Cruise Tours with Kids

[jhryb]

Hi - my family would like to visit Europe with our kids next summer. I was originally hoping to do an Adventures by Disney land based tour (Italy), because they are very family oriented and the quality of the hotels/food/tours is excellent. I received sticker shock when I saw the new 2009 prices. Instead I have booked a Med Cruise on the NCL Jade. My concern is: Are the tours that I can book through the cruise line any good? Will I feel like I am visiting Italy, Spain, Portugal ... Or will I feel like I have visited a nice cruise ship (and just happened to see a few places in Europe)? Are the tours fine for kids too (mine will be 10 and 11) or will they be bored? Are there many kids on these tours?

My goal with this vacation is to see parts of Europe. If I book tours at each port, will I feel like I have seen Europe or should I book a land based vacation?

[SelectSys]

You're question is one that sparks an endless debate - did I really see much or just the cruise ship? My opinion is that you'll get a great first impression of an area by going on a cruise but not really get a chance to fully embrace the local culture.

 

Is it worth it for me? You bet.

 

With respect to your question regarding tours, my kids have been on a variety of tours - some 8 hours + - on three different cruises in Europe starting at ages 8 & 10. Sometimes they were bored, sometimes the got tired but everyone managed to have a good time.

 

Our policy has been to take at least one or two kid friendly shore excursions on each trip even if it means missing some of the traditional "highlights" of an area. We have done mountain biking, speed boat rides, theme parks, etc for the kids. Remember that it is everyone's vacation.

 

Try also posting on the family board for more opinions.

[Morgsmom]

There are always a variety of cruise tours available so you can see if any fit your kids personalities. I know that when I took DD (11 at the time) to Washington, DC last fall she adamently said "NO ART museums." Ok, so we went to the Air & Space Museum, and saw the monuments and the Declaration of Independence, etc.

 

This fall in the Med we will do our own thing in ports, but at 12 she will enjoy (I hope!) the more major sites. Not sure she will want the full-on "Renaissance marble bust museum tour" yet, but I think it is a perfect age to incorporate some cool old history lessons in our travels. The statue of David will just have to wait :D until a land-based trip to Florence in a couple of years (though I wouldn't mind checking him out again...)

[Hlitner]

10 and 11! Although I personally prefer to be on cruises with no kids (ours is grown) but this is a prefect age to take your kids to Europe. We first took our daughter when she was 9 (we trained through 4 countries) and she still remembers every detail 17 years later. You can turn this into an adventure and a very educational experience. Let your kids do research on the ports (and surrounding regions) and contribute to making choices of what you want to do in the ports. As to cruise lines, you will find that RCI has a great kids program and Princess is also pretty good. But, since many of the Med cruises are port intensive, your kids will have little time to get bored. Keep in mind that you can do a lot of short things on your own, and this can save you very big bucks. For example, the ships bus from Civitavecchia to Rome would cost about $250 -$300 for your family. But, the 4 of you can take the train for less than $50 (total), and if you buy the 9 Euro BIRG ticket you also get free use of Rome's buses and subways. So, doing your pre-trip homework is not only fun, it can generate major savings.

 

Hank

[jhryb]

Thank you all for your feedback. Hlitner - one of my big worries was that it may be a fair distance from the port to certain attractions. You sort of confirmed (based on your $ values) that my worries may be valid. My kids would not be the best with spending a lot of time travelling to the attractions in Rome etc....

Our itinerary is as follows:

Sun London (Southampton) -4:00 PMMon At Sea--Tue Vigo 8:00 AM5:00 PMWed Lisbon 8:00 AM5:00 PMThu Seville (Cadiz) 9:00 AM8:00 PMFri Gibraltar 8:00 AM5:00 PMSat Granada (Malaga) 8:00 AM7:00 PMSun At Sea--Mon Olbia 8:00 AM5:00 PMTue Naples 8:00 AM8:00 PMWed Rome (Civitavecchia) 8:00 AM8:00 PMThu Florence/Pisa (Livorno) 8:00 AM8:00 PMFri Cannes 7:00 AM2:00 PMSat Barcelona 5:00 AM-

Are most of these ports a distance from the main attractions? For instance in Naples we really want to see Pompeii (my kids are excited about seeing Pompeii too). Will a 7 hour tour be made up of 4 hours of travelling and only 3 hours of actual tour time? If it were my husband and I alone, I would not care. I would be so upset if my my kids remember this trip as boring.

[Hlitner]

Obviously you are thinking "tour" which is quite typical of most of us Americans. If you have some "travel smarts" you might want to reconsider and do some things on your own since this gives you more control on how you spend your time, take ice cream breaks, etc. As an example, instead of taking a tour to Pompeii which would cost you over $300 (for 4), you could take the local tram or a taxi to the Naples train station (about 1 1/3 miles from the ship) where you can take the train (runs about every 30 min) to Pompeii. The taxi (or bus), trains and admission to Pompeii would cost you less than $100 (for 4). The problem you will have on many ships tours (besides the prices) are that many of them like to also do stops at a jewelry factory, cameo factory, etc in order to promote passengers to shop in places where the tour company profits from the sales. As I mentioned in my other post, when we took our daughter (when she was 9) to Europe we did it with a Eurorail Pass which gave us a lot of flexibility. Rather than being stuck on buses for long tour days, we made our own way through 4 countries and always reserved plenty of time for ice cream breaks. With kids in places like Pompeii, it might be better just doing it on your own with an "audio tour" where you can set your own pace. I hope some others jump in with their experience with taking pre-teens on cruise tours. But, from my perspective, the tours would be a bigger problem than the cruise. Most kids love to cruise, and there will be other kids on a summer Med cruise.

 

As to your ports, here is how it works. Southhampton is quite a distance from London, but you would probably want to do a pre-cruise package in London (if its in your budget). We have never been to Vigo so have no idea what you would do with kids in that part of Spain. Lisbon is a pretty large city, and the ship docks in town so you have lots of local options. Its also possible to take a train (or tour) and go to Estoril or Cascais where there are beaches (fun for kids). Cadiz - Again, I am not sure of the best option for kids. Seville is a nice city, but its over an hour and I am not sure there is much that your children would like (perhaps visiting the bull ring). Gibraltar is a prefect port for kids. Everything is close, and you can take them up the rock in the cable car (great views) and than see the monkeys. The Malaga area does have beaches and its a major tourist part of Spain. Many do take the trek to Granada to see the Alhambra, but that is a long day (your kids might want to do some of their research on the Alhambra). In Olbia you could take a tour to the beach or a boat tour along the Costa Smeralda. This is not far from the port. Naples - many options including Pompeii and Capri. Pompeii is only about 30 min from Naples. Civitavecchia- here you are 1 - 1 1/2 hours from Rome on the train (you can walk to the train station) or on a tour bus. Lots to see in Rome for kids and adults. Livorno - More than an hour from Florence, but only 20 minutes from Pisa. Your kids would probably love the Leaning Tower. Cannes - You tender right into the town. You can use the trains to get to Nice or Monte Carlo. But in Cannes, there is a free sandy beach within walking distance of the tender pier. And the entire town of Cannes is within walking distance. Barcelona - great place to spend an extra day or two post-cruise.

 

In our experience, kids are usually bored because their parents make them do "boring" things. Your kids should be old enough to contribute ideas, and when they come up with the ideas, they should enjoy carrying out their own plans. You know the saying, "kids are people too" and they do often come up with neat ideas.

 

Hank

 

Hank

 

 

 

 

As to your children handling the long trips to sites, I guess it really depends on the kids. But we have often been amazed at how well children do when traveling, especially when they have had a lot of input into the planning. Our daughter fell in love with travel on that trip when she was 9, and now that she is a young adult she continues to travel with her bf (on their way to Italy this week).

Hank

[jhryb]

Thank you, I really appreciate your detailed response. I very much agree that we will need to get the kids involved when we are planning our port visits. Thanks again.

Jennifer

[Keith1010]

Thank you all for your feedback. Hlitner - one of my big worries was that it may be a fair distance from the port to certain attractions. You sort of confirmed (based on your $ values) that my worries may be valid. My kids would not be the best with spending a lot of time travelling to the attractions in Rome etc....

Our itinerary is as follows:

Sun London (Southampton) -4:00 PMMon At Sea--Tue Vigo 8:00 AM5:00 PMWed Lisbon 8:00 AM5:00 PMThu Seville (Cadiz) 9:00 AM8:00 PMFri Gibraltar 8:00 AM5:00 PMSat Granada (Malaga) 8:00 AM7:00 PMSun At Sea--Mon Olbia 8:00 AM5:00 PMTue Naples 8:00 AM8:00 PMWed Rome (Civitavecchia) 8:00 AM8:00 PMThu Florence/Pisa (Livorno) 8:00 AM8:00 PMFri Cannes 7:00 AM2:00 PMSat Barcelona 5:00 AM-

Are most of these ports a distance from the main attractions? For instance in Naples we really want to see Pompeii (my kids are excited about seeing Pompeii too). Will a 7 hour tour be made up of 4 hours of travelling and only 3 hours of actual tour time? If it were my husband and I alone, I would not care. I would be so upset if my my kids remember this trip as boring.

 

These cruises tend to be very port intenstive. So, having done them with children over the years I would like to share some advice.

 

Book some excursions but also do some on your own where you walk around the local area. Because after a while having an excursion day in and day out is tough on both adults but to a large degree children. We used to try to pick tours that were about four hours in length.

 

Some suggestions.

 

Lisbon. This is a perfect city to just walk on your own. There are two piers. One is fairly close to the old part of town and from there you can walk and see many sites and also just enjoy the time strolling the area.

 

Gibraltar. You could do a tour where you go to the top of the rock and see the rock and the monkeys. This is one where you can either book the ships tour or when you get off the ship there will be many vans and associated tour operators. At the same time, it is a very quaint town and fun to walk around. We were just there a few months ago. Easy walk from the cruise ship terminal and fun town to just walk around on your own.

 

Cadiz. Seville is a very long drive each way, so I would take a tour of Cadiz. This is also an easy town to walk around on your own.

 

Rome. This is one that you should go ahead and do the overview tour of Rome. It is a long distance from the ship and the drive is about ninety minutes each way. So, this is the one stop on the itinerary where I would book the tour which will be a full day tour.

 

Livorno. You could do Florence. This will have lots of musuems. The adults will like it but it might get boring for your children. Not sure their ages. The other option is to take a tour to see Pisa, including the famous tower. We did the latter the first time with our children.

 

Naples. I would do a tour through the cruise line. There are many to consider. One is to go see the ruins of Pompeii. But, the other option which might be more fun for the kids is to go out to see the Island of Capri. In terms of education, Pompeii would be very historic to see.

 

Barcelona. Not sure if you are staying over or returning home that day. If you are staying over there is much to see and it is easy to see on your own.

 

A cruise is wonderful to see these places and to me is much easier on everyone.

 

Also, there might be a port where you consider letting the kids stay on the ship while you go off the ship.

 

Keith

[Jacky4]

I am not a kid anymore but when I was 13 I went with my grandparents to Israel. Was I bored...sure sometimes since I was the only one under 60 in our tour group but even at 13 it was really exciting to see such a different culture. It's something I'll never forget and am glad I did it.

[jhryb]

Thank you for your comments (I have copied them over to my trip planning folder) . It is great to read different perspectives.

[Krazy Kruizers]

They will have a wonderfil time.

 

Think of what all they will be able to tell theor friends when they got home -- how they saw this -- where they went.