Previously, my family has sailed on Carnival Miracle in 2006, Carnival Freedom in 2010, and Disney Dream in 2012. We had balconies on both Carnival cruises and an interior room with a virtual porthole on Disney.

My family and I were really looking forward to sailing on Freedom of the Seas for our first RCI cruise. It was my daughter's high school graduation gift so I booked two interior adjoining rooms. My daughter and her best friend were in one room and my wife, my 22-year old son and I were in the other room.

Because I was paying for two cabins initially I was going to book the Carnival Dream but many of my cruising friends said I really should try RCI. Although it cost more they said it was a big step up from Carnival. However, my parents, who have been on 38 cruises cautioned me about taking a cruise on a ship that was more than five years old. They said in their experience the entertainment, food, and general ship appearance degrade after five years. The previous ships I have sailed on were all less than five years old and I had a great cruise experience on all of them. I read most of the reviews on Cruise Critic for the past year and decided Freedom the Seas was still a safe bet. Based on the reviews I had reasonably high expectations for our cruise.We arrived at Port Canaveral just before noon where we waited in line for 30 minutes to process through security. It was hot and uncomfortable in this part of the terminal making this my least favorite embarkation so far. Once we got on the ship we tried to find a seat in the Windjammer to eat. It took a while because it was so cramped and crowded with the tables on top of each other. It was almost impossible to navigate around the dining room. The food was mediocre at best. Next we tried to get to our room, but the elevator wait times delayed that process, which was an ongoing problem throughout the cruise. When we finally got to our rooms I was surprised to find out when you get two connecting rooms the couches do not exist so that the door can open. The cabins were very plain, small, and showed their age. There were tears in wall border material, a damaged TV screen, and other worn out items in the room. Needless to say I was surprised at the condition and cramped size of the room. All my previous cruise rooms were far better decorated and bigger for the same class of room. I checked out the balcony rooms too and that same assessment applies. Read more