Kids and Europe

[gkrnjlr]

We're wanting to do a cruise to Europe in either 2014 or 2015. Our three kids will be ages 11/10/7. What is the best itinerary for taking the kids to Europe?

 

I've never been - so it's all new territory for me, too!

I'm curious what others input would be.

 

We've been tossing around the idea of NCL's Baltic Capitals (Copenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm) or Western Med (Barcelona, Naples, Rome, Florence/Pisa, Marseille and Palma).

 

I haven't toyed with it much, but it also looks like Carnival has a ship that also does one similar that includes Dubrovnik.

 

Any input from others that have been there with or without kids would be appreciated.

 

Thank you!

[Onessa]

We've cruised Europe four time with our DD (now 16YO) and have another trip planned for this summer. DD has also accompanied us on a few land trips to Europe.

 

What itinerary is best for your family is subjective. A couple of things to note -

• Med cruises are more likely to be "beach" friendly than the Baltic. So if beach time is something you are looking for, select itineraries with good beaches (Corfu, Nice, jump to mind immediately -- we are not beach people so I'm less than 100% helpful on this one
  
• Some "sights" are pretty far from where you dock -- Rome, Florence, Athens, Ephesis, Alexandria. If you/your kids don't want a long bus or train trip to get to the sights you may want to minimize those ports.
  
• What are your kids really "into". My DD always did like art, so Florence and Rome and Paris were no brainers -- even at 3-4YO she was engaged in art museums. Other kids, not so much. When she was in sixth grade we took a cruise in November -- Rome and Athens and Pompeii -- they did ancient world history that year and DD could related to the stuff they were talking about in class (the Colossus of Rhodes, the Coliseum, the site of the original Olympics).
  

Do take their interests and their attention span into account.

[6rugrats]

Excellent post above. I would choose the Western Med and Dubrovnik would be a great choice for children.

[gkrnjlr]

We are also not beach people, but it sounds like the Western Med still has a lot to offer. Are there any ports that the ship pulls in and the sights are all close rather than the hour bus trip? I don't think that it'd phase them to travel though.

 

Have you been to the Baltic capitals and could possibly give more info on those locations as well?

 

Thank you for your help!

[hhk1234]

If you are not into the beaches, then I would do the Baltic cruise because that area is not an easy land trip. In other words,I have been on land trips to Italy and France and it is easy to spend a few days in a few cities on land. Going port to port thru the Baltic seems like a nice way to see those cities without committing to a land trip. Also, the previous comment about how far the cities are from port is important. Long bus rides and an all day excursion with kids could be challenging.

[gkrnjlr]

If you are not into the beaches, then I would do the Baltic cruise because that area is not an easy land trip. In other words,I have been on land trips to Italy and France and it is easy to spend a few days in a few cities on land. Going port to port thru the Baltic seems like a nice way to see those cities without committing to a land trip. Also, the previous comment about how far the cities are from port is important. Long bus rides and an all day excursion with kids could be challenging.

 

 

So with kids the Baltic itinerary may be better/easier on them? Are the "sites to see" right there where the ship pulls in typically? Or is there traveling involved with that itinerary as well? We don't mind the traveling, and fortunately the kids are great travelers (we've traveled a lot since birth). They could pop in their ipod and listen to that while on the ride, or take a nap.

 

Thanks!

[BeagleOne]

I've never been on a Baltic cruise, but I went to St. Petersburg when it was still Leningrad and Russia was still the USSR. IMHO everyone should see St. Petersburg in their lifetimes. It is spectacular and in the summer the days last almost 24 hours. Definitely worth a visit.

[kitty9]

If you cruise in July or August, the Med will be oppressively hot and humid, if that makes a difference in your decision. The air conditioning in tour buses is not very good.

[gkrnjlr]

I've never been on a Baltic cruise, but I went to St. Petersburg when it was still Leningrad and Russia was still the USSR. IMHO everyone should see St. Petersburg in their lifetimes. It is spectacular and in the summer the days last almost 24 hours. Definitely worth a visit.

 

St. Petersburg and Helsinki (not sure why) are the ports that are really appealing to me without having done any research.

 

 

If you cruise in July or August, the Med will be oppressively hot and humid, if that makes a difference in your decision. The air conditioning in tour buses is not very good.

 

That does make a difference. Hmm.... I guess I need to do some searching to figure out just how hot it'll be.

 

Thanks!

[lmg1230]

Our first European cruise was in the Baltics and we loved it! Our daughters were 12 and 6 at the time. We chose the Baltics because my husband and I hadn't been to most of the countries and we thought that we were less likely to take land-based vacations to any of them than we would be to the Mediterranean.

 

We spent a few days in Copenhagen prior to the cruise and then went on a 10 day Emerald Princess cruise to Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg (2 nights), Tallinn, Gdansk and Oslo. Other than St. Petersburg and Gdansk we just walked off the ship and did our own thing. For St. Petersburg we booked a 2 day private tour that was excellent. In Gdansk we booked a ship's excursion because of the lengthy distance from port to city and I was concerned about missing the ship.

 

We lucked out on weather on our cruise as we mostly had beautiful sunny days and the temperatures were ideal. We went on a Mediterranean cruise last summer and while we loved all the places we visited, we did find the heat exhausting.

 

Lisa

[gkrnjlr]

Our first European cruise was in the Baltics and we loved it! Our daughters were 12 and 6 at the time. We chose the Baltics because my husband and I hadn't been to most of the countries and we thought that we were less likely to take land-based vacations to any of them than we would be to the Mediterranean.

 

We spent a few days in Copenhagen prior to the cruise and then went on a 10 day Emerald Princess cruise to Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg (2 nights), Tallinn, Gdansk and Oslo. Other than St. Petersburg and Gdansk we just walked off the ship and did our own thing. For St. Petersburg we booked a 2 day private tour that was excellent. In Gdansk we booked a ship's excursion because of the lengthy distance from port to city and I was concerned about missing the ship.

 

We lucked out on weather on our cruise as we mostly had beautiful sunny days and the temperatures were ideal. We went on a Mediterranean cruise last summer and while we loved all the places we visited, we did find the heat exhausting.

 

Lisa

 

This really helps! We have had our eye on the Emerald Princess, however, I think it's now a 12 night or is that a different itinerary than the one you mentioned? One thing about the Princess itinerary that was so appealing was the fact that it stopped in Le Havre for a day.

 

Were there any ports that were on your itinerary that were "do not miss" that we should consider taking Princess instead? Or did the portions mentioned in my original post cover enough?

 

How "bad" is the heat and humidity? When I did a quick search this morning I found that it said 79 was the average for mid July. I find that hard to believe - so I am wondering if I searched something wrong.

 

I'd love to hear more about what you did with the kids in each port - if you happen to remember, still.

 

Thanks!

[Onessa]

Heat/Humidity much less of an issue on the Baltic cruises. Most of the "sights" are relatively close to the port. We did it a few years back and will be on an RCCI cruise in August '12.

 

We are really only planning a "tour" in St. Petersburg this time. Doing the rest on our own.

[boulders]

I took my first Med cruise in May, 2010. The kids were 4, 11, 14. For the excursions far from ports, we took private excursions. We had nice air conditioned Mercedes vehicles to transport us around Rome and Naples. The time in the cars was not an issue. DS4 loved climbing over the ruins in Pompeii.

 

We are going back this summer, in July. Again, we will be doing private excursions. This time, I have private excursions arranged in 5 ports - Rome, Naples, Florence, Athens and Ephesus.

 

Cruises are very nice ways to travel with children. Choose the ports that YOU want to see. The rest will fall into place.

[chipmaster]

IMHO Euiope is ALL about the ports. Its an extreme opinion but I'd pick the ports that interest "you" the adults. The kids will get some culture and I'm sure tire of the many historical things they see. Will that mean they won't have fun or not look back with great memories, no!

 

My kids were 7, 12, and 14 at the time and I was torn between many lines (Disney/RCCL ) that I thought more friendly, in the end I picked the line that did the ports "I" wanted. We did private tours in most ports, that was a huge convenience and critical for comfort. The kids often look back and are in awe of the history they experience. At the time there was a lot of whining :D

 

Take a look at Princess Grand Med: One way Barcelona to Venice with all many of the must do iconic ports in between.

 

We're wanting to do a cruise to Europe in either 2014 or 2015. Our three kids will be ages 11/10/7. What is the best itinerary for taking the kids to Europe?

 

I've never been - so it's all new territory for me, too!

I'm curious what others input would be.

 

We've been tossing around the idea of NCL's Baltic Capitals (Copenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm) or Western Med (Barcelona, Naples, Rome, Florence/Pisa, Marseille and Palma).

 

I haven't toyed with it much, but it also looks like Carnival has a ship that also does one similar that includes Dubrovnik.

 

Any input from others that have been there with or without kids would be appreciated.

 

Thank you!

[Stormhawk]

We did the Western Med, via the NCL Gem, a few years back with an 8 year old. She loved many of the pieces and endured a few for us 'old folk'. She's into art, so the amazing antiquity of that region really pulled at her. We integrated treasure hunt type activities into much of our touring to help give her more than just seeing old stuff, though frankly she stopped worrying about many of the games on most of the tours just overwhelmed absorbing the history and art around her.

 

As some others have mentioned for our group we did private tours, Romeinlimo (http://www.romeinlimo.com/) for all three Italian ports on your list. I highly recommend them, having the sedan and the driver gave us flexibility and a very nice cooling ride between tour elements. They also took us to amazing places to eat for lunch - with your age ranges I would expect the "traditional" Roman flatbread style pizzas would be a big hit. We had everyone order something different, then enjoyed trying a mix of the Italian spin on American favorites and more tradtional local favorites. We also had them organize a guide for Pompeii and the Vatican. For us a great and extremely well priced extra, especially with the little one. When pricing this for a group of 3 it was about 10% more than doing ship tours with large groups, with 5 I suspect its probably a bit cheaper and you see so much more.

 

One of our "family" rules when traveling is that everyone gets to pick 2 must do's and 1 no way to be integrated over the course of the trip. For her on this trip the must do's were (1) the great gellato hunt (could we try more than 50 flavors - yes, yes we could) and (2) Find the perfect leather purse <sigh>. The no way was we couldn't spend more time riding in the car than 'doing stuff'.

 

Hope you have an amazing time!

[lmg1230]

This really helps! We have had our eye on the Emerald Princess, however, I think it's now a 12 night or is that a different itinerary than the one you mentioned? One thing about the Princess itinerary that was so appealing was the fact that it stopped in Le Havre for a day.

 

Were there any ports that were on your itinerary that were "do not miss" that we should consider taking Princess instead? Or did the portions mentioned in my original post cover enough?

 

How "bad" is the heat and humidity? When I did a quick search this morning I found that it said 79 was the average for mid July. I find that hard to believe - so I am wondering if I searched something wrong.

 

I'd love to hear more about what you did with the kids in each port - if you happen to remember, still.

 

Thanks!

 

 

I believe that Princess has changed the itinerary a bit since we cruised in 2009. As others have said, heat and humidity wasn't an issue at all in the Baltics - we were lucky that we had mostly sunny weather and warm but nothing like the heat of the Mediterranean. I have trip reports on my blog describing in detail what we did in each of the ports - the link to the blog is in my signature if you would like to take a look.

 

Lisa

[hhk1234]

Le Havre would be an awesome port. Deauville is so beautiful and visiting the beaches of Normandy is amazing. We did it on land. One of my favorite vacations. I think it would be totally doable as a port day.

 

We just did our first cruise in the Caribbean with kids, 9 and 11, and waking up and seeing a new port is so exciting for the kids (and us), and I have a new appreciation for the Baltic cruise that I didnt have before. As someone else said though, go to the ports that interest you and your family the most.

[Keith1010]

We're wanting to do a cruise to Europe in either 2014 or 2015. Our three kids will be ages 11/10/7. What is the best itinerary for taking the kids to Europe?

 

I've never been - so it's all new territory for me, too!

I'm curious what others input would be.

 

We've been tossing around the idea of NCL's Baltic Capitals (Copenhagen, Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm) or Western Med (Barcelona, Naples, Rome, Florence/Pisa, Marseille and Palma).

 

I haven't toyed with it much, but it also looks like Carnival has a ship that also does one similar that includes Dubrovnik.

 

Any input from others that have been there with or without kids would be appreciated.

 

Thank you!

 

First off this is excellent. We took our kids on a Mediterranean cruise and they loved it at ages around those of your children.

 

I would consider both itinerary and the ship because in the end the kids will appreciate having other kids their ages on the ship.

 

I'll give you some advice.

 

These types of cruises can be very port intensive and many ports can involve long day excursions. Find balance to all of this by not scheduling full day tours in all ports because that is not only challenging for the kids but also even for their parents.

 

I would go with a Mediterranean cruise for their first cruise to Europe. It tends to be more popular with families/kids.

 

Look carefully at the ports of embarkation and disembarkation for each of traveling by airplane.

 

Arrive to the port of embarkation a few days before the cruise. This way flight delays don't cause you to miss the ship plus you can tour the city and also get over the jet lag.

 

Princess in my opinion offers not only some very nice itineraries for the Mediterranean but I truly believe they offer a nice balance for both the parents and the children.

 

Yes, the Med will be hot in July but you live in Charleston, SC so that is nothing new for you and the family.

 

Keith

[soxfan1495]

We went to the Western Med on the Disney Magic during the summer two years ago, when our kids were 13 and 9. The itinerary included Barcelona, Tunis, Malta, Naples, Rome, Livorno, Corsica and Villefranche. As someone else mentioned, private tours help, since when you are on a private tour you have the most flexibility. Much will of course depends on your kids and what they want to do. But for us, each port was great in its own way. An itinerary like Barcelona to Venice would be ideal. Even though it was warm, this did not bother us, except when we were in Tunis. We liked the Mediterranean so much, we are planning a visit to the Eastern Med/Adriatic in the summer of 2013 (probably Celebrity Silhouette from Venice).

[crawtaterfamily]

We recently returned from a baltic cruise with our kids ages 9 and 12. My review is posted here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=106938

 

Whatever cruise you choose, have a great time!

[hal2000]

IMHO Euiope is ALL about the ports. Its an extreme opinion but I'd pick the ports that interest "you" the adults. The kids will get some culture and I'm sure tire of the many historical things they see. Will that mean they won't have fun or not look back with great memories, no!

 

This is what we did, going to historical sites rather than beaches and it worked out amazingly: we took our boys, then aged 7 and 10, on the Eastern Med for 12 nights visiting Rome, Athens, and Cairo and it was phenomenal. Enough so that we're now planning a trip to the Baltic. The things that mattered to us:

 

* We did go in October (which meant missing school) so the weather was great -- I think we would have found it hard to be in Rome and certainly Egypt in mid-summer. The crowds were also down.

 

* Although a land trip to Italy would be amazing, a cruise really was a great way to get a snapshot of famous places. It does seem to have impacted their view of the world that now when they see a famous site we've been to, they say "Hey, we were there!" or "I want to go there someday!"

 

* We spent months prepping for it, which was really half the fun for me, and I think that made a big difference to the kids. I wrote down all of the books and movies and gave them to their teachers, so we have a record of that. Even silly kid movies that just took place in the city meant that our boys were familiar with the sites.

 

* We chose a cruise that went roundtrip from Rome, because that was a city we wanted to see, and we spent 4 days there ahead of time. We also found that our older son could process more info about more cities (based on his age and personality) and our younger son could really only focus on two cities: Rome and Cairo. We're doing the same thing with our upcoming trip: roundtrip from England because we really want to go to London, and for the younger son we'll focus [prep-wise] mostly on London and St. Petersburg. For our older boy, we'll prep for all the cities.

 

* We saved by booking all four of us in an inside cabin, and splurged by doing some private tours. We also did some ship tours and one day on our own, in Rhodes. This worked well enough that it's our plan for next time, too, although we'll probably do more ports on our own for the Baltic.

 

* Sea days really mattered to the kids: we had 4 of them, and that was perfect. I'd planned on relaxing on those days, but they kids said directly that they'd do what we wanted on in ports, but we had to do what they wanted. This did make sense, so we spent a lot of time on the Sports Deck.

 

* We pushed the kids too hard at times, and I have a photo of our 7-year old sitting in Pompeii with his Mad Face because he had had enough of walking -- we'd walked for about 4 hours at that point. But I can't exactly say I regret it, although I'm glad that that was a site where we did a private tour so we could adjust it a bit. [That was a long day: Herculaneum, Pompeii, and then a drive up the coast a bit, which he slept during.]

 

Good luck, whichever itinerary you end up taking.

[mary_228]

IMHO Euiope is ALL about the ports. Its an extreme opinion but I'd pick the ports that interest "you" the adults. The kids will get some culture and I'm sure tire of the many historical things they see. Will that mean they won't have fun or not look back with great memories, no!

Since this is your first trip to Europe, I agree that you should choose the ports that best match your interests. The children will have a good time no matter where they travel, mostly because of the cruise itself! An itinerary all of us greatly enjoyed was Princess' British Isles 12 nt cruise. I tried to divide up what we'd do at each of the the nine ports, so we'd have a one with a castle, one with a natural scenic beauty, one city tour, one historic battleground, etc. Of course there was some overlap, but this was a wonderful itinerary for the summer. Having just sailed in the Med in July, I can truthfully say that I will do the cooler climes in the summer in the future. There is a reason the natives leave Rome in August ;)

[SadieN]

Rome is in the 90s now with humidity so high it is hard to breathe. Very few places have airconditioning. There is a reason you see Romans & southern Italians all over Northern Europe in the summer.

 

DD studies in Rome and has some interesting public transportation, weather and differences in hygiene stories.:eek:

[kestrel]

We have taken our 3 kids on both Med and Baltic cruises. Yes, it's hot and humid in summer if you take a Med cruise. However, considering your children's ages, I think they would have learned about Rome, Pompeii and Greece at school, and will enjoy the Med ports better.