Hi,
We are DVC members and have cruised with Disney before but not in the Med. My question is should I stick with Disney organised port excursions which seem really expensive or try and organise them my self which seems a bit scary! We are 2 adults and 3 kids and I have been to Italy before and know how crazy taxi drivers can be! My kids really want to see a lot in Rome and Pompeii, I would like to see the Amalfi coast, Pisa and Florence. We are also looking to stay in Barcelona before and after the cruise but need a family room which seems quite hard to find. Should we stick with Disney hotels? And lastly, we are staying in a family stateroom on deck 8 which we have stayed in before, but not with 3 kids, will I be ready to kill them by the end of 10 days due to lack of space? I have tried to upgrade to a 1 bed suite but they are all full. I am a Disneyworld nut and know everything there is to know about it there but am finding this a scary experience! Help please!
Hi Helen! Welcome to the DIS!!
I see this was your first post EVER!! NOW that you've found the DISboards you will be a true Disney addict!!
I WAS on this cruise for awhile (back in the beginning) but have since hopped over to one of the August cruises...I still pop in here to say hey sometimes (my cruise doesn't seem to be selling so well & is quite the lonely one). I can offer my 2 cents on your questions even though I'm just a visitor now...
FIRST, many, many families of 5 book 2 cheaper cabins rather than the family staterooms. They often work out to be cheaper than the one cabin and this offers twice the space and TWO bathrooms.
So my suggestion for that is to get prices for say a Cat 5 or Cat 6 with an inside cabin across the hall if your kids are old enough to sleep in their own room OR two conncecting cabins if the kids are too young to sleep alone. (Note - when booking 2 cabins you will have to put an adult in each during the booking process but then you just SLEEP anyway you wish. This is VERY commonly done.) If you were willing to shell out the $$$ for a suite then this should provide a comparable solution!
Excursions - hang out here on the DIS for awhile and you will see that many families are choosing to do these cities on their own or are booking private tour operators for Rome & Naples in particular. Sometimes thru your meet thread you can hook up with another family or another couple who want to do the same things you do so you can share the cost of the tour. There are several operators who have been reported to be quite good and the cost works out better than going thru
DCL PLUS you get to see what you want to see at a better pace than being with a whole bus load of other people. Tunis might be an exception where you want to stick to a DCL excursion as that is a Muslim country and is quite different from what many of us are used to. It's probably a safer bet there to stick to DCL.
Hotels - again, hang out here on the cruise board for awhile & you will be able to find a lot of other options besides the ones that DCL is using. You CAN even book the same hotels for a lot less by booking them on your own. DCL has put a HUGE markup on them 'cuz they're out to make money. If you go online & price them yourself you will see QUITE a price difference. And just because DCL is using them doesn't mean they're all that family friendly. There are lots of threads about hotels - keep an eye out for them.
You have definitely found THE right spot to get answers for your questions!! Kaleigh (another poster on this thread) has already done this cruise once so she will be an INVALUABLE source!
I suppose that means those of us who are left shall have our PICK of lounge chairs and free cabin upgrades galore!?! 
This whole mixing and matching thing is going to help sooo much with packing for the cruise!! They are so small & lightweight too! 
