We just returned from our cruise on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. It was my family's fourth cruise and the first cruise on a ship of this size. We have cruised on Rhapsody of the Seas once and Celebrity's Infinity twice. This was our first cruise as Platinum members to which we had been upgraded for reasons unbeknownst to us.

We were in a JS category cabin, 7712, which faces the AFT. Our traveling band of merriment included myself and my wife, both late 30-somethings and our daughter who was 3.5 years old at the time of sailing.

Before I begin, I want to stress a couple of things. Overall we rated the cruise as Good. We are active members of a few boards where members post reviews of their cruise experience. Because of this, we know that we look at the entire experience with a more critical eye and maybe have higher expectations than the average cruiser. We also realize that everyone can have a totally different cruise experience on the same ship and same sailing. Please keep this in mind as you read any criticisms of our experience as another's experience will be different. Some of our comments will be just observations, some suggestions and others downright criticisms. Several members of our roll call had vastly different experiences. Read more