This was my 118th night (16th cruise on Carnival). Expectations were met in every way except one. The casino needs to have better ventilation. I got sick and I suspect it was the heavy cigarette smoke in the casino that did me in. Other Carnival ships have smoke free sides in the casino, Freedom doesn't. Otherwise we got the usual great service and the casino staff, especially Jennifer, was great. I ran 2 slot pulls and she provided gifts for both and one of our traveling companions had a problem and it was handled in a very professional manner with her and Nicholas casino the Manager.

As platinum embarkation was a breeze. The food on this ship was the best in all of my 26 cruises. Normally Carnival provides door prizes for our M&G but somehow things got confused and it didn't happen. Not complaining since they usually are very good about this. I did get an apology from Malcolm and he said he thought it was done. O well. Everything considered, a typical Carnival experience, an exceptional value for my vacation dollar.