Mediterranean Doable with Children?

[mousemom11]

DH and I are considering a 12-day Med cruise (probably Italy/Greek Islands) with our 2 daughters the summer of 2010. At that time, they would be 11 and 9. Our main concern is whether they are really old enough for this kind of cruise. Realistically, they would not enjoy spending hours in a museum, but they love the beach, hiking, and biking (oh, and did I mention shopping? :D ). They also enjoy sightseeing, but probably not all-day tours. DH and I may also consider leaving them in the kids club on the ship once or twice so that we could do an excusion that appeals to us, but not to them.

 

For those of you with kids who are in our kids' age ranges, what has your experience been? Would you recommend this at their ages? Would it be safe for us to leave our children in the kids club on the ship while we go on an excursion?

 

All advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[WineDown17]

If you try the family boards there are some great posts from folks who have done it and had a ball. Really opened their kids eyes up to the rest of the world...Maybe search on Celebrat as she has a GREAT review from last summer when she borught her 2, who were about the same age.

 

We are going in May with our 2- It will be a different expereince than if we went alone, but that is OK.. Arent all family vacations different from those you take alone?!?

 

Personally speaking, I was fortunate enough to travel at a young age.. and it fostered a love of languages ( I became a French major) as well as an appreciation for all cultures, which has served me well into adulthood.

 

You might be surprised what they gain from it, and none of it has to come from a church or museum. Whatever you decide, good luck!!! Your children are very fortunate!!

[mousemom11]

If you try the family boards there are some great posts from folks who have done it and had a ball. Really opened their kids eyes up to the rest of the world...Maybe search on Celebrat as she has a GREAT review from last summer when she borught her 2, who were about the same age.

 

We are going in May with our 2- It will be a different expereince than if we went alone, but that is OK.. Arent all family vacations different from those you take alone?!?

 

Personally speaking, I was fortunate enough to travel at a young age.. and it fostered a love of languages ( I became a French major) as well as an appreciation for all cultures, which has served me well into adulthood.

 

You might be surprised what they gain from it, and none of it has to come from a church or museum. Whatever you decide, good luck!!! Your children are very fortunate!!

 

Thank you for your encouragement. I will definitely try the family boards and look for Celebrat's review.

[kestrel]

Your kids are not too young to enjoy a Med cruise.

 

The following was our experience:

 

We have cruised on Grand Princess with kids (14, 12, 9) to Eastern Mediterranean in August, 2005. It was very hot and humid. So we tried to do sightseeing in the morning, and went to museums or relaxed in the afternoon.

 

This is what we have done:

 

Rome (pre-cruise): (On our own) We visited the Colosseum (kids loved it), Roman Forums, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and the Four Rivers Fountain on the first day. The second morning we visited Vatican. The line to the Vatican Museum was extremely long, so we didn't enter. Instead we climbed the St. Peter's cupola (kids enjoyed it).

 

Monte Carlo: (On our own) We went to the Royal Palace and Musee Oceanographicque. Kids loved the aquarium in the museum, not to mention that it's cool (temperature wise) inside :)

 

Livorno: (On our own) We took a train ride to Pisa, walked to see the Leaning Tower and Duomo. (Kids liked the Leaning Tower.)

 

Naples: (On our own) We took a train ride to Pompeii to see the ruins. Kids were very impressed, but they also complained that it's too hot.

 

Santorini: (On our own) We took the cable car ride to Fira and then took a bus ride to Oia. Parents were very impressed with the view, kids not so much.

 

Rhodes: (On our own) We walked the Knight's Road to the Palace of the Grand Masters. Kids enjoyed the palace (a medieval castle) very much.

 

Mykonos: (Princess Tour) We took a shore excursion to Delos. The guide was great. Kids liked it, but again complained it's too hot.

 

Athens: (On our own) We visited Acropolis and Ancient Agora in the early morning, and went to the air-conditioned National Archaeological Museum in the afternoon. Kids especially enjoyed the air conditioning in the museum :)

 

Katakolon: (Princess Tour) We took a shore excursion to Olympia in the morning. I went shopping alone in the afternoon. Kids stayed on the cruise with Dad.

 

Corfu: (On our own) We visited the Old Fort. It was nice, but not particularly impressive. If we go there again, I would join a tour to see other parts of the island.

 

Venice (post-cruise): (On our own) We stayed at Venice after cruise, and visited the Correr Museum, Doge's Palace, and St. Marco. This is my daughter's favorite city.

 

Overall, kids enjoyed the trip, but considered the weather too hot. They all seemed to like Italy better than Greece, while parents enjoyed both. We all loved gelato :D

[eandj]

Be sure to pick a ship that will be family friendly too. Your girls will meet kids from all over and gain a ton from that experience too.

Try to take an itinerary with a couple sea days, so the girls can really enjoy the ship activities too.

 

I'd advise getting the largest room you can afford, or at least one with a balcony so you have some place to move when it's time to get ready for dinner.

 

A lot of the ports you can do on your own and pick and choose what and for how long you want to tour. I'd avoid the ship's tours with large numbers of people and lines.

[mousemom11]

Your kids are not too young to enjoy a Med cruise.

 

The following was our experience:

 

We have cruised on Grand Princess with kids (14, 12, 9) to Eastern Mediterranean in August, 2005. It was very hot and humid. So we tried to do sightseeing in the morning, and went to museums or relaxed in the afternoon.

 

Overall, kids enjoyed the trip, but considered the weather too hot. They all seemed to like Italy better than Greece, while parents enjoyed both. We all loved gelato :D

 

Lovely! I really appreciate all the details of what you did and what did/did not work for you. We will probably go early July in hopes of it not being quite so hot, but that is a great suggestion to do air-conditioned things in the afternoon (or just go to the beach or back to the ship for a swim).

 

Be sure to pick a ship that will be family friendly too. Your girls will meet kids from all over and gain a ton from that experience too.

Try to take an itinerary with a couple sea days, so the girls can really enjoy the ship activities too.

 

I'd advise getting the largest room you can afford, or at least one with a balcony so you have some place to move when it's time to get ready for dinner.

 

A lot of the ports you can do on your own and pick and choose what and for how long you want to tour. I'd avoid the ship's tours with large numbers of people and lines.

 

We are leaning towards RCCL's BOS and definitely we will have a balcony. I like the extra space it gives, plus I like to read there in the evening with a glass of wine, or order room service breakfast and eat on the balcony.

[epixx]

We cruised the Med for 12 days in August twice (consecutive summers) with our 2 girls who were 11 and 7 first year and 12 and 8 the second year. All of us had a fabulous time. We tended to spend less time inside museums and more time in palaces and outside. We also opted to tour for only about half the day. The kids loved coming back in the afternoon for a swim in the pool and going to the kids' program with their new friends on the ship. The kids' favorite places were Venice (glass blowing demonstrations and wandering around the city), Florence (Leonardo da Vinci Museum with working, hands-on models), Pisa (climbing the tower!!!), and Barcelona (especially the cable car and Parc Guell). Have a great trip.

[mousemom11]

We cruised the Med for 12 days in August twice (consecutive summers) with our 2 girls who were 11 and 7 first year and 12 and 8 the second year. All of us had a fabulous time. We tended to spend less time inside museums and more time in palaces and outside. We also opted to tour for only about half the day. The kids loved coming back in the afternoon for a swim in the pool and going to the kids' program with their new friends on the ship. The kids' favorite places were Venice (glass blowing demonstrations and wandering around the city), Florence (Leonardo da Vinci Museum with working, hands-on models), Pisa (climbing the tower!!!), and Barcelona (especially the cable car and Parc Guell). Have a great trip.

 

I think we would all love the glass-blowing demonstrations. Thanks for your suggestions - I'm printing them out and adding them to my research file.

[steamboats]

mousemom11,

 

We did two Med cruises with NCL out of Barcelona last year (one was Christmas/New Year) with our then 8 yo DD who is definitely not pretty much interested in museums.

 

A good planning can avoid troubles with the kids. We tried to do shore excursions which include something interesting for DD.

 

Malta: ride the local busses, been to the fishermen village (Marsaxlokk) and the little market there, been to Mosta/Rabat, stroll through Valletta (market in the morning) and Upper Baracca Gardens for a nice view of the harbor/ship; the Malta Experience might be interesting and maybe the Hypogaeum (underground temples) can be fun

 

Civitavecchia: train to Rome; first trip we´ve made the Hop on Hop Off Bus (Bus 110), walked to the Trevi fountain (to toss a coin), lines at Colosseum and St. Peters were too long so we skipped both; second trip: lines at Colosseum and St. Peters were short and DD enjoyed it (went up to the cupola); have a piece of pizza al forno in a small bakery for lunch

 

Livorno: we only went to Pisa and DD loved the leaning tower, strolled around the town

 

Villefrance sur Mer: took train to Monaco and the little sightseeing train there (it was two weeks prior to the F1 race and it was fun riding the train on parts of the race track); would do the Oceoanographic Institute next time (we didn´t have enough time)

 

Naples: first trip we took the ferry over to Capri (bus up to Anacapri, chair lift up to Monte Solaro, bus to Capri town, get an overprice Caprese sandwich but yummy, have some ice cream, visit local market); second trip we took the Circumvesuviana train to Herculaneum (way smaller than Pompeii, buildings are up to two stories high, less crowded; thought that was o.k. for DD; nice little green market on the way down to the excarvations; maybe take the shuttle bus up to Vesuvius volcano)

 

Alexandria: took a one day tour with NCL (Camel & Jeep safari including the Gizah pyramids and Sakkara pyramids/tombs - great tour and great mix of fun and history); we didn´t do the two day tour including Cairo and the museum

 

Izmir: half day trip with a private tour guide to Ephesus (including the carpet factory with demonstration of carpet weaving and silk production)

 

Athens: we took the subway to the Acropolis, after we strolled over the Plaka market; wanted to take an Hop On Hop Off bus but the subway had a problem and we didn´t want to walk two stops (BTW it´s a 15 - 20 min walk from the cruise terminal to the subway stop at Piraeus)

 

Rhodes: did the knight´s walk and shopping; just walk off the ship

 

There´s always something you can do which is o.k. with the kids too. Just don´t overstress the time in a museum or an excarvation site. Or make a deal: one day history, next day more kids´ fun

 

steamboats

[Maddog2009]

I have two children, ages 8 and 18, and we have taken them to Europe multiple times and have taken many cruises (but not to Europe). It started when my oldest was 8 and we traveled to Rome for 5 nights and had a great time. Since then, we have done many trips to Venice, usually in the winter.

 

What I have found out is they love the different cultures and food but a historic building or church is just an old building. I have also realized that you can't be a checklist type tourist with younger children. You also need to realize the jet lag will hit everyone hard the first few days so plan accordingly.

 

The big question to ask yourself is will the adults be happy not seeing "everything" when taking the children. If the answer is yes, you will have a great time.

 

As for your last question regarding leaving the children alone on the ship in the kid's club. We did it once on the Disney Magic in Nassau. They gave us pagers and we were within a few miles of the boat. Personally for me, I wouldn't go more than a few miles from the boat and only if they gave me a pager with that range.

[vacationhappy]

Hi -

 

We also took a med cruise when our kids were 10 and 12...we all loved it and are going back this year. Our children are now 14 and 16. The key was to mix it up...Here is what we did..

 

Rome (pre-cruise): (On our own) We visited the Vatican, Colosseum Roman Forums, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and just walked around and shopped, enjoyed gelato, etc. We used Angel walking tours for the Vatican and for the Colosseum - they made the history come alive and the kids love it. Both kids liked having a guide because they could understand what they were looking at.

 

Monte Carlo: We went to St. Paul de Vence and Grasse. We all loved it...I have girls so they were very interested in how perfume was made.

 

Livorno: We hired a taxi and went to Volterra, San G and Pisa. Pisa was a huge hit for all of us. So many people say it isn't worth it but we felt it was a highlight of our trip. The kids enjoyed the villages.

 

Naples: Long day - we went to Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri - we all enjoyed this..we took a ship's tour so we were on a boat and on a bus...it was very active. I thought Capri was beautiful but it was too crowded and a bit over rated in my opinion.

 

Santorini: (On our own) We took the cable car ride to Fira and then took a bus ride to Oia. This was a favorite for all of us. The shopping was fun.

 

Rhodes: (On our own) We walked the Knight's Road to the Palace of the Grand Masters. This was an unexpected stop becasue we were originally supposed to go to Kusadasi. It was too hot here - very humid. I wish we had made this a beach day.

 

Mykonos: Beach day at Platio Yialis - Fabulous and a great way to unwind. It was hot but the water was beautiful. We did go down town for an hour after the beach.

 

Athens: Hired a taxi. We visited Acropolis and Cappe Sounion. In retrospect, Cape Sounion was too far away for the pay off - I would have just stuck with the Acropolis and changing of the guard.

 

Katakolon: Stayed on the ship - just too tired.

 

Corfu: Good day for the waterpark. Corfu has a really fun waterpark - Corfu town was just OK and IMHO not worth it.

 

Venice (post-cruise): (On our own) We stayed at Venice after cruise, and visited Doge's Palace, and St. Marco. We love Venice!!!! Can't wait to go back. In fact, the only requirement my family wnated for this year's cruise is that it go to Venice...their second favorite place was Santorini.

 

Both kids had no idea what to expect in Europe when we first went but every year they ask if we can go back. So, my suggestion would be to mix it up and go for it!

[junglejane]

Hi, Mousemom. We went on the Celebrity Summit Venice-Barcelona 12 day cruise last June when our DD's were 7 and 11. You can read my review here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=43890 . We had a great time. Some ports such as Rome and Florence pretty much demand full day shore excursions because of the time involved in getting from the actual port to the destination. We did private tours, which we shared with a nice couple we "met" on our Roll Call. Private tours usually work out cheaper than ship tours if you have at least 6 people.

 

I will say that by the time we got to Florence, my younger DD begged to be left on the ship for the day. She was tired of churches and art museums.

 

BTW, we loved Venice and thought it was the highlight of the trip. Santorini was pretty but extremely hot the day we were there. Dubrovnik was a delightful surprise and very easy to do on your own. Personally, I would skip Pisa but I know others would disagree.

 

Anyway, I do think you can have a very successful trip with a little bit of thoughtful planning. Good luck and let us know what you decide!

 

--Junglejane

[mousemom11]

Thank you steamboats, maddog, vacationhappy, and junglejane for your encouragement and great suggestions. It sounds like with careful planning (which I love to do), we can make a lot of great memories for our family.

 

All you previous posters have helped to put my concerns to rest, and both DH and I are looking forward to the trip. All we need to do now is to decide exactly when and where we're going and coordinate that with the other family members and friends who want to go.

[chipmaster]

DH and I are considering a 12-day Med cruise (probably Italy/Greek Islands) with our 2 daughters the summer of 2010. At that time, they would be 11 and 9. Our main concern is whether they are really old enough for this kind of cruise. Realistically, they would not enjoy spending hours in a museum, but they love the beach, hiking, and biking (oh, and did I mention shopping? :D ). They also enjoy sightseeing, but probably not all-day tours. DH and I may also consider leaving them in the kids club on the ship once or twice so that we could do an excusion that appeals to us, but not to them.

 

For those of you with kids who are in our kids' age ranges, what has your experience been? Would you recommend this at their ages? Would it be safe for us to leave our children in the kids club on the ship while we go on an excursion?

 

All advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

We took our kids 7, 11, 13 last summer and they loved it. They all cruised before so we knew they would enjoy the sea days; formal dinner, tea, pool, long meals etc, YMMV. My younger one always enjoyed every kids club she did, the older ones never, again YMMV.

 

You won't be spending hours and hours and hours in museums, unless that is the only thing you do in port. Ports in Europe just have too many things to see you won't be in a musuem or church all day. In our 10 ports we probably only spent time in three; Vatican ( 2 hours ), Athens Archaelogical ( 1 hour ), Academia ( 45' ). It was so busy and fast moving they didn't have time to get bored. Even the Churches and Mosques we visited went by too fast for them to get bored and we saw a lot of those. A European cruise is the "cliffs notes" of sightseeing, not your slow affair that will bore a kid. It is likely the opposite, got to go now kind of affair.

 

As to will they enjoy the ruins/history YMMV. My kids had times they were bored, but I was surprised that in every port and tour they found something magical that they still remember today and likely forever.

 

I would say kids above 5 its probably worthwhile and they will get something even out of the busy port days. Younger then that the kids club is probably the smarter alternative. Do be warned that there is lots of car/bus time in some ports.

 

I'd do it again, but there is so much more of the world to discover so this summer we are going to the far east with them.

[junglejane]

Mousemom, one thing I might do differently the second time around is to look for a cruise that either began or ended with Rome. Rome was the one stop where I felt way too rushed. It takes at least 90 minutes (one way) to get there, so you don't get that much time to sightsee on a shore excursion. I would've liked to have spent more days visiting at a more leisurely pace. For me, a Rome-Venice itinerary (or the reverse) would seem ideal.:)

--Junglejane

[Onessa]

We've been to Europe with our DD many times over her life (ground trips and cruises).

 

Do pick a time of year when the weather will be pleasant and the crowds manageable -- we tend to go May/June or Oct/Nov. We are not "beach" people so it is a great time of year for us. Not nearly as crowded either.

 

Do your homework -- with a little planning you can minimize line time. If the kids get bored waiting in line to see something, no matter how spectacular that something turns out to be, the experience will be forever tainted in their eyes.

 

Do work to make the experience interesting -- art gallaries and museums can be a bit dull. When our DD was young we introduced her to art in picture books, pointed out reproductions, etc. Then when she sees the "real thing" it can be amazing (the Mona Lisa is really quite small, Sunday in the Park was HUGE, Birth of Venus really had a lot of detail). If the kids are 'looking' for certain paintings an art museum can be more fun -- if they know some trivia about some of the works/artists it can be more interesting.

 

Do ask questions of your kids to make them think. I'm AMAZED that they let me into places like the Coleseum -- think about what all happened there. Be "ok" looking at a bigger picture and not spending alot of time/energy/effort with the details -- the execavations at Olympia are really cool (particularly if you beat the rush from the tours) -- you can race on the original race track, see where they light the olympic torch, and then go to the museum -- we spent nearly two hours at the archeological site, but less than 1/2 hour at the museum -- cool stuff but just a bit more depth than a 12YO was interested in! We then bought a really cool purse and some olive oil soaps in Katacolon so the day was beyond complete! :)

 

Do plan to spend some serious time (and some serious Euro) in Italy if shopping is important to your teens/tweens!

 

It is a great opportunity for kids to see history up close and really get a different perspective. Our DD was IN Athens/Oylmipia/Deleos the week before her class started the unit on ancient Greece (how cool is that?). She knew what it was like to walk from the Forum to the Colesium. She pretty much single-handedly won her social studies class a free pizza lunch by being able to locate countries such as Monaco, Vatican City, Croatia and Montenegro on the map (the three kids that made up her classes' team were the first in school history to correctly identify ALL of the European countries-including the city/states). She has "pen" pals in Brussels, London, and Split that she has met on cruises. She spent part of an afternoon in a classroom in Greece - explaining American Thanksgiving traditions - our taxi driver's wife taught kids the same age as our DD, and gave us a free trip around the island in return).

 

Traveling without your family is doable -- it's just not as much fun!

[mousemom11]

A European cruise is the "cliffs notes" of sightseeing, not your slow affair that will bore a kid. It is likely the opposite, got to go now kind of affair.

 

I like that, the "cliffs notes" of sightseeing. Sort of a way to sample a lot of different things and then decide which ones you might want to come back to in the future and do in more depth.

 

Mousemom, one thing I might do differently the second time around is to look for a cruise that either began or ended with Rome. Rome was the one stop where I felt way too rushed. It takes at least 90 minutes (one way) to get there, so you don't get that much time to sightsee on a shore excursion. I would've liked to have spent more days visiting at a more leisurely pace. For me, a Rome-Venice itinerary (or the reverse) would seem ideal.:)

--Junglejane

 

We're looking at some RCI itineraries that are RT out of Barcelona. One of them overnights in Venice, which is quite attractive. Princess has some nice Rome-Venice intineraries, too.

 

It is a great opportunity for kids to see history up close and really get a different perspective. Our DD was IN Athens/Oylmipia/Deleos the week before her class started the unit on ancient Greece (how cool is that?). She knew what it was like to walk from the Forum to the Colesium. She pretty much single-handedly won her social studies class a free pizza lunch by being able to locate countries such as Monaco, Vatican City, Croatia and Montenegro on the map (the three kids that made up her classes' team were the first in school history to correctly identify ALL of the European countries-including the city/states). She has "pen" pals in Brussels, London, and Split that she has met on cruises. She spent part of an afternoon in a classroom in Greece - explaining American Thanksgiving traditions - our taxi driver's wife taught kids the same age as our DD, and gave us a free trip around the island in return).

 

Traveling without your family is doable -- it's just not as much fun!

 

I love the idea of hands-on history. What a great experience for your DD.

[chipmaster]

DH and I are considering a 12-day Med cruise (probably Italy/Greek Islands) with our 2 daughters the summer of 2010. At that time, they would be 11 and 9. Our main concern is whether they are really old enough for this kind of cruise. Realistically, they would not enjoy spending hours in a museum, but they love the beach, hiking, and biking (oh, and did I mention shopping? :D ). They also enjoy sightseeing, but probably not all-day tours. DH and I may also consider leaving them in the kids club on the ship once or twice so that we could do an excusion that appeals to us, but not to them.

 

For those of you with kids who are in our kids' age ranges, what has your experience been? Would you recommend this at their ages? Would it be safe for us to leave our children in the kids club on the ship while we go on an excursion?

 

All advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

A tour worth looking at is Princess' Grand Med. You start/end in two different ports, Venice with the other end being Barcelona. It allows you a few extra days at both ends in different ports. Inbetween they hit some very big ports; Istanbul, Athens, Naples, Rome, Florence/Pisa, Kusadasi, and some smaller ones; Mykonos and Cannes/Marsailles/Monte Carlo ( one of the French Ports )

[Eightydays]

Everyone has given great advice so I will try not to repeat. The main thing to remember is that the Med itinerary is very port intensive. So although my daughter always has a really great time, and is looking forward to another Med cruise this year, sometimes she just seemed "mentally exhausted," has we had to compromise. So, for example, on our last Med cruise, when we stopped in Mykonos, it was just a beach day. You want also find that you want to take a break as much as your daughters do.

[mousemom11]

Everyone has given great advice so I will try not to repeat. The main thing to remember is that the Med itinerary is very port intensive. So although my daughter always has a really great time, and is looking forward to another Med cruise this year, sometimes she just seemed "mentally exhausted," has we had to compromise. So, for example, on our last Med cruise, when we stopped in Mykonos, it was just a beach day. You want also find that you want to take a break as much as your daughters do.

 

I think that is a wonderful suggestion.

[Cruiser Forever]

DH and I are considering a 12-day Med cruise (probably Italy/Greek Islands) with our 2 daughters the summer of 2010. At that time, they would be 11 and 9. Our main concern is whether they are really old enough for this kind of cruise. Realistically, they would not enjoy spending hours in a museum, but they love the beach, hiking, and biking (oh, and did I mention shopping? :D ). They also enjoy sightseeing, but probably not all-day tours. DH and I may also consider leaving them in the kids club on the ship once or twice so that we could do an excusion that appeals to us, but not to them.

 

For those of you with kids who are in our kids' age ranges, what has your experience been? Would you recommend this at their ages? Would it be safe for us to leave our children in the kids club on the ship while we go on an excursion?

 

All advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Here is my 2 cents worth. 9 and 11 is a good age. I would NEVER travel to Europe with any child younger than 9. When I first cruised to Europe with DH and 2 daughters they were 14 and 18. They loved it and we have been back 3 times since that first European cruise. I say go and if you want take half day tours. I guess you can also leave them on the kids club if you and DH want to take a full day tour when you see that an excursion really appeals to you but you know will be too much for youngsters.

 

 

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create. ~Albert Einstein

[mousemom11]

Great news. I just found out that my MIL and a good friend of ours are both going to join us on the cruise. They are both wonderful women and we all get along great. My DD's are thrilled that Grandma and Kate are coming with us. One of the reasons for this trip was to make some inter-generational memories, so this will be fun.

 

I've found a great 18th floor apartment in Barcelona in the Diagonal Mar area to rent so that we can have some time in Barcelona before we cruise. After researching the various ships and itineraries, we picked the 12-day RT Venice intinerary on RCCL's Brilliance. We'll be stopping in Monte Carlo, Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice (overnight), Split, and Corfu.

 

Thanks, everyone, for your encouragement and great advice. I so appreciate it!

[Marcoislander]

We are going in June on Ruby from Venice to Rome with a 14 year old and an 11 year old. I know the 14 year old who is somewhat of an intellectual and will love it and is keenly interested in the vacation. The 11 year old who is quite different needs action. We are worried about him, especially my wife, but I am convinced that the experience will stick in his mind forever whether he reveals it to us or not before he becomes an adult will be the question.

[superdave57]

We cruised the Med for 12 days in August twice (consecutive summers) with our 2 girls who were 11 and 7 first year and 12 and 8 the second year. All of us had a fabulous time. We tended to spend less time inside museums and more time in palaces and outside. We also opted to tour for only about half the day. The kids loved coming back in the afternoon for a swim in the pool and going to the kids' program with their new friends on the ship. The kids' favorite places were Venice (glass blowing demonstrations and wandering around the city), Florence (Leonardo da Vinci Museum with working, hands-on models), Pisa (climbing the tower!!!), and Barcelona (especially the cable car and Parc Guell). Have a great trip.

 

 

Epixx, I am interested why your kids liked Venice so much. I am taking my 16 and 11 yr old this July to Venice and looking for things for them to do... Anyone else pitch in... Several of you said Venice is the place you loved the best... I need to hear why from some of you... What are you recommending? - Thanks all of you.. Dave in Houston

[Terpnut]

Epixx, I am interested why your kids liked Venice so much. I am taking my 16 and 11 yr old this July to Venice and looking for things for them to do... Anyone else pitch in... Several of you said Venice is the place you loved the best... I need to hear why from some of you... What are you recommending? - Thanks all of you.. Dave in Houston

The magical novelty of Venice is that it is a city built entirely on the water so there are no roads and thus no cars or trucks. It's relatively small, and very walkable with lots of neat bridges, alleys, and nooks and crannys to explore. You can "get lost" without worries because the city is so small--I once ran about 2/3 of the way across the city in less than 20 minutes (long story)! And if you should need transportation, it's all boat-centric, including kid-cool gondolas. So it's a wonderfully unique city for both adults and kids.