selketine Posted July 29, 2007 #1 Share Posted July 29, 2007 We are considering a RCCI eastern Med cruise that goes to Tunis, Athens, Alexandria, etc. This would be in a couple of years and the kids would be 11 and 7. I'm just curious if anyone has done a similar trip on this cruise line or another and how their experience was? I thought the ship might make a good "home base" allowing us to see some of the main sights of these cities (we've never been to any of them). We might go off season (like Jan-March). My younger son has some medical issues (type 1 diabetes/peanut allergy) and I thought cruising might offer a safe place to eat, medical staff, etc. My husband has always wanted to see some of Greece and I would love to see some of the Pyramids in Egypt - so this gets us both (limited time perhaps but we get there). We have never cruised before - we're cruising the first time this Fall on a Disney cruise to the Western Caribbean. Any thoughts?:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpb43 Posted July 29, 2007 #2 Share Posted July 29, 2007 We just returned from an East Med cruise last week (not on RCCL) with our 3 kids, ages 11, 8 ½, and 4. This was our first cruise and the kids LOVED it. Our ports were mostly in Greece and Croatia. The kids have been pestering me about when we will go on our next cruise. The ship was a nice home base with consistent meals and fun onboard activities. We had a lot of fun, but it is tiring. The ports are so interesting that we did a lot of walking and exploring. As the week wore on, I realized that we should just take it easy in some locations, even if we didn’t see everything we hoped to see. If you have any specific questions, I’ll be happy to answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selketine Posted July 29, 2007 Author #3 Share Posted July 29, 2007 We're also in the Washington, DC area mpb.:) How was the mix of children/adults on the ship - enough kids so that you didn't feel out of place? I was wondering how that would be - and especially off-season when the kids are usually in school in the USA. Did you spend time in the departure/arrival port city to sightsee? I guess if anyone thinks another cruise line (that also would hit Greece and Egypt) would be better I'm open to suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpb43 Posted July 29, 2007 #4 Share Posted July 29, 2007 Selketine, Glad we are neighbors! There were a ton of kids on our cruise. I'd say several hundred. We were on Costa, which I know is not used much by many on CC. I traveled in an extended family group and some live in Europe and Costa was the choice. I must say that we had a great time, though English is definitely the minor language. I think from doing a lot of research before we left that all the major lines will have a lot of children in the Med during the peak summer months. There certainly were a lot of kids in all our ports, particularly Venice. I think there will be fewer kids during the off season. I know other posters on this board have done the Med in the off season and might chime in. We spent 1 day precruise and 5 days postcruise in Venice. It was nice to enjoy Venice on a slower pace and I think it was nice for our family to have that time to wind down before heading home after the cruise. Enjoy your planning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipsepearl Posted July 30, 2007 #5 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Hi, We're about to leave for the Eastern Med with three kids, 3 ,5 and the oldest will turn 8 onboard. Since we live in Europe, we actually avoided Costa for this reason. My kids speak French every day and it was pointless to go on vacation with more French people when they need to practice their English (with someone other than mom ;) so we're going with Celebrity, which is the same company as RCCI. I'll let you know how it was with kids but our sailing is in peak summer so any ship will be full of kids. RCCI is much more family-oriented from what I know, and less formal. I will mention that in the Med, your son's peanut allergy wont be a big problem. They use mainly olive oil and peanut products are simply not that popular here in Europe as a whole. The other advantage of the Med is that usually there are so many dockings that medical help is never far away. Jan-March might be rainy and many of the ships actually leave the area, heading to the Caribbean, giving you less choice. Plus, that time frame is not "off-season" here in Europe. You might find yourself trying to book during the "Carnivale" break, a very busy time here. Early February, my kids get two weeks off here in France. Just be aware when booking, especially for the pre- and post-cruise planning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpb43 Posted July 30, 2007 #6 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Hi, We're about to leave for the Eastern Med with three kids, 3 ,5 and the oldest will turn 8 onboard. Since we live in Europe, we actually avoided Costa for this reason. My kids speak French every day and it was pointless to go on vacation with more French people when they need to practice their English (with someone other than mom ;) so we're going with Celebrity, which is the same company as RCCI. Eclipsepearl, I completely understand! In fact, it was one of the reasons were were happy to go with Costa. Some of my family lives in Geneva and I thought it would be nice for the kids to be on a ship where English was not the dominant language. About half of the pax on our Costa sailing were French. Enjoy your cruise on Celebrity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selketine Posted July 30, 2007 Author #7 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Thanks Eclipse - I will look forward to you posting when you return to let us know how it was. I had thought the cruise in Jan-March was somewhat "off-season" because the price was so much less - compared to the prices in April and onward. It is a good point that the local area might be in the middle of a holiday/break time for schools, etc. The RCCI ship is Brilliance of the Seas I think - that hangs out in the med at least in 2009. I am thankful that there are places in the world that don't consider peanut a common ingredient in every dish.;) We still have to be careful with cross-contamination but we are used to dealing with that. He isn't medically fragile but it is much easier to travel with him if we know we could depend on the ship for safe food and medical issues. I hope you have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tricialee Posted July 30, 2007 #8 Share Posted July 30, 2007 We are taking our sons on a Med. cruise next April. They will be 11 and 7 at the time. We chose April because of the climate and the lower prices as compared to the summer. We are sailing on RCCLs Legend for the 12 nighter that leaves from Rome and goes to Mykonos, Rhodes, Athens, Limassol, Kusadasi, Alexandria and Naples. I'm not much help to you right now, but I will write a report when I return next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I&MsMom Posted July 30, 2007 #9 Share Posted July 30, 2007 We took our kids to the Eastern Med this past April. Our ports were in Italy, Greece and Turkey - so no experience with Egypt or Tunis. Our children were 4 and 8. There were only 30 other children under 14 on board - and they still had an absolute blast! We didn't try to "see it all". In fact, we didn't go into a single museum. We spent some time in Italy pre-cruise, but this was not their first time there. It was not our first cruise, but it was our first cruise in Europe. I can't imagine an easier, less stressful way to see Europe with young children. One thing that I found to be wonderful was that they could have something other than a continental breakfast - eggs, waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, whatever they wanted to set them up for the day. We enjoyed the experience so much, we've booked a Baltics cruise for next summer! If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SelectSys Posted July 31, 2007 #10 Share Posted July 31, 2007 We are considering a RCCI eastern Med cruise that goes to Tunis, Athens, Alexandria, etc. This would be in a couple of years and the kids would be 11 and 7. ... We have never cruised before - we're cruising the first time this Fall on a Disney cruise to the Western Caribbean. Any thoughts?:) We have done 2 med cruises and 6 overall with our kids. Our kids were 9 and 11 on their first med cruise and loved it. If your trip is around school holidays kids will be on board. We just got back from a Navigator of the Seas cruise out of Southampton and their must have been 500+ kids on board. The med trip is our favorite and we are looking to book another trip to the Eastern Med for the future. I like the ports on the Legend of the Seas trip to the Eastern Med, but don't really like Vision class ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eclipsepearl Posted July 31, 2007 #11 Share Posted July 31, 2007 Yeah, what's the deal about the ships in the Med? I noticed that companies send slightly smaller ones down there. Is that a correct observation? Just for the record, I don't hate my fellow Frenchmen. It's simply that I live in France all year round and if I'm not going to the U.S., I simply need a break. It's a cultural thing. French people take a long time to get to know and don't like talking to "strangers" if they don't have to (my dh included). A lot of my fellow Americans interpret this to mean that they "hate" Americans. They actually don't treat Americans any differently than they do any nationality or even each other. So vacations with a lot of other French people means sticking with whomever you are traveling with and interacting as little as possible with anyone else. I have a sinking feeling that my own dh will be doing this on our cruise. He doesn't speak English and luckily, we're going with another family. That's why I don't recommend Costa and MSC. I'm afraid you'll be wandering around hundled groups of French, speaking their own language and not wanting to interact with you. Spanish can be this way too (lots of experience speaking!) but Italians and other Mediterranean nationalities are open, friendly and happy to use their English. Going for Spring break is a good idea. Also consider going right as soon as school lets out in June. European schools don't finish until late June or early July so that can be a slow(er) period, probably cheaper, quieter but still great weather without having them miss any school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selketine Posted August 2, 2007 Author #12 Share Posted August 2, 2007 This all sounds pretty positive! I think the RCCI ship would be fine for us. I love it if one of the Disney ships gets sent out to do a Greek island tour but I have a feeling they wouldn't go to Egypt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SelectSys Posted August 2, 2007 #13 Share Posted August 2, 2007 This all sounds pretty positive! I think the RCCI ship would be fine for us. I love it if one of the Disney ships gets sent out to do a Greek island tour but I have a feeling they wouldn't go to Egypt. Probably true with respect to Disney and Egypt. The shore excursions to the Cario and the Pyramids are long for kids. I also wouldn't count on Disney to have a Greek Islands intensive cruise. They just don't have enough ships at this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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