This was our first cruise as a family, and our first on Royal Caribbean. Husband and I are early 40's and have cruised twice before on Celebrity, which we really enjoyed. We decided on Royal Caribbean since it looked like fun for all of us and we knew the kids would love the activities. We thought about the Allure or Oasis but had a little sticker shock (and also didn't want to start the kids out on the biggest/best!) We booked Independence of the Seas because itinerary was good and the price was right!

We read lots of reviews and did quite a bit of research before the trip (I find the planning to be half the fun!). We booked aft balcony cabin 1400, which I highly recommend. This cabin has a huge balcony, and the cabin itself is very wide, about the size of a Junior Suite. And it is priced as a D1 cabin- can't beat that! One thing to note is that there is a support pole at the foot of the bed, but it didn't bother us at all. The extra space is worth it. With all 4 of us in the same cabin, it was great to have the extra floor space. Even with the sleeper sofa pulled out, there was plenty of room to move around.

Independence had some dicey reviews back in December when it returned here from England. I was really worried about that. Well, we shouldn't have been. Embarkation from Pier 29 was a breeze- we were on the ship within 45 minutes of arriving (we got there around 10:30-10:45am). First impressions of the ship: wow! I know it's on the older side, and hasn't been to dry dock to receive some upgrades, but this ship is in wonderful condition. Immaculately clean and well laid out. I was really impressed with the overall cleanliness and the fact that you couldn't walk ten feet without running into someone cleaning something! Read more