We love Freestyle with the kids! We have three kids ages 7, 4, and 2, and yes, we like to take them cruising. We were traveling with two other families with young children. We have cruised Princess, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean, but think Norwegian is the best for kids.

Pre-Cruise: We flew in to Seattle fairly early on the morning of embarkation and took a limo from the airport to the port. The limo was waiting next to the express van we had arranged and was the same price and the kids loved it! There was not a long line to get on the ship when we arrived about 11:30 but the staff ushered us into a shorter line for groups with "special needs" which was great. The kids snacked on the orange juice and cookies provided and we got right on the ship.

Cabin: Cabins were ready by about 2:00. We actually like inside cabins for the quiet and dark they provide. This is especially important in Alaska where it was light from 4am to 11pm. We had three cabins booked for six adults and six children. I was very worried about this at first, but it worked out fine. The cabins for four people had one fold down bunk and one trundle bed. We ordered a baby bed (similar to our graco playpen) for the two-year-old. We originally intended to have one of the kids sleep in a different room, but it turned out we fit our whole family in one cabin (not sure if this was legal or not). We left the main beds and two twin beds with an aisle down the middle. By having the room steward remove a small, unnecessary table, we could fit the playpen at the foot of one bed, put the trundle mattress on the floor at the foot of the other bed, keep the aisle clear, and put the seven year old in the bunk. It was actually kind of fun. With a fourth person larger than a four-year-old this wouldn't have worked so well because you would have to put the trundle in the middle making one large bed. Read more