Not too shabby

We went as part of a big group that reserved the entire ship for a 5 day cruise.

This was the 6th cruise of my life so I feel I have some experience in cruising.

Royal Caribbean has been a class act and they take of their ships. We left from Ft. Lauderdale with stops in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We got to watch Superbowl LIV on the ship.

The ships can carry 3,500 or more passengers, that is a lot of people, never again for me, I will be looking for smaller ships to cruise on from now on.

Here's why, the Windjammer which is the main cafeteria was a zoo, lots of people trying to eat all at the same time, not enough chairs for everyone. Long lines, food was just ok, a big variety but still cafeteria, the orange juice was watered down and was served at room temperature most of the time. No trays, so you had to make multiple trip to get your drinks, desserts, meanwhile you are awkwardly dodging people, not easy when the seas are rough and you are trying to maintain your balance.

The sit down restaurant on level 3,4 and 5 was pretty good but the nicer meals, like lobster, filet mignon,...was an upcharge of $30, it used to be free.

The staff are very nice, lacking in English language proficiency at times but they really wanted to please.

The other problems with having 3,500+ passengers is that whenever the ship docked somewhere like Grand Cayman you have to wait in a line to get on the smaller boats to get to shore, at 50-100 people at a time this took a while. Multiple boats available but still lots of time wasted. In Cozumel The Independence docked right at the port thank fully.

The 24/7 free pizza bar was nice, as well as the free snack bar.

If you are Ok with lots of people and long lines to see performances, food, getting on elevators, disembarking,...then you will be fine.

We had a bigger room so that made the trip better.