Connie Review - 11 nite E.Med with 2 kids

People thought we were nuts when we said we were taking our 9 and 5 year old kids to Europe. Even crazier when we said we were doing an 11 day cruise on celebrity on the eastern med in August - which leans heavily to ancient ruins in blazing heat. But we booked an 11-night eastern Mediterranean cruise more than 500 days out on the Constellation and I spent hours researching and cc was so helpful. We had an amazing time with only 2-3 hiccups. There were few reviews that included kids, even fewer on Celebrity, so I hope this will help another parent out.

Background: Family of 4 from the southern US - son (J) 9 and son (M) 5 (almost 6). I had no idea that M's age would be so financially beneficial. When touring - he was almost always free into every museum and tour. At age 6, I would have paid for him. Hubby and I had visited several places as poor college students on a backpacking trip and before kids. We love to travel but had put that on hold for about 9 years, opting for vacations closer to home until the kids were old enough, maybe not to remember it but at least to enjoy the experiences and have the patience to travel internationally and you need a LOT of patience and willingness to try new things to travel internationally with kids.

This was our first Celebrity Cruise (5th total) and the kids 3rd cruise - the previous 2 had been on more kid-friendly ships on Royal Caribbean. When asked at the end what they preferred - Celebrity edged out RC by a hair. They missed the ice-skating and rock wall on RC. But said the kids club and food on celebrity as well as the room (more on that later) pushed Celebrity into the top spot.

The rule in our family is if you want to wear it, you carry it. So for the Christmas before the trip the kids each got their own carry-on sized rolling suitcase (hubs and I each had a small carry on as well and a backpack). And yep - aside from carrying it over stairs - they each carried their own suitcase and backpack. This was all we packed. We had OBC but no status so we did do laundry once and I brought some woolite in a small bottle for a few items in the sink along the way and a tide stain stick. We packed 3 pairs of shoes each - sneakers, dress, water shoes. Though we did have a collapsible duffle for purchases to bring home. Previous cruises had taught me not to overpack.

A few things that turned out to be incredibly beneficial that I did pack. FroggTogg chilly pads - these were towels that, when moistened, feel ice cold. And 2 small fans that went around the kids necks. Yep - we looked ridiculous but the kids were cool and happy as we hiked in 100 degree heat to the top of the Acropolis. I also had a small bottle of electrolyte replacement that you squirt in water. That trip to the top of the Acropolis nearly took us all out (and we are used to heat and humidity). But I squirted that into all of our water bottles and we all perked right up (after nearly gagging at the disgusting taste). And the kids each had a small camera - I think they each took about 300 pics each.

As soon as I booked the cruise I went out and bought my older son the first Percy Jackson book (Rick Riordan). It's similar to Harry Potter - boy wonder has magical powers - but this series brings mythology to life. He was hooked. Read that series and then the more advance Heroes series by the same author. He was then hooked on mythology and was fascinated by the places we visited and I'm pretty sure knew more than me in many instances.

Next up - pre-cruise in Rome and Venice. Feel free to ask any questions.

Loving it :). Great to meet you and the family, neighbour :D. Look forward to reading the rest of your review ;).

Looking forward ot your next installment.

It is refeshing to read a review by a family who took their children on European cruise.

I loved our 14 day Cruise on the Constellation around the Iberain Peninsula in July. There were very few young children on board, lot more teens.

It was really hot too. Loved your cooling methods. I bought a nice wooden/ fabric fan in Barcelona and use it every day when on excursions.:)

To maximize FF miles and give the kids a European train experience we flew in and out of Rome and took the train to Venice (which ended up at the top of the 5 yr olds favs list).

Arrive from a red-eye about 11 am at our hotel - Albergo Del Sonato. It was in the same square as the Pantheon and proved to be a perfect location and made me fall in love with Rome (my last visit wasn't as good). It was only a 3 star but in my book - it was closer to 4. They have super spacious quad rooms that booked up 9 months in advance - and for a reasonable price. Quick bite to eat and then a good long nap. With 2 kids - we took a lot of rest breaks.

In the afternoon, we explored the Pantheon, had a gelato, wandered around to the Trevi fountain and surrounding area and had an early dinner. Again - we were all still exhausted.

Day 2: This is where I made one of my worst planning errors. We had arranged for a 5:30 pm train to Venice. In my mind, we would get up tour, come back and rest, tour more and then catch a train. Apparently I forgot you have to check out in the morning. There is no where to rest! So change in plan - let the kids sleep in a eat a hearty (included) breakfast complete with pancake machine (a hit!). Walk to the Campo de Fiori and then tour of San Clemente arriving just as they were about to let in the last tour. San Clemente was a great option because its underground (ie cooler) and nearly empty. After lunch and a gelato we were exhausted and jet lagged. So we went back to the hotel and sat in their sitting area (hidden from the main entry) for about an hour and a half and used their wireless and let the kids chill out. In retrospect, I would have booked the 330 train but I had non-refundable tickets.

Have you noticed a theme - we rest a lot! It's vacation. Nope - we don't see everything in town. But the things we do choose to see - we are rested and happy.

We arrived at the train station much too early and grabbed dinner for the train - the kids ate their only McDonalds of the trip - the options in the train station were more up my alley than theirs. Lovely baguette with meat and cheese. They loved the trip and it was relatively empty.

Mistake 2 (I only had 3 biggies and so far 2 were on the same day). At every major transit change (airport to hotel, cruise port back to hotel etc), I had prearranged for a transfer with various companies. This was our big splurge. With 2 kids and luggage, I didn't want to be hiking to taxi stands or trying to locate train stations. This made the trip much smoother and when we arrived somewhere, the trip there had been smooth and not stressful. I cannot stress how important this step was. I'd take a crappie hotel to budget in a transfer if I had to.

However - I didn't splurge and hire a water taxi from the train station. It just seemed too outrageous for my usually DIY frugal self. We thought we were being smart and bought a 2 day vaporetto pass ahead of time and my son (9) the student Venice card that gave him access. We arrived at 9 pm and spent a half an hour looking for the validation machine for the student card (5 yr olds ride free tho!) and didn't expect the crush of people to still be out and about. We had to push on with 4 suitcases and 2 kids - all still very jet lagged. By the time we got to the hotel it was close to 10:30 and after checking in it was nearly 11. We collapsed. This stay was at Hotel Al Piave - it was serviceable but after staying at our previous hotel, it was a disappointment. The lack of an elevator and the hike up 3 flights of stairs with 4 pieces of luggage didn't help. Remember - never ever pack more than you can carry!

Venice - Back in our student days, we wished for a gondola ride but they were too expensive for our budget. This time, I was going to have a gondola ride. Knowing 2 small boys wouldn't love the romance of a gondola, we opted for a gondola rowing lesson with Row Venice. The four of us in a gondola (just slightly larger than the ones you see) and a 1.5 hour rowing lesson with two women. The boys (and us) all loved it. They took us to a nearly empty canal and were fantastic with the kids and allowed them to row and get up on the bow and steer. One of us was rowing the whole time.

Then we wandered, lunched, shopped, rested, went to the top of the bell tower (its an elevator now - not stairs as it had been). Though we missed St. Marks. We read the web site wrong and thought it closed at 7 - apparently it closed at 5. We arrived at 5:15 (attempting to beat the crowds).

The only negative about Venice - my son is a well-controlled asthmatic. Hasn't used a rescue inhaler in 6 months (but I always have it on me). However, between all the people smoking and all the shopkeepers standing in their doorways smoking in the alleys and being so narrow, there was no where for the smoke to go. It was like walking through a haze at times. And sure enough, he had an attack as we walked to dinner. Though he did say - he would never smoke if just walking through it did that to him - so that's a plus.

Next up - Cruise Day!

Thanks for sharing your experience. Looking forward to the next part😊

Love your review.

Traveling with children does need planning, and you did great even with two problems....

Enjoying your review, cheers.:D

We cruised on the Connie April/May 2016. Enjoying your review & the viewpoints from the family :)

We cruised on the Connie April/May 2016. Enjoying your review & the viewpoints from the family :)

Likewise. ;)

Following.

Originally we had planned to spend the morning in Venice but with it being a Sunday, nothing was open until after we would have needed to get to the port. So we set off about 10 am back on the vaporetto for the port. Much less crowded (no pushing and shoving) but just as challenging with the luggage (but doable this time).

I'm going to make a comment based on my experiences - my thoughts only - not trying to rile anyone up. Personally, I don't think I could have done this route if my kids had been in strollers or not good walkers. I saw some parents who did have younger kids and multiple bags and strollers and I felt for them. Venice is stroller unfriendly! Rome's cobblestones and narrow roads that you flatten yourself against the walls when a car comes by are harrowing at times. And the ruins - well - pavement wasn't exactly flat in ancient times. We averaged 5 miles a day walking and that was staying in a central location, taking cabs when necessary. On a big day - it was closer to 8 miles. And yep - both my kids trekked along side. We stopped for gelato when needed and it wasn't like we were hiking 8 miles straight but there is an immense amount of walking on this schedule.

Total transit time from San Zaccaria on a vaporetto, plus the people mover, plus the free shuttle from the people mover to the terminal was over an hour. Now - when I have sailed with other lines, you get to the terminal and its a crazy frenzy of porters grabbing luggage and throwing them on carts and you hope you see it again. Celebrity was so civilized. You walked up, chose forward or aft and away your luggage went through a conveyor belt. I had no worries it would arrive (and it did about 3:30).

Check in was as I expected - we have no status so the line was healthy but moved at a decent pace though it was warm in the building.

A quick stop at Oceanliners to make reservations for just 2 of us for a port day - glad we did. The time we wanted was already taken but they had availability a half hour early. No issues finding a spot for lunch in the Oceanview. And then we went to our room.

We booked so early that there was a corner Family Veranda available. If you can, this is an amazing option on a m-class ship. Not much more money than a veranda and the aft balcony was one of the biggest on the ship. We had a long hallway to leave our dirty shoes and 2 rooms with a divider between. My description doesn't do it justice. Google it then book it. The kids each had their own couch to chill out on during the day and own bed at night. And my husband and I lived on the balcony where we always had a good breeze. It also had a full size table on the balcony where we would eat breakfast every port morning. We are truly spoiled from now on.

We were 7th floor starboard. We could hear the live music on the sunset bar if we were on our balcony which was nice. All the smoking was on port side so other than the couple of folks who tried to sneak it on their balconies, no smoke smell. There was no other sounds. Never even heard a door slam.

The afternoon was spent exploring, signing up for the Fun Factory and getting ready for dinner and enjoying the most beautiful sail away from the balcony.

Come to find out - there were 250 kids on board the 2nd week of Aug - down from 500 the week before and most of those kids were above the age of 9. They ended up combining the 3-5 and the 6-8 age groups since they usually do things the same anyway. Once or twice when it got busy, they separated them but they allowed my almost 6 year old to hang out with the 6-8 when they did which is where he had made friends and it was more to his liking. More on the fun factory later...

Very much enjoying reading your review. We really enjoyed this cruise and meeting you and others from the Roll Call. Totally agree it's a good plan to pace yourself -- sometimes less is more. Interested to hear number of children on board, I suspect there are fewer young children on the eastern med itineraries, for the reasons you mention.

Looking forward to reading more -- don't forget the Top Chef experience!

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Originally we had planned to spend the morning in Venice but with it being a Sunday, nothing was open until after we would have needed to get to the port. So we set off about 10 am back on the vaporetto for the port. Much less crowded (no pushing and shoving) but just as challenging with the luggage (but doable this time).

 

I'm going to make a comment based on my experiences - my thoughts only - not trying to rile anyone up. Personally, I don't think I could have done this route if my kids had been in strollers or not good walkers. I saw some parents who did have younger kids and multiple bags and strollers and I felt for them. Venice is stroller unfriendly! Rome's cobblestones and narrow roads that you flatten yourself against the walls when a car comes by are harrowing at times. And the ruins - well - pavement wasn't exactly flat in ancient times. We averaged 5 miles a day walking and that was staying in a central location, taking cabs when necessary. On a big day - it was closer to 8 miles. And yep - both my kids trekked along side. We stopped for gelato when needed and it wasn't like we were hiking 8 miles straight but there is an immense amount of walking on this schedule.

 

Total transit time from San Zaccaria on a vaporetto, plus the people mover, plus the free shuttle from the people mover to the terminal was over an hour. Now - when I have sailed with other lines, you get to the terminal and its a crazy frenzy of porters grabbing luggage and throwing them on carts and you hope you see it again. Celebrity was so civilized. You walked up, chose forward or aft and away your luggage went through a conveyor belt. I had no worries it would arrive (and it did about 3:30).

 

Check in was as I expected - we have no status so the line was healthy but moved at a decent pace though it was warm in the building.

 

A quick stop at Oceanliners to make reservations for just 2 of us for a port day - glad we did. The time we wanted was already taken but they had availability a half hour early. No issues finding a spot for lunch in the Oceanview. And then we went to our room.

 

We booked so early that there was a corner Family Veranda available. If you can, this is an amazing option on a m-class ship. Not much more money than a veranda and the aft balcony was one of the biggest on the ship. We had a long hallway to leave our dirty shoes and 2 rooms with a divider between. My description doesn't do it justice. Google it then book it. The kids each had their own couch to chill out on during the day and own bed at night. And my husband and I lived on the balcony where we always had a good breeze. It also had a full size table on the balcony where we would eat breakfast every port morning. We are truly spoiled from now on.

 

We were 7th floor starboard. We could hear the live music on the sunset bar if we were on our balcony which was nice. All the smoking was on port side so other than the couple of folks who tried to sneak it on their balconies, no smoke smell. There was no other sounds. Never even heard a door slam.

 

The afternoon was spent exploring, signing up for the Fun Factory and getting ready for dinner and enjoying the most beautiful sail away from the balcony.

 

Come to find out - there were 250 kids on board the 2nd week of Aug - down from 500 the week before and most of those kids were above the age of 9. They ended up combining the 3-5 and the 6-8 age groups since they usually do things the same anyway. Once or twice when it got busy, they separated them but they allowed my almost 6 year old to hang out with the 6-8 when they did which is where he had made friends and it was more to his liking. More on the fun factory later...

Love those FV cabins, we were in the port side one and it is just as fabulous, and we never smelt any smoke from the smokers.

The 270 degree views you get from your balcony are amazing for sailing in or out of ports and half the balcony is covered so if it is too hot or wet you still get the use of the balcony.

As for the room, it is definitely bigger and IMO, better than a sky or celebrity suite.:D

Those Family Veranda staterooms are perfect for a family of four.

We had a CI aft on deck 9, loved eating breakfast out there and listening to Sunset Bar music in the evening.

Thanks for the review.

Day 2 was a sea day and boy was it needed. Despite all those gelato breaks - the travel plus several days of travelling had rendered us all in need of a rest day.

Our roll call had been very active and had arranged for a cabin crawl after the cc meet and greet. Unfortunately, I never got my invite (despite confirming that I had registered - others had this issue too) and I missed the whole thing. They had scheduled it for 945 on the first sea day. We slept until 10.

A couple of thoughts on sea days and the fun factory since I cannot remember what we did on this day....

The pool itself was packed any time we walked through but if I had wanted a chair I could have had one. Even in the shade - many folks were sun worshipers on this trip. I think my kids went to the pool 2 times the entire trip. We have a neighborhood pool at home and they had been on swim team all summer. And they both agreed that the pool was just way too salty (and they've been in plenty of salt water pools).

Hubby and I took turns at the solarium and T-pool every day and never once had an issue getting a chair at any time. That t-pool was a lifesaver after walking all those miles. Some days I had to force myself to go visit but my feet didn't swell like they usually do on a heavily walking cruise.

Fun Factory - One note - they do not give free lanyards like RC for kids. If your kid needs this - Home Depot in the US sells them for $1.50. The kids rated the fun factory higher on celebrity than on RC. It seemed like a lot of the activities were similar but they just enjoyed it more. And having access to Xbox was a plus. They didn't sit for hours playing video games but between activities they would play for a few min. Besides - minecraft is a universal language across any country.

The 9-11 group went out at least once a day as a group in scavenger hunts. Be ready for this. My 9 year old had never had much ship freedom before (and still doesn't) but we did allow him to sign himself in and out (with strict rules) and do the hunts. Many evenings they had active sports - soccer, basketball and once even closed the solarium for a pool party. When we walked by even the teen room had kids in it hanging out, playing cards or Xbox. The teens even participated in the talent show. I've never seen a teen group actually work.

The 3-8s did a lot of games, music, face painting, crafts etc. I also was a big fan of their afternoon family activities usually around 3-4 - bingo, crafts, ship building, etc. We had a place to really play with our kids, which made for fun family time. And I think every kid won a prize at some point.

My 5 yr old would go for an hour or so in the afternoon (my eldest opted for Olympic watching or reading with us on the balcony) and both would go in the evenings after dinner until 10 (at their request).

The first sea day was a chic night and I had the kids in bow ties and navy slacks (less likely to show stains) - in total I packed them 5 dress shirts and 2 pairs of dress pants each. This was perfect. After dinner they would change immediately to go to kids club. That tide stain stick came in handy after a few splashy sauces went rogue.

In the interest of saving space, we did not pack coats for them or the hubby. Hubs did say he would have felt more comfortable with a jacket. I alternated between a skirt and longer dressy capri pants and varying degrees of dressy tops with costume jewelry. I never felt out of place.

My kids loved the food. Our rule was - eat whatever you want for lunch - hamburger, fries, pizza (we are on vacation after all). But at dinner, I expected them to order real food from the menu. My kids loved the prime rib, veal chop, duck, salmon and both fought over the frogs legs and my kids are picky at home. I'm beginning to think I need to up my cooking! We had a table for 4 to ourselves and ate in the MDR about 75 percent of the time. Biggest issue I had was with the apps. The 5 yr old loved the cold fruit soup on RC and had high hopes - but it only appeared once. The apps for the kids menu were Caesar salad, veggie sticks or tomato soup. A fruit salad would have been a nice option. He usually ordered from the adult menu and it was hit or miss. The eldest had his standby of shrimp cocktail. Now the waiters would have likely given the kids whatever they needed. We had a rowdy table of young kids behind us and I saw a plate of fries delivered when they were there. But again - this was dinner - and I had higher expectations. And the kids loved being treated like grown ups.

Up next - Olympia, Greece.

Our first port day! I'm not a big believer in ship excursions and while our roll call had arranged some spectacular ones, we wanted the flexibility to bail out if it wasn't working with the kids or in some cases - stay longer!

I specifically looked for companies that I didn't have to give a financial commitment to and could cancel at the last minute. In Katakolon we opted to rent a car from Dias travel agency and it couldn't have been easier. I reserved a small manual car online. Payment (40E) was to be when you returned the car. They said I just had to show up before 10 am or they would rent it to the next person. Perfect. We walked off the pier and they were straight across the road and had my name in their store window so there was no confusion. Within 10 min, we were off - and they loaned us 2 clean booster seats for free. Kids under 12 need a booster in Greece. Olympia was easy to find and we just followed a tour bus after stopping to put in 10 euros of gas. (The return was just as easy.)

This was the stop I was least excited for and it ended up being one of our favorites. The signage at each landmark was easy to read and plentiful. Shade was available when needed. And they had a great museum that I had to drag my kids out of. Until we hit Malta - this was my kids favorite place on the whole trip. It may have helped that the Olympics were on TV and they could relate.

We had planned to hit up a winery or beach but the kids were loving the site so much we had to head straight back. It was our shortest port visit - on board time was 2:30 and we knew we wanted to walk through the little town for a minute or two - which is about what we had.

Up next - Sanitorini

Wow, the kids club sounds like it really worked a treat. Your boys sound like they are fairly easy going as well which certainly helps when travelling.:D

We are very lucky with pretty adaptable kids (tho we all have our moments) but we also keep to pretty low expectations. The ship may be in port for 12 hours but I know our limit is about 4-5 hours tops. And their shopping for the perfect 1 euro magnet for their locker is as important as my shopping for Venetian glass! [emoji4]

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We are very lucky with pretty adaptable kids (tho we all have our moments) but we also keep to pretty low expectations. The ship may be in port for 12 hours but I know our limit is about 4-5 hours tops. And their shopping for the perfect 1 euro magnet for their locker is as important as my shopping for Venetian glass! [emoji4]

 

 

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LOL, That goes without saying.:D

I'm loving your review. Sounds like you have great kids.

We will be on Connie in 2018, a long time yet.

I lived in the Middle East and Germany during the 80s when my kids were from 5 to teen agers. Took them everywhere we went.

All four of the kids now love to travel and have a greater understanding of the World.

I will say that if you ask them about any trip that we took prior to age 10, they have little memory.

Still, for pre-teens and teens, it is a wonderful learning experience.

About 20 years ago, my hubby and I spent a week in Santorini and for 20 years it was the trip that every other trip was compared to. I almost wish I hadn't been back. Quaint artist shops have been overrun with cheap tourist crap.

I'll admit - Santorini was one of 2 stops that intimidated me. I had been there before the funicular - when they still had a road that taxis drove down to the port on and the horror stories of the new way weren't promising. And its not the most kid friendly place. But off we went.

Getting on a tender off the ship around 9:30 or so was easy. No tickets - just show up and hop on. But once we hit land it was a pile of people waiting in a ridiculously long line. One of the "speedboats" and I use that term loosely - offered all 4 of us (kids free) the boat to Oia for $30E total and a return back to Fira. We took it, waited about 20 min for the boat to fill and off we went.

20 years ago - Oia was a sleepy village that had very little but hotels and restaurants but was beautiful. Today, it was more like the old Fira we remembered. A few empty passages to explore with great views, donkeys, quaint artists (and a few cheap places). When we got off the boat it was a steep hike up a small hill to the waiting busses where they crammed them in. Someone took pity on us and an older couple and pulled us into a minivan and we sped away up the hill. I wish we had spent more time in Oia.

We had also easily taken the public bus years ago and had initially planned to hit up a beach or the ruins on the bus but once we saw how crammed it was - I was concerned the kids would get crushed (literally). So the speedboat turned out to be a good choice. The traffic out of Oia on the transfer bus back to Fira was awful and the ride turned out to be long enough (with all the traffic) that he took a nice nap.

Fira was a nightmare. People were everywhere. We grabbed one of the best lunches we've ever had (cannot remember the name). Explored a bit and then started to head for the trip back down. The line seemed long but honestly - wasn't as bad as I had heard. From the time we got in line it was 1 hour to our cabin door. We walked right off the funicular onto a waiting tender and waited less than 5 min for it to leave. They thankfully weren't waiting until they were full. We were hot and happy to have that cold towel - it was supposed to be in the upper 70s/low 80s according to the captain and the weather but it easily was in the mid 90s by the time we got back to the ship and there was little breeze.

Back on the ship, we rested, watched cartoons and read books for a couple of hours. We opted not to eat dinner in the MDR as we had the perfect view of the sunset over the town from our balcony and the oceanview was offering a special Greek buffet dinner that was one of the better food nights in there. Side note - the food in the oceanview typically was good but the MDR was usually excellent. We all went up, grabbed dinner, brought it back down and ate on the table on the balcony listening to music from the sunset bar. The location of the room made the oceanview easily accessible - up 3 flights and you were right there.

Up next - A scalding hot Athens.

I 'll admit - Santorini was one of 2 stops that intimidated me

You and me both -- seems there's no escaping the cable car or donkey/ steps. Fortunately, I had hardly any wait returning at 11:30 am ish after a very early shore excursion to Oia and winery. Oia was quiet at 8:30 am but I did hear it rapidly filled up.

What was the other 'challenging' port btw? Athens ? Kusadasi? or Venice?