Mediterranean (non DCL) cruises

[DCLMP]

I just want to add a respectful counterview to this opinion, because I see it a lot and disagree.

If Disney is in your budget, you love DCL, and the Med itinerary looks appealing, I think it can be worth the extra money. We did the Italy/Greek itinerary last year and easily felt we got our moneys worth and had more than enough time to enjoy the ship. I didn't feel like we used the ship much less than we do on a Caribbean cruise, even with longer port days. First, there are two full sea days for many itineraries, where you want to be on a ship you enjoy, which gives you a great opportunity to unwind in the middle of an otherwise busy trip. Next, you spend every breakfast, dinner and evening on the ship, which is a large percentage of your waking hours. Let's say you get up at 7, off the ship around 8, back on by 5 (the latest for most ports) and in bed by 10. That's still almost half of your day on the ship. We had plenty of time in the evenings to go to dinner, then a show, and often even adult entertainment after that. This was our first time on the Magic and I left feeling like I did everything I wanted on the ship and spent lots of time on her. I remember being worried that we would feel like we wasted money, but we loved that trip and were really glad we went with DCL for it.

Admitedly, other lines do tend to have later port times than DCL. But that wouldn't really appeal to us, because we find we are exhausted after an early morning start and coming back around dinner time, or a bit earlier, is perfect for us.

I personally wouldn't sail DCL in the Med right now, because I think they made their itineraries worse, but if they go back to last year's itineraries, or better, I would highly recommend them for DCL fans. It was nearly a perfect trip for us. That said, we are branching out to Celebrity in the Med next year, because we want to see if DCL is worth the premium to us now that we are tiring of the evening shows and menus (and sometimes too many wild kids - yes, we are getting old!). We have a hunch we can get most of what we like about cruising with Celebrity or another line at a much better price. We will see.

OP did say they have cruised Carnival, NCL and Princess and enjoyed them. That being the case I’m not sure DCL is worth paying triple if you’ve been satisfied with other cruiselines.

 

[brentm77]

OP did say they have cruised Carnival, NCL and Princess and enjoyed them. That being the case I’m not sure DCL is worth paying triple if you’ve been satisfied with other cruiselines.

It's a perfectly reasonable opinion, I just think there is much more time to enjoy the ships on a Med cruise than people realize. Is it worth the extra money (usually not triple from what I have seen)? That just depends on the person, but I wouldn't rule it out simply because ports are a more important part of cruising the Med, since I think being on a ship you love just helps you be more relaxed and ready for the long port days. I personally felt we had more than enough time to enjoy the Magic when we sailed. But whether it is worth the extra money is subjective, just like in the Caribbean.

 

[o&smom]

It's a perfectly reasonable opinion, I just think there is much more time to enjoy the ships on a Med cruise than people realize. Is it worth the extra money (usually not triple from what I have seen)? That just depends on the person, but I wouldn't rule it out simply because ports are a more important part of cruising the Med, since I think being on a ship you love just helps you be more relaxed and ready for the long port days. I personally felt we had more than enough time to enjoy the Magic when we sailed. But whether it is worth the extra money is subjective, just like in the Caribbean.

We have loved all of our Med cruises with Disney, including an 11 night in June. We are starting to consider other lines as our kids are getting older. Will love to hear what you think of Celebrity.

 

[imbelle]

Really? Maybe that's a change in this year's itinerary. Last year, on the Magic 9-night, we stopped in Heraklion and did the Knossos excursion. It was great! Also got some great Souvlaki in town.

As to options, you may also want to give a look at the new Sun Princess that is coming out early next year. It will be a whole new class of ship for Princess and have additional items that they don't traditionally have (like a ropes course!). Food (at least on the Royal/Regal class ships and newer) has never been a problem for us on Princess...

Must have been a switch in the itinerary this year. I even called DCL to see if I could fly to Heraklion from the previous port and reboard in Chania but they said that it wasn't possible due to Greek regulations.

 

[soniam]

We have loved all of our Med cruises with Disney, including an 11 night in June. We are starting to consider other lines as our kids are getting older. Will love to hear what you think of Celebrity.

We did Celebrity in the Med this summer. I posted my thoughts earlier in this thread. Here’s the link.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/mediterranean-non-dcl-cruises.3927874/post-64999402

 

[tigerchic89]

Interesting. Did they say why the made the switch?

i didn't ask specifically. I know that virgin pays nice wages and since tips are included in the passenger fare the staff can count on their pay and not have to depend on the variable tips coming in to send the $$ back home. Good wifi is free to them. I've heard that they are treated pretty well on Virgin...

 

[foolish-mortal]

I've seen a few references to cruisers being disappointed with Mediterranean itinerary changes on DCL this year. What changes did they make?

 

[brentm77]

I've seen a few references to cruisers being disappointed with Mediterranean itinerary changes on DCL this year. What changes did they make?

I am going off memory here, but when I looked at them when they were released, I think they dropped Sicily, which was one of our favorite stops. I think there might have been one other change too. I just remember that they offered less of our favorite stops and didn't replace them with anything great. Someone can correct me if I am remembering wrong.

Edit: Just took at quick look - unless you take the 11 night cruise, the 7 night cruises are much worse than what we got for 8 nights at similar prices in 2022. We got Sicily, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, and Naples all in one cruise. Now, you don't get Sicily, and if you want Athens, you give up Santorini. Frankly, those new shorter itineraries are so bad that I wouldn't sail DCL on those itineraries. It's not that where they are going is bad, it's that they are leaving out so many great stops that used to be included. There are lines that hit much better highlights all in one cruise, like DCL did for years. The 11 night Turkey one looks better and would be one I would still consider with DCL.