Freestyle Cruisin' - On the Way to the Baltics

We are off on another BIG adventure...actually our biggest trip of the year - a twelve day cruise to the Baltics captials. We thoroughly enjoyed our past two cruises and thought this was the best way to get a taster of loads of countries we didn't think we'd get to on our own. This time around we chose to go with Norwegian Cruiselines which is far different than the premium Royal Caribbean, but we were ready to try out the "Freestyle Cruising" experience. There were also two other big differences that we noticed right away than previous cruises - it was COLD and we were one of the youngest couples on the boat by about 30 years younger than the average. Despite that we were excited to be together and away from reality for a bit.

On our first day of cruising we didn't sit by the pool in our swimsuits, but in jeans and jackets. The kids had a great time playing with the deck chairs and even on our first night we got to dance along with the ship's house band out on the main deck.

One of the things Kevin and I were anticipating was some time on our own while the kids would play in the Kids Club. Well, since Harrison wasn't technically 2 until our 3rd day on the cruise he wasn't allowed to stay and that lead Addison not to be too keen on staying on her own. Also there were only about 40 kids on the boat (compared to 200+ on average) and our kids (once they started going) made up about 25% of the kids that actually showed up on a regular basis there. For the first couple of days we all went and played in the Under 2 Zoo which was set up with some toys, coloring books, tents, books and more. It was nice just to sit and play with the kids without any other distractions.

Addison found her element - coloring!!!

The kids and I caught a quick nap back in our room, but then we ventured out again. Here we are hanging out in the back of the boat snacking on some fruit and French fries. It's obviously not warm out but it is the warmest place on the ship (on the outside).