Caribbean vs Mediterranean cruises?

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Background: Family of 5 (me, DH, 3 young kids), never cruised before.

DH and I are planning on booking a DCL cruise for July 2017. We'd been thinking Caribbean (Eastern?) plus a WDW land component, but are there usually any Mediterranean cruises in July? (I have no idea what the weather is like there at that time of year.)

We've been to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, but never to any of the islands. The tropical beaches we've been to have mostly been in Hawaii, French Polynesia, Australia,... My BFF went to the Caribbean for the first time after only ever having gone to Hawaii, and said she was taken aback at how "dirty" all the beaches and towns were. (They did both Western and Eastern on a 14 night cruise.) So besides not knowing whether to book Eastern, Western, or Southern Caribbean (or Bahamas), I'm a little worried we'll be disappointed with the environment. I don't know if my friend's exaggerating or not though.

An alternative for us would be Europe, but I'm only really interested in the Mediterranean. (I REALLY want to go to Italy.) It seems like a good way to safely take the kids to a few different countries without having to drive much, move hotels, etc. However, I've read that excursions can be sold out before first time cruisers even have the chance to book them - does this also apply to the European cruises? (If so, are there a lot of trustworthy non-DCL-affiliated tour operators we could use instead?)

It looks like the Med cruises might even cost a little less for the actual cruise than same-length Caribbean cruises for our family. Obviously airfare would be much more to Europe, and I'm assuming excursions in Italy, etc, would generally cost more than in the Caribbean? (One of our sons will be just under 2 years old when we sail, the other will be 4, and our daughter will be 9, so idk how much they'd even be able to do on any excursions.)

 

[alldiz]

It seems you are well travelled. Mediterrean cruises are amazing but there are very long touring days.
Only you know your child but they might be bored to tears, museums, architecture etc.
There are many amazing beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. Sometimes you drive through poor areas
to get there but you can easily find the most beautiful beaches you will ever see possibly.
Happy planning
Kerri

 

[jburge12000]

We did the Med cruise this past August and it was our favorite cruise we have been on. My kids were 12 and 9 and I thought that was a great age for it. I might be a little hesitate with little ones on the Med cruise only because the excursions are very long days, especially the Rome and Florance/Pisa ports. Long bus rides to get to those cities and a lot of walking around when you get their. Very crowded as well. The caribbean ports have a lot more active activities to do in the ports so it would really depend on how your kids are. We have not had any issues with any of the ports we have been to in the Caribbean.

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

I would probably pick the Carribean over the Mediterranean. We are on the 7 night Med out of Barcelona at the end of August and are deep in the midst of planning for it. Our window to book tours isn't until the end of May but we are looking at some private tours right now. So I'll try my best to address some of your concerns -

Airfare - not sure where you're flying from but our roundtrip tickets were $3,000 each - luckily my DH travels and we've been saving miles for a while so we were able to purchase 3 out of the 4 using miles.

Hotel - we had to fly into Barcelona the night before so we had to purchase a hotel room for the night. Family rooms are not plentiful so that was an additional cost as well as cab to the port.

Tours - what we've found is that where the ship docks and where the sightseeing is are not close. For example we're looking at a private Rome tour and it is 90 minutes from port to Rome so out of our day there will be 3 hours of just travel time. In addition a lot of the tours we've looked at caution there is a lot of walking over uneven terrain - something to think about with a toddler.

We're super excited for our trip as my and DH haven't been to Europe in about 12 years but we definitely waited until we thought our kids would be old enough to enjoy (7 & 11) at time of cruise. Hope that helps!

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Thank you for the responses!

I'm not so much worried about the driving aspect of excursions (my kids are used to cross country road and plane trips, where they travel continuously for 10, 12, 15+ hours at a time). My older boy can be a bit of a terror at times (really he's a good kid, he's just not as well behaved as his older sister), and our youngest is still a baby so idk about him yet.

If we did Italy on a land only tour, we'd do Rome, Naples (/Pompeii), Venice, and Florence, so a lot of intra-country travel, switching hotel rooms, and still the same dealing with toddlers in museums, etc. (DH and I have only been to Milan in Italy; we've also been to Germany, the UK, Czech Republic, and France in Europe.)

Is there much to do in the Caribbean ports? If we did the Med, we'd go to museums/other tourist attractions. Obv we wouldn't be able to book some of the more active excursions (zip lines, for example) with the little boys. Or would it be mostly beaches?

 

[aggiedog]

I'd vote for the Med, but I like to travel to see the world, not cruise to sit on beaches. I will freely admit that I've not been through all the Caribbean, but what I've seen seems all about the same - old colonial architecture, often run down, tee-shirt shops, pretty (or so-so beaches), friendly people. We did the Baltic cruise with our kids last years (ages 15, 15, 12, 9 at the time) and they had a blast. The ports were interesting, and the ship activities made them happy, so it was a good mix of family time and fun, individual time. The youngest was not all that happy with the museum time we had, but he survived.

If you have kids that honestly don't care where they are, and you don't want to spend the money to get to Europe, and you're ok with lots of beaches, I'd do the Caribbean. If your kids enjoy travel for the different places they can go and things to see, or you can't stomach the idea of mostly beaches on vacation, I'd do the Med. I wouldn't worry about not getting excursions. We did a mix of private tours (found thru TripAdvisor) and DCL tours and my whole family agreed the private ones were significantly better. Smaller, tailored to what we wanted to do, less rushed, and overall superior.

You could also look at Adventures by Disney. You get the land based tours, but someone else makes all the arrangements and takes you places. The downside is you are packing/unpacking frequently.

 

[hanscarlet]

We will eventually go on the Med but the ages of my children (4 and 7) I plan to continue enjoy the beautiful islands in the Carribean. I thought the Grand Cayman was a picture perfect white stands clear water beach. I don't know if it had anything to do with the fact that we did a day pass at the Westin and their beach was very clean but just gorgeous. Our next cruise is to Tortola and St. Thomas and by all accounts with photos and user reviews, the beaches are supposed to be pristine. I was not impressed with the Bahamas but I think most people figure on knowing what they are getting into with the Bahamas since it's such a popular spot for Americans. I think if you go eastern carribean you can find a lot of great places that your kids will really enjoy. I can't see myself enjoying a Med cruise until my children really grasp and appreciate the beautiful and history of the mediterranean destinations. You won't be disappointed with DCL carribean though, especially eastern side.

 

[o&smom]

Our very first cruise was to the Med with a barely 7 yr old and a 3 mo old. We returned again when they were 9 and 3. We have cruised in the Caribbean (both western and eastern) with our kids being 2 and 8, as well as 4 and 11. We have enjoyed all of our cruises with Disney, but I vote for the Med. Cruising is such an excellent way to give kids a taste of the world without being overwhelming because of the fact that you have the ship as your home and it just magically takes you from place to place. Yes, Rome is an overwhelming day, but we try to balance busy days with more kid friendly days. I do a quick search for things to do with kids in each port. We have had some very fun adventures with great memories just on our own. Also, you can leave the younger ones on the ship to enjoy the day if you want to do something that you feel just would be too much for them. We did this a couple of times with our youngest until she was 3. Actually, we left them both on the ship one night on last summer's Baltic cruise to explore the Hermitage. We try to look at what is a balance between exploring, learning, exposure to new things and what would be just too overwhelming. This has worked really well for us, especially in Europe. When we have cruised in the Caribbean, we have chosen experiences other than the beach for the most part. Castaway Cay is our beach time! The good news is, you really cannot go wrong, as either choice is a new experience for all of you.

Happy cruising!

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

Our very first cruise was to the Med with a barely 7 yr old and a 3 mo old. We returned again when they were 9 and 3. We have cruised in the Caribbean (both western and eastern) with our kids being 2 and 8, as well as 4 and 11. We have enjoyed all of our cruises with Disney, but I vote for the Med. Cruising is such an excellent way to give kids a taste of the world without being overwhelming because of the fact that you have the ship as your home and it just magically takes you from place to place. Yes, Rome is an overwhelming day, but we try to balance busy days with more kid friendly days. I do a quick search for things to do with kids in each port. We have had some very fun adventures with great memories just on our own. Also, you can leave the younger ones on the ship to enjoy the day if you want to do something that you feel just would be too much for them. We did this a couple of times with our youngest until she was 3. Actually, we left them both on the ship one night on last summer's Baltic cruise to explore the Hermitage. We try to look at what is a balance between exploring, learning, exposure to new things and what would be just too overwhelming. This has worked really well for us, especially in Europe. When we have cruised in the Caribbean, we have chosen experiences other than the beach for the most part. Castaway Cay is our beach time! The good news is, you really cannot go wrong, as either choice is a new experience for all of you.

Happy cruising!

I was actually wondering if we could leave one or all of the kids on the ship while we go on excursions. That might be a good option for us.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

You could also look at Adventures by Disney. You get the land based tours, but someone else makes all the arrangements and takes you places. The downside is you are packing/unpacking frequently.

We've been semi-planning on trying out one of the China ABD trips (just DH and me). We're comfortable traveling to Central and South America, Oceania, and Europe on our own (especially since both DH and I are fairly fluent in Spanish, we can both get by in French, and I can sorta get by in Russian (I can also finagle my way in Czech and Portuguese enough that we don't get totally lost). But Asia is so different, and there is such a language barrier, that I think a guided tour like ABD is the way to go.

I wish DCL had some Asian options. Perhaps a Hawaii/South Pacific cruise.

 

[Ofinn]

I think it depends on if the cruise is for you or the kids. I've been waiting until my kids are old enough to get something out of it before I take them to Europe. They will be 12 and 13 this year, and I'm thinking about doing our first Med cruise this Fall. If the cruise is for you, and the kids are just along for the ride than it's fine. You're kids won't remember it. We did a lot of WDW trips and Caribbean cruises when the kids were that age. Now I can't get my DH to take the time off work, deal with the jet lag, and such that a European trip involves so I'm glad I have the kids to travel with. My oldest loves to travel and see new things, and the youngest just tags along for the "free" ice cream.

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I think it depends on if the cruise is for you or the kids. I've been waiting until my kids are old enough to get something out of it before I take them to Europe. They will be 12 and 13 this year, and I'm thinking about doing our first Med cruise this Fall. If the cruise is for you, and the kids are just along for the ride than it's fine. You're kids won't remember it. We did a lot of WDW trips and Caribbean cruises when the kids were that age. Now I can't get my DH to take the time off work, deal with the jet lag, and such that a European trip involves so I'm glad I have the kids to travel with. My oldest loves to travel and see new things, and the youngest just tags along for the "free" ice cream.

DH and I have a deal that starting in 2017, we'll do at least one WDW trip and one bigger trip (Europe, Hawaii, Asia, etc) per year. Kids'll definitely go to WDW and Hawaii with us, perhaps to the other places. So at this point, it doesn't really matter much to us that the kids won't remember the trips, since DH and I will and we enjoy spending time as a family (and the kids have enjoyed themselves on all the trips we've taken thus far).

 

[Hundredacre]

Hate to be the wet blanket, but is anyone concerned about safety in the Mediterranean area of Europe right now? I personally would not do a European cruise right now.

 

[Ofinn]

Hate to be the wet blanket, but is anyone concerned about safety in the Mediterranean area of Europe right now? I personally would not do a European cruise right now.

No Im not concerned. I cant live my life like that.

 

[Hundredacre]

No Im not concerned. I cant live my life like that.

I wish I could be like that.

 

[JMHDisney]

I wish I could be like that.

My mom used to say, "you have to decide what kind of life you want to have and then accept the risks that go with it."

I can't wait to take my son to Europe and would get on a med cruise in a heartbeat if it was in the budget!

 

[linetbo]

My 14yo daughter and me did the Mediterranean cruise in 2014, oh boy, we LOVE it!!!, I saw younger kids in it. I live in Puerto Rico and never go to the beach, so for me a cruise to go just to the beach is a no no. I have been to Caribbean cruises but always do a city tour. In 2015 we went to Alaska cruise and we Love it even more than Mediterranean. But my favorite city I have been is Italy. We are doing the Baltic Cruise this year.

 

[llqool]

I was actually wondering if we could leave one or all of the kids on the ship while we go on excursions. That might be a good option for us.

You can definitely do that...we are about to go on our third European sailing (7th sailing overall) and our kids actually *beg* us to leave them on the ship! We did do it on one of the shorter port calls on our Baltic cruise last summer (Helsinki) and in the afternoon in Rhodes the summer before, but didn't want to do it in any of the ports where we stayed longer, although we know people who left their kids for 12+ hours while they went into St. Petersburg, and another couple who left their kids onboard for all the Eastern Med ports. My husband and I "make" our kids go with us when we go to places that I really think they should see and will possibly get something out of.
This summer we don't really plan on leaving them -- my older daughter is actually *interested* in our Iceland/Norway ports

 

[kaseyC]

Hate to be the wet blanket, but is anyone concerned about safety in the Mediterranean area of Europe right now? I personally would not do a European cruise right now.

No way. Life's too short to live that way. I live outside of Chicago. Traveling abroad with my family is no more dangerous than going downtown to a Bulls game. We are doing an Eastern Med cruise this summer - Barcelona to Athens. My DH will head home after a few days in Athens while my me and my 3 DDs continue on to Mykonos for week at a beach resort.

 

[kaseyC]

DH and I have a deal that starting in 2017, we'll do at least one WDW trip and one bigger trip (Europe, Hawaii, Asia, etc) per year. Kids'll definitely go to WDW and Hawaii with us, perhaps to the other places. So at this point, it doesn't really matter much to us that the kids won't remember the trips, since DH and I will and we enjoy spending time as a family (and the kids have enjoyed themselves on all the trips we've taken thus far).

I suggest the Med. I would also suggest with your family of 5 with younger Children to consider private tours. It gives you the flexibility to tailor the day to your family's needs. If you notice your kids getting restless, you can decide it's time for a little gelato and park time or whatever. You will also find with a family of 5 it can be more cost effective and even when it's not being in control of a long port day is priceless.