Which ports in the Med to leave kids on ship

[flagger]

There is a statement in the Disney Magic virtual thread that states

One caveat: Along with 90 percent of our fellow family passengers, we took our kids ashore with us in ports. But if we were to do it again, Tim and I would occasionally have left the boys in the childrens' program. That's especially true of places like Marseilles and Sardinia, which could have been perfect adult-only sightseeing days because we could take a three- to four-hour tour -- and yet not be gone too long from the kids. Even parents need a relaxing mini-break.

I am looking for parents who have actually done this. Which ports did you leave your kids on the ship while in the Med? How did it work out for you? Do you agree with the ports she mentioned or suggest others?

 

Posts criticizing parenting style or not answering the question or from those who have not done the above will just be ignored.

[kitty9]

Depends on the ports of call and whether you're taking ship's tours or off on your own. I would not leave a child on board for those ports that are far away from the ship, such as Rome and Florence. Seeing that those places are at least 90 minutes away, and if something should go wrong, that can be a huge problem. Also, I would avoid leaving children if you're taking a private tour that's more than 3 to 4 hours long. You could run into any number of problems with getting back to the ship on time, and missing the boat, so to speak. I've been on cruises where parents left their kids on board, and missed the sailing, leaving their very young children without their parents for two days, until the next port of call. At least with a ship's tour, you know that unless the tour isn't way overdue, the ship won't sail without you. But even then, I was on a cruise a few years ago and a tour bus broke down, far from the port, and the ship had to leave without them, due to tidal issues and port problems. All those passengers had to be taken to the next stop.

[SelectSys]

I would agree with the comment regarding no more than 1/2 day alone on board. We left our kids on the boat in Santorini and Mykonos for part of the day.

[flagger]

Thank you so much for your responses.

[bmgaritty]

Depends on the ports of call and whether you're taking ship's tours or off on your own. I would not leave a child on board for those ports that are far away from the ship, such as Rome and Florence. Seeing that those places are at least 90 minutes away, and if something should go wrong, that can be a huge problem. Also, I would avoid leaving children if you're taking a private tour that's more than 3 to 4 hours long. You could run into any number of problems with getting back to the ship on time, and missing the boat, so to speak. I've been on cruises where parents left their kids on board, and missed the sailing, leaving their very young children without their parents for two days, until the next port of call. At least with a ship's tour, you know that unless the tour isn't way overdue, the ship won't sail without you. But even then, I was on a cruise a few years ago and a tour bus broke down, far from the port, and the ship had to leave without them, due to tidal issues and port problems. All those passengers had to be taken to the next stop.

 

That would be pretty hard for a child - I can't imagine leaving a child for the long tours in the Med. Can you imagine a parent doing that to their child? Leaving them until the next port? What were they thinking?

[rebeccalouise]

Yeah, I agree with the above posters reservations. I am doing the 12 day Barcelona- Venice. My Dad said "Why don't you leave Marc (age 6) on the ship while we do the really long excursions".. I said "There is no way I want to be gone that long with Marc on the ship and no way to contact me or like the above poster said- even a delay in getting back would be cause for alarm. My son loves the Fun Factory- but I never leave him there ALL day. He goes for a couple hours in the morning and a few at night. Not like daycare.

I am going to get off the ship in Villefranche and look around- maybe have a cup of coffee in a quite cafe and drink in the atmosphere- then get back on the ship, pick him up and take him to Eze and Monaco.

But I am taking him to Cinque Terre, Pompeii and Rome (all excursions from the ship). In Dubrovnik, Athens, Santorini and Venice- we are just doing out own thing- no excursions.

I read on this board that it is best not to do a long excursion everyday. Otherwise the trip is not relaxing. You are paying big bucks to be on the ship in Europe- may as well do the pool in the AM when everyone is off the ship and then do an afternoon excursion. Take my word for it, most people do the early excursions and then the pool is jammed in the afternoon.

[Keith1010]

When our children were younger we took them to the Med.

 

Our rule of thumb for excursions was simple. We tried to limit them to 4 hours. That meant we could not see certain ones that we would normally have seen on our own.

 

Rather than specific ports, what we did was that if we had excursions for say three days in a row we thought that by the third day it might be too intense for our younger one so we left the two on board with the organized programs.

 

I think the key to the med is for everyone to pace themselves. I remember that by the last port, I would have been happy if I stayed on the ship and skipped the excursion.

 

Keith