sola7

Thank you all for your help.  Great suggestions.  I should have been more succinct in my question -- by "beach location", I meant one of the coastal villages, as opposed to Mdina.

Our upcoming cruise has us in Malta on a Sunday.  We had not planned an excursion through the cruise line since the island seemed easy enough to navigate on our own.  However, realizing it's a Sunday, I'm concerned about what will and will not be open.  Is it still worthwhile to visit Mdina, or would we be better to head to a beach location?  Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

No need to pre-book. You'll have plenty of opportunities to find an available gondolier. Pick the area that seems interesting to you and agree in advance on the route (side canals, Grand Canal, etc) and price.

I strongly disagree that you would want to skip this, especially if your child has their heart set on it. It is expensive, yes, and a bit of a cliche. But it's an experience you'll always remember. I've been twice (once a romantic ride with my wife on a side canal, and once a Grand Canal trip with family members), and really enjoyed it both times. The gondolier a couple years ago sang. The one a few years earlier talked about the history of some of the locations we were passing.

My wife and I did a Mediterranean cruise on Oceania at the age of 45. We didn't feel out of place at all. There were lots of people older than us, but quite a few younger than us as well. Some children, but well-behaved and not disruptive. If you're looking for top-flight entertainment or dancing til the wee hours, you won't find it on Oceania. But you will find smaller ships, great food, interesting port choices, etc. At this point, I don't think we'd cruise any other line.

When we were in Honfleur the summer before last, there were a few people painting (and selling) in the harbor area. I think it's a bit hit or miss though.

My wife and I are cinema buffs and loved the Paris Cinema Museum. It is a bit off the beaten path, and deals mostly with the history of old cinema (the invention of motion pictures, silent films, etc.) If it's something you are interested in, it's well worth a couple hours of time. It's also covered by the Museum Pass.

I have not been on the specific excursion you indicate, but it would seem to me that doing the D-Day sites and the Bayeux tapestry all in one excursion is trying to do too much too quickly. I thought the tapestry was surprisingly fascinating, but it would take too much quality time away from the D-Day sites which you would want to see (and which, IMO, are THE thing to see in that area).

As cruisemom notes, calling the phone number will get you a reservation and then you pick up tickets in a SHORT line when you arrive. It is very easy. The phone agents speak English. If for some reason, you don't get there on time, you won't be out the money of a paid-in-advance ticket.

Yes, they are quite expensive. But in many cases, they are worth the cost. If you do a bit of research, you can figure out the ports where it is easy and relatively risk-free to do-it-yourself. On a recent Accent on Italy cruise, we did a mix of shore excursion and do-it-yourself days. We figured ports like Monaco, Dubrovnik, and Venice were easy enough to do on our own. Places involving shorter time periods (e.g. Sorrento) or longer distances to travel (e.g. Mt. Etna) we wanted the security of a pre-arranged tour. I couldn't complain either way. The tour guides were wonderful and informative. I think you're paying a premium for the high quality of the tours to a certain extent.

We were on Riviera last week. My wife asked for a smaller portion of the Prime Rib in Polo, and was offered a "Princess Cut". It was still pretty large, but manageable at least.

The real surprise for us was Red Ginger. The food, the service, the presentation was all fantastic, and it was, IMO, the star of the specialty dining options on the ship. For the rest of the cruise, we joked about trying to ask for the sea bass in the other dining areas.