Med cruise in 2011?

[msmama]

Hey all,

I'm trying to convince hubby to do a Med cruise next year. I've cruised before (Alaska and Caribbean) but never with Disney. And neither DH nor I have ever been to Europe.
He's a bit of nervous traveller which is why I think a Disney cruise would be good for him, lol. I KNOW he's okay with Disney, lol.

I hope you don't mind if I ask some questions.

Are the Disney Med cruises as family friendly as other Disney cruises? We'd have a 3 year old.

In the brief research I've done, I can't find anything about shore excursions. I find a lot about people going off on their own, and then I found that you could combine the cruise with Adventures by Disney, but do they actually have other planned trips at the ports of call? Anybody do anything good? How much extra $$ would we be talking about (ball park)?

Is there anything important to know about Disney cruising as opposed to cruising with another company?

Anything to know specifically about cruising in Europe?

Thanks so much. I know these are broad questions, but I'm just starting my research/DH convincing stage.

 

[mrosen]

We did the 11 night med cruise in April. We have 2 kids (both school age). It was our first cruise. We enjoyed this. The service is great on the ship and our kids enjoyed it. There are plenty of things on the ship to do for families and kids of all ages.

This is a port intensive cruise so the time we had on the ship was limited as we did shore excursions in all ports and in our case, we booked through Disney. We enjoyed all the shore excursions except in Corsica. We did not care for the one there. However, in all other ports, the shore excursions we did were fabulous and the guided tours were great. From what I've read here on these boards and heard from others, you can save alot by doing things yourself or booking your own tours. For me, it was more convenient to just pick from the Disney selections and would have been very cautious if doing this on my own or trying to arrange for my own private tours.

 

[abdmom]

We were on the 5/15 Med cruise, with 3 kids, including a 4 year old. This was our first DCL cruise, but we've done the Caribbean and Alaska with Royal Caribbean and Carnival. IMO, the Med was so much more fabulous than the Caribbean, because of the excellent ports with their rich history and great scenery. I'd love to go again next year.

There were 7 ports. We did private tours for 2 of them and DCL tours for 4. The DCL tours were hit and miss. We loved our DCL tours in Malta and Villefranche. The ones in La Spezia and Tunis we could have done without. It was really dependent on the particular tour guide. For our family of 4, we spent $2500 on shore excursions total. This included the excursion in Corsica we didn't show up for. We were just too dang tired.

One good thing (and there are several) about cruising with Disney vs. other lines is: the kids club does not close for lunch or dinner. It is open from morning until late night. The first day, I checked ds4 in around 9:30, checked on him at lunch and 3. At 3, he said "You can go now" and waved me away.

Another point, especially for the nervous traveller, is that DCL seems to employ more native English speakers than other lines. There were plenty of staff from the U.S. and Canada, the Caribbean, South Africa, India etc. I did not have the language barrier issues that I've had on other lines.

I loved the cruise so much I'm hoping to go next year.

 

[amyren]

Can’t answer your questions BUT we are booked on the June 8th , 2011 ten night Med cruise. DH and I have traveled to Europe several times and absolutely LOVE it. We are hoping that a cruise is a good way to enjoy Europe with a preschooler and a couple of retirees (we are traveling with DD -three and a half and 2 grandparents). We plan to do a few excursions with Disney and then do the other ports on our own. We are really excited about the cruise and if you are even thinking about a Med cruise with a 3 year old Disney is the way to go!

 

[Delgadofam2002]

The June 8, 2011 Med. on the Magic is the same cruise I am looking at. We are 4 (2/2) the teens will be 17 & 14. So far the least $ I have been able to find the cruise portion is $5,007.00 for the cheapest inside. I am hoping to find it for less.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Hey all,

I'm trying to convince hubby to do a Med cruise next year. I've cruised before (Alaska and Caribbean) but never with Disney. And neither DH nor I have ever been to Europe.
He's a bit of nervous traveller which is why I think a Disney cruise would be good for him, lol. I KNOW he's okay with Disney, lol.

I hope you don't mind if I ask some questions.

Are the Disney Med cruises as family friendly as other Disney cruises? We'd have a 3 year old.

In the brief research I've done, I can't find anything about shore excursions. I find a lot about people going off on their own, and then I found that you could combine the cruise with Adventures by Disney, but do they actually have other planned trips at the ports of call? Anybody do anything good? How much extra $$ would we be talking about (ball park)?

Is there anything important to know about Disney cruising as opposed to cruising with another company?

Anything to know specifically about cruising in Europe?

Thanks so much. I know these are broad questions, but I'm just starting my research/DH convincing stage.

Having just returned from 28 days in Europe, including a 10 night DCL Med cruise, I can say that it was one of the best vacations (if not, THE best) we've taken as a family. The Disney Med cruise is no different than any other Disney cruise as far as what is offered on board. It's extremely family friendly.

Excursion info can be found on the DCL website under the heading "Port Adventures". You can search each port of call and scroll through all the excursions offered. Spend some time looking over the info on the website. Also, the search engine on this board can narrow you down to recent threads about the Med cruise. There is a wealth of info available on this board alone.

 

[sayhello]

msmamma, just so you know, and can properly compare the options, the minimum age for Adventures by Disney is 4 years old. So that's not really an option for you unless you wanted to leave your 3 year old on the boat for all of the excursions...

Sayhello

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

We are looking at the med cruise for 2012 (we hope it will exist then! That's when we can make it!) and the kids will be 13 and 15 then. First time cruisers.... a bit nervous about even thinking about it! Does anyone know if the med cruise will happen in 2012? Ideas about cruising with this age teen? What's the difference in the cruises starting in Dover vs. starting in Barcelona??? THANKS! I'm sure to be on here a lot in the next months!

 

[Anal Annie]

We're a family of 3 doing one of the 7 night Med cruises in Aug., 2011 (DS will be 14 so he is charged as an adult for most everything now). From previous experience on DCL I know we typically spend anywhere between $1,500-$2,000 on excursions & shipboard charges (drinks, pics, gratuities, Palo etc.) over the course of a week. For our 7 n. Med I am probably going to budget $3,000 because we want to do private tours in Naples & Rome.

We were originally booked in a SPH cabin but when DCL started cutting their prices a couple of weeks ago it made the verandah categories more attractive than the inside ones!! So we upgraded from our 10A to a 5C for what's working out to be less than $400 more than what we WERE paying. They slashed the verandah categories like it was a fire sale. I'm psyched.

 

[pjacobi]

Anything to know specifically about cruising in Europe?

Europe is a CONTINENT vs. small islands in the Caribbean Sea.

A cruise ship to Europe limits your experience to a few hours in the port cities. For some, this may be enough. To really appreciate Europe, you need to combine cruise with land vacation (ABD).

Have you ever taken your kids to a major American city and visited tourist attractions? That may give you some idea if your children would enjoy Europe.


-Paul

 

[skibum]

We cruised the Med with DCL in 2007, and it was our best family vacation ever. Kids are now 14 and 18 (so they were 10 and 15), and they want to go back again.
As others have said, it is port intensive, and at some stops you come back late. Many with early dining were back after their dinner time, but the servers all made it work.
We did not do DCL excursions, preferring to do our own. We were aware of the pitfalls (namely missing the boat), but everything worked out. People who did do DCL excursions enjoyed them over all.
The thing to keep in mind is that this is a European sampler. You get a taste of different cultures and cuisine. We learned from this trip that we want to return to Rome, and this spring break felt comfortable enough that we went to Paris and London.
The advantage to the cruise, which I recommend to everyone, is that you unpack once on the floating hotel, and do not need to drive. After your day out exploring, you come back to Disney security - comfortable food, english speaking staff, and great entertainment before you go to bed and have another adventure. It is not like a cruise leaving out of Port Canaveral.
This was enough to talk the grandparents into coming with us in 2011. We are looking forward to another great DCL experience.

 

[wrennies]

We did may 26 Med with 5 people (2 adults and 3 teens). Here is a 'ballpark" of other cost...
Flights - ours were $800 each (booked about 10 weeks out).
Barcelona - hotel $200 a night, meals $100, souveniors $100
Malta - excursion???? ours was $100 a person
Tunis - we hired a taxi at 50 euros , souveniors $100
Naples - we hired a driver to visit volcano and pompeii 300 euro plus tip, enterance fees were a toal of 20 euros each, meal 50 euros, snacks 50 euros, soveniors around 100 euros
Rome - train to rome was 10 euro ( i think) each. We did a hop on hop off bus at 20 euros each. Again you will need to plan for at least one meal and souveniors
la Spezia - We hiked the Cinque Terre. It was beautiful but I would recommend just the train with a small child. Train was 6 euros each (I think). Again you will need at least another $100 euros for meals and souveniors.
Corsica - We did a hop on bus again. This one was 10 euros each. These were very close to the ship and we went back to eat luch then went to the beach (just a short walk).
Villefrance - We just walked around the city and went to the beach. The cafes are very expensive here so we went back to the ship for luch again...it was a little inconvient because of the tender, but disney never had tender lines.

It adds up quickly...the actual cruise cost is less than all the "others". Hope this helps!!!