DCL did mess up in designing the space because unlike the small ships the doors are in the middle rather than on the edges. Personally I like it better when kids aren't even walking through. They get almost the entire ship, I like a few places without them. And more often than not (in my experience) kids aren't just passing through, but they stop and I do find it annoying. But I know families avoiding the area isn't the reality (again, DCL screwed this up, not parents). Its why I now rarely go to Quiet Cove except to pop in to the Cove Cafe. I go up to Satellite Falls instead as there's no reason for kids to be on that deck at all and therefore nothing to annoy me.
That said, since OP was looking for opinions, my recommendation would be if you walk through with your kids, stick to the outside edges (even though it does not seem like the natural walking path) rather than walk directly through the middle. I think this is probably slightly easier to do on the side with the bar than on the side with the hot tubs because people tend to move the chairs around on the hot tub side and its difficult for anyone to walk much less families. But due to the bar on the other side furniture obstructing walkways is less of an issue.
