mt6631

My kids were in an inside stateroom on our last cruise and there was only 1 outlet in their room so a splitter (extra charger with no power surge protector) worked well. The "nightstands" are very small and that is not where the outlet is located (which was a pain as my daughter wanted to charge her iPad and play on it at the same time in bed :rolleyes:)

I use an app on my phone or iPad that makes fan sounds all night which I love

We have taken our kids on a number of vacations, and sometimes took them out of school for vacations, and have always worked with their teachers to make sure they kept up with their schoolwork. Many times it was the only family time we had due to my husband's work schedule and we wouldn't trade in the memories for anything. The kids are both good students so they never fell behind. Life is very short (we lost a friend this year who left behind 3 young kids, so you just never know).

My daughter competed at the national level of her sport for 5 years and that included a lot of travel (including a week long trip to Europe). She learned so much from these trips with her teammates (travelling without her parents, negotiating with teachers to get assignments done, time management, experiencing other cultures,etc). She missed 28 days of school during 8th grade and was still awarded the Top Academic Award at her graduation. She is now an Honour Roll student in 10th grade, taking AP classes and a grade 11 class (which she has the top mark in). I would say that travel has not affected her negatively.

Both of my kids love to travel and I am very grateful to be able to give them these experiences, as we know the days of travelling with them will come to end soon.

You need to do what is right for your family and your kids.

Thanks for the review and pics! We're on the Freedom for New Years and can't wait. The menu pics were super helpful in seeing what our super picky daughter will eat in the MDR. Have a great time next week :)

We will be on the Freedom this Dec and will be celebrating New Years aboard. Any ideas on how it will be celebrated? We will have our 2 teenagers (15 and 13) with us, so hoping for family friendly