JMGJD

My husband and I were all set to take RCCL Vision of the Seas 7 night Baltic cruise next July (Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Riga, Gdansk and Visby) with our baby, who will be 21 months old at the time. We can only travel in July and we thought that we only had about a week to be away. As it turns out, we have more time than we thought, so we can expand our cruise options to 10-11 night cruises. However, we are still limited to those that sail during the month of July. I see that Disney Cruise Line is offering a Mediterranean cruise that goes to Barcelona, Malta, Tunis (Tunisia), Rome, Naples and La Spezia (Italy), Corsica and Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France. Now we are really torn and hoping for some opinions and advice that can help us make up our minds.
As much as I love the idea of visiting the Baltic states (which we've never been to) I am concerned that the Baltic cruise might be more museum/indoor oriented, which obviously will not be great when we are toting our 21 month old along. For example, I'm pretty sure that we would be skipping a stop in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
I love the idea that Mediterranean cruise seems to be more outdoor sightseeing oriented (i.e. touring the ruins in various ports, beaches, hydrofoil to Capri, etc.), but I am worried that it will be brutally hot in July. Also, I don't think that our 21 month old will really be able to appreciate the Disney aspect of the cruise and, as crazy as this may sound, I am worried that it might be completely overwhelming to be on a boat that will have so many kids!
Any advice that you could offer to help us make up our minds would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks!

jentrav

Hi! We've never been on a Mediterranean cruise (though it's on our list), but we did a Baltic/St. Petersburg cruise four years ago and loved it. Our kids were teenagers, so it was easy, but I'll comment on your valid concern about being indoors at museums, etc. We were there in June and the weather was fabulous. At almost every port (with the exception of St. Petersburg and Warnemunde, Germany), we walked from the ship to the town and mostly strolled around and enjoyed the sites. I think this would be quite easy with a toddler.
In St. Petersburg, we spent both days as part of the ship's tour, which made it very easy with respect to visas, etc. And in Germany, we took a three-hour train ride to Berlin - wonderful, but perhaps not the right choice for your family. I recall there was a beach very near where our ship docked in Germany.
If you decide to do the Baltic, I'd suggest that each parent take a day in St. Petersburg with the ship's tour while the other stays on the ship. I think most cruises spend two days there, and it would be a real shame for both of you to miss seeing such a spectacular city.
We spent most of our time outdoors walking around in Stockholm, Helsinki (which had a wonderful outdoor market) and Visby. There are so many outdoor cafes and parks; it would be quite amusing to a toddler, I think.
So I think it's still a tough choice between the two cruises, but of course it will likely be quite warm in the Mediterranean.
I hope this information helps you a little. Please let me know if you have any questions, and good luck!

jacketwatch

Well July in the Med will be warm and yes it could be a problem for you and your child. July in the Baltic will be much cooler. Both locales are port intensive. However except for SPB you can easily do them on your own. For example in Gdansk we hired a cab and had him for the whole day at a cost of $200.00 for 5 people. Not bad. You can tailor your stops to do less strenuous stuff. In SPB you need a Russian VISa to enter which is waived if you use either a ships sponsored or Russian tour company tour. Be clear you can't get off the ship otherwise. we chose to do the grand tour of SPB, a very full two days. However there are other less intenisve offerings which may be more suitable to your needs.

Eschew

With a 21 month old, you'll be more at home with the Disney than RCL. Usually I picked by tenary. But in this case, I'll suggest the ship.