My wife and I love to cruise and have done about 15 so far. We chose this cruise because we had heard so many wonderful things from other cruisers about Royal. We got a great rate and a balcony room along with room credits of $150. Having heard about how Royal service, food and service was supposed to be tops, we could not wait.
But, wait is what we did We arrived the day before and stayed at Comfort Inn which was just a few minutes away. It was an older hotel but our stay was pleasant and the room was clean. Shuttle service took us to port very quickly...where the wait began. We stood in line for about an hour and a half, barely moving at times with no apparent reason why. They did not seem to have their act together. However we were the lucky ones. As we were boarding the ship we noticed out the side windows of building that the line was completely around the building. We felt sorry for those folks.
We entered the ship and were taken back at the beauty and openness of Independence. It was a beautiful ship filled with surprises. We went up to the dinning area where they were cutting a huge Welcome Aboard Cake, and started looking for a place to sit and eat. We sat with 2 other couples and enjoyed conversation with them,
roomy, bathrooms larger than usual. No clingy shower curtain. Bed was comfortable.
beautiful, lots to do for all ages. lots of beach areas. excursions are pricey. Zipline across the ocean!
Ease to get into port and out, very pretty place.