Med cruise for seniors help

[emsachs]

I am planning a cruise for may wife and our parents (82 years old).

 

We just did an Alaskan cruise and they loved it!!

They now have their hearts set on a Europen Med cruise next June.

(We thought about a Panama canal cruise, but they really want to go to Europe)

 

My question is this.

Our parents can do short walks but they won't be able to do hard walking or ALOT of stairs. (some stairs OK).

 

Is it feasible for them to do a Med cruise and would they be able to enjoy it?

Would they miss too much by not being able to walk alot?

 

Any advise for seniors would be helpful.

Thanks

[wwinfl91]

We did a Med cruise in 2003 and it was one of the best cruises we have taken. But we are in our mid 50's and in pretty good shape and we still came back to the ship exhausted some days. I would suggest trying to go during the cooler months of the year. We went in July and the Med is just as hot and humid as the Southern US with temperatures in the 90's and above with bad humidity.

 

Our cruise left from Barcelona, went to Monte Carlo, Livarno (for Florence and Pisa), Naples (for Pompeii and Herculaneum), Athens, Kusadasi (for Ephesus) , Istanbul and ended in Venice. We did private tours in several ports which allow you more control over where you go and how long you spend there. It also generally allows you to park closer to the attractions you are going to be seeing which may lessen the walking. But almost all the places we went required walking and generally some steps.

 

Venice is a great place to visit but you do have to walk or use water buses to get around.

 

I would say if that is where they want to go find a cruise during the cooler months of the year and reserve private tours in as many ports as possible. Depending on the ports that your cruise visits you may be able to minimize the walking but still expect to do more than they probably do at home.

 

Good luck in finding the right cruise. Check the winter months when Costa and MSC do Med cruises but the other main line cruise lines have left the area for the Caribbean. By March and April the other cruise lines have started getting back to the Med.