2013 7day Med Itinerary

[LeslieG]

Some advice, please, on whether this is a good itinerary. We've never been to Europe, and I'm unsure what I should be looking for in an itinerary. Perhaps it would be best to see what is offered for 2014?

 

[sayhello]

"Good Itinerary" depends so much on what you like and what you're looking for. *Personally*, I would never fly that far for just a week, so, unless you have plans to do other traveling pre- or post- the cruise, I'd look at one of the longer itineraries. The 7 day is mostly Italy (which is great, but you don't get to experience much of the Med except for Italy). The variety of the Med is one of the big pluses of cruising there. I think the cruise that includes Greece looks like the best itinerary to me.

But honestly, unless you're dead set on Disney, I'd look at one of the many other cruiselines that sail the Med. You could get a much longer itineray, with more varied ports, for way less money.

Just my opinion, YMMV

Sayhello

 

[mkmommy]

with my work schedule 7 days cruises are pretty much all I can do. I have done a couple of 7 or 8 day med cruises and to me they have been amazing trips.

2011,7 day cruise had an additional port and was considerably less expensive , so I think the 2013 one is not the best. I want as few sea days as possible on a short Med cruise.

Things to look at are times in port and what day of the Week. If you want to see the original David and you are in Florence on a Monday you will be disappointed as the museum is closed Mondays. I think Rome on a Wednseday has issues if you want to see parts of the Vatican so you need to check that.

DCL's Med cruises have been great , so you I am sure 2013 will be to.

 

[abdgeek]

Some advice, please, on whether this is a good itinerary. We've never been to Europe, and I'm unsure what I should be looking for in an itinerary. Perhaps it would be best to see what is offered for 2014?

I did the 2011 7 day DCL Med Cruise and had a great time! I came in a day early and stayed a day later to sightsee in Barcelona. I also did the ABD add-on, so all of my excursions on the cruise were pre-planned by them. Even with all of that, I still didn't see everything and will be on the 2013 DCL Med Cruise to see what I missed.

I think that is the first thing to realize about the Med. You can't see everything in one trip. Here's what I did see:

1) Villefranche, France--Eze, Monaco(palace and changing of guard), Monte Carlo

2) La Spezia, Italy(Florence)--Duomo, no David(It was a Monday and the museum was closed), Ponte Vecchio Bridge, etc. You may have to choose between doing Pisa or Florence.

3) Rome, Italy--We saw Rome in a day. The Vatican, Sistene Chapel, St. Peter's Square, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Forum, Coliseum.

4) Naples, Italy--Capri and Sorrento Farm to make pizzas. I would have liked to go to Mt. Versuvius and Pompeii, etc. but those are on my list for next year.

The port of Palma was cancelled due to a transportation strike so we spent an extra day in Barcelona. In Barcelona I saw: Park Guell, Casa Mila, Casa Battlo, La Sagrada Familia, Picasso Museum, Montserrat(1 hour away). We only had one day at sea and the trip was very tiring, but worth it. You will have a great time!

 

[LeslieG]

I didn't pay much attention to the Europe cruises in prior years. Is the itinerary for 2013 pretty much the same as they've done in past years? Didn't they do an itinerary that was something other than the Med?

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

It's the same ports they have visited in the past. It would be a decent sampling of the Med. Like another PP said, you will never be able to see everything when on a cruise, so you need to look into those ports and pick and choose a few things that you would consider have to see.

If possible, obviously a longer itinerary is going to be much better, but if that's all you can do, then it should still be a good cruise!

 

[LeslieG]

There are so many options when you start looking at other cruise lines. I don't know which is better; Italy and Spain, France and Italy, Greece and Turkey. I guess I don't know enough about the ports to make a good decision at this point. My first impression is an interest in the Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Finland areas. I would just feel more comfortable going with Disney, especially with kids, to Europe.

 

[Anal Annie]

We did one of the 7 night Med cruises last summer and LOVED it, although we'd originally booked a 10 night one and then DCL changed the later summer ones to be only the 7 nights. I agree with another poster that said it's too far & it's too expensive to go for just 1 week though. You should definitely plan to add on a little more time on either end. Yes, that will add a lot to your over all cost...but the flights are crazy expensive so it depends on how much you want to get out of that expense.

What we did instead once it got changed to 7 nights was we went to Paris first for 4 nights (spent the first night / 2 days at Disneyland Paris then moved into the city for 3 nights / 2 days) then we flew to Barcelona the day before the cruise... We LOVED Paris BTW. We're so glad we did that. Then we tacked on 2 more nights in Barcelona after the cruise so we felt we got our moneys worth out of our transatlantic flights because we turned it into a 2 week trip.

The itinerary is a little different for next year...an extra sea day & 1 less port (they dropped Palma de Mallorca) which is kinda nice I guess...although the ideal situation would be to have 1 of those sea days in the middle of the ports...you DO get exhausted being on the go so much. We had been on the go so much already that we just used Palma as a beach day and didn't do any sightseeing as it was at the end of the trip. The extra sea day would have been nice to have too.

They do look to be just a little higher in price next year too...but we went in 2011 and this is a price for 2013 - so 2 years later...nothing stays the same price for 2 years these days. The longer cruises are definitely priced a lot higher (we flopped briefly to a 10 night one in July before deciding we really needed to go in August). We had an AMAZING price last year on our 7 nighter. We had a re-booking discount that we used and we'd originally booked one of the Cat 10A SPH cabins...then at some point, several months later I guess they decided that the balcony cabins weren't selling enough so they had a price reduction on balconies only...so when I checked it out with the additional OBC from DU for moving up to a balcony it was only like about $380 more for us to upgrade from the 10A to a 5C - when it had orginally been more like $1,200 more or something. So we upgraded...the prices sat like that for several months then they all of a sudden raised them again back to what they'd been to start with or perhaps a smidge higher. That was the last major pricing change they had and I would guess that all happened by like 10 months out. I think the current pricing looks very similar to what ours ended up being by the sail date - or at least in the same ballpark (give or take a couple hundred).

If we were to go again (which I hope we can one day) I would either do a longer cruise or I would definitely plan extra time in Europe on either end if doing another 7 nighter. I'd realllllly like to do like an 11 or 12 night if possible and just add like 1 or 2 days before/after.

As to whether or not to wait for the 2014 itineraries - since they're supposedly so close to being announced it wouldn't hurt to wait...they will likely only cost MORE tho. You could always book something NOW then move it once the other schedules are released if you see something you like better. That is always an option.

Personally, I think the ports are great if you are only doing a 7 night. I mean, you can't go wrong with Nice/Monaco or Florence/Cinque Terre or Rome or Naples / Amalfi Coast. What else could you ask for in 7 days? Of course there's more to see in Europe if you have the time to go for longer....or just plan another trip to go back.

(PS) just wanted to add that Becky and I both wrote trip reports from our trips last summer (although I never finished our last 2 days in Barcelona). You should read thru them - the links are in our siggies!!