This was my 40th cruise (30th on RCCL) and my daughters 4th cruise and certainly the best we have had on any line. Embarkation was a breeze until after we checked in and there was about a 45 minute wait due to the ship not clearing customs on time. No big deal. Although we did hear that folks coming a little later had long waits to check in. Once on board we were pleasantly surprised at all the new amenities on this class of ship. We have sailed the Voyager class ships that have the same footprint as the Freedom class but this ship is Voyager class on steroids. This was the 17th sailing of this ship and she is spotless. The crew appears to be the best of the best. We met crew we had sailed with before on other ships and they were the outstanding crew on those ships. Making reservations for the specialty restaurants should be done as soon as you get on board or you may be out of luck. We spoke to many who could not get a reservation, however in the end there were many empty tables when we dined. The food in both the main dining room and the specialty restaurants was superb. I have never had such consistent meals on a ship. Generally the food is mediocre at best...not on this ship. It was every bit as good as a decent shore side restaurant. The cruise director Ken appeared to be hand picked for this ship. Probably the first American cruise director I have encountered and he was all over the ship. Witty and talented. The production shows were outstanding and I'm not typically a show guy. The Abba show is not to be missed, the ice show also has been re engineered for this ship and was spectacular. The sound system on the ship is the best I have heard. On most ships the pool deck music and P. A. is loud and shrieky, not on this ship. They must have thrown a ton of money into the sound system. Even in the Karaoke bar the sound was superb. It may be my imagination but our promenade cabin appeared to be a bit smaller than on the voyager class. I always seemed to struggle getting around the bed. The rooms now have flat screen T.V.'s and very nice bedding. Everything else is the same. It was fun to watch the folks try to surf the wave rider. I said watch. They appeared to have a great time. The H2O Zone is a spectacular enhancement to the pool deck, but is really designed for the kids. The promenade deck had a few enhancements namely the barber shop and a stand alone Ben and Jerry's. The Ports are what they are First Port was San Juan. Having visited this port many times we thought we should finally take a trip to the Bacardi factory. We were happy we did. Rather than take a tour we decided to take the ferry directly next to the ship for $1.50 and when we got off we took a van for an additional $3.00 directly to the plant. We got a very nice tour and 2 drinks and made our return trip to hit Old San Juan. Saint Martin is one of my favorite islands.It was hot and on the verge of raining so we decided to stay close to the ship. We took the water taxi over to the local beach and had some ribs and beer for the day. Watch out for the jelly fish. A few people got stung. Labadee or as the crew calls it Labadoo doo was a missed port. I have been here so many times that we decided to stay on the ship where it was very quiet and our service was outstanding. The day was very, very hot. The one thing that RCCL added to this island was zip lining. We met folks on the ship that took this tour and loved it. I was sorry I missed doing that. On our last night we did get a freighting alarm at 2:30 in the morning that there was people in the water. The ship alarms sounded to the signal Bravo,Bravo,Bravo.. Portside. We raced to the pool deck to find about 500 passengers on deck. The ship had come to an immediate standstill and the Captain had launched light buoy's and motor craft into the water. There were two Cuban's in a small boat trying to get to Miami in distress and the ship was searching for them. Rather dramatic but very well handled by the Captain. Within 45 minutes to an hour it was all over. In conclusion, this ship should not be missed. I will have difficulty taking a ship of smaller size or less quality going forward. Congratulations RCCL.