megdel313

Thank you for the recommendation!

So true, thank you! I guess we were thinking it would be nice to check out of our hotel and have the cruise ship check in process complete. We may instead consider leaving our bags at the hotel longer and checking in on the ship after lunch. Thanks for letting me know there's a separate line for getting back on if we go that route.

We are sailing on Symphony of the Seas in September from Barcelona. It is an interport cruise that also has embarkation for passengers in Rome. Given that some guests are embarking in Barcelona and some are on a normal port stop, are there different lines to get back on board? We'd like to check in and have lunch on the ship, and then if possible get off the ship and walk around the city for a couple hours. Is it possible to get off this ship after checking in, and would we have to wait in a main line with those checking in when getting back on board or is there a separate boarding area for those already checked in?

Sorry yes, to be specific it was from the cruise terminal. There is a free bus that takes you from the ship to the terminal. We caught the taxi in front of the terminal building.

We just returned last week and didn't have any trouble getting a taxi to take us from the port to the train station. It was a set fare of 12-13 euros for us both ways.

Thanks! We did use live directions from Google maps. We were able to pay a daily rate to use our data plan overseas, so used cellular data on a few of the days to help us get around. We found it really accurate and nice because we could wander down different streets without worrying about getting lost. If you didn't want to use data, I think there are some map apps where you can download offline maps on your phone and then use your GPS location to navigate along a route. One that I've heard of is CoPilot GPS. I didn't use it myself though so can't give any feedback on it.

We didn't think the train was too crowed, but that might vary depending on how many ships are in the area? I don't know if you're planning on taking a stroller, but a good option for you guys could also be one of the soft sided baby carriers like the Lillebaby. We used that on a cruise when our daughter was 14 months and it made us really mobile and able to move around with her in crowded port stops. Another cruise tip from when we travelled with a 14 month old was one of those blackout tents that you can put over a pack'n'play. We used the SlumberPod brand. It was amazing at making a little room for her within our cabin so we could stay up with the lights on while she slept. Just an idea!

After arriving at the Colosseum, we did everything else by foot (and stroller, ha!). I would say we were probably off the ship by 7:15ish. We walked right off the ship without any wait, then walked to the waiting Port Link bus that dropped us off outside the front of the train station. I don't remember the exact length of the bus ride - maybe around 10 minutes. We weren't sure what to expect as far as a line to get off the ship or the length of the bus ride so we left with plenty of time and found that we got the the train station early than expected. We bought our tickets and caught the 7:44a train to Rome Ostiense. We actually ended up at the train station more quickly and caught an earlier train than we expected - our goal had been to either catch the 7:58 train or the 8:42a train because we had 10:30am timed tickets to the Colosseum. Once at Ostiense we walked to the metro and rode that to the Colosseum stop. After visiting the Colosseum we made our way on foot towards Piazza Navona because it was the furthest stop we wanted to see from the train station we wanted to take back. From there we worked our way through the other sites. Our last one was the Spanish steps. We could have hopped on the metro here to Roma Termini, but it was a really nice day so decided to walk (20-25 minutes) and pick up some extra gelato on the way. We caught the 3:42 train back to Civitavecchia, jumped on the Port Link bus outside the train station and got back to ship just in time to change and head to dinner at 6. We were in port until 8pm so if was just my husband and I we would have stayed in Rome longer, but we didn't want to push our luck with our daughter. The great thing about the BIRG ticket is that you can catch any of the regular regional trains back, so you don't have to make it in time for a specific train.

No problem! You guys will have a blast. Our daughter turned 4 not too long before the trip, so a similar age to your son. It was a fun age! You guys will have a blast. Let me know if you think of any extra insight I can provide.

Thanks so much!

Rome/Civitavecchia This will probably be an unpopular opinion, but we really didn’t enjoy this stop as much as we hoped we would, and didn’t feel like visiting Rome in a day with a 4 year old was very fun. Rome was probably the least kid-friendly of any of the cities we visited on this trip (contrasted to Paris and Barcelona which were amazing with a young kid). There aren’t really any great easily reached city center playgrounds near tourist sites like we found in other cities. The city was crowded. So crowded. Every street we turned on there were large groups of 10-20 people taking up the already tiny sidewalks. The sidewalks are very narrow and are almost all cobblestone-like, so difficult to push a stroller. We couldn’t really find room to breathe and take in the city, even when we tried to find some off the main path piazzas to sit and let our daughter run around. Not to say Rome isn’t amazing. But compared to the other cities on our trip, we had trouble really enjoying the day and not feeling pushed through crowds. As far as our itinerary for the day, once off the ship we caught the Port Link bus for 3 euros each that took us directly to the train station. We bought the BIRG ticket for the train/Rome metro and took the next available train to Roma Ostiense. For anyone looking to go to Rome on their own (with or without kids), getting into the city from the port by train is really quite easy. Once in Rome we took a quick metro ride over to the Colosseum. We had timed tickets and waited almost no time once we arrived. After the Colosseum, we grabbed gelato, stopped to see the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument and then walked to Piazza Navona. We stopped for lunch at a small restaurant off the Piazza, and then made our way to visit some more sites, including the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps. From there we walked to the train station and headed back to the port. I wouldn’t discourage anyone with kids from visiting Rome on a port stop. Just know that it will be a much busier, crowded day compared to the other stops, and difficult but not impossible to get around with a stroller. Naples We planned to visit Capri at this port. The ferry/hydrofoil over to the island dock right near the cruise ship so it was easy to walk and buy tickets for the next hydrofoil over. Once in Capri we bought our return tickets for later that afternoon back to Naples and then took the local bus to Anacapri. Tickets were around 2.8 euros and our daughter was free. Once in Anacapri, we first walked around the area and visited the local playground. I had trouble finding the exact location of the playground here before we left, but it's on Via G.Orlandi. If coming from the main bus stop, walk down the pedestrian road and take a left when it ends to continue on the lane. The playground will be on the left. It closes in the middle of the day. After the playground we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and then took the Monte Solaro chair lift. Our 4yo was able to sit on my lap and loved looking at everything below on the ride up. It takes around 13 minutes to get to the top. Once we reached the top she was able to run around a little while we took in the sights. Back in Anacapri we had considered hiking back to Marina grande via the Phonecian Steps (we had a small backpack carrier for our daughter) but we decided that she needed more time to run around. With the playground closed for the afternoon, we took the bus back down to the Marina and went to the public beach. The path to the free public beach is right next to the bus drop off. It was a great area to stop for an hour or so before we caught the ferry back to Naples. Debarkation Debarkation was really quick and easy when we arrived back in Barcelona. We had a 10:45am flight so we decided to self-debark and catch a taxi at the port. We left the ship around 7am and were easily at the airport by 7:30. Barcelona is one of the best airports we've been to with a kid. There is an outdoor terrace after security that we let her run around on before heading through passport control. Through passport control there was a number of playareas, including a great one right near our gate.

La Spezia We decided to spend the day in Cinque Terre at this stop. Once off the ship we had to ride a port bus to the port terminal. From there we caught a taxi to the train station. The train station is walkable from the port (25 minutes or so) but it was easier and quicker for our daughter just to take the taxi. It cost a set fee of about 12 euros. From La Spezia we rode to Monterosso for our first stop. Outside the train station you can turn left and head into the old town part of Monterosso (about a 10 minute walk). Once in the old town area we stopped first at the playground and let our daughter play while we had coffee at an outdoor café beside it. The playground is in the center of a piazza just in front of the beach. After playing and coffee we walked around and explored the town. After exploring we made a beach stop to swim in the ocean. There is free public beach in the old town area that we stopped at for around an hour to relax and swim. We brought towels and swim floaties with us in our backpacks for the stop. There is an outdoor shower to rinse off at in the beach area as well. After swimming we had planned to take the ferry to the next town but it wasn’t running that day because the water was too rough, so we walked back to the train station and went to Manarola. We had planned to stop in Vernazza first, but stayed longer than expected in Monterosso and didn’t have time for the stop. In Manarola, our plan was to have lunch a restaurant by the ocean called Nessun Dorma. It is in a beautiful location and has the benefit of having a playground right next to it, ha! We used their app to join the waitlist as soon as we got off the train, then headed through the town, along the scenic viewpoint path and stopped at the playground until it our number to eat was called. The playground had beautiful views that we were able to take in while our daughter ran around. After lunch we stopped for ice cream in town and strolled around. We went back to the train station with plans to visit Riomaggiore next, but missed the train and had to wait 30 minutes for the next one. By this time, our daughter was getting worn out, so we decided to head back to the ship rather than visiting the last city on our plan. It would have been nice to stay out longer, but we decided that it would be more relaxing to head back to the ship in time for dinner. We got back to La Spezia around 4pm and caught a taxi right outside the train station back to port, and then the port bus back to the ship.

Prior to the cruise we stopped over in Paris for a few days before travelling to Barcelona. If anyone is interested I can give more insight on Paris, but I can summarize it by saying that it’s an amazing city with kids. We could have easily spent over a week there and not run out of things to do. For the cruise we debated whether to take a stroller with us or not. Our daughter has never really loved riding in a stroller, but with a lot of walking intensive days planned, we decided to take it. I think it really paid off having the stroller. We walked over 20k steps a lot of the days on our trip and I don’t think I could have walked that far and carried a 4 year old. We took along a GB Pockit+ All City stroller because it folded up small enough that we could easily collapse it to take trains and the metro around the cities we visited. We actually bought a small carry bag for it as well during times that we our daughter didn’t want to ride. We were also able to take the stroller as a carry-on onto the plane. Ports – We knew that we’d have to approach this trip much differently with a 4 year old than if it was just my husband and I and we were okay with that. We planned for slow travel days where we experienced the cities but didn’t necessarily visit every museum or tourist spot. We’ve actually done a Mediterranean cruise in the past, child-free, so we had already visited some of the highlights, but honestly we might have had more fun this trip than we on our other cruise because we had to take more time to stop and enjoy each city. We essentially played our way through the Mediterranean. We planned most of our days around being outdoors, walking, playgrounds, and beaches. Barcelona We arrived around lunch the day before our cruise. We stayed at a hotel on Ave Parel-lel because it was close to the cruise port as well as easy to access the metro. After dropping off our bags at the hotel we left to explore. We stopped for lunch at Ciudad Condal before heading to the Gothic Quarter to explore. While there we stopped in at the Born Cultural Center, wandered the old streets and visited some of the shops. There are numerous playgrounds throughout the gothic quarter that we stopped at, many with restaurants and wine bars on the square with the playground for parents to relax while kids play. We stopped for drinks in front of the Santa Maria del Mar church while our daughter ran around with other kids in the square in front of the church. After dinner, we made our way to the Magic Fountains for the evening show before calling it a day. The next morning we took the metro to the Sagrada Familia to visit. Before visiting the church we stopped at a great little playground in a park behind the church. It was a nice quiet playground compared to the crowds next to the church, so it was a nice stop before going inside. Palma de Mallorca We pre-booked a bike rental and caught a taxi into town to the bike rental company. They set us up on e-bikes with a child seat for our daughter. Palma has a fantastic protected bike path along the ocean that we had a blast riding along. There are a number of playgrounds along the way and we decided to stop and swim at Playa Ciudad Jardin because it had a playground (of course, lol), loungers with umbrellas to rent and a shower to rinse off at. We spent part of the day hanging out at the beach before riding around more. We dropped off our bikes in the afternoon and then spent some time wandering around the old town areas visiting some shops and stopping for a drink while our daughter ran around one of the small squares chasing birds. Once we were ready to head back to the ship we easily caught a taxi. Marseille We unfortunately didn’t get off on this stop. By this point we had been travelling for a week (Paris stopover before our cruise as well as a time in Barcelona) with multiple 25k+ step days and we all needed an easy day to rest. If we had gotten off our plan was to take a bus to Aix-en-Provence and spend the day there walking around the town. With an older kid we would have considered taking one of the boat tours around the Calanques and to visit the town of Cassis, but with a 4yo we just could be sure that she would enjoy being on a boat that long instead of walking around and exploring. We also considered biking, but Marseille didn’t seem like we could bike as far as easily on our own as we did in Palma. I did come across a couple of kid-friendly city bike tours in Marseille that we also briefly considered. When it was just my husband and I and we visited this area we took a wine tour, which I’d highly recommend. Instead on this trip, we spent the day at the pool an mostly relaxed.

We actually just returned from a europe cruise with our 4 year old. We took our stroller and didn't have a problem taking it to restaurants, in trains, the metro, etc so I'd say take the stroller! Our daughter doesn't usually go in a stroller much anymore at home, but with really walking intensive days, I don't think we could have made it without having a stroller along. In regards to locking up a stroller, I didn't see anywhere outside restaurants, etc to leave strollers so I'd just make sure yours is small enough that you can fold it and take it inside? Some of the places we ate at we probably could have left it open beside our table, but that might have limited our options of where we could eat. I just posted about our recent cruise with our daughter here. Maybe there will be some info there to help you with planning your spring cruise!

My husband and I, along with our 4 year old, just recently returned from the Wonder of the Seas Mediterranean sailing. When I was planning this trip I wasn’t able to find a lot about cruising in the Mediterranean with kids so I thought I’d write up a little of how our trip went in case it can help anyone in the future. In addition to what we did in each port, I’ll also add a few things about the ship. Happy to answer any questions in regards to the ship or the ports as well. Cabin When we first booked this cruise a couple years ago, we were supposed to sail on the Allure of the Seas. Since that time, the ships were changed around and we were moved to the Wonder of the Seas. Due to the move our room type also changed. We were originally booked in an ultra spacious balcony room with a tucked away bunkbeds. On wonder we were moved to a Junior Suite. The room ended up being fantastic. The pull out sofa worked great for our daughter and the balcony let us sit and chat when she went to bed in the evenings. Kids Areas/Activities Adventure Ocean – Our daughter went to Adventure Ocean on the first night only. It closed at 5pm in the evening and re-opened nightly at 7pm so on the first evening we dropped her off right after dinner in the Main Dining Room. That ended up being the only evening we sent her to Adventure Ocean. With the itinerary being so port intensive, we were off the ship together all day, and we didn’t want to trade off late evenings at Adventure Ocean with sleeping in and missing time in the port. On top of that, there were some great shows on this cruise, some of the best we’ve seen, and we took her with us to several of those. Ship areas for kids – this is our first cruise with an active kid (our daughter was 14 months our last cruise) so it’s our first time viewing a ship in terms of areas for kids to play. This ship seemed to offer so much for kids. There is a great outdoor Wonderland Playscape on one of the upper decks that she loved playing at. In the Adventure Ocean area, there is a room with a play structure where parents can supervise their kids as an additional option to the outside Playscape. The biggest hit for our daughter in terms of playing was the climbing structure on the boardwalk. We had breakfast several mornings at Johnny Rockets (free for breakfast) and she climbed and played while we sat outside and ate. In the evenings we were able sit at Playmakers and have a drink while she climbed more or we rode the carousel with her. For a ship with so many people, the boardwalk never seemed busy. We might have lucked out some with timing (September) so maybe in the summer it would be more full with kids. Pools – we loved the multiple pool options and Splashaway bay area. We were able to visit almost everyday before dinner. Ice Skating rink – one evening there were open ice skating sessions, and out daughter had a good time attempting to skate with me on the ice. Shows We’ve been on over 10 cruises and the shows on this ship were some of the best we’ve ever seen. You can reserve your shows in the app as soon as you’re on board so we made sure to make reservations right away so we could go to the earlier shows (most of the early shows started between 7:30p-8:45p). The highlight for us was the aquatheater show inTENse. It was amazing and our daughter loved it was well. We enjoyed it so much we actually watched it two evenings. We had reservations one evening, and then later in the week we noticed a standby line while hanging out on the boardwalk and were able to get in a second time. There were actually a number of open seats that evening, possibly due to it being a late port evening and people deciding not to go the show. Our daughter loved the ice skating show as well. We were able to watch the Effectors II show while it was in preview. This one is superhero themed show that was mostly entertaining, though I made the mistake of sitting in the first row with our daughter and she was a bit scared during the show (there are “bad guys” that come out frequently on the floor area in front of the stage and were only a foot or so from us – she was worried they were going to get her as well) There is also a tap show that looked really good, but unfortunately was cancelled for us due to rough seas. Dining We were going to book My Time Dining but on this ship it didn’t’ start until 7:15 so we opted for traditional dining that began at 6pm. Around a week before the cruise I emailed Royal Caribbean Dining and asked for a table for 4 for us and they emailed to confirm our request. We at every evening in the main dining room. To entertain our daughter we took playdough with some “treasures” for her to bury and play with in the playdough. We also took some crayons and paper, and for evenings when we needed more entertaining, we also took a phone with some cartoons downloaded on it. Additionally our waiter and assistant waiter were so kind and made sure to always take her order right away so she was able to start eating soon after we arrived. One thing to mention about the ship is that we noticed after the first evening that they didn’t put any Cruise Compasses in the rooms. I did see a few people walking around with them so I stopped by guest services to ask how to get one. They initially told me that I needed to use the app instead but then relented and did show me where they were located. There's a rack right to the left in the guest services area that has a some available to grab. That evening I asked my room steward if he could place one in our room and for the rest of the week we did have a Cruise Compass in our room each evening. I'll add some info on each of our stops next!