If you are or know people who just plain refuse to cruise on Carnival because of the atmosphere, I predict these people will be avoiding Royal Caribbean in the years to come.
Overall, we had a good experience on this cruise. The service level was generally high, although it seems like there is a lot of disorganization. The ship is clean and well-maintained. The food (at dinner, anyway) is both high quality and has a good variety. The activities onboard are plentiful and varied (everything from napkin folding to live music / dancing to trivia to karaoke to rock climbing to ice skating to sports. The shows are all well done for cruise shows (great talent on display with a thin storyline holding it together).
Keep this overall positivity (and the fact that we booked another RCCL cruise - on a newer ship they hopefully care more about - while on board) in mind as you read the next section, which I will euphemistically call, "Opportunities To Excel".
Standard cruise ship: very clean and very small. The balcony was nice and had enough space for the 2 chairs and small, round table they put out there.