Let me just start by saying that this was my first cruise on a Freedom Class ship, and I'm hooked. This is coming from a girl who's sailed 30 weeks on Windjammer sailboats with 60-130 pax capacity and swore she would never convert to the "Foo Foo" ships. That was before Windjammer went out of business, however, and apparently my love of cruising trumped my former misguided-ness. As it turns out, size does matterbecause Freedom class rocks and Oasis can't get here soon enough. We flew into Miami early on the morning of the cruise and decided to save a few bucks by taking the Super Shuttle rather than a taxi to Port Everglades. I will not try to save that $12.00 again. Our fellow sardines (they like to pack those vans for max profit) were so livid about various shortcomings of the company, driver, paperwork, delays, etc., that the drama just wasn't worth it. Once we got to the cruise terminal, embarkation was a breeze. I think we went from curb to Schooner Bar in about 10 minutes flat. Cabins were ready by 1:00 as promised, and we were pleased with the location and condition of our quarters. The beds and bedding are very comfortable, and all surfaces were shiny, clean and new. Love that the shower has a door rather than a nasty curtain that sticks to you. Our cabin steward was really good too.
With regard to food, we love the dining room for lunch because of the custom-made salads. We found dinner in the dining room to be better, food-wise, than most other ships we've been on. Service in the dining room has never been less than excellent on RCI, and this cruise was no different. Bar service was great everywhere we went, but we usually went to the Schooner Bar after dinner, followed by the disco. We had a blast with Christophe and Poliana in Schooner—thanks, you guys! As Diamond members, we also made a daily pre-dinner stop in the Diamond Lounge, and the staff in there was also exceptional.
Ports: Belize and Cozumel. We were supposed to stop in Costa Maya too, but high winds prevented that so we had an extra day at sea. It was kind of a bummer to miss Costa Maya because we hadn't been there before, but it just means we have to book another cruise that goes there. :)