I've been fantasizing about sailing the Freedom of the Seas since her inauguration, and the ship definitely lived up to most of my expectations. I found the layout easy to navigate and generally knew where I was going by the second day. I loved the pool deck, with it's adult solarium, the main pool deck and the kids zone. It really does feel as though they thought of something for everyone. The promenade was also a big draw and I found myself there more I often than I thought I would.

My son is a teenager so I had no occasion to do anything Dream-works-related, and it's nice that I didn't have to. Except for the occasional character walking on the pool deck or through the promenade, it wasn't in my face and I didn't feel as though I was on a kiddie cruise.

Embarkation was a breeze. I hadn't been expecting any special treatment, being a lowly gold member on this cruise, but was surprised to find a special line for embarkation, which had only one family in it when I got there. The coupon books were also put to use, and were a nice bonus. Read more