Celebrity vs Disney in the Med??

[boulders]

Help me decide please! I've never sailed on either line. I'd like to try both. There's me, mom - mid-40's and 3 kids, ds14, dd11 and ds4. We've previously sailed Royal Caribbean and Carnival. While we like Royal, we'd like to try something else. Oldest ds sailed with his grandparents a couple of years ago on HAL in the Med. He liked the food. I've never been to the Med. I studied ancient Rome a ton in school and really want to visit Rome and Pompeii. They're next up on my bucket list.

 

The Celebrity cruise is a 10 day on Equinox, a new ship. It leaves out of Rome (in August) and ends in Venice. It visits Greece, Turkey, Dubrovnik. We have Family Oceanview booked (575 sq ft plus balcony!). I like this itinerary better.

 

There's also Disney's Magic. This 11 day cruise is out of Barcelona in May. The kids (none in high school yet) would miss 7 days of school. I can get an inside guaranty (hoping to be upgraded) for one-third the cost of the Celebrity cruise.This hits Rome and Naples (my must-dos) plus Florence, Tunisia, Malta, and Monte Carlo.

 

The kids priority is the ship. They love the whole cruising experience. DS4 wants to "live" on a ship. He loved both his Royal and his Carnival experiences. The ship is very important to me. The most important though I guess, in addition to the ports, is the availability of kid-friendly excursions. We went on an Adventures by Disney trip to China last year and had a fabulous time. I'd take one of those trips over a cruise any day, but the cost - with no discount for a third or 4th - is prohibitive.

 

Which would you choose?

[crusinmama06]

So the Disney cruise is 1/3 the cost? But you have an inside GTY on Disney and a Family balcony on X. What would the price difference be if you booked a inside GTY on X?

 

I am surprised that Disney is that much cheaper. Or is it because of category choice?

 

I would LOVE to see Greece one day. That Celebrity looks like an amazing itinerary.

[imsulin]

Sorry - see below.

[imsulin]

Just an aside, but the weather in the Eastern Med. can be brutally hot in August! I've been on two Celebrity cruises (although years ago), and don't recall even seeing any kids! I would think that Disney would be the better option as far as pricing, kids' activities, and weather. Years ago, some friends (and their friends, and their friends, etc.) did a chartered yacht through the Greek islands for a week in August, and, while they had a great time, they said that it was so hot and uncomfortable that sight-seeing wasn't great. No A/C onshore expect in the more expensive hotels. There's some kind of "Greek wind" in August...sorry, but I can't remember the name of it. Anyway, whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have a great time!

[boulders]

So the Disney cruise is 1/3 the cost? But you have an inside GTY on Disney and a Family balcony on X. What would the price difference be if you booked a inside GTY on X?

 

I am surprised that Disney is that much cheaper. Or is it because of category choice?

 

I would LOVE to see Greece one day. That Celebrity looks like an amazing itinerary.

 

With the Disney Kids Sail Free and low cost on cat12's, the cost of the Disney is actually 25% of the cost of the Celebrity cruise ($2200). To book the next category up (cat11), it would be twice as much as the cat12 GTY. In my first post, I had included trip insurance and transfers - which DCL includes automatically when booking online. With a cat12 GTY, I'm assured of at LEAST a cat11, since cat12's don't sleep 4.

 

Celebrity no longer has any staterooms for 4 available on the sailing. If I were to switch to 2 insides from the family room, it would cost even more than what I got the family room for ($9K).

 

This past summer, I had actually booked one of the Disney Med cruises, but cancelled it when the Equinox sailing came out and was much less than what I had booked the Disney cruise for. I guess a lot of people have felt the same way. The Equinox has sold really well, the prices have jumped, and the Disney is offering discounts.

 

Imsulin, when my ds took his Med cruise with his grandparents, it was in August. I got frequent reports of the 100 degree weather. :eek: It was something I was prepared to deal with because of the itinerary and ship, but yes, May would definitely be preferable.

 

So, a Disney cruise in an inside for $50 pppd or a Celebrity cruise in almost a suite for $200+ pppd? I suppose both are "good" choices. Sigh.

[imsulin]

Boulders, when my kids were the ages of your kids, they would have wanted YOU to be their Mom! I do feel glad that my kids have been able to travel to so many parts of the world, though! (Just not always on cruises) It's a tough choice! My two Celebrity cruises are remembered with complete and fantastic services, but never saw any kids. Haven't been on Disney, but know that they have great kids' programs. (Thinking about the 7-night next year with Grandkids) You're right....very tough choice! Please keep us advised!

 

BTW - have you checked RCI? Lots to do for kids, but high prices.

[lsmommy]

With a parent travelling alone with 3 kids I would go Disney all the way, Disney really knows how to make kids feel special, and they really help a parent travelling alone with kids. I have done 2 alone with my daughters and we are doing one out of Dover in 2010.

 

The 4 year old will love the ship, and so will the other kids. Lots of people say doing the med is about the ports and not the ship, but with kids your age you probably will not spend all day every day off the ship and it will be nice to have woderful shows in the evening to help relax the kids.

 

With 4 in a CAT 12 you will be upgraded to at least a 11 and the CAT 12 only hold 3.

[Keith1010]

I would go with Disney based on all that you have said. That will give the children the opportunity to enjoy the ship and to pass on some of the touring while you are in port. Or they could do some touring and then enjoy the programs the rest of the time. You have what seems to be a good price. And before you know it the children will be older and not want to go on Disney.

 

Keith

[epixx]

We sailed the Med in August 3 times with our 2 kids, but ships were Carnival and Princess. Go with Disney for the following reasons:

1. As noted by another poster, Eastern Med can be unbearably hot in August. We experiences this last summer in Venice and Pompeii. Your 4 year old will melt.

2. Ports and shore excursions are extremely important on this trip. Save your money on the cruise and spend more on the shore excursions. By the way, I recommend avoiding the ship's excursions. Our kids much preferred when we either did our own excursions or did private tours with or without other roll call members. Avoiding the ship's excursions increased our flexibility to spend more time in areas of the kids' interest.

[epixx]

Inside vs. outside. We sailed the Med twice in an inside cabin and once in an outside cabin. If I sailed again, I would pick the inside. The latter was nice and dark at night and in am, and we saved money to use on shore excursions.

[sandytoes03]

The only thing I can say is that on our Celebrity cruise this summer, there were not very many young people around. The ones we did see looked bored and out of place. Didn't seem to be much that was kid-friendly, or even young adult friendly. I would think that with kids, and being able to play less, Disney would be the better choice. But, our cruise was in Alaska, not the Med. Plus, if you are doing lots of tours and getting off the ship a lot, it might not matter as much.

[boulders]

I chose Disney. When I started to look at the excursions offered by Celebrity and by Disney, it became a no-brainer. I know that independent excursions are the way to go, and I plan to do a couple, but I generally like to be with a larger group. Safety in numbers. It's also cheaper. :D I didn't want to be out all day everyday either and doing ship excursions gives me more flexibility.

 

The Celebrity Med excursions all seemed to be variations of : bus to the ruins, walk around the ruins, drive by another site, look inside a church, shopping. The Disney excursions seemed to have had a lot of thought put into them. There are a lot of kid-friendly and engaging excursions available. Having been on an Adventures by Disney trip, the Disney excursions definitely seemed to be more of what I was looking for.

 

So, I cancelled by Equinox cruise. Sob! I have no doubt that Equinox would have been a fabulous cruise. It's just that the Disney option fit us better.

 

Thanks to everyone for their feedback!

 

Boulders

[lsmommy]

I chose Disney. When I started to look at the excursions offered by Celebrity and by Disney, it became a no-brainer. I know that independent excursions are the way to go, and I plan to do a couple, but I generally like to be with a larger group. Safety in numbers. It's also cheaper. :D I didn't want to be out all day everyday either and doing ship excursions gives me more flexibility.

 

The Celebrity Med excursions all seemed to be variations of : bus to the ruins, walk around the ruins, drive by another site, look inside a church, shopping. The Disney excursions seemed to have had a lot of thought put into them. There are a lot of kid-friendly and engaging excursions available. Having been on an Adventures by Disney trip, the Disney excursions definitely seemed to be more of what I was looking for.

 

So, I cancelled by Equinox cruise. Sob! I have no doubt that Equinox would have been a fabulous cruise. It's just that the Disney option fit us better.

 

Thanks to everyone for their feedback!

 

Boulders

 

I think you made the right choice, your kids will have a great time.

[chipmaster]

Help me decide please! I've never sailed on either line. I'd like to try both. There's me, mom - mid-40's and 3 kids, ds14, dd11 and ds4. We've previously sailed Royal Caribbean and Carnival. While we like Royal, we'd like to try something else. Oldest ds sailed with his grandparents a couple of years ago on HAL in the Med. He liked the food. I've never been to the Med. I studied ancient Rome a ton in school and really want to visit Rome and Pompeii. They're next up on my bucket list.

 

The Celebrity cruise is a 10 day on Equinox, a new ship. It leaves out of Rome (in August) and ends in Venice. It visits Greece, Turkey, Dubrovnik. We have Family Oceanview booked (575 sq ft plus balcony!). I like this itinerary better.

 

There's also Disney's Magic. This 11 day cruise is out of Barcelona in May. The kids (none in high school yet) would miss 7 days of school. I can get an inside guaranty (hoping to be upgraded) for one-third the cost of the Celebrity cruise.This hits Rome and Naples (my must-dos) plus Florence, Tunisia, Malta, and Monte Carlo.

 

The kids priority is the ship. They love the whole cruising experience. DS4 wants to "live" on a ship. He loved both his Royal and his Carnival experiences. The ship is very important to me. The most important though I guess, in addition to the ports, is the availability of kid-friendly excursions. We went on an Adventures by Disney trip to China last year and had a fabulous time. I'd take one of those trips over a cruise any day, but the cost - with no discount for a third or 4th - is prohibitive.

 

Which would you choose?

 

Looks like you already picked and I doubt from a cruise experience point of view you can go wrong with Disney.

 

IMHO European is all about the ports, yes you got evenings and maybe two sea days, but the port lineup is what you'll remember years from now, not the dinner, not the show, yes even your kids. I'd say list the 1 to nth favorite ports and find the cruise that meets your price/schedule. In some sense I felt lucky now that we cruised the year after Disney sailed the Med. I know I would have really wanted to sail Disney for the mouse even with the Premium, but that year the port lineup wasn't my ideal one. If you got Disney and your dream lineup of ports and price too you got your cake and are eating it too!

 

Enjoy

[Eclipsepearl]

We did an Eastern Med cruise with Celebrity. Our kids were 3, 5 & 7 (he had his 8th birthday on board).

 

Celebrity's kids' club was great! They really took good care of them. I did feel my children weren't welcomed in the dining room so we usually ate without them or skipped the sit-down dinner. Part of that, though was because we were with another family who insisted on the late dining, a disaster with our kids!

 

Not only were the ports hot in August but crowded. We're talking wall-to-wall tourists. It will be much better in May. European schools don't get out to early July so things don't get really busy until July and August in that region. Click on the link in my siggy below to see the blog on our trip.

 

This might sound bad but we decided to leave the kids on board. You'll see that we live in Europe so visiting these destinations is not out of the question (we've even been back to Italy twice since). We just decided that for sightseeing in such big crowds, in the heat, when they wouldn't "appreciate" it at their age, wasn't worth it. My dh has a bad back and we were with another couple so there was always an adult on board.

 

They did take the boat in Santorini (didn't get off, just rode it to shore for fun) and I did insist they disembark in Kusadasi to have ice cream and claim they've set foot in Turkey lol!

 

The kids simply loved being on the ship. I think it would have been better on Disney but that wouldn't have worked for the other couple with a teenaged daughter. My dh might not have been zen with it.

 

One small complaint which I mentioned to them was that there was no kids' channel on the T.V. They get ready in the morning to cartoons. We rectified that with the portable DVD player but still, missed the cartoons other cruise lines offer.

 

Yes, there are fewer kids on Celebrity but except for the dining room, they're not made to feel unwelcome (probably because there are fewer of them or the fact we cruised during an obviously kid-heavy period). The club is wonderful so don't hesitate to use them in the future, if it suits you.

 

But I think you've made the best choice this time.

[Onessa]

The only thing I can say is that on our Celebrity cruise this summer, there were not very many young people around. The ones we did see looked bored and out of place. Didn't seem to be much that was kid-friendly, or even young adult friendly. I would think that with kids, and being able to play less, Disney would be the better choice. But, our cruise was in Alaska, not the Med. Plus, if you are doing lots of tours and getting off the ship a lot, it might not matter as much.

 

As a seasoned RCCI/X cruiser who has had a "bad" Disney cruise experience even I'm inclined to agree that the Disney cruise given the OP's choices was the right choice.

1) The price difference is too much to overlook

2) May vs. August -- no contest.

 

We've cruised the Med in late November the past three years -- nothing better. Weather in high 60's low 70's is very conducive to sightseeing. Being the only or one of only a few ships in port is WONDERFUL. Cruising slightly off season will spoil you forever (we've also done AK late May and first week of June -- great time to cruise!)

 

However I do feel I need to pipe in here about the number of kids and the kids' activities. We just got off X's last Solstice Eastern Med cruise of the season (late November) and it was a wonderful trip. DD is 14YO and there were plenty of other teens. There were also plenty of kids and kid's activities. The kids programs are tucked away so it doesn't surprise me that other posters have not seen a lot of kids on their X cruises.

[Eeyoregon]

I have been on both Celebrity and Disney. My vote is Disney 100%. Celebrity is geared much more towards adults..older adults at that. Great cruise line but the kids would have a better time on Disney.

 

My boys both agree that our Disney cruise was our best cruise ever. We loved family karaoke, the 3 restaurant dining rotation, shows at night, pirate party and I loved the private adults only pool area.

[Eeyoregon]

I am surprised that Disney is that much cheaper. Or is it because of category choice?

 

The Disney Med cruises are not selling well. Kids can sail for free with each paying adult in the same cabin on the Disney Med cruises. Wish I could get the time off!

[CeleBrat]

Another cool thing about Disney--at one of their stops on the Eastern European voyages, you can book an excursion which involves a fairytale ball at a castle w/Cinderella.

 

Who else can do that?!?!?!?

 

CeleBrat