Independence of the Seas 1/19/13 IOS 8 day My husband, brother in law, sister in law, and myself boarded IOS on 1/19/13 for an 8 night sailing to St. Kitts, St. Maarten, San Juan PR, and Labadee. I welcome any questions you may have. Hope you enjoy this review.

1/18/13 Drove to Fort Lauderdale airport to pick up BIL and SIL who were flying in from Illinois. They stayed at the Days Inn on 29th Ave. in Hollywood. Their room looked recently remodeled and was fine for an overnight stay. There was a free shuttle to the pier, but they were riding with us, so they did not need to use this service. When we picked them up the 19th the lobby was packed with people waiting for the shuttle. I don't know how long they had to wait, but it looked chaotic. Maybe it was ok, not really sure. We stayed at the Silver Spray Motel on Ocean Dr. in Hollywood, about 5 mins away. It was a quaint privately owned motel 2 blocks from Hollywood beach. Nothing fancy, but clean and owners were nice. We parked at Park N Go on Eller Drive. We have used them before and I cannot say enough about them. Excellent service and price. I reserved online and it was 69.76 to park from 1/19-1/27. The day we arrived it was raining and they have you park under an awning so you don't get wet and they park the car for you. The last time it was not raining and you just park you car and stand by it and they come pick up you and your luggage. Couldn't be easier.

1/19/13 Day 1- We arrived at Pier 29 at 1030. Luggage was handed off from the Park N Go driver to the porters. Tipped them both $1 per bag. We got in line as they had not started to let us into the terminal yet. Once security opened, the line went quickly. BIL and SIL went to one set of lines to check in and we were led to the C&A line. Small glitch- the computers went down on that bank just as it was our turn. We had to wait maybe 10 mins and then we were checked in and headed onboard. They were very apologetic, but I have heard this happens often, so perhaps the IT dept. needs an upgrade! The line looked pretty long behind us, so embarkation was pretty quick for us, but others who arrived later may have a different opinion. We went straight to the Windjammer and I believe we were seated and eating by 1130. We went to the Guest Relations Desk after lunch because I wanted to put cash on our account. (they accept no cash during check in) The cabins were ready by 1300. We took our carry ons into the cabins, put valuables in our safe, and then went to explore the ship. Read more