Just booked Disney Cruise 7 day Mediterranean Italy/France. Any one done it before? Any advice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Double-check where the ship actually docks...the port cities are often a schlep from the prime tourist destinations.

Look at the excursion lists on the disney website. Their european ones begin with "a scenic 90 minute drive"

Precisely. So I wouldn't risk missing the boat by booking non-disney excursions.

[Anonymous]

Don't carry a backpack, and for heaven's sake, don't put your passport in one. The pickpockets (esp. In Rome) will take it. We met someone who spent their entire day in Rome at the embassy getting new passports (and it was $$$). Take a copy of your passport and leave the original in the safe. I got one of those travel wallets that hangs around your neck under your clothes, and just kept a few Euro in my pocket. Probably overkill, but it was nice not having to worry every time a gypsy bumped into me. I also got one for dc, and put in some money, and a slip of paper with our cell phone numbers, an emergency contact number back in the states, and the info on the boat, in case he got separated from us. I also gave him a calling card and taught him how to use it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My one tip is to not over schedule yourself with tours. Don't try to see everything, particularly if your kids are younger. In some cases, the ports are quite a hike from the things you will want to see. We looked at it as an "introductory" tour for kids. They got the flavor of the various cities, and we told ourselves that we'll go back and spend more time in specific places when they're older. For example, in Naples, I'd focus on Pompeii and the Museum in Naples. We did Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii all in one day. It was beautiful, but it's a hard pace to sustain for very long.

Having been to Pompeii and Capri, I can't imagine doing both of those AND Sorrento in one day. You must have spent about 2 hours in each. We spent a half day in Pompeii last year and it was exhausting. This year (earlier this week) we spent 3 days in Capri and didn't see everything we wanted.

We were in Capri all morning and had lunch in Sorrento, then a half day in Pompeii. It was a long day, and as I said, we didn't look at it as the last and final trip to any of these places. We got a first impression, and now we know where we'd like to go back. We definitely want to return to Capri and Pompeii, for example, but felt as though we "checked the box" on Rome. Maybe the new Mayor will get things under control, and we'll want to go back, but it wasn't a place I'd want to hang out for an extended period of time.

[Anonymous]

No one is concerned about terrorists? I'm not going abroad this year nor are my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is concerned about terrorists? I'm not going abroad this year nor are my kids.

?

I work in DC. I feel like like a terrorist event could happen in DC...or NYC...or anywhere really.

I am careful in crowds and special events. And i would likely avoid crowded hipster cafés. But I wouldn't avoid traveling abroad.

And this thread is about disney cruises, so we're really just talking about excursions (a few hours here or there).