We cruised on the Independence of the Seas March 20-28, 2010. This was our 9th cruise, 6th on RCCL, and 2nd on Freedom class. We are in our early 40s. Instead of journal of everyday's events, this will focus on the ship, our excursions, and embarkation/disembarkation.

Pre-cruise / embarkation: We live right near Port Canaveral and decided to drive down the night before. We stayed at new Cambria Suites where we were allowed to park our car for the duration of the cruise. This is an excellent hotel that we really liked. They offered a free shuttle to the port but we went via taxi instead. $20 to get to the port and then $5 for some lazy porter to move our bags 5 feet and explain how is going to take care of us. What a scam but at least our bags didn't end up in the ocean or some other ship. Security was quick, check-in a bit frustrating. This was our first cruise as a platinum C&A member. One couple was in the deck 6 line but we went to the other end of the terminal to check-in. No one was in the platinum, diamond/D+ line. A few couples were in the suite line. We had to wait until the suite line was gone before we got to check-in, including people that walked up after we were in line. Check-in was quick once we got to the counter. Upstairs to wait about an hour in the priority boarding lounge before we boarded.

Dining Room Service: Our first experience with the dining room occurred at the my time dining desk shortly after boarding. We wanted to confirm our reservations (7:00 PM and a table for two) and request a table near the window. The person working the desk rudely told us 7:00 is a busy time and that we would not get a table near the window and that we should switch to an earlier or later time because 7:00 is too busy for them. We were quite shocked and just left. I went back later two hours later just to confirm we had reservations and she was pleasant as can be and even took down my request for a table by the window. We were promptly seated every night no matter what time we showed up. First night our table for two is essentially a table for eight, four tables for two about three inches apart. We enjoyed great conversation that evening. Unfortunately the two left tables had a different wait staff than the right two. We asked for savory bites the first time the bread tray came around. The second time it came around we asked again and he was out but would go get us some. We never saw the bread tray again. When the entrEe was served to the two left tables, the two right tables were eating dessert and they were seated after us. Our service was slow to nonexistent. The prime rib I had was fantastic and would have been better if someone would have brought the dish of horseradish around. The lady on my right certainly said it made hers taste even better. I spoke to the head waiter and he gave me some BS about MTD being new and 7:00 is a busy time. Maybe the rude lady was right. Head waiter said he would take care of it. Night two we are sat at a real table for two in a different section. We thought it was going to be a change back to the attentive service we have always received in the past. 15 minutes later when no one had even acknowledged us I was off to the MTD desk to see if maybe we could get some service. The head waiter is now serving us. He actually brought us a plate of savory bites and I'm sure took appetizers that belonged to someone else as fast as they appeared. Entrees ordered and served quickly with dessert right behind. Night three and our service is incredibly attentive at a real table for two. I wonder if our cabin has been marked because of the two previous nights. We ate three more times in the dining room and service was good to great. We never did get another real table for two. On two of the nights we had great people near us we enjoyed talking with. The other night we were stuck between two women who spent dinner talking about how little they ate or how what they did eat was healthy. On the other side of us was a foreign couple from Scandinavia, maybe Norway. To me it is a bit strange to be practically rubbing elbows with people at dinner for an hour and not acknowledge they even exist. Read more