Has anyone done the Med with kids?

Mine will be 3 and 8 when we would like to go, but I want to get the opinions of my CC friends before we book. Is it worth it? The ports are seem so clustered will we be killing ourselves if we take the kids? And how are the Kid's Clubs on the different ships? Please help! We just got back from the Caribbean (which, by the way, was great for the little ones) and have the cruise bug in a big way! I'd love to book so I can have plenty of time to pay for it....:D

Thanks!

Actually, no...

We took our kids to the Baltic on a cruise...and we've taken them all over the world...We've just done the Med without them...

But, with that much experience, I do have an opinion...

I think it would be really hard to take them to the Med...it's a very "port-intensive" cruise and there are long days in port...and most of the "attractions" really don't reach out to kids...Think about spending your port stop in Naples schlepping your kids through a visit to Capri, lunch and shopping in Sorrento and a tour through the ruins at Pompei...intriguing for you adults but boring as heck to the little ones...by mid afternoon, they'd be screaming and you'd be a total wreck...Port after port like this...Athens: Go visit the Acropolis then a trip out to the Temple of Poseidon...Rome...go check out the Vatican and the Piazza Navona and the Coliseum? You'd want to pack in a full day of sightseeing in these ports...there's so much to see in art and architecture and archaeology...and your kids would just drive you crazy...

As my kids were growing up, we found they loved cruises where they could go to ports that involved beaches and swimming and horseback riding and fun...not education and culture...We waited until they were teens to take them to Europe and even then it was a pain at times..."Not another Church!! Not another Castle!!"

I think that ages three and eight would be too young for the Med. I took my chidren to the Med but they were 13 and 17 respectively. I couldn't see them going on the shore exscursions at that age.

At that age, I think the Caribbean, Alaska or Bermda would be better.

Keith

I took my son last summer when he was 7. He had a great time and can't wait to go back. The children's program on board Galaxy was excellent. The 3 year old will probably enjoy the time on the ship more than the time ashore. But there is lots of stuff ashore that your 8 year old will enjoy.

We've traveled a lot with our kids, including 11 cruises. While I think independent land touring abroad can be very successful with little ones because you are in control of the schedule, I cannot imagine anything more challenging than making a Med cruise with a 3yo and 8yo a comfortable and happy time for all, and I absolutely would not be satisfied by kid-limited visits to some of the most fascinating places in the world. IIWM, and the point of the trip was a family travel experience, I'd consider other cruise destinations or a land trip. If the point was for my husband and me to see the Med ports, I'd ditch the kids or wait til they were older.

In June, we did the Barcelona-Venice itinerary with our kids, now 13yo and 11yo, and while it was a wonderful trip in every way, it was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting, as well. Each of us had our tired and cranky moments! If you've looked at itineraries, you will see that it's a daily go-go-go from early to late (we had only 2 sea days, which is common). If you are thinking, well, we could sleep in a little, get in some early touring, break up our day with a nap aboard ship and then go back out for a few hours, don't count on it. In many Med ports, it takes time and logistics to get from the ship to where you really want to go. As for leaving the kids on board, sure, it can be done. Our kids asked to stay aboard once--they were exhausted and ready for a break, so we let them. However, I wasn't at ease the whole day and know I'd have an extremely difficult time leaving a 3yo (and 8yo?) behind. I guess you realize this, but when touring some Med ports, like Civitavecchia-Rome, you are a good 2+ hours from the ship for most of the day.

As you can see, everybody has a different opinion on this subject, not unlike any other parenting issue. :cool: Based on our experiences, cruises good for young ones are your typical beach-fun places, e.g., Carib, Mex Riv and Hawaii. Alaska is great when they are old enough to hike, kayak, justify an expensive seat on a heli/plane flightsee, and otherwise endure a full day of active pursuits in the great outdoors (ours were 11 and 9 when we did Alaska, perfect ages IMO).

Happy research & planning...here's to many incredible family travels!

Arteimis, I couldn't agree with you more.

There are so many great historic sites to see on a Med trip but at ages 3 and 8 the children would likely be very bored visiting these sites and would not remember them as they got older.

Better to wait for them to get older so that the whole family enjoys the tours.

Keith

I think we may be answering different questions here. If the question was "Will young kids remember the places in the Med many years later?" then I would answer "probably not" also. If the question was "Would the kids have more fun on a Disney cruise?" I'd probably say "yes" also. As I understand the question, however, it is "Is it possible to take young children to the Med on a cruise and everybody have a good time?" I still think the answer to this question is that it depends on the personalities of the children, but that properly managed it can be a great experience for everyone. A lot of Americans wouldn't think of taking kids on a long trip like that, but we saw large numbers of European families doing just that. In fact, I would argue that exposing kids to other cultures (particularly the classical cultures in the Med) may be an extremely positive thing for them, notwithstanding the fact that they probably won't remember a line of Homer at the age of 30 and would have just as much fun on a beach. I certainly wouldn't discourage anybody from trying a family trip to the Med. I'd just advise taking it slow until you see what your family will tolerate and enjoy the most. With my son, we enjoyed a lot of pizza and gelato, as well as playing gladiator at the Colliseum. Pompeii was a big hit also.

Cothou, if the intent is to take children that age on the various shore tours then I think it would not be a lot of fun at that age. We started taking our children on cruises when they were 5 and 9 respectively, and our children have always been very well behaved and mature for their ages, but I can tell you that there is no way at those ages that going on tours with them in the med would be fun for everyone. Now, if we were to leave them on the ship while we went on the tours, that would work, but we don't believe in doing that. So, while I would have liked to have gone on a med cruise sooner rather than later, we waited until they were of an older age (13 and 17 respectively) to go on that type of cruise so that they would appreciate it more and so that we would all enjoy it. On our med cruise we saw very few children who were below the age of 12. Anyway, as you say each child is different. In general though, I think children of such as young age will likely do better with cruises to places such as Bermuda, Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribbean than a med cruise.

Keith

If I got this right you were asking "is it worth it?" IMHO the answer to that has to NO. A Med cruise, to me, is the ultimate in cruise experiences but for a 3 yr. that would probably enjoy Disney more than schlepping through a dozen cultural sites, somehow the combination appears to be a recipe for disaster. Comparatively Med cruise tend to be a little more expensive than your regular Caribbean/Mexico cruise. As like many have said you'll spend your days off the ship an hour or two from the ship so you can't just nip back for a quick dip in the pool. There are just too many options for more kid friendly cruises to waste what should be a truly great experience.

With all due respect, Cothou, I think the gist of the question here was "will we be killing ourselves"? ...which, obviously was meant in a figurative, not literal, sense...

Sure, many of us have taken our kids--at all ages--on all sorts of vacations...

Generally, you do what you have to do...

That said, I'd take them to Europe IF I was decided to go no matter what and didn't have the option to leave my kids at home. Sure the kids will get "something" out of it (although how much experience a 3 year old gets out of such a trip is highly questionable).

The real issue has something more to do with the PARENTS, not the kids...Yes, European families take their kids to the Mediterranean all the time--it's like us taking our kids to the Sierras...(We'd go to Yosemite and Mammoth and Tahoe with the kids while little...but we weren't skiing or backpacking or gambling or going to shows with a three year old--those vacations would be just for relaxation--and we didn't care much because it was close and cheap anyway...Europeans go to the Med anytime)...

Now, if you're one of those who goes to the Med every summer...then sure, get used to taking the kids...

But, let's assume for a second that the OP is looking to this as a "special" trip ...a once-in-howeverlong chance to see Europe, then trying to do that with a 3 year old and an 8 year old will DEFINITELY take away from their experience...There is so much to see in these ports...really to jam in while visiting these ports...that a typical port stop in Rome or Athens or Livorno or Barcelona or Nice or Naples is an 8 to 10 hour nonstop trek from museum to church to palace to arcaheological site type of day...An eight year old has an attention limit, a 3 year old is basically excess baggage...

Yes, I am generalizing...I know a lot of people think THEIR kids are "special"...that THEIR kids have a greater intellectual capacity and a longer attention span...that because of this, THEIR kids are actually thrilled at visiting the Vatican and the ruins of the Forum and the Coliseum and the Pantheon and Fountains by Bernini and works by Michelangelo...and that THEIR kids are getting so much out of this...

Well, I can tell you in retrospect (this may sound a bit like bragging, but, sorry, it's important to the point)...my kids are now 19 and 20...both are honors students at major universities (their schools ranked #8 and #11 among public universities in the US by US News and World Report)...I'm telling you this so you know that these are not even just "average" kids...these are two very bright kids, high achievers, kids with varied and intellectual interests...and THEY were NOT the best of travellers even going to Europe as teenagers...They got bored at seeing their fifth cathedral or eight castle or third museum...

And when kids are bored or uninterested (even though YOU might want to think they're learning so much), they are difficult to travel with...

And if this is one your few big shots to see these ports and you have to be more concerned with keeping your kid entertained and happy than with visiting the Acropolis or with getting your kid Ice Cream and sitting in a park rather than climbing the Dome in the Duomo in Florence, then your experience is lessened--severely...

When the kids are 10 and 15, I think you will have a much better time in Europe...

Like someone else said, when they're 7 and 12, Alaska would be great...

When the kids are just 3 and 8, I'd go for a nice Mexican Riviera or Caribbean cruise...Something with a few "at sea" days...and ports where you can spend a little time in town then take them swimming to a beach or pool...

I think maybe we agree more than it might sound. Ideally, you would wait until the kids were a little older. Both the kids and the parents will probably get more out of it then. But will it kill the family to make the trip now? It didn't kill us and it didn't kill a lot of families who make the trip every year and enjoy it. Whether a trip is successful or not ultimately depends upon a whole lot of factors. It depends on the kids and parents and luck and other things. Its the same calculation you make when you are considering any family trip. The trip is partly for the kids and partly for the parents. Each family has to weigh the options in light of their own personal experience and decide what is best. I don't think every family trip has to be to Disneyland or the beach and I certainly am not arguing that every trip ought to be to some cultural mecca. We ultimately end up doing some of both. I am just saying that you shouldn't rule out the Med automatically on the basis that young kids make such a trip impossible to enjoy. To employ an old phrase that seems well-suited to cruising, "Different strokes for different folks."

Here's a question: can you bring a babysitter along? Perhaps a teenager you know well who would enjoy the free vacation and would be willing to spend at least some of the more intense port days on the ship with the kids? I think that would make all the difference.

Two years ago we took our kids, then 10 & 12, on a 3 week land trip to Italy. They loved it, had a wonderful time, remember most of it and still talk about it. They got all we were hoping for out of it -- exposure to a different culture, seeing lots of art and history and ancient ruins and all the great things that Italy has to offer, trying different foods, etc. But we rented a villa in Tuscany with a huge pool, and went with my brother- and sister-in-law and their 3 similar-aged kids, and spaced out our sightseeing days with lazy days at the pool. And, just like Bruin Steve says, they could only handle so much sightseeing ("NO, not another museum!! No more churches, Mom!").

I envision a cruise with them as being much more difficult. I imagine that on port days, you'll probably spend at least some time on excursions where you are not in control of your time, and are at the mercy of the tour group. We had a rental car and could stop, or detour, or just head back if the kids were on overload. Just some food for thought!

If you can bring the babysitter, that seems to me the best solution. Otherwise, if it came down to bring them along or not go at all, sure I'd go (I'd never pass up a chance to cruise the Med!) but I'd be prepared to expect a compromised experience.

LeeAnne

Good point. Another alternative to the babysitter idea is to use private drivers and tours part of the time. We did that in a number of locations, which enabled us to set the pace and do what we wanted. If we got tired of churches and ruins (which I admit happened a few times) we stopped at a park or beach and played or rested. I also let my son bring his Leapster (like an educational handheld video game) and it helped get him through some of the driving parts.

You know I keep coming back to the simple fact that the kids are very young for a med cruise. Why not wait until they are older so that the whole family can maximize the enjoyment of the cruise. With so many other cruise options that would be more interesting for the kids at their current age why not just do those first. Once the kids are older, then you don't have to worry about private tours in each port or baby sitters and it will be a vacation to remember. Oh, well. Just my thoughts. Through the years I did take my children on about 14 cruises. We waited until they were older to do cruises such as the Mediteranean and a cruise of the British Isles which I think turned out to be much more enjoyable for them at an older age.

Happy cruising.

Keith

cruise the Med on Celebrity with our two little ones in May '05. They will be

3 1/2 and 5 1/2 years old. We travel all over with them. Yes, our trips with little ones are very different then before (when just the two of us existed). Much slower, we now take a lot more time to "smell the roses" along the way, not just get in as many sites as possible. We take the trips that we want to take for us, not so much for them. Our expectations of our holidays are different when we travel alone, as opposed to when we travel with our children (we primarily travel with our children nowadays). We do choose our cruiseline/ship with our children in mind (they love the "Fun Factory"), and we also choose our activities on shore very carefully and with our children in mind so that they also have an enjoyable time (if they don't have fun, we don't either...), but we choose our itinerary/destination with us in mind. I plan to go back to Europe many more times both with and without our children. We enjoy seeing places we've been to before without them through their delightfully childish eyes. Gives us new perspective. New appreciation. So, I guess it depends on your expectations of this trip, as well as your research prior to your trip (which is often enhanced by previous travel to the ports in question as well as your other travel experiences). Are you going to have a disappointing trip if you can't see EVERTHING this time? Can you pick and choose just a couple of things in each port to see? Are you travelling with other family/friends? How well do they travel with children? Guess that my answer is: it depends on you.

Good luck. Please let us know your thoughts/decisions...:)

Wow! Thanks so much for all of your responses! And I've made a decision...I just booked Hawaii on NCL Pride of Aloha...without the kids! My husband is getting a picture of the place in his stocking for Christmas because I haven't told him I booked it at all. I can get my dear parents to come to town to watch the kids for a week, but if I want at least two weeks in Europe, especially if 7-10 days of it will be on a ship.

So...it's off to Hawaii we go! And it will be our 10-year anniversary, so it will be better to go without little ones anyway.

Thanks again for everything!:)

Sounds wonderful! You'll have a great time!