Anyone taken a baby on a DCL med cruise?

[CarolynU]

Thanks Joa. Yes I agree. I think that Becky, for the best possible reasons is joined at the hip to little one, but we do need to have quality time as adults too.
As it's a Med cruise it's quite port intensive so I'll be going on a few excursions as I've never been to Rome for instance, but I am hoping that Bec might put Izzy in the nursery for some dinners at least and maybe for a couple of later shows or just so that we can go and have a drink. I'm also thinking that instead of main dining we could pop into the buffet place whose name escapes me right now that turns into a sit down for the evening. How does that work do you just turn up? We are all now booked for the 19th August.
Luckily I'm going on the WBPC in April next year where I will spend time relaxing around the quiet cove so I won't feel too hard done by if I don't get to go there much on this trip and am helping mind the little one.

[Bats]

In the nursery, the characters go in too .. a little secret something to let Becky know perhaps? There's never an advertised time, so it does fall a little to pot luck, but it happens.

It's Cabanas for the sit down meal in the evening (buffet through the day). If you do that, just let your serving team know as otherwise they may set up and wait for you to arrive.

Med is definitely a port intensive cruise, very tiring!

[CarolynU]

Yes my first time doing a Med cruise and with the exception of Nice Cannes etc I've not been to any of the ports, so I'm trying to work out whether or not to do them all apart from France or just pick two or three and if so which ones?
Rome, Pisa, Florence, Pompeii? Umm decisions. I don't really want to exhaust myself especially in the August heat, but then again difficult to resist trying to cram everything in!
I shall definitely let Bec know about the secret character nursery visits.
Any suggestions Joa?

[Bats]

I would do Herculaneum instead of Pompeii. Pompeii is bleddy huuuuuuuuuuge and has no shade, whereas Herc is much smaller with some shade. Herc, in my opinion, is better preserved as it was savaged by the volcano in a different way to Pompeii.

For Rome, it's a difficult one as it's 1-1.5 hours away from the port. You can do it by public transport, or use yourtourinitaly as we have done (3 times).

The Trevi fountain would be high on my list, the Colosseum too, but I would miss the Spanish Steps (they are concrete steps covered in tourists), the Parthenon too.
The Sistine Chapel is, how I can say, just meh! I have no doubt that I am a heathen who doesn't appreciate the finer things in life, but as we walked through the Vatican Museums (with no air con in August ), I found myself thinking 'oh, another fresco on the ceiling'. Once we got to the Chapel at the end of perhaps 4 or 5 massive rooms (the museums), it was so crowded to the point of all having to shuffle around, so you couldn't really sit and enjoy it.

The guards were constantly shhhhshing people which made more noise than the tourists talking! I'm not sure you can have a place of worship as a tourist attraction when you want everyone to be silent.

It's all personal preference of course!

[pennycrayon]

We did the exact same cruise last year when my daughter was 18 months, we had a fantastic time!

We found the whole holiday really easy and relaxing. We did use the nursery for her afternoon nap so we weren't stuck in the cabin all afternoon and she was happy in there and napped as usual.

We did take our daughter to every evening meal without an issue, we took sticker books, toys and an iPad to entertain and she was great. They are really noisy and full of kids so not worry! Our servers were great and if they could see my daughter had had enough they would speed up the pace of the meal.

Let me know if you have any questions!

[CarolynU]

Originally Posted by Bats

I would do Herculaneum instead of Pompeii. Pompeii is bleddy huuuuuuuuuuge and has no shade, whereas Herc is much smaller with some shade. Herc, in my opinion, is better preserved as it was savaged by the volcano in a different way to Pompeii.

For Rome, it's a difficult one as it's 1-1.5 hours away from the port. You can do it by public transport, or use yourtourinitaly as we have done (3 times).

The Trevi fountain would be high on my list, the Colosseum too, but I would miss the Spanish Steps (they are concrete steps covered in tourists), the Parthenon too.
The Sistine Chapel is, how I can say, just meh! I have no doubt that I am a heathen who doesn't appreciate the finer things in life, but as we walked through the Vatican Museums (with no air con in August ), I found myself thinking 'oh, another fresco on the ceiling'. Once we got to the Chapel at the end of perhaps 4 or 5 massive rooms (the museums), it was so crowded to the point of all having to shuffle around, so you couldn't really sit and enjoy it.

The guards were constantly shhhhshing people which made more noise than the tourists talking! I'm not sure you can have a place of worship as a tourist attraction when you want everyone to be silent.

It's all personal preference of course!

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Thanks Joa.
Interesting. I'll definitely take note of your advice. The fact that it's August and will be so hot makes a huge difference.
I want to see these places but without passing out in the process. If I get a feel for somewhere and like it I can always go back again.
As you say a fresco, a fresco and yet another fresco in ninety degrees is not that much fun lol!

[CarolynU]

Originally Posted by pennycrayon

We did the exact same cruise last year when my daughter was 18 months, we had a fantastic time!

We found the whole holiday really easy and relaxing. We did use the nursery for her afternoon nap so we weren't stuck in the cabin all afternoon and she was happy in there and napped as usual.

We did take our daughter to every evening meal without an issue, we took sticker books, toys and an iPad to entertain and she was great. They are really noisy and full of kids so not worry! Our servers were great and if they could see my daughter had had enough they would speed up the pace of the meal.

Let me know if you have any questions!

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That's fantastic and very reassuring. Thank you.
We like second dining so would really like to stick to that if possible.
Were you on the first dining, and do you think that this will make a huge difference?

[pennycrayon]

Originally Posted by CarolynU

That's fantastic and very reassuring. Thank you.
We like second dining so would really like to stick to that if possible.
Were you on the first dining, and do you think that this will make a huge difference?

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I wouldn't do second dining with a toddler they are even later on the med cruises, unless you chose to put them in the nursery every evening

[CarolynU]

Originally Posted by pennycrayon

I wouldn't do second dining with a toddler they are even later on the med cruises, unless you chose to put them in the nursery every evening

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Oh I didn't know that. What time is second dining on the Med do you know?