We flew in on thursday night with Sunwing.OK flight,showed the movie Elf and gave us free champagne and a sandwich but were 1 hour late leaving and returning.No movie or free champagne returning but plane was empty so okay otherwise.Stayed at Deerfield Comfort Suites north of fort lauderdale.Nice place,free breakfast but a little noisy being close to the executive airport.We rented from alamo going there because of free shuttle to cruiseport and hertz coming back.Be sure to check gas gauges first as they expect it returned full.Now onto the goodstuff(cruise).Embarkation okay.Got to the port at 11:00 and on the ship by 12:30.Went straight to the lido deck as room was not ready.Wife ate at the buffet and i went upstairs 1 floor for the fish and chips.Food was all very good including buffet stands,pizza,sandwich deli,steak grill,dining room and desserts.The dining room staff with Katerina,Igusti and Ken the singing maitre d was totally awesome.The best i have had yet.Ken sings Frank Sinatra,Dean Martin and others very good.Kat. and Igi. were very nice.(We went everynight.)Ports were San Juan,St.Thomas and St.Marrten all nice places but we were to them before so we just walked around and shopped.Went to Senor Frogs in San Juan(what a party!)Bought a Tanzanite necklace for the wife in St.Thomas and some booze in St.Marrten(not as cheap as they once were but 1 dollar beers okay.

Cabin at front of ship a little noisy from the stageshows.(I think they put you up there if you request late dining.We booked a inside guarantee.)Went to the art auctions mostly for the chance of winning a prize,wife won a free massage in the spa and some small art pics.All in all a great cruise probably our best.Whoops i forgot to mention how clean and maintained our cabin was kept with towel animals everynight carnival capers and chocolates on the bed.For once we actually didn't want to leave.And for all that talk about how ugly the ship is i must ask are you sure it was the carnival freedom you were on or RCI?We thought it was beautiful!PS This is my very first review so sorry about the order in which i covered things.Im 44 my wife is 48 and this is our 6th carnival cruise in a row with our first one on RCI.Booked with some friends on the Valor Sept.14th(Western)Til then see ya later! from Jim and Brenda Angus Ontario Canada.