This was our first cruise and we were impressed. It was the Thanksgiving cruise out of Galveston, Texas and the boat was not as crowded with families as we expected. The Freedom is a nice boat, even though its one of the older ones in the fleet. It has gone through the 'Fun Ship 2.0' upgrades, and now that I know the difference, it made a huge difference. The service was very good, especially from our steward. The restaurant wait staff were very friendly and helpful. We were quite impressed with the food. Guy's burgers were just as good as everyone says, and we are looking forward to trying them again. The food in the dining room was as good as any restaurant; most of the dishes were excellent and none were bad. Our shore excursion in Cozumel was cancelled (The same think happened on our second Carnival cruise), but otherwise, the excursions were very nice. Snorkeling in Belize was fantastic. They had a huge problem with tinder boats, so we lucked out. Our excursion left directly from the boat. In Roatan, we had a beach break at Maya Caye. Very relaxing and the animal sanctuary was fun.
The interior cabin was more spacious than we were expecting. Of course, it is small, but it is very well laid out and has plenty of storage. Although we purchased a 'guaranteed' cabin, we were given one in a good location.
Embarkation process was surprisingly quick.
Carnival cancelled our excursion, so we just ended up walking around the island. Cozumel is nice - but completely touristy.