children on med cruise

[luvdasea]

vacation happy, I would like to stay in Rome precruise also. Was it hard to get from Rome to the ship? Did you use a private tour company?

[Miss Jolly]

We took our 10 and 12 year old on a Med cruise in August and they loved it! We are planning on going again in 2008. Since there is alot of sightseeing, I think it is important to break it up with kid-friendly activities. We went on Princess - Greek Isle Itinerary - it really helped when we went to Mykonos, Rhodes and Corfu becasue we spent those days at the beach and casualy wandering around the port towns. At all the other stops we toured all day long. We spent 3 nights in Rome pre-cruise and two nights in Venice post-cruise.

 

The kids liked Santorini (for the shopping and uniqueness), Mykonos for the beach and Venice for Venice. They loved Pompeii, wandering around Rome, Pisa as well as some of the smaller villages that we visted - St. Paul de Vence, Volterra, and San Gimignano. They didn't care for Athens or Katakalon.

 

In the evenings, they kids watched movies or swam in the pool...they just relaxed. We never rushed to dinner (Personal Choice dining) so sail away was always a treat and a relaxing time for all of us.

 

I think the trip will be successful if you plan enough but not too much and give the kids some down time so they are not too tired. On tour days, there were no complaints because they knew something relaxing and fun was coming up for them. Corfu has a great family waterpark if you want ot unwind.

 

Both of my kids ended up using photos and their journals in school for World Civ projects and Latin classes. The recorded the info they learned on the tours in their journals and it came in handy in school the following year - both received extra credit for the newly found insight.

 

It was a family trip of a lifetime - can't wait to do it again.

We will be taking our 2 young teens on HAL Rotterdam for 39 days in August/September. I was interested in the fact that your children liked the shopping in Santorini. What were they particularly interested in? Could you please give me some more details of the water park in Corfu? We will actually be there on my daughter's 14th birthday so that could be a fun venue. Thank you for your help.

Jennie

[betonic]

mahdnc - Some of your stops are going to be new to me this year and I'm researching now like Dubrovnik, Santorini, and Athens. But I'll tell you what we did in the other stops.

 

Naples - We hired a very kid-friendly private driver and toured the Amalfi Coast. My son was very impressed with the narrow curvy roads and the beautiful views. We stopped often for shopping annd eating. We liked this area so much that this year our pre-cruise stay will be in Positano.

 

Pisa/Florence - Also had a private tour that took us to Pisa and then to Florence. We didn't do any museums last year because the adults had already been and I didn't think my son was really ready.

 

Rome - We were there 3 days pre-cruise so we did some out of the ordinary things. We went to the Zoo and to an amusement park!!! I know it sounds crazy but it was a great way to break up the day after going to the vatican or a museum.

 

Villafrance - We docked in Monte Carlo and have friends living there so they took us to see the gardens and to lunch and then to Nice for walking and people watching. We were going to see the aquarium but never made it. I was also in Villafrance once when we hired a driver to see the countryside and that was amazing.

 

Barcelona - We took a taxi to the Chocalate Museum and then just walked around. I think the Barcelona Zoo is right around the corner from the Chocalate Museum. There's also a famous amusement park up on the side of Barcelona that we planned to see but my son wanted to go back on the ship and swim in the pool that day.

 

I hope that some of my ideas help you. I do think that doing things on a private tour or on our own is the trick, I've never taken a bus tour with my son.

 

Vacationhappy - I'd also like to know about the Corfu waterpark and also whether you took a tour in Santorini??? Also the cities that your kids didn't like so much, was there anything you would suggest to make it better???

 

luvdesea - I'm not vacationhappy but after our Rome pre-cruise we took a half day tour in the morning and the driver left us at the ship. It was super easy and we didn't waste a whole day.

 

Saludos

[vacationhappy]

Hi -

 

Corfu - Here is the link for Aqualand in Corfu http://www.aqualand-corfu.com - it is about a 20 min ride from the port. Have fun!

 

Rome - I arranged for transportation from the aorport to our hotel and then from our hotel to the port with Roma Shuttle - they were competitively priced, on time and polite. We stayed at the Albergo Cesari - a small hotel located right in the heart of Rome. It wasn't fancy but it was fine for a few days. I highly recommend the location, it is very centrally located - we walked just about everywhere. It was 4 blocks from Piaza anvona with Pantheon square on the way. It was 4 blocks in the other direction to the Trevi fountain. In between were quite a few outdoor restaurants and touristy shops. I picked up a handmade leather backpack/purse from a shop down one of the side streets - it is gorgeous. It was about 1.5 mif rom the Vatican - we walked to the Vatican, through the neighborhoods, checked out he locals, but then took a cab back.

 

Santorini - we did not take a tour. I think our experience would have been compromised if we had taken a formal tour. Santorini is one of those places where you jus want to wander around. We started in Fira, my husband and daughter took the donkeys up and I and my other daughter took the cable car. Fira has lots of shops with fun gauzy clothing, coral and silver jewelry. The prices and selection for gauzy clothing we very good, the best in our entire trip - fun flouncy skirts, sundresses and tops. The jewelry was also beautiful. We took the local bus to Oia for more shopping and lunch. We found "more exclusive" shops in Oia and purchased some one-of-kind pieces. We ate lunch in a taverna overlooking Oia and it was spectacular. Everywhere we looked the scenary was breathtaking. Even the local bus ride was amusing - it was fun for my kids to see other teens from all over the world kicking back in a beach community.

[vacationhappy]

As far as the cities my kids didn't like - after viewing the Parthenon and Acropolis, I think I would have called it a day. The day we were there it was over 100 degrees F. We toured the Acropilis early in the AM and then we went to Olympic Park, watched the changing of the guard and headed down to Sounion. There was also a plane crash that day so our planned route had to be detoured which resulted in a ton of traffic. Looking back, I would have only toured the Acropolis and the surrounding area even if it wasn't 100F and there wasn't a plane crash. Sounion was alot of work for very little payoff. It was a long, long ride and it looked like every other ruin we had seen on our trip. Live and learn.

 

Katakalon was boring. We did not really care for the Olympic ruins - just OK. We only spent an hour and then went back to the ship to chill out - it was towards the end of the trip and by this point , we were "ruined" out. Having said that, the water was like the Caribbean, beautiful blue with lots of fish and if we were to stop there again, I would find a beach.

[luvdasea]

vacationhappy and betonic- thanks for your wealth of information!:)

[mahdnc]

yes, thanks betonic for the info.

 

yikes, vacationhappy, we are planning on doing the Acropolis and Cape Sounion tour with our kids in June.

[kestrel]

Athens - We (family of 5) visited the Acropolis and Ancient Agora in the morning, and then took metro to the National Archaeological Museum. The museum has very good collections, and is air-conditioned :)

[fendere]

I&MsMom-

 

We are doing the western med itinerary on the Carnival Freedom- too bad we aren't on the same sailing! I'm really worried there aren't going to be many kids our children's ages on this cruise (our two will be 5 and 8 then). On our roll call all the kids are 12 and up, mostly teens. That will make this a whole new experience for us, since in the past my kids never wanted to leave the kids' camp because of all the new friends they make. Uh-oh. I wish there was a way to find out how many children are scheduled for the cruise.

 

Betonic- On the Barcelona Chocolate Museum, I looked into going because I had read about it on Disney cruiseline's website as one of their excursions (we first were booked to do the Disney med). It looked great because the kids would be able to design their own chocolate sculpture. I emailed the museum directly to see if this was possible and it wasn't since we weren't a group. Did your 6 year old get to participate in an activity at the musuem? WOuld you mind telling me a little about what you did there? We'll be there on a Friday and i know they have these activities for the public on the weekends. Looking on their website i was a little afraid it wouldn't be as young kid friendly as I had originally thought when hearing about it. I'm glad to hear you had such a good time there.

 

Did anyone take your kids up Mt. Etna in Sicily? We had planned to go to Taormina, walk around and then take the cable to the beach for the kids to explore. However, our roll call is now organizing a large group tour that includes both Taormina and Mt. Etna. It doesn't go to the very top, but goes to 2000 m. and supposedly you get to view some new lava flows. Along with these two sights, however, they are including other stops in little towns along the way. It sounds like the bus would be mostly adults, teens and then my two little ones. Not sure how that would go. I DO know they'd love to see the lava though! :)

[fendere]

luvdasea-

 

I will definitely post a review when getting back! I've not found all that many detailed reviews involving young children for the med cruises and it would've been very helpful for planning.

 

I, too, am trying to decide on transportation from Rome to the port on embarkation day. We are staying in Rome 2 nights before and a bunch from our roll call are taking the train together. Again, all their kids are older and can carry their own suitcases. We, on the other hand, will have to carry our kid's luggage. I have been increasingly becoming more and more paranoid with all of the warnings on luggage/belongings on trains. I think it might be more stressful than it is worth for us to ride the train, though we'd save a bunch of money! The private transfer will cost around 160 euros from hotel to port. Ouch! Anybody with young kids have any advice, either who have done the train with all the luggage to civitavecchia or taken a private car?

[SelectSys]

yes, thanks betonic for the info.

 

yikes, vacationhappy, we are planning on doing the Acropolis and Cape Sounion tour with our kids in June.

 

We did the Acropolis tour with our kids in June, the weather was not too hot for us - mid/high 80's.

 

I agree with VacationHappy that cruising is way easier than a land tour. I have never been on one myself and couldn't image a daily 7:00AM call to pack up and get on the bus. Doesn't sound like too much fun.

[betonic]

Fendere - We were in Barcelona on a Sunday. I also sent them an e-mail requesting that my son participate in some of their activities. They responded that they didn't have space the day we were going to be there. We saw a childrens' birthday party going on in that area when we got there. So no, my son didn't get to make anything but he still really enjoyed the place. You can see the whole thing in 2 hours. My son then bought a chocolate for each of the kids in his class at the gift shop. I just asked him what he liked the best about the museum and he says "seeing how they make the chocolate, the chocolate statues and eating the chocolates!!!!"

 

Also don't worry about having a few kids on you cruise. On our transatlantic there were only 4 kids and my son still had a fabulous time!!!

[I&MsMom]

Fendere: I'm thinking if there aren't a lot of young children, the kids will have the counselors to themselves and make friends with them! Plus, it's such a port intensive itinerary, I expect we'll only use the camp on sea days, and maybe a little after dinner, depending on how tired they are.

 

We've been to Taormina. It's very quaint, but I'm not sure what you're expecting beach-wise. It's more of a cove than an actual beach and it's relatively small. It's picturesque, but it in no way resembles a Caribbean beach. There's little surf (which I consider a good thing with young children, but you and/or the kids may not). Not sure when you will be there? We found tons of great beach glass there!

 

Also, we're planning to take the train from Rome to Venice and then from Venice to Civitavecchia prior to the cruise. However, we're traveling light for that leg of the trip - we're leaving all of our "cruise" stuff with DH's cousin in Rome, who will deliver it to our hotel in Civitavecchia prior to the cruise (so we're cheating!) But I'll let you know how we find train travel with the kids (I've never taken the train in Italy before, so it's new to us).

 

Hard to believe we're leaving for Rome three weeks from today!

[fendere]

I&MsMom- I'd LOVE to hear how the train travel goes for you! I'm not worried about taking the train with the kids when we don't have luggage, just when we do! Keeping our hands on the children and 4 suitcases seems to be next to impossible!

 

No, I know the beach in Sicily will be rocks and pebbles. That is part of the allure for us. The kids love exploring and discovering things, plus the absence of surf is actually a good thing...less to worry about with the children! I had read a post from a family that said they rented a paddle boats by the hour here and it was one of the kids' favorite memories or their entire trip! I like that it is cove-like and small. We're doing the Caribbean thing next week and though i like it, all that sand in everything drives me crazy!!! :eek:

 

That is a good way to look at the small numbers in camp- the counselors. However, last cruise we took in October, my daughter's age group never had more than 5 kids in the group and unfortunately the counselors weren't very engaging, nothing like all of our other past cruises. I guess the counselors can make or break the experience. My son was in the next age group up and had a BALL!!! Very energetic, happy counselors for him!

 

We're planning on using the camp for some time on sea days and at night- we let the kids eat with Camp, partly because they LOVE this ( no mom saying, "eat your vegetables!")and partly because my husband and I get some adult time during dinner. We then put them into their activities during our dinner. I'm wondering what time Carnival will have the kid's dining time? Would you mind terribly when you return, to let me know what time Carnival did dinners for the kids? If the times don't work for us with getting back from port, we'll just take them to the buffet before we have our dinner.

 

Betonic, thanks so much for the choc museum info. I think I will put it back into our day plan for Barcelona since your son had such a great time! My kids LOVE chocolate!!! :D

[mildavis]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I think it would be a great oppurtunity, not only for the kids, but also for me, as I have never been to Europe. Now I have to convince the cousins to come along!:) Please post your experiences. I am not planning on going until 2008, so I have to live vicariously through everyone else until we go!

 

We are planning a June 2008 Med Cruise also with our kids who will be 12 (almost 13 & 14) when we go. Another family is going with us who have children around the same age. We can't wait. We also took the Alaska cruise together last summer on HAL and had the best time. The kids still talk about it. I think we are going to try RCCL in 2008 just because we have never sailed with them before and we want to try it. What cruise line are you looking to sail with?

[I&MsMom]

Fendere: I always save the Camp Capers, so when we get back, I'll answer any questions you have!

 

As far as counselors, I'm hoping Carnival puts the best of the best on the new ship. I haven't had any experience with him, but it seems many think the CD is among the best, and I've also read the maitre'd in one of the dining rooms is considered a great one. So, hopefully the counselors will be great!

[fendere]

Thanks I&MsMom! That would be great! Are you doing any pre/post stays? Have you started thinking about packing and what you're bringing? I'm really struggling with the concept of "light packing"! Every time we've crusied with the kids, we've driven to the port, so we've brought EVERYTHING along! This will be a whole new world for me! Last year we flew to Mexico and our suitcases got snagged for weighing too much. I can't have that happen again!

[sushraya]

We are going on the Eastern Mediterranean cruise with our 14 and 9 yr olds. They are very good travellers - having travelled to Asia, Australia and several places in Europe - Switzerland, Scotland, London, Paris, Venice to mention a few.

 

This however will be our first cruise. The kids are excited about being on the ship, the mini golf, the rock climbing wall, the pools, the unlimited supply of food etc. We have two AT-SEA days and three days in different ports - Santorini, Athens and Naples. Planning on taking it easy in Santorini. Would like to do short informative tours in Athens and Naples (pompeii).

 

We don't have too much action on our roll call - so haven't looked into private tours as yet. Would private tours be too expensive if we were to do it just for our family? Suggestions for good tour operators, especially for kids appreciated.

[kbloftus]

Our family (2 kids 7 & 10) are on RCL Voyager of the Sea June 16 which includes Florence, Rome and Naple. We want to spend a good bit of time in the museums especially in Florence. What we are devising is an art scavenger hunt for the girls to keep them interested. For example in the Uffizi one of the items will be to find a painting where a women is standing in a sea shell. Hopefully they then will find the Birth of Venus in the Botticelli room which is one of the peices we are interested in seeing. We will do this for other museums and Rome as well. It's a lot of up front work but it will keep them interested while letting us see the things we want also.

[Emom]

Don't worry that no one with kids has posted on the boards. On the other cruises we've been on, no one else has posted but there have been many kids onboard (though those were all Caribbean). We're waiting until our daughter is older to take her to Europe (she's 6).

[mahdnc]

Would like to do short informative tours in Athens and Naples (pompeii).

 

Would private tours be too expensive if we were to do it just for our family? Suggestions for good tour operators, especially for kids appreciated.

 

Our family of 4 (kids are 11 and 14 yrs old) will be taking our first cruise to Europe. We have booked several private tours just so that we can keep our itinerary flexible and efficient for the kids. We are doing Athens and Naples for our family only and it is particularly cost effective when compared to the ship tours on motorcoach. The Athens + Cape Sounion tour for 4 of us is 250 Euro and is done thru Paul (http://www.greecebytaxi.com). Our Amalfi + Pompeii tour is 400 Euro is booked thru Nello (http://www.drivesorrento.com). Both tours are all day and involved pickup/dropoff at the pier.

[Summertimescallingme]

We've did the Med cruise last summer and Baltic 2 summers ago with boys 8 & 12. This summer off to Greek Isles, Turkey and Egypt. The weather on our Baltic cruise was wonderful, mid 60's -70's. After those temperatures I will say that the Med curise was pretty hot (we were there beginning thru mid July). Our youngest son was really worn out by the heat. Plan for lots of Gelato. In Venice we all enjoyed the Secret Itinerary tour at Doge's Palace. Try to reserve the first tour in the morning, as it gets very hot up in the attic by noon. Thanks for the water park info, that sounds like a good break from all the ruins. Was Olympia worth going to while docked in Katakolon? We'd planned to go, but now I'm a little concerned. Regarding Rome, 160 Euros solely for transport from hotel to the port does sound overpriced. Last year we combined a half day tour with a private driver in Rome and were then taken to the port around 2:00. The price for the four of us was 200 euros. I can't really recommend our driver, as he talked on his cell phone most of the journey. At least we knew where we wanted to go, as we had been in Rome 3 years prior. If you need a place in Rome post trip, and are leaving early the next morning, we stayed at the Airport Hilton. It is not inexpensive, but the convenience was worth the cost. I would question whether to do Mt. Etna. Last year we were torn, but ended up staying in Taormina all day. The Greek Theater was very interesting. Those on our ship who went on to Mt. Etna said they wished they had not. They said it was nothing special to look at, no lava at all. We climbed Mt. Vesuvius while docked in Naples and found that very worthwhile, so I'm glad we did not go to Mt. Etna. Have a great trip.