My wife and I had never cruised before but were persuaded by relatives and friends. None of them had ever cruised with the Independence of the Seas nor with Royal Caribbean. Holidays that we have enjoyed recently included Sorrento (Amalfi, Isle of Capri, Pompeii etc), Prague, Vienna plus several wonderful British holidays in the Scottish Islands and Highlands, Lake District, Wales, South West England plus Ireland (both north and south).We were looking forward to seafood, sea fish dishes and a bit of fancy dining. Instead, we got a works canteen (The Windjammer Cafe), a very nice dining room in the Romeo and Juliet dining room but with food that, at best, was adequate, and two cafe-type places. One of these offered a slice of pizza and the other offered rolls which were sometimes stale. Breakfast was quite good with semi-formal dining (buffet style) in the dining room although the only eggs on offer were scrambled. The toast was like cardboard. There was a la carte available in the Macbeth dining room which was good. The works canteen (Windjammer) had a good range. Breakfast was far and away the best dining option apart from the Portofino, which was an excellent Italian restaurant but was an extra $20 per person per meal.I didn't see a single bit of seafood available at lunchtime in the Windjammer but I did see some fish dishes labelled 'fish curry'. When did you last see a dish labelled 'meat curry'? I don't eat meat but do eat fish, chicken, seafood, vegetarian dishes, salads, eggs and cheese. Not once did I see boiled eggs at lunch time (they make a nice addition to a salad). When fish was available the kitchen staff didn't seem to know what it was e.g. fish goujons. There was something labelled 'cold cuts' which I believe was fish.There were 8 ice shows. The theatre holds 600 people. There were 3000 passengars onboard thus at least one ticket per passenger - wrong. When the tickets go on sale on the first day at sea, all the tickets for all the shows are first-come first-served. So some people got several tickets for several shows. The people at the back of the queue got none. Every cabin should have 2 tickets on the bed on arrival. If you don't want them, hand them in to the customer service desk. As it was, apparently some of the shows had vacant seats because people who had seen a previous show couldn't be bothered to attend.We thought there would be history lectures onboard and also a celebrity speaker. Other people told us that they had been on cruises where Henry Cooper gave a talk, or Chris Bonnington, or well known history professors. Instead, the only talks were on Crime and Offenders!!!The drinks are ludicrously expensive and you can't take a local bottle of wine onboard for a drink on your balcony. We bought the cheapest onboard wine package at $270 for 10 bottles. A bottle of London Pride beer and a small lager was $13.I could go on but won't. The best moments were meeting the people at our dining table in the evening. All were experienced cruisers - all were disappointed. The ship previously had the Norvirus but we weren't told until we had boarded. I've come home with sickness and diarrhoea and had it since Saturday (today it's Wednesday). The best description I can give is Butlins-on-sea but I always enjoyed Butlins - and went back.