Anyone sail Med or Baltics with kids under 4?

[koalagurl]

We are back from our Med cruise, and we had a blast!!!

 

We ended up only doing excursions in Livorno and Rome, as we had already had a crazy week leading up to the cruise (Orlando, wedding in England). So after Rome, we were ready to enjoy the Epic while everyone else was in port.

 

Livorno - We used Rome in Limo and went to Pisa and Lucca. FANTASTIC day, everyone's favorite. We had a group of 10 (4 kids ages 1 - 6). Pisa was really just a quick photo stop, since it was what the kids wanted to see (thank you Little Einsteins!) After Pisa we went to Lucca and had a quick little driving tour. We stopped for gelato / pizza (and potty break) inside the old amphitheater (?). After we saw a church (a more modern church with an older one underneath.) Silly me didn't pay attention to the name. :( After a small bit of driving around, our drivers took us to a bike rental shop, and we rented bikes (they had all sorts...some 4+ seater bikes, bikes with an infant type carrier, bikes with the toddler carriage behind). We spent about 1 1/2 hours biking around the walled city, stopping at a few of the playgrounds up on the wall. After that, we went up to a winery for a quick wine tour, and a tasting with a light lunch. HEAVENLY!!

 

Rome - again we used Rome in Limo, and we did most of the "highlights." Some things (like the Spanish Steps) we just drove by, which was just fine with us. We did get out of the car for the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, St. Pauls basilica, the Pantheon, and the Vatican. We also had a nice lunch near the Vatican arranged by our driver (Mauro). It was a nice family style meal with wine and Limoncello. Definitely needed before taking on the Vatican. We had Emiliano as our Vatican guide and he was great at just pointing out a few interesting things for the kids (e.g. an Emperor's bath tub vs. a rich man's bath tub.) Made it about as fun as it could be for the 6 and under crowd. It was an exhausting day, but Rome in Limo made it as fun as possible. (They were key in helping us with bathrooms for the little ones too.)

 

The rest of the cruise we spent enjoying the ship (and still we left many stones unturned on the Epic.)

[lmg1230]

We just returned last night from our E. Mediterranean cruise and had a wonderful time! The biggest challenges for us in Athens, Istanbul and Kusadasi were the crowds and the heat - with the time of year that you are travelling that shouldn't be as much of an issue. We had a driver in Athens and private guides in Istanbul and Kusadasi - our Turkish guides were amazing in both ports. I found Turkey to be very family-friendly - our younger daughter had just turned 8 and people were very friendly and making a fuss over her (which she loved). She spent most of the time in Istanbul walking hand in hand with our guide and he insisted on buying her little presents which she was absolutely delighted with. I loved Istanbul - it is very different from any other place that I have visited and very beautiful and historic.

 

Lisa

[globalhoneymooning]

Thanks for coming back and posting your experiences. We've booked private tours in Ephesus and Cairo so far and planning to do Athens and Istanbul on our own with the kids. The temps should be more comfortable for us.