We hadn't sailed on a Royal Caribbean ship for a number of years, but thought that we would try the Independence of the Seas since it was new, had a nice itinerary, and fit into my daughter's Spring Break schedule. As on most cruises, we also try to fly into the departure city the day before, and so we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale on March 5th, for the March 6th sailing. The day in Ft. Lauderdale was uneventful, with weather being on the cool side (so the girls weren't going to start their tan in Florida). We arrived at the ship by 2pm and a good number of people were already unloading and starting the boarding process. I found this process a bit time-consuming, especially since we reserved two balcony cabins and the girls were trying to change some details relative to how to pay for charges to their cabin (the older customer service rep was having some trouble understanding the girls' request). Nevertheless, we boarded in about 30 minutes and proceeded to our cabins (6658 and 6664). We were all excited, since this was our first sailing with balcony cabins. The cabins were very nice and comfortable, though the balcony was just large enough for two chairs and a small table.

The weather out of Florida was cool and the itinerary called for two days at sea before reaching St. Maarten, our first stop. We found the ship large, and it took all of us a few days to orient ourselves to the layout. Nothing too challenging, and there were many nice areas on this ship. The fitness center was quite well appointed and we used it most days of the trip. We didn't try to rock climbing wall or the wave pool, but both looked challenging (especially the wall with the winds being gusty a lot of the time). We never made it to the ice skating show, for which I was very disappointed. You have to get tickets in advance and the tickets were gone quite quickly. What we really liked was the fact that there was an adult pool area which was quiet and comfortable. There was also a kids pool at the other end of the ship, which assured the adults the desired comfort.

Dinning. We had the late seating (as requested) and table 583. A table in a very nice area of the King Lear dinning room that was right next to the window. If there was anything the didn't meet our expectations it was this dinning experience. I think that due to the size of this ship and the number of guests, the general dinning room food does suffer. Not that the food was bad, it just was not up to par with our recent experiences on Celebrity or Princess ships. Also, our waiter tried very hard, but seemed to have trouble following through (e.g., messed up orders a few times). The staff was also a bit slow in clearing plates after each course. After the first few nights, we decided to try the speciality restaurants on board--The Chops Grille and Portofino's. Both were EXCELLENT and not that expensive ($25 and $20 pp respectively). A few other comments related to food service...the self soft serve ice cream machine by pool was very nice. Would have liked to have had some other food by pools (as Celebrity offers for quick snacks/lunches). The ability to get snacks on the Promenade area cafes. especially Sorrento's pizza and salads was very convenient and saved us a few days while we waited for our late dinner reservation. Relative to breakfast and lunch, again nothing super special. The buffets were fine, once you figured out where in food group was located. The made-to-order egg station moved okay. I believe that due to the size of the ship, finding seating could become frustrating at times. The staff tried to help, but at peak breakfast and lunch times, seating was trying. Read more