For our very first family cruise, we did seven days with MSC, an Italian cruise line. It started in Venice and stopped in Bari, Olympia, San Torini, Athens, Corfu, and Dubrovnik. We enjoyed all the destinations, especially those where we could squeeze in some beach time. We prefer a more independent approach, so instead of booking excursions, we took a taxi or rented a car at each destination and did our own tours. Our boat had a few amenities for kids, like pools, water slide, games room, and kids club, but we would have liked a bit more. So let’s take a closer look at where we went, what we like and what we didn’t.
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Leaving from Venice
Since we live in Zurich, we simply drove to Venice, about 6 hours without traffic. We went a day early so we could explore Venice before hopping on the boat. We’d been to Venice before, but this was my favorite time because we spent a lot of time wandering the quiet back streets, away from the popular tourist plazas. It was nice to feel like we were already on vacation before even boarding the boat.
Parking: When we arrived in Venice, we parked in the closest lot to the city Venezia Tronchetto Parking, about 21 euros/day. When it was time for the cruise, we moved our car to the long-term cruise parking next to the port, which cost about 100 euro for the week. When we returned to the car after the cruise, our tire was flat and since it was a Sunday, there were no staff on site and no service stations open in the area. We had to drive on our spare tire all the way back to Zurich.
The boat
Our kids loved the whole process of boarding the boat, including the mandatory safety training. They loved exploring the facilities and wandering around the boat. We spent a lot of time just walking the different decks, circling the boat.
Our kids were small enough that I didn’t feel comfortable letting them roam on their own. The boat is a like a small city full of strangers, so I always accompanied them. Children get a bracelet that identifies them in an emergency. Each time we left and came back to the boat, they checked us in and out as a family for safety and security.
The boat offered a variety of amusements, but it was less engaging for our kids than I imagined. More about our boat experience at the end of this post.
Bari, Italy
Our first stop was in Bari, Italy, a tiny port town on the Adriatic sea. We had no idea what we were doing, so Bari was like a test run for the rest of the cruise. We had a lot of advice from friends on what to do and not to do, how to avoid scams, save some money, and get good value, etc. For sure, we weren’t going to do any excursions, which are convenient but very expensive. The plan was to simply take a taxi and have them take us to all the same places the excursions went, which is what various friends had done.
Well, it didn’t quite work out like that. In Bari, we jumped in a cab at the dock, but we didn’t know where to go and didn’t even have a proper map. Later we realized that we could have easily walked into the old town right from the dock. But we took the taxi to the main train station, thinking we could orient ourselves from there. I’m sure no other cruise ship tourists did that as it’s quite far from the old town. But it actually worked out quite nicely for us. There was a Tourist Info office there that gave us a walking tour map and a great tip on a fantastic focaccia shop. We walked back through the busy, less picturesque but lively part of town towards the dock to reach the charming old town. I thought it was fun and interesting to see all the regular people and shops and real life going outside the touristy section.
We finally reached the old town and it was nice, lots of old buildings with character and quiet alleyways. The old town is almost all a pedestrian-only, but scooters were constantly zipping through, making it a bit dangerous for the kids.
My friends had told me about how some homes would have homemade pasta outside drying on racks. And sure enough, we saw that as shown above. I had to laugh and cringe when I saw some tourists snatch a few pieces, as if they were in living museum and these people were making the pasta for their entertainment. Nope, those people live here and are making their dinner.
After a few wrong turns, we eventually found the focaccia shop recommended by the TI, Panificio Fiore (Str. Palazzo di Città, 38). It didn’t look like much and I almost didn’t go in, thinking it wasn’t anything special. It was just a small counter with three types of focaccia sitting behind the glass case, some fresh bread in baskets, and big bags of those typical dry Italian cookies. We got a couple slices, wrapped in paper and suddenly, we were in heaven. It was soooooo good! The bread itself was so lush and the topping so flavorful. It was super simple, but just perfect. After we gobbled down the first two slices, we went back into get more and then sat down at the bar across the alley to wash it down with some lemon sodas. Yum!
One of the “sights” in Bari is this big fortress. We had time to fill, so we went to see it. It wasn’t very exciting, just ok and a little overpriced. At least we could get out of the heat in its museum inside, which had various artifacts from the region, but it didn’t make much of an impression.
It was a hot day and it would have been nice to swim somewhere. But there weren’t swimming beaches near us, just a sea wall, which was a little junky – so much broken glass. The wind was also super strong; it felt like we’d blow away.
Katakolo & Olympia, Greece
Boats stop in Katakolo so you can see Olympia, the site of the Olympics in classical times. Olympia is about 20 miles from the port, so we rented a car just outside the dock for 30 euros plus gas. Taxis were charging about 80 euros to take you Olympia, wait an hour, then bring you back. The car rental felt a little risky, if we had a breakdown or accident, we might miss the boat.
Olympia is a collection bunch of semi-interesting ruins that take a lot of imagination to enjoy. It was super hot that day and we had two very unmotivated little boys on our hands. Ice cream cheered them up a bit. The boys started to have fun walking around on the big stones, until a guard scolded for walking on the ancient ruins. Whoops! This was the least fun stop for the kids.
Santorini, Greece
The famous island of Santorini was the most beautiful stop on the tour. There is no port, so speed boats ferry you to the dock. You have to reserve a ferry time the day before and best to do it early so you have more time on the island. Since the towns are a top the cliffs, you can ride a cable car up, walk up, or ride a novelty donkey, which is what we did. The kids loved it while I felt a little sad for the donkeys.
At the top of the cliffs, we rented a car, which allowed us to explore the far ends of the island. We loved the freedom of a car and found it quite easy to make our way around with a map provided by the rental agency. We visited a red sand cove and black sand beach, where we dipped in the chilly water.
We drove to Au, where you’ll find the classic rounded white buildings that everyone photographs. I had the most anxiety about missing the boat here because you had to wait in line for the cable car and ferry to get back to the boat. We cut it pretty close on this one.
Athens, Greece
Athens was exciting and a bit overwhelming. This time we took a taxi into the city, despite all the horrible things I had read about taxi scams and ridiculous traffic in Athens. Happily everything worked out perfectly. The guy managing the taxi line gave us the hard sell for a package deal, having the taxi wait an hour and bring us back. He claimed that it was impossible to find a cab in the city and we’d have a lot of trouble getting back. To avoid delays, we planned to taxi the metro back to the port so we could spend as long as liked in the city. Once in Athens, there was nothing but cabs trolling for fares; perhaps they are difficult to get during rush hour?
We had read that the terrible Athens traffic make the 8 or so mile trip from the port take over an hour. But it only took us 20 mins and we were at the Acropolis right when it opened at 8am. And boy, we glad about that! We beat the crowds and the site was practically empty for at least the first 40 mins or so. When we were leaving, a constant stream of enormous tour groups were herding through the narrow walkways.
After touring the ruins, we wandered our way through Athens to see some city living. First we passed through the Plaka neighborhood, which did not charm me. I was expecting an interesting old town, with lots of character. But not only was it very touristy, but seemed a little generic and I wasn’t inspired to take any photos. We found our way into the bustling center of town, which was more fun, particularly the big food market near Monastiraki.
We took the metro back to the port, which was so cheap and easy, almost like a Disneyland shuttle. The only tricky part was getting a cab from the metro station to our boat. The cab line was long and most cabs passing by were full, but it only took 5 mins to get one. We could have easily walked it in 20 mins or so, but we were hot and 5 euros seemed like a fair price to get us a little quicker to our boat. For more ideas of what to do in Athens, you might find this blog helpful: Best Things to Do in Athens.
Corfu, Greece
On day five, we found ourselves in Corfu, the last big island on the northwest coast of Greece. Using the lessons we’d learned from previous days, we packed our swimsuits and towels, rented a car and drove straight a beach. It was a bit overcast, but still hot and we were hoping to have a relaxing beach day. I really liked this island and I would have liked more time to drive all over it, exploring the different coves and beaches.
I chose Paleokastritsa as our destination because it was one of the very few Corfu sights described in my guidebook. Corfu is said the mythical island of the Phaeacians, and the bay of Palaiokastritsa to be the place where Odysseus disembarked and met Nausicaa for the first time. See more about the geography of Odysseus here.
The main cove shown above has a sandy beach and lots of boats to hire. It was a little busy for our taste. So we chose the cove immediately behind this beach on the other side of the parking lot. It was rocky instead of sandy, but we didn’t mind so much. The water was super clear, a little chilly but so refreshing. We all got in this time. We grabbed takeaway lunch from a nearby cafe and picnicked on the beach.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
The last cruise stop was in Dubrovnik. We spent a few days there a couple years earlier and were looking forward to seeing again. Unfortunately, the night before, our son had gotten really sick and was still weak the next day. We wanted to at least peek at Dubrovnik so we took him along. He lasted long enough to stroll down the main drag and eat a gelato. So we hailed a cab and spent the rest of the hot day lounging by the pool on the boat while our son slept it off. It wasn’t what I expected out of this day, but we actually ended up having a good time just relaxing in the heat.
On our previous trip, we enjoyed walking around the city wall and wandering the city streets in the early mornings and evenings when the cruise ships crowds were gone. This time we were them.
Conclusions
We had a very nice trip, but it also confirmed that cruising is not our preferred method of travel. We had a lot of good times on the cruise and I don’t regret going. But some things could have been better.
Every cruise boat is different, providing a different combo of activities and facilities. I share our experience only to stress the importance of choosing a boat that has the right mix of amenities for your family.
Pools. I was really looking forward to our kids being able to swim every evening after a long day sight-seeing. However…
a) the pool was salt water, which stung the boys eyes so they didn’t like it so much.
b) the pool was unheated, so even if it was hot enough to make an icy dip enticing, we’d be shivering after only a few minutes. So swimming was a short activity, not hours of splashy fun.
c) it was usually nice and hot when we first got back on the boat, and the pool area was packed (not a lounge chair to be had). But as soon as the ship pulled out to sea, the wind picked up like crazy and everyone fled the outside decks. You couldn’t really lounge outside at that point without risk of all your stuff and maybe yourself blowing away. So you had maybe 1 hour of swim time from the time you got back on the boat until the boat pulled out of the port. The pool was still open, but no one was swimming. There was a water slide, but it was only open during limited hours, often when we were in port and not on the boat, which was also disappointing. So usually by 18:00, we had nothing much to do but sit in our room.
Sports & Games There weren’t enough activities for the kids on our boat, so we had a lot of time to fill, often with movies and video games in our room. There was a soccer pitch, but you had to reserve it and it was always full when we were on the boat. Even the ping pong paddles and balls were always reserved. We had brought a ball, hoping to have time each evening to run around with our boys but we weren’t able to play even one time. There was a Wii room, but it was only open to the teens during certain competitions. There was an arcade, but ridiculously expensive. Whatever. Just not much to do on the boat. If we cruised again, I would definitely pay more for a boat with more activities.
Kids Club. Most family oriented cruises offer a kids club where children may stay while parents eat dinner and enjoy the nighttime entertainment. I was hoping the kids would love the Kid’s Club activities in the evening. Our 10 year old loved it at first as he makes friends easily and is very social. It would have been great if the kids just played games and socialized. But most nights, the Kid’s Club took to the kids to eat at the buffet for an hour, then to the show, which was not geared to children but was just singing and dancing. The kids didn’t really socialize during this part and it was pretty boring for our son. Our 6 year old simply refused to go at all. He was in a the younger age group so the brothers couldn’t be together and it takes our 6 year old a long time to warm up to new activities. So after one night of trying to get him to play with the other kids, I just kept him with us for the rest of the cruise.
Some boats offer kids clubs during the day, so parents can go on excursions and leave the kids on the boat. We did not use this service, but always took our kids with us on the day trips.
Food. The food on the boat was adequate (plenty of pizza and fries) but not great, which was in stark contrast to the super delicious food we had off the boat in Greece. We tried eating in the “restaurant” one night instead of the buffet. Our assigned seating was at 9pm, a little too late for my 6 year old who wouldn’t go to the kids’ club. Plus you had to wait for the food like a normal restaurant, but what was the point when the food wasn’t markedly better than the buffet. So we just ate quick meals at the buffet and went back to our rooms, a little depressing. Are my standards too high?
Time pressure. Lastly, I didn’t like the pressure of having to be back on the boat at a certain time. I already related my panic attack on Santorini when I thought we missed the boat. In Corfu, we actually saw someone miss the boat. Right after the boat pulled away from the dock (we were only a few meters away), two cars came racing to the dock, honking their horns. The people got out and were jumping up and down screaming at the boat for about 10 minutes. But the boat didn’t come back and there were some pretty sad people back on that dock. I’m so glad what wasn’t me!
So would I do it again? Probably not. Maybe one where the best way to see the place is from a boat, like Alaska or Scandinavian Fjords. Maybe a smaller boat, not on the cheap. Maybe a theme cruise that has lots of kid-friendly entertainment. Maybe.
