We cruised on the Independence of the Seas on 14 February 2015. This was our first time aboard a Royal Caribbean ship and and we will have to think twice before trying them again. We have previously cruised with Norwegian (in 2014) and Celebrity (many years ago). It was full ship that week with about 3900 passengers aboard. And it was crowded. Very crowded. It was hard to find a seat anywhere, during the day on deck or in the evening at one of the bars. Passengers claiming sundeck loungers and then not using them for hour after hour is one of my pet peeves. And the deck attendants clearly didn't want to get involved. Can't say I blame them.

Check-in was fine and pretty quick considering the number of people getting off and on. There was no-one to greet us and welcome us aboard other than the security person scanning the Seapass cards. Cruise staff, this should be one of your jobs shouldn't it? More on them later.

Our cabin attendant was perfectly nice and pleasant and our cabin was well laid out and spacious. Our first smile. And one of the last. As a 6'7" tall passenger, the ceiling height on deck 2 is rather low and I had to duck under the exit signs and sprinkler heads. I did not have any problem on decks higher up. I have no complaints about the cabin. Read more