Europe/Mediterranean with Kids?

[MamaBear58]

Obviously it depends on the kids, but I'd like some feedback from folks that did this. Ours will be 12 and 9. I (briefly, admittedly) looked at the excursions and am disappointed that there doesn't seem to be much geared towards the kids, especially in light of the fact that it's Disney. Combine it with the fact that most of the attractions are far from the ports, (so long travel times on land), I'm wondering how others fared. Thanks.

 

[Trera]

Obviously it depends on the kids, but I'd like some feedback from folks that did this. Ours will be 12 and 9. I (briefly, admittedly) looked at the excursions and am disappointed that there doesn't seem to be much geared towards the kids, especially in light of the fact that it's Disney. Combine it with the fact that most of the attractions are far from the ports, (so long travel times on land), I'm wondering how others fared. Thanks.

I am not thinking our DD will be going on any European cruises until she is a teenager....................and at that point, I may try a different cruise line as the Disney pricing by then will be most likely more than I want to spend.

 

[cruiser21]

Obviously it depends on the kids, but I'd like some feedback from folks that did this. Ours will be 12 and 9. I (briefly, admittedly) looked at the excursions and am disappointed that there doesn't seem to be much geared towards the kids, especially in light of the fact that it's Disney. Combine it with the fact that most of the attractions are far from the ports, (so long travel times on land), I'm wondering how others fared. Thanks.

My kids enjoyed Northern Europe and Norway over the Med. I agree there's not a lot of kid friendly excursions in the Med, but I'm sure that's because most people want to see the historical sights. We did the Med on our own and I think that's better with kids. Tours can be long and boring.

 

[CanuckOnaBoat]

we're doing the med this year with 3 and 5 year old. i agree about there not being many kid oriented tours. we're actually doing a lot of private tours and DIY in many ports. and a mix of long and short days. it's really what you make it - if you like cooking (i.e. learn how to make pesto in genoa or pasta in tuscan), art (cezanne, Matisse, Van Gogh, Gaudi, picasso), or things like fashion, perfume (learn how they make it in Grasse), nature. There are beaches. And cool things like catacombs, castles etc... in Napoli you can learn how to make your own pizza. And see how they make mozzarella. In Barcelona there is a dragon tour for kids. and one that includes a visit to a chocolate museum.

 

[GPaLarry]

We are in our 70's and have done both the Med. and Baltic Capitals cruises without kids/grandkids. True, there were not too many kids on either, but then, it is what it is...mostly historic sites/relics/ruins that you read about in late middle or high school. The Med. cruise is very port intensive with DCL excursions to see the top Italian sites starting at 7:30 or 8am and lasting until 6pm...you have to scoot right to dinner. Some are shorter. That is a long day for anyone of any age. Unfortunately, the Coliseum and Pompeii are a long bus ride from port. There are crowds, lines and limited time at each site. I agree, they are not very kid-friendly. By contrast, the northern European cruise excursions are much closer to port and some, like Tivoli Gardens, are certainly family-oriented. Some of the palaces you might visit are princess/Beauty & the Beast backdrops.
Perhaps you can hit the internet and spice together an easier, more child-attractive agenda at each port, like CanuckOnaBoat is doing above. It is a bit of work, but may be worth it for you. Of course, you don't have to get off the ship at every port if you wish...choices, choices. Best of luck!!

 

[Figment_Fan]

Did it in 2013 with a then DD13 and DS18. We are going back in 2019 as DD wants this as her high school graduation gift. Very much looking forward to it. Here's the problem I discovered afterwards: we had to buy a cappuccino maker as DW and DD fell for that drink and wound up having them every morning for breakfast. Also, DD's tastes became a little more refined. She was ill a few months after the cruise and as her appetite came back, I called and asked her what I could bring her for lunch: ie.: McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's . . . She requested, if it was not too much trouble, if I could pick up some prosciutto, and some cheese, and, maybe some French bread. When I asked if she would like some 7 Up or ginger ale for her stomach, she requested Perrier - again, if it wasn't too much trouble. So, be forewarned: be careful what you expose your kids to, they can grow in unexpected ways.

 

[krisinparis]

We did Northern European itinerary when the kids were 7 and 11 and the Med. when the kids were 8 and 12. On the Northern Europe itinerary the kids loved Copenhagen and the day we spent at Tivoli Gardens. They also liked the day in Stockholm (we went to the Vasa Museum and the outdoor living history museum- I don't remember the name of it) and the day in Estonia- we went to a marzipan shop and the kids all got to make something. We decided to let them stay on the boat in Helsinki because it was the stop before our 2 days in St. Petersburg and we knew we'd be out all day both days. They liked parts of St. Petersburg (Peterhof Fountains and the subways were a big hit), but didn't like all of the churches and museums. I think they found a bench to sit on in the Hermitage and St. Isaacs. In the Mediterranean we decided to skip Rome since it was so far and instead took a cooking class in Civitavecchia which the kids absolutely loved! We also had several day tours where we would do some touring, have lunch and then go to a local beach which the kids really liked. We spent a day touring Pompeii (they didn't like it), eating lunch at a vineyard (they liked it) and hiking up Mt. Vesuvius (they liked it). If you can arrange for private tours, you will have a lot more flexibility with your schedule if the kids get tired, bored, etc. We did this in Pompeii and St. Petersburg where we knew we'd be out all day and the kids could get cranky (and in our case carsick). In other ports we found families with kids to schedule tours with and the kids could sit together on the bus/car and could hang out on the tours together- it worked out really well. We loved both of the cruises!

 

[fredandkell]

Well, I will tell you how it goes in July! I have an 8-yo and an 11-yo. I am a bit nervous about the 8-yo; the 11-yo will do great. Here's what we have planned. Fly in a day early in Barcelona. We have zero expectations about what to do that day due to jet lag. All we're gonna try to do is Sagrada Familia and eat tapas. Next day, board ship. Cannes day, we are doing this excursion: I am hoping the kids will be into it because of Cars 2 and also I hope Eze will appeal to them as a cool hill town. https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/cannes-france-monaco-monte-carlo-and-eze/ Next day we are doing leaning tower of Pisa on our own (kids excited because of seeing it on Little Einsteins) and chilling on ship rest of day. Rome day we are doing this one: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...rial-and-renaissance-rome-st-peters-basilica/ They have background knowledge on the Colosseum and St. Peter's, so hope they like it. We're finishing off the cruise with 3 days in Switzerland, mainly hiking in the Jungfrau area.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My kids enjoyed Northern Europe and Norway over the Med. I agree there's not a lot of kid friendly excursions in the Med, but I'm sure that's because most people want to see the historical sights. We did the Med on our own and I think that's better with kids. Tours can be long and boring.

I agree with this. We did the Norway and Norway/Iceland/Scotland Magic cruises the first year they were offered when our DS was 7 and they were fantastic! Most of the excursions and activities were either within walking distance of the ship or just a short drive away. The only exception was the Golden Circle tour in Iceland. And they all had kid-friendly things to do - rib boat tours, an animal park, etc.

We've done parts of the Med, but as a land tour. Accessing Rome and Florence by cruise ship just isn't ideal as the ports are so far away from the attractions.

 

[trvlgirlmq]

Europe is great with kids! I started taking mine when they were 4 and 11. The youngest has now been 6 times. We prefer DIY or small, unique excursions. With enough research you can make your own plan that is family-friendly. We tend to use public transportation and like the sense of adventure (and money savings). We did not sail on DCL as it is too expensive.

 

[MamaBear58]

we're doing the med this year with 3 and 5 year old. i agree about there not being many kid oriented tours. we're actually doing a lot of private tours and DIY in many ports. and a mix of long and short days. it's really what you make it - if you like cooking (i.e. learn how to make pesto in genoa or pasta in tuscan), art (cezanne, Matisse, Van Gogh, Gaudi, picasso), or things like fashion, perfume (learn how they make it in Grasse), nature. There are beaches. And cool things like catacombs, castles etc... in Napoli you can learn how to make your own pizza. And see how they make mozzarella. In Barcelona there is a dragon tour for kids. and one that includes a visit to a chocolate museum.

I would love it if you could PM me with the names of the some of the tour companies that you are using. I do think private excursions is the way to go, so that we can personalize the experience and keep it close to port. I have personally done the Med cruise, so we are doing this for DH and Disney for the kids. I've also done the Baltics, and we did Alaska last year so DH wants to keep in more southern Europe. But that long excursion to Rome was awful as a 30-some year old. I just don't think my kids would be into it. I do recall a 10 or 12 night Med cruise during which my friend remarked "enough old stuff". Again, in our 30s. So no need to punish myself by forcing on the kids what they may not love. Quite frankly, it's too expensive a trip for that!

 

[dcassetta]

My cousin used https://rome4kidstours.com/shore-excursions/ with her kid when he was 8, and was very pleased.

 

[disneyholic family]

Well, I will tell you how it goes in July! I have an 8-yo and an 11-yo. I am a bit nervous about the 8-yo; the 11-yo will do great. Here's what we have planned. Fly in a day early in Barcelona. We have zero expectations about what to do that day due to jet lag. All we're gonna try to do is Sagrada Familia and eat tapas. Next day, board ship. Cannes day, we are doing this excursion: I am hoping the kids will be into it because of Cars 2 and also I hope Eze will appeal to them as a cool hill town. https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/cannes-france-monaco-monte-carlo-and-eze/ Next day we are doing leaning tower of Pisa on our own (kids excited because of seeing it on Little Einsteins) and chilling on ship rest of day. Rome day we are doing this one: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...rial-and-renaissance-rome-st-peters-basilica/ They have background knowledge on the Colosseum and St. Peter's, so hope they like it. We're finishing off the cruise with 3 days in Switzerland, mainly hiking in the Jungfrau area.

are either of your children soccer players/fans?
in barcelona there is a good soccer stadium tour called the camp nou experience.....
https://www.fcbarcelona.com/tour/buy-tickets

that was the only thing DD and DSIL liked in barcelona...

 

[fredandkell]

are either of your children soccer players/fans?
in barcelona there is a good soccer stadium tour called the camp nou experience.....
https://www.fcbarcelona.com/tour/buy-tickets

that was the only thing DD and DSIL liked in barcelona...

They are not soccer fans, but I have heard from others this is a cool thing to do. Do you need advance reservations or is it the kind of thing you can just show up for and they always have room? If #2 I may well put it on our list- I am just hesitant to prebook or reserve anything for the first day knowing how much jet lag sucks that first day.

 

[o&smom]

Did it in 2013 with a then DD13 and DS18. We are going back in 2019 as DD wants this as her high school graduation gift. Very much looking forward to it. Here's the problem I discovered afterwards: we had to buy a cappuccino maker as DW and DD fell for that drink and wound up having them every morning for breakfast. Also, DD's tastes became a little more refined. She was ill a few months after the cruise and as her appetite came back, I called and asked her what I could bring her for lunch: ie.: McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's . . . She requested, if it was not too much trouble, if I could pick up some prosciutto, and some cheese, and, maybe some French bread. When I asked if she would like some 7 Up or ginger ale for her stomach, she requested Perrier - again, if it wasn't too much trouble. So, be forewarned: be careful what you expose your kids to, they can grow in unexpected ways.

Our just-turned 7 yr old fell in love with caviar on our first cruise - you got off easy!

 

[disneyholic family]

They are not soccer fans, but I have heard from others this is a cool thing to do. Do you need advance reservations or is it the kind of thing you can just show up for and they always have room? If #2 I may well put it on our list- I am just hesitant to prebook or reserve anything for the first day knowing how much jet lag sucks that first day.

i don't think my kids advance purchased....i'm pretty sure they just showed up, but i'll ask them..
however, you're absolutely right....eastbound jet lag is really bad...
i live in israel and when we return home from the USA, we're slammed by jet lag for several days.
(we never experience any jetlag in the other direction - heading to the USA, but eastbound from the USA across the atlantic hits us very hard)...
so you're right to plan on taking it very easy when you get to barcelona..

you can do the double decker tour bus....it's very touristy, but gets the job done...you see the city from the ease of the bus...

we'll be flying in on a friday...a group of 9 with 3 extremely young toddlers...
so i guess i'm going to look for a hotel that's located by a really good playground..
that's all we'll probably do...
and a hotel with a pool....that will waste a lot of time until we finally get to the ship..

.

.

 

[GrantFam]

Last May, we did the 7 night Northern Europe cruise from Copenhagen with our then 6 and 4 year olds and both of them really enjoyed all of the ports. The ports were close enough to the city centered for us to walk to them, or take the shuttle bus from the port, and we explored each city on our own. The only city where we booked a tour was St. Petersburg and we opted to do a private tour rather than a DCL excursion. We contemplated doing a Mediterranean cruise, but in the end decided that some of the ports were too far from the destination cities. We’re planning to visit the Mediterranean region on a non-cruise vacation since we tend to move slower with kids in tow, and there’s so much to see in those cities.

 

[anjuan]

I'm going there in June with my 13 year old. I explained to her right off that this trip would be very different from our previous Caribbean cruises. She actually really enjoys history and in school has recently studied some of the sites that we'll be going to such as Pompeii. We're going to Barcelona 3 days early and I've really tried to search for some things I think she'd like to do there to try to balance out a lot of the historical sites so we're doing the soccer stadium visit mentioned above and visiting the aquarium in Barcelona per her request.

I haven't seen a lot of Med trip reports lately so I'm going to try to do one after we get back.

But to get back to your original question, I think it somewhat depends on what you kids are like and what they might enjoy.

 

[aggiedog]

I think only the most jaded, refuses-to-get-off-their-electronics child would dislike any European port, Northern or Med, with a little effort. We've taken our kids to both, and I do think the Baltic is easier to find kid-friendly tours. That said, it's not THAT hard to find things kids would like in the Med either. It will take more effort, as the basic tours will mostly be the same thing - old buildings, cathedrals, art museums, etc. There is a lot of history there, and it's popular. When traveling with the kids, we try to alternate historical things the big people will like, with activities the kids will like. Our kids know there will be the occasional art museum and historical tour. They gamely get thru it, then enjoy the food tour, cat museum, reindeer petting, or speed boat tour at the next port. We do private tours, which also helps, as we can tailor the excursion to what we are interested in, and change on the fly if needed.

My kids like to eat and try new foods, so we always do at least one food walking tour. We've done really good ones in Reykjavik, Tallinn, and Palermo.

The bigger kids, especially after AP World History, enjoyed the history in both areas, but our younger ones enjoyed the trips just as much.

 

[vinotinto]

We took the kids on a Mediterranean cruise (Venice to Barcelona on NCL, 11 nights) when they were 9 and 11. They enjoyed it and did great, *but* they liked better the trip we did the summer after to Germany, which was all land-based. The time to get to the sights and towns are indeed very long for the Med itineraries. So, there's a lot of excitement to get off the ship and get started, and then you have an hour and a half boring ride somewhere...This is particularly true for the ports in Italy. Both kids and adults agreed that cruising works best when you are closer to the sights. For Europe, we preferred being land-based. It also gave us more flexibility to enjoy areas high in tourism in the evening. I would love to know if there are some itineraries where you are closer to the sights.