Specialty restaurants

Most big ships now offer a couple of specialty restaurants, which require an additional fee usually $20 or less) and promise an intimate, fine-dining experience.

On Freedom, as on several other Royal Caribbean ships, those restaurants are Portofino, with Italian cuisine, and Chops, a grill room. Both are packed on this sailing -- more than 1,900 of the 3,600 guests aboard are repeat cruisers -- and even top execs are having trouble getting space.

Though Freedom is bigger than all other cruise ships at sea, its specialty restaurants can handle only about 100 guests per night...about the same as on the Voyager class chips.

So our advice: If you want to dine in these restaurants during your voyage, you'd better book as soon as you board the ship.