We selected this ship for the schedule and the amenities on board because while we love Crystal Cruise Lines, the Ice Rink, Teen club, wave rider, etc we felt would be a better fit for our teenage kids. They did enjoy the amenities but do not expect to be able to ice skate....it is almost never open.
On Holland America, Crystal, Princess, and Oceana there are shows after dinner which are usually exceptional broadway style performances. On the Freedom of the seas I understand why they made no effort to promote their entertainment..... an average comedian and a couple of 50 cent dating game shows. The Ice Skating show was the only one that contained any real performers and they were well practiced and entertaining.
A few of the bartenders and our dinning staff were very good and we appreciated their hard work. We spent a great deal of time outside of our balcony cabins because the toilets were broken several times a day. The daily maintenance call was never really officially responded to but sometimes we would return and the bathroom would be cleaned and the toilets would flush. When I checked with the cruise desk about the maintenance they had no idea and truly didn't seem to care. We never heard anything back from them either. I was able to get some extra towels and bath clothes to jam into the gaps in our balcony doors to minimize the rattles that kept us up for two of the five nights on the cruise. I guess our bartender was correct in that all of the maintenance money is going to the new ships.
Not sure i would recommend unless they begin doing maintenance. The cruise could have been ok if we had more than two out of the six day cruise where the toilets would work and if we didn't have to sleep. I was finally able to keep the balcony dividers from banging around so much that we could get a full night's rest. No respond to any pleas for assistance.
The parking and boarding was very smooth. I was pleasantly surprised given that there were at least four other ships in port that day but we managed without any issues.