OH and I had a nightmare journey to Southampton by train,so were looking forward to our first cruise with RCI on Independence of the Seas.We spent the night before the cruise at the city centre Premier Inn which was great value for money.

On arrival at the pier we had to join a long queue to get our luggage tags as oiur tickets had arrived too late for us to apply for them from RCI.We had to enquire from other passengers as to where this had to be done as there were no signs and no porters as is normal with other cruise lines we have sailed with.The whole check in process took us 2 hours and was quite an unpleasant experience.Thank goodness we weren't travelling with young children or elderley relatives.

We went to the Windjammer buffet for lunch,and our cabin was ready at 4pm.We were on Deck 2 in an oceanview stateroom right in the centre of the ship.Something we would be very grateful for a couple of nights later. Read more