It was smooth sailing from beginning to end. My husband booked this as a Christmas gift to me...he gave me 9 days to prepare...don't you want to kill men like this...LOL. Well I made the best of what I had. Overpacked as usual. We arrived Ft. Lauderdale airport and grabbed a taxi and went to the pier. It was around 2PM..there was a line to enter that was a block long and I tho't "oh no" here we go. But with all the security measures being taken for our safety we buckled up, fell into line and waited just like everyone else. To our surprise, the line moved as quick as it could..I'd say we were in line about 20-30 mins. Once you are in line you begin talking with other passengers and if you are an experienced cruiser everyone "wants to know" what to do and where to go, etc...so before you know it, the line is no longer a long line. So if you had a complaint about this part of your journey, then shame on you...it's not "all about you". We found our room once on board..never got bothered one time for photo's on the whole trip...that was amazing as this was our 15th cruise. We immediately booked Chops and Portofinos to make sure we got a reservation. These restaraunts are worth the additional money you spend for excellent food. We never saw the main dining room once. If you book "anytime" then you have a choice. We went to the windjammer when we found we were hungry and one night it wasn't until 10PM. The food was absolutely the best in the Windjammer that Ive ever experienced. Every night you either had prime rib, roasted pork loin, turkey dinner night, and the choices of salads was my favorite part. Sometimes I just ate the salad and skipped the entree and went on to the desserts. I actually lost a lb on this cruise. Trust me, if I could have over eaten I would have, but as you age you eat less but I enjoyed every bite. We went to Costa Maya, Cozumel and Belize. Since we have been on 15 cruises we have been into all the ports, so what we do now is just go into the main area off of the piers and pick up our souveniers (usually knock off Oakleys and purses and wallets) and then sit @ Margaritaville or Senor Frogs and watch everyone having "what they think is a good time"...LOL...some of them really can do it up and barely make it back to the ship on their own. The weather in Jan. is definitely cooler...requires blue jeans for your first day at sea and maybe your 2nd day too..this cruise had unusually cooler weather, but I enjoyed the temps...70-75. No rain, was nice. The shows were amazing. We have never cared for the cruise lines own entertainers much. They were average at best, but this cruise had the best of the best. And the ice show (which is always excellent) was even better then excellent; we didn't want it to end. The service we recieved on board was great. John was our room attendant and all you had to do was ask and it was there. He was a very sweet man. We booked the Oasis for next September but when the papers were sent to our room with a price of $4700. for the same room we paid $449. for a week was way too pricey...so we will put the Oasis off until the following Sept when the prices drop to about $$995. pp. We just want to see the ship anyway. The Voyager class of ships is our favorite. This cruise on the Independence was the cheapest we have ever found for a balcony room. It was an awesome vacation and a way too grandioso Christmas gift and i will be forever greatful to my hubby. Looking forward to our next cruise..we are hoping to find another great deal for this Sept. Royal Carribbean is the best of the best. Thank you, everyone on the Independence, for all you did to make our vacation the experience of a lifetime.