We are a 50+ couple that decided to go on this cruise to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We had been on a cruise to the Caribbean on Carnival 10 years ago so we were familiar with cruising. The idea of Freestyle cruising attracted us because of the casual aspect when it comes to dining. I learned from the Carnival cruise you select a dining time, get dressed up and sit with the same group whether you like them or not. If you miss the time you are SOL. With Freestyle you can get dressed up or not. I would prefer to sit with just my wife and eat whenever and wherever I want. This worked out well for us. Naturally the Garden Cafe which is buffet style can get crowded and a little crazy depending when you go but I had no complaint with the variety and quality of selections offered. There was something for everyone. The "free" restaurants Magenta and Grand Pacific were fancy, had great food including "cooking light" dishes and we found the service fine. They did however get crowded because they were free. We ate at LeBistro French and Cagney's Steakhouse and they both were outstanding with service and the food. After all what's another $10 or $20 when you are on vacation. We had a porthole room on the 4th deck and loved it. Perfectly adequate for the amount of time you are in it. The only complaint I had was with the dial on the outside of the door that could rotate from "Welcome, Make up room, Do not disturb". We went on an excursion one day and set it on "make up room" and came back to a messy room because someone changed it to "do not disturb". I saw a kid playing with the dials and I also saw an adult too. After a call to guest service the room was quickly cleaned. The top nationality of people on board was Spanish followed by USA, UK, French, German Malta and all others. The ship starts in Barcelona and I think some Spanish will bring the kids for a vacation but there is not a lot for the kids to do so they will horse around. We did not care to use the pool so we don't care about that. We did find the "quiet" sunning area up past the climbing wall on the 14th deck which was really nice and quiet. It's no surprise that the cruise line makes it's money on all the extras so if you are going to complain about it then don't go. We went on one of the ship's excursions every day and loved every one. We even got the last one, a $194 value for free! The ship's excursions will always wait for you to get back. If you go on your own I can't see how you will know all the information that the tour guides tell you. Also with a group you bypass the long lines other's are waiting on, further optimizing your time. Sometimes we had to be on the excursion early but we came to see Europe, not sleep late. The excursions did seem to cost more in Europe but with 3 of them we had a great meal with wine and dessert. There was plenty of things to do on the ship and were never at a loss for something to do. The staff were always friendly even when we had a hospital charge added to our bill. It was a clerical error and was immediately corrected. We definitely going on another "Freestyle" cruise again, in fact we are planning it now.