We traveled together with another family, all older (16+) or grown (21+) children, over the New Year's holiday season. Overall, the positives far outweighed the negatives.
If you choose to travel at the December holidays or school vacations/breaks, you must know what you're getting into: every common area will be packed, lines will be long, and ports will be over run with other holiday travelers. I will not complain about any of this because, it's what you get when you travel at this season! Just be prepared (and be patient).
The staff of the Freedom was without a doubt the most dedicated and consistently excellent that I have ever experienced, and I have sailed with a few upscale lines as well. Every single staff person I interacted with went above and beyond to serve us - and seemed genuinely interested in our enjoyment. Considering the crowd on the ship I was especially surprised (and pleased)!
Our room was spacious (for an inside room) and was immaculately clean. Deck 7 is one of the few that runs "end to end" on the Freedom which made it very easy to get anywhere. Also, this room is almost exactly mid-ship, which makes it very convenient. this room was very quiet, except during parties held on the pool deck/Lido deck. It's work noting that we cruised at New Year's - so 5,000 to 6,000 passengers and crew were jumping up and down simultaneously almost directly overhead, 2 decks above, during deck parties! The only recourse is to join the party, or go to a quieter part of the ship - but you won't be going to sleep early on the nights of a deck party during a holiday cruise! If you have little ones or like to go to be early, I would choose a room forward or aft so you're not directly under the pool area (where the dancing and jumping take place) - especially on a holiday cruise.