Scraptographer
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2013
Now when I say that we are Disney sheep, I should probably clarify that we have never actually been to Disney World. We did visit Disneyland twice when the kids were really little (we lived out west back then). And we have visited Orlando twice since the kids became teenagers, but those visits were to Universal Studios - ooh , the dark side .
Our 'sheep-like' tendencies relate to the fact that not only was this our 7th Disney cruise since 2004, but on this trip we booked all of our excursions through Disney, as well as our hotel in Barcelona, the Hilton Diagonal Mar, and our transfers to and from the port. And that would be despite all of the excellent advice gleaned from this board on how to do everything on your own. So yes, we would be Disney sheep, because it worked out easier for our family that way.
After we did the Baltic cruise in July 2010, we really wanted to do a Disney Med cruise, and we happily booked this July 2013 cruise shortly after the Med itineraries were released in 2012 while we were sailing the Dream for the first time. Although my DH and I have each visited the Med separately in the past, my experience was as a teenager on a high school cruise (anyone remember the SS Uganda?), while my DH did a land based trip with friends back in his single days . Travelling with kids, even when they are teenagers, is a whole different ballgame from our perspective.
On the Baltic cruise we did mainly Disney excursions and had been happy with them - especially when the train broke down at the end of the day on our trip to Berlin and we didn't have to worry about getting left behind. If that hadn't been a Disney excursion, we would have been sweating more than the 40 degree Celsius temps due to the heatwave that day! As an aside, my kids still remember the unbelievably long day of the Berlin excursion as one of the best ports on the Baltic cruise, go figure. But that says a lot for our past Disney excursion experiences.
So, the 'we' for this trip includes me, DH, DD (16), and DS (14). Travel is our main 'vice', however since the kids and I are Celiacs, (which means we can't eat wheat, barley, rye etc ) we often have issues finding food we can safely eat. And yes, this also means that we will often avoid eating in places where we can't speak the language. Cruising is therefore an ideal option for us, and Disney is definitely in our comfort zone.
When choosing excursions, we searched for a balance between my desire to see all of the Greek and Roman ruins I could find , activities that would interest all of us, and the fact that this was a vacation, not a route march! In the end we mixed full day excursions with half days and three quarter day excursions. When all is said and done we felt that we 'mostly' made good choices. And honestly, the excursions that we enjoyed less than the other ones were linked to how we felt about the tour guides we were assigned to...and that would have been the same even if we had booked private tours.
So, 12 days plus 2 in the Med with the Mouse! Let the Disney 'herding' begin!
Our 'sheep-like' tendencies relate to the fact that not only was this our 7th Disney cruise since 2004, but on this trip we booked all of our excursions through Disney, as well as our hotel in Barcelona, the Hilton Diagonal Mar, and our transfers to and from the port. And that would be despite all of the excellent advice gleaned from this board on how to do everything on your own. So yes, we would be Disney sheep, because it worked out easier for our family that way.
After we did the Baltic cruise in July 2010, we really wanted to do a Disney Med cruise, and we happily booked this July 2013 cruise shortly after the Med itineraries were released in 2012 while we were sailing the Dream for the first time. Although my DH and I have each visited the Med separately in the past, my experience was as a teenager on a high school cruise (anyone remember the SS Uganda?), while my DH did a land based trip with friends back in his single days . Travelling with kids, even when they are teenagers, is a whole different ballgame from our perspective.
On the Baltic cruise we did mainly Disney excursions and had been happy with them - especially when the train broke down at the end of the day on our trip to Berlin and we didn't have to worry about getting left behind. If that hadn't been a Disney excursion, we would have been sweating more than the 40 degree Celsius temps due to the heatwave that day! As an aside, my kids still remember the unbelievably long day of the Berlin excursion as one of the best ports on the Baltic cruise, go figure. But that says a lot for our past Disney excursion experiences.
So, the 'we' for this trip includes me, DH, DD (16), and DS (14). Travel is our main 'vice', however since the kids and I are Celiacs, (which means we can't eat wheat, barley, rye etc ) we often have issues finding food we can safely eat. And yes, this also means that we will often avoid eating in places where we can't speak the language. Cruising is therefore an ideal option for us, and Disney is definitely in our comfort zone.
When choosing excursions, we searched for a balance between my desire to see all of the Greek and Roman ruins I could find , activities that would interest all of us, and the fact that this was a vacation, not a route march! In the end we mixed full day excursions with half days and three quarter day excursions. When all is said and done we felt that we 'mostly' made good choices. And honestly, the excursions that we enjoyed less than the other ones were linked to how we felt about the tour guides we were assigned to...and that would have been the same even if we had booked private tours.
So, 12 days plus 2 in the Med with the Mouse! Let the Disney 'herding' begin!