Meditterranean Cruise with kids

Hello we have book a 10 day Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Reflection. We will be cruising with my 3 and 6 year and Grandma. Since this is a port heavy cruise we are looking for excursions that the kids wont be too bored doing. We plan on doing private tours and was wondering if anyone has any family friendly tour companies they can recommend.

We will be visiting

Rome

Messina

Athens

Kusadashi

Rhodes

Mykonos

Santorini

Naples.

If anyone has suggestions I will take it.

Also for the 3 year do recommend an umbrella stroller?

I would absolutely bring the umbrella stroller. You will use it a lot. In Rome- I would definitely do a private tour that picks you up at the ship. This would be a great way to do it with little ones. Highlights for them will be the Colluseum, throwing pennies in the Trevi fountain and the Borghese Park is lovely- must stop somewhere for gelato. Bring Euros as some of the restaurants don't take credit cards. Rome In Limo is the one mentioned frequently as far as private tours.

Santorini- you can pre-purchase the lift tickets onboard. This is a really easy DIY port. Great for shopping. There is a nice B&B called "Casa Blanca" that has a lovely outdoor restaurant. Beautiful. Ironically it's the only Red building in Thira.

Messina- we did a ship excursion to Taormina that was the highlight of our last Med cruise. Loved it there.

Both times we docked near Athens we stayed on the ship. It was too hot.

Kusadasi- I would recommend doing a private tour of Ephesus that includes the Terrace Houses- which are the best part. We did a ship tour and it wasn't geared for kids, so a private tour would be better. Kusadasi is charming.

In Naples- We liked Herculaneum more than Pompeii but Pompeii is more fun for little kids. Lots of places to explore.

Mykonos might be a good ship day. The island isn't as spectacular as Santorini.

I've never been to Rhodes so can't comment.

Have fun in Europe:)

Not all the ships excursions are necessarily a good fit for little ones -- very often they will have an hour or so "shopping" trip at some place that pays the excursion company/ship for you to be held captive there. Ask them in person while signing up -- and ask VERY SPECIFICALLY :D - if you are considering a ship's excursion. My DH, DD (12YO) and I were bored at the leather store on the way to Florence -- the couples with the toddlers were beside themselves!

I concur with Rebeccaloiseagain -- most of the ports have parks or other places that are pretty kid friendly.

To add to her suggestions - Athens is a simple taxi ride to the Acropolis, but they get a little upset with touching and running about, but there is some great grassy spots around there that are good for kids. The gardens next to the parliment building is very nice and it is right next to where the changing of the guard goes on, which may be kind of interesting to the older of your two kids.

Rhodes does have very nice beaches. The old town area is interesting since it is from the times of the Crusades and a bit different than the normal Greek and Roman sites elsewhere on the Med. There is a big "castle" and a large grassy area in what had been the moat that appeals to kids (plus has walls to "contain" them :))

Mykonos is supposed to have nice beach areas, but I've only ever been there in late November. It is a very walk friendly place -- pelican spotting and the windmills are easy enough.

I agree on making Mykonos a ship day. We thought it was pretty boring compared to the other islands we visited in Greece. Med. cruises are exhausting (and I didn't take my kids!) so I think it helps if you break it up a little and take a day or two on ship to recover from the madness of port after port. I much preferred Rhodes and Santorini to Mykonos. Since I didn't take my kids I don't have a lot of family friendly recommendations, but I will say that I wish I had done more shopping in Rhodes. It has a very interesting old town (within walking distance of the ship) with lots of shops and the prices were cheaper than I saw in other places like Santorini.

Thank you much for the suggestions. I was thinking that Mykonos would be a beach day, but we may think about staying on the boat that day. I email St. John that everyone on my roll call talks about but it would be over $500 US for us to go.

My mom was in Ephesus last years so she said she would stay back with the kids that day so my husband and I could do a tour.

I agree on the stroller but my husband thinks it might be something else to carry, I kept reminding him that it would be his back and not mine carrying the 35 pound toddler.

I will put down souvenir shopping in Rhodes. The day we visit is my 40th birthday so I will make plans to buy myself something special.

Kusadasi, I agree with Rebecca - Ephesus and the Terrace Houses are not to be missed. For kids, it's a big ancient playground. Get a private tour to pick you up and take you. For our family, it actually was less expensive than all of us doing a ship's tour, and we had our own kid-friendly guide who was able to go at our pace and answer all our questions. I used the ports of call board here and chose a well-recommended company, then asked them for a kid-friendly guide. We got there before the big busses and had an absolutely spectacular day - it's one of the places we're dying to get back to.

In Athens we hired a taxi driver at the pier for the day and again got to the Acropolis before the big busses. The kids had a great time climbing the steps to the top, then the driver took us around to some other sites and the old market area for lunch/souvenirs.

In Rome we planned to do the very easy walk to the train station to take public transportation into the city, but it was pouring, so we shared a van with some others who were hanging at the pier figuring out what to do. My only suggestion for Rome is to stay away from the Vatican with little ones. It was the single most miserable thing I've done in my travels - turns out the Vatican wasn't built stroller friendly :).

We didn't have most of the same stops as you, but we found something amazing to do in each port - always something to explore that's fun for the kids.

Best,

Mia

Not all the ships excursions are necessarily a good fit for little ones -- very often they will have an hour or so "shopping" trip at some place that pays the excursion company/ship for you to be held captive there. Ask them in person while signing up -- and ask VERY SPECIFICALLY :D - if you are considering a ship's excursion. My DH, DD (12YO) and I were bored at the leather store on the way to Florence -- the couples with the toddlers were beside themselves!

 

I concur with Rebeccaloiseagain -- most of the ports have parks or other places that are pretty kid friendly.

 

To add to her suggestions - Athens is a simple taxi ride to the Acropolis, but they get a little upset with touching and running about, but there is some great grassy spots around there that are good for kids. The gardens next to the parliment building is very nice and it is right next to where the changing of the guard goes on, which may be kind of interesting to the older of your two kids.

 

Rhodes does have very nice beaches. The old town area is interesting since it is from the times of the Crusades and a bit different than the normal Greek and Roman sites elsewhere on the Med. There is a big "castle" and a large grassy area in what had been the moat that appeals to kids (plus has walls to "contain" them :))

 

Mykonos is supposed to have nice beach areas, but I've only ever been there in late November. It is a very walk friendly place -- pelican spotting and the windmills are easy enough.

I actually think we will only do private tours and DIY tours. Most of the tours are all day and I really don't think my kids could handle an 8 hour bus tour.