Next summer I will be celebrating my 40th birthday - my ideal present would be to share a European vacation with my family (husband and two boys, ages 12 and 9). This will be my children's first visit to Europe. We have already put down a refundable deposit on a 13 day Mediterranean cruise in and out of Rome. Quite frankly, I am torn about doing this trip either on land or sea. My husband and I have enjoyed wonderful independent trips abroad (fueled be awesome advice found on this board), however we have never traveled with our children abroad. We also have never traveled to Italy which will be new territory for us. I would love to hear feedback from people who have traveled through Italy either on land or sea with children. Thank you in advance for your advice!

While I'll admit I'm not much of a cruise person, I understand why they appeal to a lot of people.
But there is no denying that generally a cruise is NOT the best way to see and experience various sites and cultures. The bulk of your time is still going to be spent on a ship with other tourists eating the ship food and doing ship's activities. Meanwhile your port time will usually be far more limiting than a land trip where you have time to actually experience an area.

A quick look through post after post here about how quickly people can get to various places during their one day in whatever port, will show you that they aren't really getting much local "experience", but rather a lot of places to check off on their "we've been there" list.

Our first couple of trips to Italy and the Med were by cruise ship. We also traveled with a child in the same age group. We found it ideal. We got to see and do so much, great food every night, loved the unpacking only once thing. Same wonderful stateroom waiting for us. Meals in Europe can be expensive and hit or miss. If you have picky eaters, the ship is great for that. Kids that age like to have a break from museums, ruins, walking and touring.

It gave us good ideas of the places we wanted to go back and visit for longer than the day in port. The cities visited are also quite spread out. The ship makes good use of your time.

Now, years later, we are much more experienced with European travel, light packing necessary for trains, schedules, how to find the right hotels, which areas, etc. that we enjoy being a bit more independent and being able to spend longer in different places. It is a lot more work though for sure. So in essence - I think going by cruise ship your first time will be a good idea for you. I think you will also find it to be probably your most economical choice with the poor exchange rate of the $.

My first trip to Italy included a cruise segment and we had our son, who was eight then. You are probably going to similar destinations (Livorno-Pisa-Florence, Portfino, Cannes-Monaco, Marseilles-Aix en Provence).

I was a little put back by the cost, among other things. But our cruise was on a port a day schedule. The ship would relocate at night. To keep up a city a day speed on a land trip would be unpleasant (to say the least).

Different cruise lines have different levels to which they embrace and occupy chidren. There is one cruise line will accept your children, for a charge and keep them occupied with other children all day.

We took advantage of the day/side trips that the cruise offered. If you are on a bus that they arranged, then you don't have to worry about missing their departure time.
Since it is a birthday trip, the onboard aspects of the trip might be something that you want (food, desert bars, evening entertainment, etc.)

And, Yes my son has already negotiated that we will take another cruise. His high school graduation at the latest. So it was asuccess with him.

Thank you for your feedback. I am hopeful for more. Neopolitan, the points you make are the exact reasons why I am torn about this whole land vs. sea thing. I don't want to feel as if I'm just checking off locations from my list, but I'm also a bit overwhelmed by the concept of booking rooms where I can reach my children plus the travel from location to location. If others have done this successfully, I would love to know your tricks of the trade along with hotel information, etc. Again, thank you!

Hi KiniG, if you type in "Travels in Italy with children" in the Fodors Search box, click on the country Italy and click on search you will bring up a lot of threads regarding this subject that would no doubt be of help to you with the decision you want to make.

Personally I think travelling through Italy with a child or children is so delightful as does the rest of my family. But what works for one family may not work for another family for various reasons. Best regards.