Mediterranean with a Kid

[Anna Chassereau]

We have a DCL cruise scheduled for this August with our 3 boys. I have been doing all the research and planning online and looking at trip advisor reviews to for the excursions. Italy is the one place where I truly feel you can find options for trips that will be much cheaper and easier than the DCL ones. Right now we have a private driver booked for both Rome and the Livorno port and will probably use DCL for the Villefranche and Naples ports if we choose. We are debating about whether or not to leave our kids on the ship but they with a private driver I feel there is a little more flexibility, for example, we already said if the kids get tired, we can just go eat gelato all day!!! I am excited as we have lived in Europe with our oldest but the other two have not been!

That's so awesome!! I know you must be so excited with it not that far off!! How old are your kids if you don't mind me asking?

I was thinking the same thing about excursions! I was thinking we'd book a private vehicle to be able to do what we want and have more control over our days in port!

 

[cheermom2four]

We actually decided to take our kids on a Med cruise next sept 2017 and our youngest will be just turning 6 when we go. Its not her first cruise so she knows what to expect on a 7 night cruise. Honestly, I agree with pps and why we decided to do DCL excursion from Civitavecchia (Rome) due to the distances from that port to Rome. I know people have done it themselves but personally I'm not because we decided to leave our youngest on the ship that day since the DCL excursion we want is 10 hrs and I know my kiddo and she wouldnt last that long. The livorno port (Florence/Pisa) we did hire a personal driver from Tripadvisor that had excellent ratings. I know I'm risking it but she will be with us and we are going to florence first then Pisa if we have time (going to the furthest location and working our way back). Naples we decided to DIY because we only plan on going to pompeii for half a day and my co worker has done the train from the port to pompeii and explained exactly how to do it. Now Villefranche we arent sure if we will do DCL or just ourselves as we just want to really go to a couple places then back on the ship. We are also arriving in Barcelona a few days before boarding the Magic to adjust to the jet lag with our youngest. Then again, she seems to be able to sleep anywhere so maybe no problems getting her to sleep on the plane I'd say go for it! My high school aged kiddo just studied European history and why we chose this specific cruise instead of staying here. Plus we found excellent prices on airline tickets (less than $700 after taxes) from Denver.

 

[gotomu212]

Thank you to everyone for their replies and advice!!

One thing that makes me nervous is the flight...this will be our son's first flight and it will be 8 hours. Am I insane for doing this for his first flight?!

I think it's really doable (disclosure though we had a 16 hour flight to South Africa in March and 14 hour to Australia 2 years ago so we are used to long flights and 8 hours sounds almost pleasant haha). The key for us is to put him in the middle and let him stretch out across both of our laps and then he can sleep a good couple of hours. That plus a few movies is fine. Our big issue is food. He really doesn't like airplane food so we make sure we eat at the airport right before boarding and have a few substantial snacks for late in the flight.

Jet lag also hits him so we try to get an arrival late in the day so we can have an early night. He really cannot hit the ground running with an early arrival.

 

[jrabbit]

Flying There will much less of an issue than flying HOME!!!

Your kids should enjoy the trip - even if they don't "understand" everything right now. But later as they are studying history in school, they will remember that they were there and it will be so much more "real".

And there are things to point out to them - that really took me by surprise. The Colosseum - it's OLD and HUGE!! How many people lived in Pompeii 2000 years ago - staggering! And it was a port city - the ocean is a ways away now. Leaning Tower of Pisa - how cool (or not) is that (history and science). The Vatican (way awesome) and the Sistine Chapel (not as awesome as presented in my history classes). Florence and The David and the Uffizi Gallery and ALL of that Art History. The choices of where to go and what to see are almost endless.

Enjoy the trip and help expand your childrens world.

and there are much worse things than sitting on a bench / fountain in Italy and eating Gelato all day long!

 

[o&smom]

Thank you to everyone for their replies and advice!!

One thing that makes me nervous is the flight...this will be our son's first flight and it will be 8 hours. Am I insane for doing this for his first flight?!

We live on the West Coast, so traveling to Europe is a LONG process. Our kids have done well at all ages. We bring along distractions such as, ipad with games/movies, coloring books, story books, small toys, etc. Even a few small treats to break up the long day and flights.

 

[mrsp1030]

That's so awesome!! I know you must be so excited with it not that far off!! How old are your kids if you don't mind me asking?

I was thinking the same thing about excursions! I was thinking we'd book a private vehicle to be able to do what we want and have more control over our days in port!

Our boys will be 11, 8, and 5 when we take them. Last year I told my husband that it is time to explore the their horizons more. Our kids are learning and asking so many questions about the world these days, that I am fortunate we can find a way to keep their interest alive. Plus we found some great scavenger hunt books for kids for Rome and Barcelona to take along. One reason we hired a private car for Rome vs. the DCL tour is because of the ability for them to navigate the streets vs all the walking in the August heat. For example, the Sistine Chapel is closed the day we are in port but we will still go to St.Peter's Square and show the kids the Vatican (Catholic school boys want to see that), etc.. We debated between the cruise and just a trip to Italy but decided the cruise would allow us the time to come back and relax while not having to worry about many other features such as entertainment and food at the end of a long day.

 

[disneyholic family]

my son said he wants to tour the Camp Nou soccer stadium in Barcelona before our cruise so we'll do that. We aren't even FC Barcelona fans (we love Bayern Munich) but it's something he wants to do so we'll incorporate that too.

DD and her husband did Camp Nou this past september - before their med cruise on the disney magic...
Camp Nou was pretty much the only thing they did in barcelona and LOVED it!!!!
of course, my son in law is a rabid soccer fan, so this was the one thing he was massively looking forward to before their trip and he wasn't disappointed...and even DD loved it...
they spent 3 hours on the tour - it's a self guided tour, so you can spend as much or as little as you go through everything..
they both thought it was really well done and very worth it...

DD advises that you buy your tickets in advance (online) because there's a long line at the ticket booth..
they bought their tickets online..

as for kids on the med cruise - we're planning on taking the whole family on the disney magic in the med in 2018 - assuming it sails the med that year....the itineraries haven't come out yet....our grandchildren will be 4 and 2 by then....we're doing it as a taste of mickey rather than a taste of europe (since we live on the european side of the atlantic)..
we'll probably stay on the ship in most of the ports... the ship is our destination..

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

DD and her husband did Camp Nou this past september - before their med cruise on the disney magic...
Camp Nou was pretty much the only thing they did in barcelona and LOVED it!!!!
of course, my son in law is a rabid soccer fan, so this was the one thing he was massively looking forward to before their trip and he wasn't disappointed...and even DD loved it...
they spent 3 hours on the tour - it's a self guided tour, so you can spend as much or as little as you go through everything..
they both thought it was really well done and very worth it...

DD advises that you buy your tickets in advance (online) because there's a long line at the ticket booth..
they bought their tickets online..

That's awesome and thanks for sharing such positive information! I've read pretty consistently people really enjoyed it so it's a "must do" for us. As I mentioned, we are huge Bayern Munich fans and soccer fans in general so we are geeked out to check it out. FCB might not be on our top list of fave teams, but we can surely respect them and there is a lot to appreciate about all the teams and facilities. We will be doing the same in Munich and visiting the Allianz Arena and hopefully catching the team when they do their open training but it might be too early, boo.

Thanks again!

Heather

 

[ejrj]

We will be on the Sept 2 Med sailing. My three girls will be 9, and turning 7 (twins)during the trip. This is our first cruise. I cannot wait to introduce them to Europe!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I am a HUGE proponent of family travel. We did our first European Disney Cruise when my kids were 7, 6 and 3. It was amazing because Disney does all the hard work for you! We took the Greek Isles cruise in 2014 when my kids were 10, 9 and 6 and it was also perfect. My kids are great travelers, but Disney makes it so easy. For the 2014 cruise, we visited Iceland, England and France before hopping on the Magic in Venice, so we were actually traveling for a month by time it was said and done. We ALWAYS do our own port excursions. I like the freedom of planning things myself, but we are seasoned travelers, so I understand how it would make some people nervous. We always cushion one to two hours before the ship is going to leave so we don't have to worry about that. We just brought them to South Africa and Germany in November. I hated not to include Disney in there somehow ha! What's super cool about my kids having been to Europe several times is how they can relate to what they study at school! It's the best education you can ever give your kids, I promise!

 

[texasgingerbread]

What are your ports? We always book thru private companies and not thru ship (the private companies familiar with traffic and ports). I've never done Disney Med but I highly recommend RomeInLimo (pricey but worth the $ since so familiar with port/traffic) as well as Gianni's Boats (similarly priced to our others) in Capri. If you let me know what your ports are I can give you info on the other ports as well. And if you want suggested tours I'd be happy to suggest as well.