Our family of 7 went on this cruise together. We had 2 rooms 2358 and 2356. Last year we went on the Mariner of the Seas. We were on the third floor. I would not do a 2nd level again. All you hear is the motor of the ship. On the third floor, you hear the waves. Also the windows on this shop have a metal bar through them. This review will point out some of the differences between the cruise ships and give some suggestions. The Freedom is almost identical to the Mariner except for the boxing rink, flowrider, Sorrentos, water park/lazy river for children. Also the rock climbing wall is taller. The Freedom also has fresh water pools and the Mariner salt water. CHILDRENS PROGRAM: Our children are 5, 7, 9, 11 and 14. Our youngest and oldest loved the children's program. Our 7 year old liked it. Our 9 and 11 year old preferred to just roam together. I was impressed that they seemed to update some of their programs for the kids. While some activities were the old ones, it looked like others had new themes. The downside to this years kid's club though was that there was a lot of switching of counselors. My youngest bonded with her leaders last year. This year it was like a revolving door. You never knew which counselor you would get. I was most impressed with the teen counselors.
DRINK PACKAGE: My husband and I skipped it this year but our children purchased it. They loved their shirley temples. You don't have to carry the bottles around. You can just go to the drink places and they will give you a glass. There is milk, apple, cranberry and OJ at dinner in the dining room. In the Windjammer, there is lemonade, passion fruit, fruit punch etc. The drink package only gave my kids sprites, shirley temples and for the teens, mocktails.
PIZZA: Pizza on this ship was far superior. Sorrentos and Cafe Promenade were filled with excellent employees.