had some lunch in the Windjammer buffet restaurant, which throughout the cruise was very good - excellent variety, hot, tasty, and great staff.
Excellent space, good storage, very comfortable bed, old and very small TV, bathroom OK but a little cramped, however very small balcony.