Europe with kids

[PrincessBelle39]

Ok, we decided that the best way for our kids to see Europe in August 2011 was by cruising. We felt that this would give them some kid time and a break from the adult stuff. Disney seemed perfect. I loved the look of the shore excursions with the youth activities etc. But now it looks like they are reducing them to 7 nights for the time we are travelling. We've got a long way to travel from here and would prefer longer rather than shorter so they are just not an option any more. And it looks like the good ports of Malta, Tunis and Corsica are gone.

So now I need some suggestions for another cruiseline that will give us a great 'family' experience. We've only ever cruised Disney before and thought it was fantastic.

[Kerry's Girls]

I booked the Norwegian Jade for my family after reading a fantastic review about it here on the family board. R/t from Barcelona visiting Rome, Athens, Izmir (Turkey), Alexandria (Cairo) and Malta. I also think it's going to be a great way for us to see some amazing places. I'm usually a fan of Princess for us, but I think that for this kind of trip, the ship isn't as important. NCL does have lots of different cabin configurations that would work well with families, and "anytime dining" which is good when you don't want to have to rush back to the ship for dinner.

 

Best,

Mia

[epixx]

Ok, we decided that the best way for our kids to see Europe in August 2011 was by cruising. We felt that this would give them some kid time and a break from the adult stuff. Disney seemed perfect. I loved the look of the shore excursions with the youth activities etc. But now it looks like they are reducing them to 7 nights for the time we are travelling. We've got a long way to travel from here and would prefer longer rather than shorter so they are just not an option any more. And it looks like the good ports of Malta, Tunis and Corsica are gone.

So now I need some suggestions for another cruiseline that will give us a great 'family' experience. We've only ever cruised Disney before and thought it was fantastic.

 

You're right! A cruise is a great way to travel with kids in Europe. We've done the Mediterranean 3 times and the Baltics once with our kids. We sailed with Carnival 3 times and Princess once. I agree with Kerry's Girls that the ship matters much less than the itinerary. As long as you pick a large ship, you're likely to have lots of kids and kids' activities on board. We sailed all 4 times in August. The Carnival ships had more kids than the Princess, but Carnival no longer sails in Europe, although you might check back later for 2011.

[chipmaster]

Ok, we decided that the best way for our kids to see Europe in August 2011 was by cruising. We felt that this would give them some kid time and a break from the adult stuff. Disney seemed perfect. I loved the look of the shore excursions with the youth activities etc. But now it looks like they are reducing them to 7 nights for the time we are travelling. We've got a long way to travel from here and would prefer longer rather than shorter so they are just not an option any more. And it looks like the good ports of Malta, Tunis and Corsica are gone.

So now I need some suggestions for another cruiseline that will give us a great 'family' experience. We've only ever cruised Disney before and thought it was fantastic.

 

Cruising is one efficient way to travel with kids. One pack/unpack and then got the nice moving hotel and every day show up in another wonderful port to explore. Traveling and figuring out food, dealing with travel is already challenging enough and with Europe so far and with so many interesting cities cruise is a great way to hit a lot of cities with minimum inconvenience.

 

As nice as the Disney experience is with the disney "premium" don't get swayed too much by the kid friendly ship. The MOST important thing for a great experience IMHO is the port line up. Unless you leave the kids on the boat in every port and that is the MOST important aspect I think what is important to consider is you'll spend minimum time on the ship; off a dawn back on at dusk/sailing, early to bed for another busy day port day the next. I simply don't believe the Disney price or a short cruise is worth the overhead of a long expensive flight, time adjustment then only get a short/expensive and maybe less than ideal line up of ports. I almost feel lucky I missed the Disney 2007 Europe and they didn't sail in 2008. I too have an infatuation with the "mouse."

 

As other poster said, pick the ports you want and find the cruise/length that gets you the most. All the big ships on major cruise line offer a reasonable kid experience. Pick the right ports and your memory 10 years from now will be all about the time you had in the ports and not whether you saw the mouse on the boat or not. ;) When I reflect back about our cruise last year and look at the pictures all the smiles come from our ports, not that we didn't love the boat, just that were where most of the highlights were.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Disney but in Europe it is PORTs over mouse ears

[onthelake]

I booked the Norwegian Jade for my family after reading a fantastic review about it here on the family board. R/t from Barcelona visiting Rome' date=' Athens, Izmir (Turkey), Alexandria (Cairo) and Malta. I also think it's going to be a great way for us to see some amazing places. I'm usually a fan of Princess for us, but I think that for this kind of trip, the ship isn't as important. NCL does have lots of different cabin configurations that would work well with families, and "anytime dining" which is good when you don't want to have to rush back to the ship for dinner.

 

Best,

Mia[/quote']

 

We did a b2b on the Jade in the Med 18 months ago with our son, 14 at the time. The ports are fantastic and the price was right - we did 2 12 day for a 24 day total. The ports are definately the most important part of the trip. Try to include Venice. And, FYI, we don't usually take ship shore excursions but I would recommend that if you go to Egypt with children.

[Kerry's Girls]

We did a b2b on the Jade in the Med 18 months ago with our son, 14 at the time..... And, FYI, we don't usually take ship shore excursions but I would recommend that if you go to Egypt with children.

 

I actually ended up booking a private tour for Cairo because the ship tour wasn't going to be kid-friendly. We're going to have our own car where my girls won't have to worry about annoying other passengers during the 3 hour drive each way, and we'll be able to go at our own pace - i.e., less museum time and we've added stops at the famous park and bazaar that weren't on the ship tour. And it's going to cost us $600 for the four of us intead of the $1,500 (!) the ship tour would have cost. I chose a tour company highly regarded by others here - Cruise critic has been an invaluable resource for our family getting the most out of this upcoming cruise.

 

And I'm SO envious of your back-2-back! That sounds heavenly.

 

Best,

Mia

[kestrel]

We took Grand Princess Med & Greek Isles cruise in August 2005 with our kids and had a great time. I don't know the ages of your kids, but IMHO kids will enjoy places like Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Athens, Pompeii, Rhodes, etc. better than Tunis or Corsica. It is going to be very hot in August. I will suggest that you take outdoor excursions (e.g., ruins) in the morning, and have indoor excursions (e.g., museums, palaces) in the afternoon.

[Onessa]

We just got back from our third in three years Med cruise with our DD (now 14YO). A cruise is a great way to introduce your kids to Europe. Pick your cruise primarily by itinerary. Great ports in the Med include:

• Athens - Acropolis, modern Olympics sites, changing of the guards at Parliment (got to love the uniforms!). Relatively accessible from port. Not bad walking when you get there.
  
• Kusadasi (Ephesus) Turkey - Ephesus is an amazing archelogical site, lots of tie-ins to Sunday school lessons from over the years. Pretty accessible (short drive time) to Ephesus. Kusadasi port city, is ped friendly, next to the ship, and the bazaar area is a blast.
  
• Venice - is Venice, 'nuf said. It can be a bit intimidating (maze like) but is very accessible from the port. There is NO prettier sail-away than from Venice.
  
• Naples - the city is kind of icky, but Pompeii, Vesuvius, Herculum, Capri, and the Amalfi coast are all right there! We've been there twice and still have lots of stuff to "check off" our list. The sites are relatively accessible.
  
• Barcelona - fun buildings, lots of history, great beaches, tapas. Relatively accessible from the port - hop-on-hop-off bus friendly sites.
  
• Santorini - hey it IS the volcano. Not very "accessible" in that it is a tender only port, and that Oia (sp?) is a for certain taxi/bus drive away, and that the cable car lines can get long. But it is beautiful and my DD could really relate to it (from "Mamma Mia" and "Sisterhood of the traveling pants" movies)
  
• Rhodes - a Mediveal gem. Walled city, knights and all that stuff (nice break from the columns and temples). Very accessible (walk off right from the ship)
  
• Cairo - Once again, it can be intimidating and really is NOT very accessible, but what can beat pyrimids and camels and stuff?
  
• Dubrovnic - so much history (and some very recent). Beautiful buildings. Good accessibilty.
  
• Kotokolon (sp?) - relatively short trip from there to the site of the original Olympics.
  

While I loved (almost) all the ports at which we stopped, those probably offered the most. Places like Rome and Florence are great, but they are really quite far inland -- you spend so much time on land transport that you cannot really do them justice. We've done a land-based trip for Milan, Florence and Rome (among other places in Italy) that was more satisfactory. Nice and Monte Carlo were fasinating, but not necessarily "must dos" Some of the other stops common to many Med itineraries also fall into the not necessarily "must do" category - Split, Mykonos (Deleos was great but I may have been a bit too Greek-ruined out by the time I got there last), Sicily (although we liked going through the straights of Messina, and the area around Messina was more interesting than Palarmo).

 

Haven't done Malta or anywhere other than Kusadasi in Turkey -- but that is for future cruises. Anyone with any other thoughts as to ports?

 

We've done two RCCI and one X. The RCCI Spledour of the Seas was our favorite ship, but Solstice (with its Hot Glass Show) was also a wonderful experience.

[cruis247g]

We found a Med cruise to be a fantastic way to bring our children, 10 and 13, to Europe. We were on the NCL Jade in March of 2009. Our children have been on a number of cruises and love it. We chose the Jade because of its itinerary - amazing ports (Rome, Athens, Izmir, Alexandria, etc) and because there was a ship day between most ports. For example, we boarded in Barcelona, then sailed for a day, then spent a day in Rome, then spent a day on the ship, then another port, etc. It provided our family with the perfect combination of rest on the ship days and incredible sight seeing on port days. We especially loved being able to see a number of locations without the constant unpacking and packing. The cruise was truly a "low hassle" way to see many places. It was a great overview for our children, allowing all of us to talk about which locations we would like to return to for a land vacation. Have a great time!!!

[SelectSys]

We have done 3 cruises in Europe with our kids. Like with any cruise, one gets an impression of the places you visit but it really isn't an immersive experience. I would recommend the Med over the Baltic. I would look at both RCCL and Princess for 12-14 day trips. I would also recommend extending your visit with an extra stay at either the beginning or ending of your cruise. In this regard, starting from Barcelona is nice however the weather is going to be fairly warm.

 

Good luck!

[CeleBrat]

We took a Med cruise with our extended family last summer. And although the cruise was only 7 days, we extended the trip by adding land days before and after the trip. Perhaps that's an option for you. Our cruise offered 5 ports in 7 days, which was very ambitious, and a bit tiring.

 

We sailed NCL because of their Freestyle Dining, which meant that you could eat dinner anywhere, at anytime. Doing so, allowed us to maximize our time in port, rather than having to worry about rushing back to the ship to make dinner.

 

I hav heard really great things about Disney in Europe though. Rumor has it, the kids get books about the ports of call, and ship photographers are stationed at the "big sites" in each port, so you can get some really great professional photos.

 

I will also echo the previous posters and suggest private tours. We had pre-arranged to have a driver waiting for us in almost all of the ports, and those days were chock-full of amazing things to see.

 

Review to our trip is in my signature below. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

 

Enjoy!---CeleBrat

[onthelake]

If you have the time, to maximize the cost of the airfare, we flew to Paris and spent a week there before flying down to Barcelona to board the cruise ship. There are low cost carriers in Europe that make the trip cheaper than bus or train. We flew a year ago April for 31 euro each one way. Just a thought.

[coldinerie]

Our daughter was 10 when she went to Europe with us for the first time. She is now 14 and has such fond memories of Pisa, St Peters, the south of france, etc........ This is the only way to show our kids the world. She is 14 and has been on 20+ cruises. We tell her all the time how lucky she is to have these advantages and she appreciates it all the more. Travel on with your kids and mine as well!:D