Our Disneyfied European vacation.

[amyren]

Hi! We returned a week ago from an incredible 21 day European vacation! Our trip included Disneyland Paris and a 10 night Disney Cruise! It was incredible! I've been working on a trip report on my blog if anyone is interested! I'm about 90% finished. I have a couple more days to summarize and I plan to do a resources page with contact information for our hotels and tour companies.

www.amyandjasonallen.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

 

[sabrecmc]

Sounds great! We did something similar last year (DLRP then Italy then the 10 night cruise). It was the most wonderful vacation! Hope you had a blast!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

I just read your whole report...great! I like reading the ones with younger kids since we will have ours with us...including a very opinionated 3-year-old

We are doing all the ports on our own so we can be as flexible as we need to be with them. It's a whole new world traveling with kids but what a great family vacation.

I wish we could have added Paris into our itinerary but it gives us something to do on another trip...

 

[amyren]

Sounds great! We did something similar last year (DLRP then Italy then the 10 night cruise). It was the most wonderful vacation! Hope you had a blast!

It was incredible! That's awesome that you got to spend time in Italy. I'd love to go back and spend a couple days in Rome and a few in Tuscany. The only down side about the cruise was our limited time at each port.

I just read your whole report...great! I like reading the ones with younger kids since we will have ours with us...including a very opinionated 3-year-old

We are doing all the ports on our own so we can be as flexible as we need to be with them. It's a whole new world traveling with kids but what a great family vacation.

I wish we could have added Paris into our itinerary but it gives us something to do on another trip...

Traveling internationally with young kids definitely challenging but also incredibly fun. Overall DD did great. She's proven to be a good little traveler. Good idea with doing the ports on your own, let me know if you have any specific questions about the ports. I can try to help you out with recommendations. Have fun on your trip! I desperately miss the Magic.

 

[mkmommy]

Thanks for sharing, it is great your daughter did so well. I stated my girls travelling when they were very young and they love it (just wish someone had started my husband when he was young as he is a terrible traveller).

Any tips for finding the train station in La Spezia sounds like it is not that easy to find.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

So were they not doing the bibbidi bobbidi boutique on board this year? I asked elsewhere and they said no but I was really hoping my girls would get to do that while on the ship (plus I love having their hair up like that for a couple of days )

Also, did you have any problems finding bathrooms when you needed them? I don't know how your daughter is but all my kids will wait until the last minute to tell me they have to go and then they really have to go--right then. And how did you handle the time change? It will be a seven hour difference for us. Right now I plan to keep them up when we get there, then early afternoon nap to push through dinner.

 

[fossie]

I was on 8th June Med cruise also.My daughters aged 8 and 13 went to the salon part of the Vista Spa for a spot of pampering. I never saw anything advertised, but I asked if there were packages available and they said they would fit them in on a port day only.My 13 year old had A Teen Package (Including the Spanish tax $81.42) which was a facial,manicure and pedicure.They did French tips for her which were beautiful and lasted really well, and 8 year old had a Princess Package ($76.70) where she had a mini manicure and mini pedi,they put her hair in up upstyle that they loved so much that she slept in- pins and all !The package also included makeup but my daughter didn't want it. The finished effect was very similar to what I've seen in BBBoutique in Downtown Disney.The girls loved the experience and the salon staff made a big fuss of them.We did this on the afternoon of the Civitavecchia port day. We've been to Rome twice before so we just enjoyed the almost deserted ship.

 

[dvcspain]

thank you, a great trip report...

what about your servers? where are they from and who was the server and the assistant server?

we need a server who speaks spanish for our next cruise.

 

[amyren]

Thanks for sharing, it is great your daughter did so well. I stated my girls travelling when they were very young and they love it (just wish someone had started my husband when he was young as he is a terrible traveller).

Any tips for finding the train station in La Spezia sounds like it is not that easy to find.

Glad to know I'm not the only crazy one taking my pre schooler across the globe. Ok from what I remember this is how you get to the train station in La Spezia.
Walk off tender dock turn left. Walk to end of waterway turn right. Walk beside park onto pedestrian road. Continue at least 10 -15 minutes. Road forks stick right . Continue up hill. Train station is on the right. It was a pretty straight shot but I would recommend printing a street map!

So were they not doing the bibbidi bobbidi boutique on board this year? I asked elsewhere and they said no but I was really hoping my girls would get to do that while on the ship (plus I love having their hair up like that for a couple of days )

Also, did you have any problems finding bathrooms when you needed them? I don't know how your daughter is but all my kids will wait until the last minute to tell me they have to go and then they really have to go--right then. And how did you handle the time change? It will be a seven hour difference for us. Right now I plan to keep them up when we get there, then early afternoon nap to push through dinner.

I didn't see or hear anything about the boutique
Regarding the bathroom I made DD take advantage of one when it was available. All restaurants & museums had them. Even if DD didn't "have to go" I made her try. I also remember a few public restrooms that were available for a fee (10 - 50 cents). There is definitely one by the blue grotto in Malta and I remember another one in Eze. Fortunately we didn't have any bathroom related issues. One more bathroom note, be on the safe side and take your own tissue!

DD adjusted well to the time change. I tried to get her to sleep as much as possible on the flight (she got maybe 3 hours). Then we let her nap for a couple of hours when we checked into the hotel. I felt bad because she napped hard and we had to wake her up. We made her get up eat and walk around several hours then let her go to bed early. After that she was fine! It helped that we were in Europe for several days before the business of the cruise. She kept her normal schedule (napping in her stroller) and did well throughout the trip! The problem came when we returned home. She got up about 3 hours early for the first week . Now this mama loves her sleep (especially in the summer) so it really annoyed me but fortunately it's gotten progressively better.

thank you, a great trip report...
what about your servers? where are they from and who was the server and the assistant server?
we need a server who speaks spanish for our next cruise.

Marcos (the server) is from Chile! He's is awesome. We talked to him quite a bit about his country and travel in general.
Natalie is from Trinidad & Tobago. She is so sweet and great with kids. I can't believe I left this out of my trip report but this is how kind she is. We are vegetarian and so Marcos would always point out our options to us. Natalie's husband is the chef at Parrot Cay. I kept complimenting his vegetarian dishes and telling her that I needed his recipes. One night she gave me a folder with over 30 vegetarian recipes! I was so excited. I've already tried 3. Thank you Natalie!!!!!

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Thanks or the replies. We are veggie, too! Power to the veggie fams haha

I can't believe we leave Tuesday...I'm so excited.

 

[amyren]

Thanks or the replies. We are veggie, too! Power to the veggie fams haha

I can't believe we leave Tuesday...I'm so excited.

Cool! We had plenty of veggie options. The main dining room menus typically had at least 2 or 3 veggie options for starters (soup, salad & aps) and 2 veg options for main entrees.
We really enjoyed Goofy's Galley for lunch. They had tofu wraps and portabella sandwiches along with fruit and salad. Of course there are also veggie burgers and pizza available. Then there are always options at the buffet. Over all I was impressed with the various veggie choices!

Have fun on your trip!

 

[Timon]

Just started reading your blog and had to post....



What a great photo...and a precious memory!

 

[amyren]

Just started reading your blog and had to post....



What a great photo...and a precious memory!

Aww... That was at Cocoa beach just before our Bahama cruise on the Wonder in Sept. DD was kept saying that the beach was "too loud". She much prefers Castaway Cay (aka the quiet beach). Me too sweetie

 

[cannp123165]

Thank you so much for sharing your trip - it looks like you had an amazing time!