Anonymous wrote:For those that did this, how many meals did you end up eating on the ship versus in port? The food is such a big part of the draw for the Medditeraan. Was it typical cruise ship food? (I assume so.)

You can eat whenever you like on the ship, but we opted to do this:

Have coffee, fruit, etc. delivered to our cabin as we got ready

Get off the ship as soon as we could (usually 8am) to start our day

Hit a local bakery or cafe

Sightsee

Lunch at a local cafe

Get on a boat or go to the beach (enjoy drinks)

Hit a cafe or bar before getting back on ship for dinner

We also had snacks, street food, gelato, etc. We definitely enjoyed local fare—including wine and craft beers.

For those that did this, how many meals did you end up eating on the ship versus in port? The food is such a big part of the draw for the Medditeraan. Was it typical cruise ship food? (I assume so.)

We did a cruise from Rome to Athens with stops in Naples and Greece. It was amazing and I think an 11 year old would love. Mine were 13 and 15 and it was the best trip we’ve ever taken. Might be tough for spring break, unless you have some wiggle room. You should arrive Friday (fly Thursday overnight) and the jet lag after can be hard. Disney, celebrity and royal Caribbean all had itineraries that I considered and would do. I’d do the RC Odyssey of the Sea with an 11 year old, if that ship matches your date. It was in port with us so it might!

Anonymous wrote:I generally am okay with a cruise but I’m just not clear on the advantage of cruising in the Med. seems like you see less and don’t eat as well.

This is my thought too. And I'm not anti-cruise.

Last summer, I took my 11 year old dd and 13 year old did on a 10 day cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line down the Mediterranean coast starting from Barcelona and we loved it. I just looked at it as a floating air conditioned hotel.

The excursions were great for them. They got to see the lavender fields in bloom in Provence, see where the Cannes film festival is held, eat pizza in Naples, visit the Coliseum, go to Pompeii, take a rubber boat ride along the Amalfi coast, go swimming in Ibiza etc. It was pretty hot at the end of June and it was always nice to get back to the cruise where they could go swimming or just relax someplace besides a small hotel room.

Obviously DCUM looks down on this kind of travel, but it was a really fun experience for all of us.

Bill Burr has the best bit where he describes how to depopulate the Earth in a way no one will notice nor miss. It had to do with cruise ships

I generally am okay with a cruise but I’m just not clear on the advantage of cruising in the Med. seems like you see less and don’t eat as well.

I would want to arrive at departure point at least two days before ship sale. My last flight to Europe, they cancelled our flight at last minute and rescheduled us for the next day.

I did a Princess cruise in the summer for seven nights. We started at Rome and ended in Athens, so I don't have experiences with doing excursions at those ports. We didn't do any of the cruise excursions mostly because I thought I'd be annoyed with a group. It was a lot of "go go go" on port days, but we were definitely able to see a lot and private tours were easy to book if we wanted. One of our stops was Mykonos and we just did a beach day (there are places to rent beach chairs near the port). It was a great trip, but just keep in mind eventually your DC might get tired of looking at ruins so you do need to mix it up. I also highly recommend watching movies or documentaries on the places you'll be visiting in advance. It helps give the historical background.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't most Med cruises at least 10 days long? The other issue is that some of the ports, especially in Italy are FAR from the actual sites you want to see.

DP

There are cruises ranging from 7 days to 14 days.

I’m curious when your spring break is and which sailings you see in the Med. We did a Med cruise this summer.

Re: distance from ports and “what you want to see” - Totally depends. The ships dock by the old town in Dubrovnik and Split. They tender by Portofino and Kotor.

They typically are docked longer when folks need to travel further to sites. We went all over Italy and were able to get to Florence from the port in Livorno, to Taormina from the port in Messina, etc.

Civitavecchia isn’t too far from Rome.

Ravenna is 2+ hours from Venice but Trieste is much closer.

We’ve been cruising with our kids for 10 years (since they were very young). It’s a great trip with kids.

What cruise lines do you like with (older) kids and what specific ports are your favorite?

Anonymous wrote:Aren't most Med cruises at least 10 days long? The other issue is that some of the ports, especially in Italy are FAR from the actual sites you want to see.

DP

There are cruises ranging from 7 days to 14 days.

I’m curious when your spring break is and which sailings you see in the Med. We did a Med cruise this summer.

Re: distance from ports and “what you want to see” - Totally depends. The ships dock by the old town in Dubrovnik and Split. They tender by Portofino and Kotor.

They typically are docked longer when folks need to travel further to sites. We went all over Italy and were able to get to Florence from the port in Livorno, to Taormina from the port in Messina, etc.

Civitavecchia isn’t too far from Rome.

Ravenna is 2+ hours from Venice but Trieste is much closer.

We’ve been cruising with our kids for 10 years (since they were very young). It’s a great trip with kids.

Aren't most Med cruises at least 10 days long? The other issue is that some of the ports, especially in Italy are FAR from the actual sites you want to see.

Not yet but always wanted to with my similar aged daughter. What destinations are you looking at?

Not 11 year old but we did it with our 9 year old last year. No issues. But he has done a lot of cruises.

Mediterranean cruise is one of my favorites.

Has anyone ever taken one with an 11-year old. Looking at a one week cruise over spring break next year.