Arrival-We drove to Ft. Lauderdale from Michigan for our 2/5/12 sail date. We came in a day ahead to help unwind from the drive. We stayed at the Holiday inn Express in Ft. Lauderdale and left our car there for the week and got a shuttle to the boat free of charge. Hotel was great. Friendly staff and shuttle was very easy the next day. The pool at the hotel is fabulous too. Only down side was having to get a taxi back to hotel after cruise.
Embark-Was very smooth. We shuttled to port from hotel and got our bags dropped right off and got in line. Line moved by steady and we arrived there about 11:15. We moved right along and were on the boat by around 12pm to have lunch. I thought the embark was very well run.
Ship-Freedom is a very nice ship. We love the layout of it. We had been on the Inspriation for our last cruise which is a much smaller boat. We love the three pools and the adult only deck. The water slide is a little slow for those thrill seekers like the DH. Pools are busy on sea days but that is to be expected with 3,000 people on board. We played some volleyball games on the sports deck and enjoyed the mini golf as well. Ship was very clean and well maintained. The decor was nice. The statue of liberty heads hanging around everywhere are a little wierd but you get used to them. We loved the ship.