I have cruised the Freedom and find it to be a great ship for cruising with a lot of things to do. I cruised out of Port Canaveral, the Freedom is ported at Port Canaveral now, not Miami, so find some statements to be misleading concerning Disembarking; I am told by other cruisers the easiest departure from the ships came at Port Canaveral and the Freedom, Disney and the Carnival Dream. The Disney termininal is definitely an easy departure and the departure from the terminal where the RC's and the Dream dock a close second. I have disembarked from all the terminals and agree Disney is the best, but the Freedom and the Dream are a close second.
The Wait service is definitely good on all ships. Neither one can take second to the others. I have no complaints of any of the cruise ship waiters, assistant waiters and the room attendants.
My 10 year old grandson definitely does not like the DCL kids club. He does participate in activities in the kids clubs on the other two cruise lines. I have no opinion in this because he seems perfectly honest in his opinion.
DCL's private beach is nice, but the Lababdee beach of RCCL is really beautiful. While the DCL island is flat, the Labadee beach is nestled at the bottom of some real beautiful hills. It is my favorite beach. The activiites at both of the beaches was great. The Cocoa Cay beach of RCCL is comparable to the DCL beach, but not as commercial, just beach and shops renting out different types of beach apparatus you might need.
The Freedom does have one huge advantage over many other ships. That is the water areas for the kids and the adults. The areas are really great including the flow-rider which provides a great experiences for kids of all ages.Here is a link to some pictures taken while aboard the Freedom and at the Labadee beach:
http://ekorgan2.com/freedom_of_the_seas.htm
The DCL rooms seemed and were much bigger. However I only had two persons in the room and don't generally hang around in the room much. The DCL is tops in the room department.
Embarking on the Freedom I don't find it so cold as some suggest. There is definitely no announcement that you are boarding when you board the Carnivals or the RCCLs. However the main entrance room is lined with employees ready to help you out. I am usually interested in the buffet so pay very little attention to what is happening and head towards the food. The lines do form between 1130 and 1330 because of all the busses arriving at that hour. If you are a C&R member you get in much faster during those hours.
The one thing I liked about the RCCL was the cruise directors were always out in front. It seemed like they ran the ship. They even ate at the windjammer with everyone else and talked to passengers all day long. On the Freedom, our cruise director was the Indian in YMCA and the 80's dance party on the Royal Promenade. All I have sailed with are very personable. I did speak with a DCL cruise director on one of the cruises but don't think they were so friendly.
My preference in food is the Carnivals with the RCCL being a close second and DCL last. I couldn't figure out what some of the DCL plates were as they were confusing and sometimes not to tasty with the portions being somewhat small. The other cruise lines were a little bit less fancy and seems to offer more on the menus. The Carnivals have the best steaks and desserts.