Cruising with Kids in Italy and Spain

[sherineloh]

Hi,

My husband and I would like to bring our 2 kids age 5 and 7 to Europe.

I am from Malaysia and somehow I can't seem to see the prices of MSC cruises from the country selections (I can only view prices if I chose US but it strictly states US citizens only).

I am not sure if I can book a cruise myself or I will have to do it thru an agent. Is the kids cruise free promo available worldwide for international customers?

Also I have heard that cruising is a great way to see Europe with kids (particularly interested in Italy and Spain. I am not sure if this is true? I have some questions:

 

 

1. Would strollers be possible if I were to join the excursions from MSC?

( I was just in Tokyo and the strollers were a life saver. We could see a lot more and at a much faster pace than waiting for kids to walk or worst carrying them).

2. Can I do my own excursions without having to book MSC excursions? Are the ports near enough to the attractions? Or would it be just more worth the trouble paying for the excursions?

3. Would you get to see much as I noted that the stops are like super short. Eg. Barcelona 13:00 to 18:00 and some other Italian ports have pretty short ground time.

[hylasgirl]

Hi,

My husband and I would like to bring our 2 kids age 5 and 7 to Europe.

I am from Malaysia and somehow I can't seem to see the prices of MSC cruises from the country selections (I can only view prices if I chose US but it strictly states US citizens only).

I am not sure if I can book a cruise myself or I will have to do it thru an agent. Is the kids cruise free promo available worldwide for international customers?

Also I have heard that cruising is a great way to see Europe with kids (particularly interested in Italy and Spain. I am not sure if this is true? I have some questions:

 

 

1. Would strollers be possible if I were to join the excursions from MSC?

( I was just in Tokyo and the strollers were a life saver. We could see a lot more and at a much faster pace than waiting for kids to walk or worst carrying them).

2. Can I do my own excursions without having to book MSC excursions? Are the ports near enough to the attractions? Or would it be just more worth the trouble paying for the excursions?

3. Would you get to see much as I noted that the stops are like super short. Eg. Barcelona 13:00 to 18:00 and some other Italian ports have pretty short ground time.

 

Cruising is a fantastic way to see Europe! And a great way to travel with kids.

 

As for booking your cruise, I would always use an agent. It won't cost you anymore to use one, and their expertise is going to be your best link with finding all the information you want before your cruise.

 

MSC would not be my first choice for a Mediterranean cruise. But that is a personal opinion. I would look at Celebrity. Far better ships… awesome ports. You can't go wrong.

 

Anywhere you can book a private excursion, I would do so. Ship tours are overpriced and are nowhere near as good. Once you book your cruise, find your Roll Call and meet up with others to share tours with you and your family. And you will see the major sites on any itinerary if you pay for a tour. You'll definitely want to tour the major cities like Rome, Florence and Naples for instance.

 

I don't know of any tour that would include a stroller. I'm thinking you would have to bring your own.

 

Good luck! And if there are any other questions, please feel free to ask :)

[John Bull]

Kids cruise free is a strong incentive to cruise with MSC, other cruise lines offer deals for kids but MSC's is about as good a deal as you'll get.

Yes, that deal is available to customers from all countries.

Plus, Italians love kids.

And MSC's ships are extremely good - the youngest fleet on the ocean, immaculately maintained & very stylish.

 

But although I'll disagree with hylagirl about which fleet has the best ships (a moot point, anyway), there's downsides to cruising with MSC:

 

Most customers are Italian. They tend to be very noisy & boisterous, and they won't stand in line - they'll just elbow their way to the front. They'll do it with a smile, they're very friendly, but standing in line just isn't what Italians do.:rolleyes:

 

Italian is the predominant language, announcements etc are in a number of languages, starting with Italian. And it gets to be quite wearing.

If asked a difficult question or one which they don't want to answer, they suddenly don't understand English quite so well :rolleyes: (neat trick :D)

On other ships there's also often a number of languages but since English is ship's first language it's not so bad.

BTW, I don't wish to sound patronising, but your writing in English is perfect. And your phraseology suggests it's your first language. If your spoken English is half as good you'll have no problem on ships. Or in Mediterranean ports & cities because English is fairly widely spoken.

 

Food on Italian ships tends to be Italian. That may be obvious to some of us, but some people are taken by surprise - very limited cooked breakfast? Lots of small courses for dinner? Lots of pasta? No coffee after dinner?

 

Those short hours in port are quite common on MSC & the other major Italian line, Costa.

Italians sail the Mediterranean for the cruise, the ports are less important.

For other nationalities, especially those from faraway places like Malaysia & the USA, the Mediterranean ports are much more important, so US & British ships generally have much more time in port.

Most folk on Cruise Critic would agree that a half-day in Barcelona is a nonsense.

 

All of which is a long-winded way of saying don't sail an Italian ship. Not for a first cruise at least, & not without careful research.

Choice amongst US & British ships is subjective - it'll depend on your tastes & pocket.

But choice of cruise line is much less important in the Med than choice of ports.

 

Yes, strollers are normally not a problem on excursions, but I think you'll need to bring your own - website & brochure descriptions are usually very good at telling people which excursions involve a lot of steps or steep climbs or rough ground.

 

And yes, ports are usually either very close to attractions or there's cheap & easy transport. It does vary a lot, for instance in Barcelona there's a free shuttle bus from ship to port gate, & Las Ramblas is only a 5 minute walk from the port gate. But at the other extreme, Rome is over an hour from the port of Civitavecchia, though the train is cheap.

 

Although most ships offer more time in port than MSC, the limited time in port is perhaps the biggest down-side of cruising. Sometimes there's an overnight in port in places like Venice or Istanbul, but on average time in port is around 9am to 5pm, then the ship leaves for the next port.

So I suggest you spend a few days at your embarkation port (places like Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Athens or Istanbul) so that you can at least do justice to one of those places. Also avoids problems if your flight is cancelled or delayed, and those who fly in the same day as their cruise starts see nothing of that city except the road from airport to port.

Even better if you can find a one-way cruise, such as Venice to Rome, then you can do the same at your disembarkation port.

Just my opinion, but if you have, say 14 days, better to choose a 10 day cruise plus 4 days before or after, rather than a 14 day cruise.

 

Finally, since you are from Malaysia & especially if it's your first cruise, use a cruise-specialist travel agent rather than a general travel agent or direct with the cruise line.

You may get a better deal financially, more important you have someone who can advise you about everything from visas & passports to cabins & dining options.

Although plenty of folk here on Cruise Critic can help you with a lot of things, there are some things like visas for Malaysian travellers that we're unlikely to be able to help with.

 

All JMHO as always.

 

Have fun choosin', have fun cruisin'

 

JB :)

Edited November 5, 2013 by John Bull

[sherineloh]

My GOSH. Thank you so much John Bull and Hylasgirl.

Awesome tips and information.

You don't know how much help you've been.

 

I will definitely have a look at the option of other cruises besides MSC.

Yeah the short stops at Barcelona (one of the main places I want to see) is absurd. I will most likely take embark from Rome.

 

I really don't mind the culture or the differences in food. My kids can adjust well. I will bring strollers as we just can't expect kids to walk the whole day or us carrying them.

 

Thanks again.

[hylasgirl]

My GOSH. Thank you so much John Bull and Hylasgirl.

Awesome tips and information.

You don't know how much help you've been.

 

I will definitely have a look at the option of other cruises besides MSC.

Yeah the short stops at Barcelona (one of the main places I want to see) is absurd. I will most likely take embark from Rome.

 

I really don't mind the culture or the differences in food. My kids can adjust well. I will bring strollers as we just can't expect kids to walk the whole day or us carrying them.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

You will love cruising! It's become an addiction of mine :) There are some fabulous itineraries leaving out of Barcelona which would give you as much time as you wanted there pre or post cruise. It's a very idea cruising port. Rome is one of my favorite places to cruise from (or Civitavecchia as it is) because it's harder to tour as a port stop. But most cruises that I have been on give you 12 hours in places like Florence, Rome and Naples.

 

There are so many cruise deals for the Mediterranean that I don't think you have to focus on any one ship. But, with kids and all, I would look into a newer Royal Caribbean ship or Celebrity.

[Morgans]

MSC cruises can be much cheaper for families as they offer free (or much reduced) places for children. Some of the other companies have much higher charges for children. This may be a consideration. Their ships are certainly spectacular.

[gatorsfam]

That sounds great! We sailed on an Adriatic cruise a few years back with our 4 children and LOVED IT! They are port-heavy itineraries, but we figure you hit the ground running each day and crawl back to the ship early afternoon ;)

 

As I recall we did a couple ship excursions and booked others on our own and it worked well. We had a stroller for our youngest and it was fine - just a simple umbrella stroller that the airlines were kind enough to lose for us on the return trip home :P

 

Cruising is a great way to see Europe as a family - we hope to get back over there this summer and take in a Baltic and Med cruise if we can swing it!