12 day mediterranean cruise

[aleighjc]

We're planning to arrive to the city we leave from a few days early so it will end up being a 15-16 day trip. We have a four yearold daughter that will be going with us. We've gone on plenty of trips before, but usually only a week long. Any suggestions? Tips?

[chipmaster]

Welcome to CC, your question is devoid of much detail.

 

Having done a 12 day with couple day add on in Venice and Barcelona with kids and 80 year parents in tow I can say that it will be a challenge. It has much less to do with the length but the type of vacation this is.

 

The young and old tire easily, the old at least are mature enough to appreciate the wonderful sights and understand its a very port intensive cruise with lots of ruins and history. The very young much less so. If you are planning to do lots of port activities, plan private tours versus the big bus affairs or consider leaving your child on the ship. I did that twice with my 8 year old and she loved the kids club.

 

good luck!

 

We're planning to arrive to the city we leave from a few days early so it will end up being a 15-16 day trip. We have a four yearold daughter that will be going with us. We've gone on plenty of trips before, but usually only a week long. Any suggestions? Tips?

[Keith1010]

We're planning to arrive to the city we leave from a few days early so it will end up being a 15-16 day trip. We have a four yearold daughter that will be going with us. We've gone on plenty of trips before, but usually only a week long. Any suggestions? Tips?

 

The key is to pace yourself.

 

Mediterranean cruises tend to be very port intensive.

 

When you sign up for shore excursions make them around four hours and not full day tours which can be hard on anyone particularly someone quite young.

 

Be sure to bring snacks on these excursions for your daughter.

 

Time of the year is a factor. Are you going in the Summer or in the Fall or the Spring. In the Summer it will be a lot more hot and humid so just factor that into your tour planning.

 

Again, pace yourself so that everyone feels rested each day.

 

Keith

[aleighjc]

Thanks for the advice. I did think my question was a little to open and not specific, but at this point I'm not even sure what kind of advice I'm looking for. I know she will get bored at times but thankfully she is very well behaved and I plan to bring some simple art activites(stick stickers on xyz, no glue or cutting needed) and a few new little toys that we will give her here and there during the trip. The length of outings is a great thing to point out. I noticed a 9 hour bus trip and I told my husband no way. Do they allow food off the boat for a Med cruise? I know when we went on another cruise they didn't, but not sure if it's the same for a Med one.. We are going in Sept so I think it will be around the 70s daily? hopefully..?

[Softtop67]

We are doing a 12 day Med Cruise with our 4 and 5yr olds in Oct. One of the things we started doing is picking some books whose topics relate to the places we are going. I have been able to find many child appropriate books on Greek Mythology and the city of Venice. This has help discussions about the trip and I hope will enable for a bit more interest when we are there

[Kerry's Girls]

Thanks for the advice. I did think my question was a little to open and not specific, but at this point I'm not even sure what kind of advice I'm looking for. I know she will get bored at times but thankfully she is very well behaved and I plan to bring some simple art activites(stick stickers on xyz, no glue or cutting needed) and a few new little toys that we will give her here and there during the trip. The length of outings is a great thing to point out. I noticed a 9 hour bus trip and I told my husband no way. Do they allow food off the boat for a Med cruise? I know when we went on another cruise they didn't, but not sure if it's the same for a Med one.. We are going in Sept so I think it will be around the 70s daily? hopefully..?

 

You can take pre-packaged food off the ship, and I found it was important to have plenty of snacks, treats and drinks along while we toured. I brought a bunch from home and you can take the individual cereal boxes from the breakfast buffet.

 

My 5 year old twins girls (they turned five on our trip) had an amazing time on our 12 day, port-intensive cruise. I went to the ports of call board here for each port and asked about kid-friendly things to see and created our own plans for each port. I think staying away from the ship tours is absolute key to a successful Med trip with kids. Either sightsee on your own where it's easy, or arrange a private tour (which was always MUCH less expensive than the ship tour for us, and we got to see only what we wanted to see on our own timing). We also joined our roll call here on cruise critic and in a couple ports joined up with some other families on private tours, which brought the price per person significantly down. We stayed away from churches and museums and stopped at every playground we came across to play with local children.

 

Before we left, we looked at pictures of lots of the places we were going, which built anticipation and made them excited when they spotted the real places in person.

 

We missed a lot of "must sees" in each place (especially museums), but the joy of experiencing Europe from a kid's point of view, and all the extra contact we had with locals who doted on the kids made the trip even more special.

 

I did leave my girls on the ship in our last port (Malta) because they were tired (so was I). But I didn't want to push them past their limits.

 

If you let us know where you're going, I'm sure lots of us could help you with planning your days.

 

All the best,

Mia