Turkey, Italy and Greece with kids.

[GreenTreeFrog]

I am quite concerned about the safety of my young children while walking around busy cities in Turkey, Italy and Greece. Has anyone ever had any problems with their children while travelling?

 

My biggest fear is they will go missing - there one second and gone the next! There is nothing more heart-stopping than losing a child and I have only done it once in a shopping centre!

[chipmaster]

How old are your children? When we went they were 7, 11 and 13. We actually didn't give them any explicit rules while in port, but they were travel veterans and understand the basic common rules if and when they got lost, or worst.

 

There was nothing that I saw on our stops that would make me behave much different on the cruise then when I visit any big city anywhere else in the world.

 

Good luck

 

I am quite concerned about the safety of my young children while walking around busy cities in Turkey, Italy and Greece. Has anyone ever had any problems with their children while travelling?

 

My biggest fear is they will go missing - there one second and gone the next! There is nothing more heart-stopping than losing a child and I have only done it once in a shopping centre!

[GreenTreeFrog]

They are 7, 6 and 4yo.

[Keith1010]

You will want to keep the kids close to you at all times but I would say the same thing about any city around the world including the USA. Even most home towns. Anytime you travel one should always keep the kids close and if you are unable to manage this situation then you need to stay on the ship. Like major cities in the USA it will be very crowded in the large cities such as Istanbul between tourists and locals.

 

You also want to be careful crossing the streets. In some cities (particularly many in Italy) it is quite chaotic.

 

My suggestion would be to take excursions offered by the cruise line. Are you traveling by yourself? If so, that is a lot to worry about with three kids. Again, I want to stress it has nothing to do with these countries.

 

Keith

[Kerry's Girls]

I'm a single mom and I visited all of those countries (plus Egypt) with twin just-turned-five year olds in January and felt as safe, if not safer, than I do in my own shopping malls. As a previous poster mentioned, the traffic can be very chaotic, so we were especially careful about sidewalks, driveways and crossing the street. We had a serious talk each morning about how important it was to stay with mommy, not wander and to listen without questioning if mommy said to do something, but really, once you go, you'll see the biggest problem is that people in those countries LOVE children so much that my kids became a little overwhelmed with strangers fawning over them so much.

 

You didn't ask, but the key to enjoying all those places with kids for me was to have private tours, which, ironically, are much less expensive than the ship tours. You can either go on your own or with other families from your roll call. With a private tour, we could choose our own itinerary (leaving out museums and shopping stops we weren't interested in) and go at our own pace. We could put the car seats in the car or van and leave them, along with backpacks with snacks, water, small amusments/distractions, etc. If we saw a park, we stopped to play, it's always a highlight for my girls to play with kids from other countries and it let them blow off some energy.

 

Have a great time - they're all fanstastic places for kids.

 

Best,

Mia

[scubababy]

We did the med cruise on the Ruby last year that hit all of the countries you are mentioning. We traveled with our 6 year old. Never felt unsafe at all while traveling with our daughter. We did the Crown Princess last month that hit 7 different countries. Again, had a great time.

 

I'll 2nd Mia's suggestion on private tours. They are so much better with a private tour guide. Our worst tours traveling with a child were with the ships tours.

 

I'll never forget our guide in Turkey. He made sure we were all taken care of, and he was very careful with us at the Grand Bazaar. It's something you don't want to miss, but it is overwhelming. He wouldn't let us out of his sight - even waited outside the bathrooms!!! And, when Annie started getting fussy or tired, he immediately knew what to do - find her something to drink or eat! Didn't know we could get a grilled cheese sandwhich while shopping for Turkish rugs!

 

I never ever felt the least bit unsafe in Italy. You will love it.

And, Greece was good too. Athens was probably our least favorite port, but seeing the Acropolis was amazing.

[RoadTripFanatic]

I took DD (9) to Greece and Italy in February. I felt perfectly safe there. In fact we went out on our own and explored. The only time on the trip we took a ship's excursion was in Egypt and Israel. Other than that we hopped off the ship and went wherever we wanted!! :)

eta: We opted to do the ship's excursions in Egypt and Israel because I felt more comfortable with it. On both of the tours the guides were very good with DD.

[GreenTreeFrog]

Thank you everyone. Your feedback puts my mind at ease. We have travelled quite a bit with the kids but not to places like Turkey so I am a little paranoid thinking about that poor child Madeline McCann. We are extremely vigilant with our children and I am sure we will be fine... just my overactive imagination!

[sabound]

scubababy - do you recall who you used for your tour in Turkey? We are taking the Ruby for the Med cruise this fall and have booked private tours at all ports except Monoca, Mykonos (which we will do on our own). Our daughter will be 5 at the time of the cruise, so any other suggestions, recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Also to GreenTreeFrog or any other mom, you can find some great books at the library to help your children understand some differences in the otehr countries. Also my daughter is having a blast learning and coloring the flags for the countries we will visit.

 

Thanks