We first sailed on the Independence during its inaugural season in 2008, and the recently completed Transatlantic was our first time back on the ship. She has stood the time well. Maybe a little rust here and there and some of the furniture has seen better days but the Indy is still a fine ship.
Embarkation in Southampton was a breeze. I dont think too many people paid much attention to RCI's request to turn up at a time depending on your deck. We arrived at 1230 and were on board before 1. We were Emerald (now Diamond..yippee) and the line was not long. Gold and Platinum lines were long and I did hear some grumbling about this later.There was a lot of grumbling on this voyage. more about that later.
Once onboard, it was the now ritual visit to the Windjammer before the announcement that the staterooms were ready. We booked an inside on Deck 6 and it was perfectly adequate. Near the elevators and only one flight down to our Deck 5 dining (First Sitting).
The cabin was perfectly adequate. It was well serviced by Dwight and was relatively close to the elevators and the Royal Promenade.