Just back from RCCI Med cruise with 2 in tow!

[RadFamily]

We just returned from our 18 Aug sailng on Splendour of the Seas. In tow were a 5 year old and a 14 month old. We had a standard ocean view stateroom (no suite for us!). I have to say, we were surprised with the size of the room. I think DH and I were expecting a shoe box....we were happy to it was more like a boot box! Our 5 y/o LOVED the pullman! And the ship provided a pack and play for the toddler (although I later found out that they did not have enough for all the babies on board and had to get more when we were at our first stop)

 

Some brief points:

1) We were initially assigned the late seating at 9:00. We decided that just wasn't going to work, and switched to the main seating at 6:30. Although the boat was in port late some days, the early seating worked out GREAT with the kids.

2) Our 5 y/o had a blast at the kids club. He wanted to go EVERYDAY!

3) We used in room babysitting for a few hours on 3 of the nights, so DH and I could have some time to ourselves. It worked out great (the toddler slept the entire time) and Carla (the babysitter) was very nice.

4) The inflatable tub was perfect for our little at the pool. Noone took offense to it and most people commented that it was a good idea. We filled it with water from the showers near the pool and then dumped it out in the deck drain when we were done.

 

Those are the big ones that stick out in my mind. If there are any questions, please ask.

 

- Tara

[bhcruise]

Tara,

How did your kids do in the ports? We are doing a celebrity Med. cruise in Nov. with a 4 1/2 yr. old and an 11 month old. My only concern is that they will not do well with the long sightseeing days. I plan on doing a little book for my 4 yr. old of things she can look for in each port, but I was curious if there was anything in particular you did that really worked. Thanks for your help!

 

-Brooke

[Eclipsepearl]

Brooke,

 

I know you were addressing this to Tara but we did a Celebrity Med cruise this month with our three, ages 3, 5 and 8.

 

I have to be honest, they didn't get off the ship much. The Fun Factory was great and we were there in high season. The weather will be cooler and fewer crowds in November. I just couldn't subject my kids to both the heat and crowds and they simply enjoyed being on the ship with the other children more.

 

The biggest problem was that there was transport involved in almost all the ports, long walks and/or shuttle buses, etc. So getting off the ship was a big deal. Rhodes was easy but Athens was a nightmare, Mykonos was difficult and one look at the line for the telepherique in Santorini sent my dh back with the girls (I stayed on). I did take them ashore in Kusadasi and they were screaming to return to the ship after about 10 minutes. I bribed them with ice cream and then headed right back after a couple of photos.

 

So for us, staying on the ship worked. I spent the most time offshore with my dh parked by the pool. We tried cruising since he likes to relax by the pool on vacation and I want to get out and see stuff. I felt better that there was a parent onboard if anything went wrong. Even the 8 yo didn't want off and wasn't interested in the ports. It was still a success because we all enjoyed it. Luckily we live in Europe so getting back to some of these places when they're at an age to appreciate things is possible. This was not the time!

 

I have to add that I found Celebrity very child-unfriendly. We had rude comments made when I took the girls to the dining room from the next table (they didn't even stay the whole time for crying out loud!) and people weren't very friendly towards us in general. I was even asked outright why my daughter wasn't in the Fun Factory once! She had just stepped out and needed a break from it. Yes, it was "working out"...

 

Do the earlier seating. We were with friends who absolutely insisted on the later seating and I think that's why we had the rudeness (just loud comments between them, luckily, they never addressed us directly). There was also no cartoon channel and some of dangerous parts of the decks so be careful (especially if you're on the Galaxy).

 

If you want to use the babysitting, book in advance as far as possible. I tried using it once but they insisted on 24 hours' notice and they couldn't find anyone the one time I asked. I ended up not bothering with it but all since they could go to the Fun Factory.

 

But the Fun Factory was great and I found it worth it to pay for the "X Club". We ended up using it a lot!

 

Here are our photos, if you'd like a look;

http://medcruise07.blogspot.com/

 

hth!

[RadFamily]

Tara,

How did your kids do in the ports? We are doing a celebrity Med. cruise in Nov. with a 4 1/2 yr. old and an 11 month old. My only concern is that they will not do well with the long sightseeing days. I plan on doing a little book for my 4 yr. old of things she can look for in each port, but I was curious if there was anything in particular you did that really worked. Thanks for your help!

 

-Brooke

 

Well, you know your kids best and know what their limits are. That being said, we had no problems with our kids in port. Like the previous poster, we also live in Europe, so perhaps our children are used to siteseeing and know it will end soon! LOL!! It was HOT the entire time. We took a hand-held fan that sprayed a mist of water. It was a life saver for our 5 year old for each day off the ship. We also taste tested ice cream in every port. Our son had a hard time choosing which country had the best ice cream!

 

Our first day was in Dubrovnik. We took the RCCI shuttle from the dock to the Pile Gate. We explored the old town with both kids (the toddler was in his Plinko stroller). We stopped for a delicious lunch and then for a huge ice cream (quite a bargin at only 1 Euro per HUGE scoop!). I took the children back to the ship while my husband stayed behind to walk the city wall...it was too hot and the sun too strong for me to take the children up there.

Our next stop was in Kusadasi. Again, an extremely HOT day. I had booked a private tour of Ephesus, the Terrace Houses and the Virgin Mary House. That proved to be a good move. We were able to move at our own pace with the kids. My 5 year old was interested, at first, in Ephesus...but only for the first 1/2 hour! Luckily, some friends of ours who live in Turkey met us at Ephesus and stayed with the kids while DH and I toured the Terrace Houses with our guide. It was impossible to bring a stroller in there. There was a cheesy re-enactment going on, and that kept my 5 year old happy for a while. The toddler fell asleep 1/2 way through Ephesus. We ended our day with a fantastic meal with our friends at a Turkish restaurant. We then headed back to the port, bought some ice cream and did a little shopping before getting back on the ship. It was by far our longest, hottest day....but we enjoyed every minute of it.

The day we were in Santorini, I stayed on board with the toddler. DH took our 5 y/o to Fira. They took the cable car up and then walked around the city for a few hours. They opted not to wait for the cable car on the way back down (the line was close to 2 hrs long) and walked the path back down. DH gave our son a "piggyback" ride, as the donkies were about to run him over. He said it smelled there were donkey "droppings" everywhere. DH said he saw a woman with a 3 y/o girl riding one of the donkies and the girl was crying...the mother commented that it wasn't the experience she thought it would be.

In Corfu we did a beach excursion. The kids loved it and it was very relaxing for all of us.

 

We had no problems with our children in port or on ship. The crew loved to see them and other passengers seemed to appreciate that they were well behaved. We took our children to dinner every night (we took our 5 y/o out of dinner early each night so he could get to the kids club...he didn't want to miss a minute!) There was even a table that had parents a several teenage girls nearby. They enjoyed seeing the toddler at dinner each night and played games with him across the diningroom!

I agree that babysitting needs to be arranged as early as possible...at least 24 hours in advance. On nights when we didn't have a sitter, we put the toddler in his jammies, in his stroller and took him out with us. It was warm enough for us to grab a drink and sit outside on the deck and enjoy the night sky and some quiet time. We even took him into the Schooner Bar a few nights...no one complained, looked at us funny or asked us why he was with us.

 

I would think twice before booking any long shore excursions. Defiantely give it a go at the ports, just know that you may need to turn back to the ship. If you can do the sites on your own or with a private tour guide, it may be easier.

 

Good luck and have a wonderful trip!

 

- Tara

[SelectSys]

Brooke,

 

So for us, staying on the ship worked. I spent the most time offshore with my dh parked by the pool. We tried cruising since he likes to relax by the pool on vacation and I want to get out and see stuff. I felt better that there was a parent onboard if anything went wrong. Even the 8 yo didn't want off and wasn't interested in the ports. It was still a success because we all enjoyed it. Luckily we live in Europe so getting back to some of these places when they're at an age to appreciate things is possible. This was not the time!

 

 

As stated above, set your expectations that you are going as much to just hang out and enjoy the ship as you are for touring. Even now that our kids are ages 12 & 14 - full day excursions to historical sights and museums are not their first choice. We mix it up between kid friendly activities and touring. We just like the fact that we are creating family memories.

[mpb43]

We are just back last month from a Med cruise with an 11, 9 and 4 year old. We all had a fabulous time, and I agree with the previous posters that you have to set your expectations to enjoy the ports without necessarily doing a long touring day.

In our case, we had an 11 year old who just studied Greece in school and was interested in touring, an a 4 year old who mostly enjoyed the pool. We picked two ports that we would do in depth, Olympia and Rhodes. We set our own pace...in Olympia with a private guide, and in Rhodes with a rented car. The other ports, we did on our own and kept low-key.

This worked very well for us. Trying to keep my 4 year old interested and relatively quiet with a group tour would have been very stressful.

However, I will say that in our peak summer sailing, I witnessed many children on the group tours.

[crusinmama06]

Sounds like a wonderful trip! Is there any port or excursion you recomend not doing with a child, or a young child?

 

We were going to hold off on Med until the kids are older. But maybe we don't have to? :)

[mpb43]

Sounds like a wonderful trip! Is there any port or excursion you recomend not doing with a child, or a young child?

 

We were going to hold off on Med until the kids are older. But maybe we don't have to? :)

 

I’m sure others will post their opinions as well but I give this a shot.

Again, you know your kid’s temperament. I knew that my 4 year old would only handle one or two intensive ports. I also knew that my kids would not stay in the kid’s club while were were ashore. I specifically picked a cruise that had lots of easy ports like Greece and Croatia. The major cities, Rome, Athens, Paris (via Villefranche), Florence (via Livorno), Venice, Istanbul and Barcelona are intensive ports. Limit the number of these in your cruise, or accept that you will only get a quick glance. If a couple of these cities are important, try to see them pre or post cruise.

The Greek islands and Croatia are pretty easy (Dubrovnik is beautiful). An exception is Santorini because you need to take a funicular (or donkeys) to reach the town. The lines can be long. Check cruisecal.com, though. On our cruise, there was only one small Greek ship in port, and Santorini was pretty easy.

Hope that helps!

[crusinmama06]

I’m sure others will post their opinions as well but I give this a shot.

Again, you know your kid’s temperament. I knew that my 4 year old would only handle one or two intensive ports. I also knew that my kids would not stay in the kid’s club while were were ashore. I specifically picked a cruise that had lots of easy ports like Greece and Croatia. The major cities, Rome, Athens, Paris (via Villefranche), Florence (via Livorno), Venice, Istanbul and Barcelona are intensive ports. Limit the number of these in your cruise, or accept that you will only get a quick glance. If a couple of these cities are important, try to see them pre or post cruise.

The Greek islands and Croatia are pretty easy (Dubrovnik is beautiful). An exception is Santorini because you need to take a funicular (or donkeys) to reach the town. The lines can be long. Check cruisecal.com, though. On our cruise, there was only one small Greek ship in port, and Santorini was pretty easy.

Hope that helps!

 

Thanks that's great advice!!!! I appreciate it. And I would love to see Greece...it just looks beautiful.

[mpb43]

The major cities, Rome, Athens, Paris (via Villefranche), Florence (via Livorno), Venice, Istanbul and Barcelona are intensive ports.

 

Crusinmama06,

Oops, I misspoke. Paris is accessed via Le Havre. Villefranche is for Nice.

Greece is indeed very beautiful. I got so hooked on cruising that I already just booked a little 3 day getaway for DH and I in the Caribbean in December.

Now I'm trying to figure our when I can get all of us back to the Med!:)