Independence of the Seas - 5 night Western Caribbean

The ship is tastefully decorated with exquisite art and statues throughout. Balcony rooms are large & nice. Not much variety in choices of activities for non-athletic travelers. Staff was friendly and helpful. Food portions are small, but it's unlimited so you can order more if needed. Very difficult to get a plain chocolate dessert, most were mixed with mocha or expresso. Do not recommend sailing in March as drunken college kids on spring break are the majority of travelers & make for an unpleasant trip. Staff didn't enforce the posted rule of no glass in hot tubs and we witnessed many dumped drinks and floating and broken glasses in Serenity hot tubs. Adult karaoke turned into frat vs sorority singing and cheering sections. Our trip had a medical emergency and ship had to return to US, resulting in 1 of 2 ports not being made. While this was unfortunate and understandable, the cruise line did nothing for this inconvenience of missed port. We expected they would have added some fun activities to compensate for missing port of Labadee, but only a few additional activities  were added and no compensation for only making 1 port of call. (They actually blamed it on weather even though the captain and many crew members had previously said we likely wouldn't have time for port due to having to return to US). If you are traveling with 18-20, it's difficult for them to connect with similar travelers. If you are traveling with a cane, recommend renting a scooter or wheelchair as drunken passengers have little courtesy and you will be bumped. There's a 1am curfew for passengers 17 and under. Recommend 18-20 yr olds carry license to show age to get into 18+ clubs & obtain late night snacks. Staff at Promenade cafe (only open late night food venue) denied serving food to my 19 yr old even after she showed ID resulting in an embarrassing situation for her & a migraine. The dining room manager addressed & rectified the situation the following day but was unavailable to address it at the time it happened. If you need help, guest services on 5th floor is open 24 hrs. In Jamaica we did the Dunn's river waterfall climb and swimming with the dolphins & it was well worth the $149 excursion fee. However other excursions (the accessible Jamaica tour & dune buggy excursion were disappointing and not as described. Recommend avoiding both) This was our 6th cruise and first & last time on Royal Caribbean. If you don't have the unlimited drink package, you will notice prices at bars vary & the same drink will cost more depending on which bar you buy it.