For those that have taken a Mediterranean cruise...

[PrincessTess]

We love Disney Cruises, but felt like for a Mediterranean cruise didn't get the full money's worth like on a Caribbean cruise. We love the ship and pay a premium for the ship, but happen to spend every day almost off the boat. We loved coming back onto the Disney Cruise after a long day, but felt like it was almost like a plane or train with the duty to take us to different countries in Europe, so we decided if we were to do it again to pay less for a different cruise line. Everyone is different, but we also spent many meals off the boat since we were in Italy and such.

 

[VPowers]

We did the 7-night Med cruise in 2014. It was our second cruise after doing a 3-night in 2004, so we didn’t know what to expect. After full-day tours to Monte Carlo (Villefranche), Pisa (La Spezia) and Rome (Civitavecchia), we baled out of our booked and paid-for Naples tour to Vesuvio. It was a learning experience for us. Now we know to book half-day tours or alternate full-day and half-day tours, lest out 70+ year old bodies complain. We have done another 10 cruises since, following this rule and really enjoy longer cruises that include more sea days.

That said, the Med cruise was great, and we might do it again sometime, perhaps b2b with a repositioning cruise. We’re booked on the Magic EBTA next May.

Hi Ralph & Pam! We will be on the Magic EBTA in May also (our first)! Followed by our first Med cruise. Thank you for the info about the excursions -we will be taking your advice!

 

[rlk]

Prices have gone up substantially on DCL for those European itineraries over the years, so for 2018 we are going to try NCL with a 9-night Northern European cruise. The price difference was just too big to justify doing DCL this time.

We did the NCL cruise this past summer. Loved all the ports, especially overnight in St. Petersburg.

 

[Pens Fan]

We have a 14 day Med/Greece cruise booked for 2019 with only one sea day on NCL. While we are very, very excited about this trip, I think you have to go into something like that with realistic expectations. We are plotting out the ports where we really want to focus on touring and spending 10 - 12 hours on excursions. We also are focussing on private tours vs through the cruise line to best optimize our time in port. But then we are trying to pace ourselves with ports where we may just sleep in, go have a fabulous lunch in town, enjoy a glass of wine and soak up the scenery, then back to the ship.

Just last night, my husband was cracking me up. He was telling me about someone he works with who spent several weeks in Italy. He said after about a week and a half he felt like he'd seen enough ruins. He said, "you know they call them ruins for a reason!!!" I don't say that to diminish the experience in any way, shape or form, but to point out you have to pace yourself. It's a vacation - something to be savored, not labored over.

All that being said, I don't see us sailing in the Caribbean any time in the future. For us, it's been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. If you are someone who sails for the ship (that's not us - even on Disney) then yes, I get it. But if you sail for the ports and the new experiences, I say pick the cruise line that goes where you want for the best price. Honestly, I don't think the mass market cruises (and yes, in our opinion that is what DCL is), are really all that much different from each other unless your kids crave the Mouse and the princess experience.

 

[disneyholic family]

you don't HAVE to do excursions....you can stay on the ship if you want....no one is evicting you at each port..

DD and DSIL went on the magic in the med last year....they stayed on board in naples and rome, did a full day excursion at livorno to cinque terra and got off the ship for 2 hours in ville franche....

for them, the ship was their destination much more than europe (which we live near and pretty much take or leave...more leave than take....so no loss)...

.

 

[aggiedog]

you don't HAVE to do excursions....you can stay on the ship if you want....no one is evicting you at each port..

While that's true, for most people who make the trip over the Atlantic in order to see Europe, they actually want to see Europe. The money spent on airfare and a DCL European cruise could be spent more economically somewhere else if someone wanted to just sit on the ship.

 

[tlprice]

Just last night, my husband was cracking me up. He was telling me about someone he works with who spent several weeks in Italy. He said after about a week and a half he felt like he'd seen enough ruins. He said, "you know they call them ruins for a reason!!!" I don't say that to diminish the experience in any way, shape or form, but to point out you have to pace yourself. It's a vacation - something to be savored, not labored over.

This is so true! My first land based trip to Europe, at first we wanted to see EVERYTHING. After a couple of days, we napped a lot on the tour bus and said wake us if there's anything new and truly spectacular to see. After a while, a picturesque village is just another picturesque village, a castle ruin is just another castle ruin, etc. It's amazing how quickly many things just start looking the same.

 

[FigmentSpark]

True. Every time I think about taking the kids to Europe, I remember that it's ruins, museums and churches. I loved them once I was an adult and could appreciate the history, but would I have enjoyed it all as a young teen? I'm not so sure.

 

[Pens Fan]

True. Every time I think about taking the kids to Europe, I remember that it's ruins, museums and churches. I loved them once I was an adult and could appreciate the history, but would I have enjoyed it all as a young teen? I'm not so sure.

We are traveling as a couple without kids. Our son will be 20 in a few weeks, so while we try to include him as much as possible in vacations his priorities tend to skew toward school and internships (and good for him). He has been to Europe twice. The first time was on a school trip - no parents allowed!! - to all of the German speaking nations with two of his best friends. He was 16 and he loved every minute of it, but also was very ready to come home (it was almost 2 weeks.) The next trip was a a family vacation that included three nights in Copenhagen, an 11 night DCL cruise to Norway/Iceland/Scotland and it was one of the top two trips of our lives as a family.

I think at the end of the day you have to understand what your kids want to do. You only have them under your care for a short amount of time. Once they have moved on in life (which means you've done your job), then you can plan the vacations that that appeal to just you and your significant other.

 

[disneyholic family]

While that's true, for most people who make the trip over the Atlantic in order to see Europe, they actually want to see Europe. The money spent on airfare and a DCL European cruise could be spent more economically somewhere else if someone wanted to just sit on the ship.

you can spend time before or after the cruise....barcelona, rome, whatever...where you start/end...

who goes to europe for just a 7 day med cruise? there's time at the front and/or back..

same reason i would never take a DCL alaska cruise until they do a one way.....

we spent a week in inland alaska before boarding the (royal) ship for the southbound cruise out of seward..

a cruise is a cruise for me....the days wrapping around the cruise are for other stuff...

when we fly to the states, we spend several weeks at WDW....and then we go on a cruise....couldn't care less where the ship is headed.....

 

[aggiedog]

Definitely lots of ruins, churches, and a seemingly infinite number of Madonna and baby Jesus paintings! I am so over art museums!

Since we do private tours, though, we can pick what we want to do, especially with the kids, which is often off the beaten path. We did a wonderful street market food tour in Sicily. We did a trip to hot springs in Valencia. Sardinia was lunch at a local goat farm then swimming at a pocket beach. Our first trip to Rome was a whirlwind check-all-the-boxes, but our second, on the cruise, we skipped Rome entirely and went to Civita Bagnoregio (sp?) It's also a old ruin/city, but accessed only over a really long bridge, and had a nice coffee and pastries in their piazza.

In SPB, we went to a cat rescue home. Had Viking family portraits in Reykjavik. And you get the idea. There are lots of wonderful, slightly off the beaten path trips you can take that gives you a good idea of the culture, but do not include ruins, churches, or art museums.

And yes, most people do spend more time than just the cruise once they get to Europe. In fact, I think the tendency is to try to do too much, since you're already there.

But, IMHO, flying to Europe, to spend DCL prices for a Med cruise, to rarely get off the ship, is crazy talk. Lighter port days after long days is one thing. Planning to skip most days? No way. Unless you have unlimited money and time, in which case, I'm all for it.

 

[kiford]

True. Every time I think about taking the kids to Europe, I remember that it's ruins, museums and churches. I loved them once I was an adult and could appreciate the history, but would I have enjoyed it all as a young teen? I'm not so sure.

When I was young, I would have loved to do this. I was a history buff even before my teens. I put visiting the Hermitage on my bucket list when I was 12. My sister - a definitive NO. She might do it now but on a limited basis. She would never do an 8-9 hour tour of Rome. Maybe 3 hours would be her limit. In her teens, we'd have heard about how unfair life was that she had to do this boring stuff while she was on the bus getting there. In addition to complaints about how long the bus ride was, how she was nauseous, questions about when were we going to be heading back. Thirty minutes in the Vatican museum looking at paintings would still probably be enough for her now. It's not that she doesn't appreciate the history, the architecture or the artistry. She does. She just doesn't really have the interest to spend a lot of time at it and it was much worse as a teen or younger. She'd still rather spend the time on a beach which I consider boring in the extreme. My godson OTOH who is 15 loves to spend ages looking at our travel pictures and asking us about them and has expressed desire to go one day. One definitely needs to know ones kids before schlepping them out to Europe.