This was our second Carnival Cruise. The last one was 6 1/2 years ago on the Paradise. After booking I came to the cruise critic Carnival board to learn about the Freedom and became a little worried because some of the posters. To anyone leaning toward the Freedom do not let the habitual mean spirited or sometimes offensive posters color your decision. Focus on the posters who actually want to give you help and information. It was a wonderful vacation and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. We did not see any rowdiness or wild kids and there was a wide range of ages on board from toddlers to elderly.
We flew in the night before and stayed at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort and the hotel was wonderful. We had an ocean view and it was spotless. We had supper at the Casablanca Cafe and it was very good.
The next morning we took a cab to the cruise terminal for about $14.00. We arrived about 11:00 and we breezed right through the check in process. We had a short wait and were on board by noon. We went straight to the purser's desk to put cash on the sign and sail cards and were on our way to the lido deck for lunch.