New Cruiser Looking at Disney Magic 10 Day Mediterranean Cruise - July 2018

[Tink-r-Bell]

Hi Everyone!!

 

I am looking at booking my first cruise ever and would love some advice!

 

I have always wanted to go to Italy so am interested in booking the 10-day Med cruise in July. At the time of departure, I will have a 5-year old and 9-year old. This seems like a great happy medium of a trip - I get Italy and we all get the fun of Disney. My question pertains to all the ports we visit. They look fantastic but is it too much? Are we going to be so exhausted every night that we don't get to enjoy what the ship has to offer? I am nervous about missing out at port excursions or on the ship. Any tips here?

 

Has anyone used a Rick Steves guide to visit the ports?

 

Also, I currently have a reservation held with the second dining option - I am nervous that my 5 year old will be too tired. I keep reading great things about the second seating but am not sure if that would be too late. I do like that we wouldn't be in such a rush and I guess I could always feed her a snack when we get back to ship in case she passes out...

 

Palo at brunch or dinner? Really, what is best?

 

Thank you in advance!!

[Scrapnana]

You could have your child eat right at the start of the serving (servers will quickly bring things from the kid's menu) and then the kid's club staff collect the children right from the dining room.

 

A Med cruise is tiring. Rick Steves books are very good. Maybe you could do some research and find just a couple of things you really want to do/see at each port and not come back each day quite so tired.

[fishywood]

With the caveat that I have neither sailed on Disney Cruise Line nor with young children:

Late sitting is way too late for a five year old. Unless your family has already adopted the South American/Continental European custom of not dining until 9:00 every night you are going to have a nightly battle on your hands. And while I understand Disney tries to seat families of similar demographics together in the dining rooms, it is unlikely your tablemates will be expecting a kindergartner at late dinner. I'm also led to believe that Disney ships schedule the times of their evening activities for children under the assumption that any family with pre-teens or younger will have chosen the early dinner seating.

 

As for the ports: definitely research using a reliable up to date guidebook. Pick one or two main priorities for each port. Compare what you wish to see to the all-day excursions offered by Disney; you will want to adopt a more leisurely pace than the tour buses take. And a good way to avoid overload is to pick one port to only be off the ship half the day: between breakfast and lunch, or lunch and dinner. You have to at least once have a leisurely lunch and relaxation time while the vast majority of your fellow passengers are ashore; will help you appreciate the ship that much more.

Edited August 3, 2017 by fishywood

[Californiacruizers]

Since it is such a port intensive trip you may not get to experience all the bells and whistles of the Disney ship.

[msmayor]

A 10-night Med cruise seems very ambitious for a very first cruise with young children.

 

You may want to consider taking a short 4 or 5 night cruise first, to see how well the children manage. You'll spend a LOT of money on a Disney Med cruise and it would be awful to get two nights in and discover that the kids aren't managing as well as you'd hoped.