What to Expect on Your Disney Cruise to the Mediterranean
Hi there! It's Gabe again, and I am here today with a post about what to expect on your Mediterranean Disney Cruise vacation! This post will mainly focus on differences that are on the Mediterranean cruise as compared to Disney's other cruises such as the Caribbean, Alaska, or Northern Europe.
The onboard experience on a Mediterranean cruise varies from that of other cruises, mainly those that are more "cold weather" cruises - such as Northern Europe, Alaska, or Canada. Firstly, expect the pool deck to be very popular on sea days. On my sailing, I noticed that some of the activities that take place indoors were less popular than on those "cold weather" cruises, mainly activities like movies in the Buena Vista Theater, as you could always find seats, even after the movie started; which is the complete opposite to my experience with Northern Europe cruises in previous years. Another noteworthy item is that there are not daily regional specialties on the menu as compared to the Northern Europe sailings, but you get the full standard menus, which are all very nice. The Mediterranean cruises also feature the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party, which has become less common, as Disney has added the Freezing the Night Away deck party, Star Wars Day at Sea, and Marvel Day at Sea. For those not in the know, the Pirates in the Caribbean Deck Party feature complimentary pirate bandannas, music, dancing, special character appearances, fireworks, and a late-night buffet after party in Cabanas.
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| Disney Magic docked in Civitavecchia (Port for Rome) |
Onboard the Ship
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| Tangled Pasta, from the Disney Magic's newest dining venue, Rapunzel's Royal Table |
The onboard experience on a Mediterranean cruise varies from that of other cruises, mainly those that are more "cold weather" cruises - such as Northern Europe, Alaska, or Canada. Firstly, expect the pool deck to be very popular on sea days. On my sailing, I noticed that some of the activities that take place indoors were less popular than on those "cold weather" cruises, mainly activities like movies in the Buena Vista Theater, as you could always find seats, even after the movie started; which is the complete opposite to my experience with Northern Europe cruises in previous years. Another noteworthy item is that there are not daily regional specialties on the menu as compared to the Northern Europe sailings, but you get the full standard menus, which are all very nice. The Mediterranean cruises also feature the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party, which has become less common, as Disney has added the Freezing the Night Away deck party, Star Wars Day at Sea, and Marvel Day at Sea. For those not in the know, the Pirates in the Caribbean Deck Party feature complimentary pirate bandannas, music, dancing, special character appearances, fireworks, and a late-night buffet after party in Cabanas.
Ports
The ports featured on the Mediterranean cruises are very different than those featured on the Caribbean and Bahamian cruise itineraries, so I'll cover some things you will want to be aware of. Firstly, the ports of Civitavecchia and Livorno are quite a distance away from the main draws, being Rome and Florence, respectively. Knowing this, Disney stays in those parts all day, arriving around 7 in the morning, and departing around 7 in the evening, to allow everyone ample time to travel into the cities, see the sights, and make their way back to the ship. Disney also knows that many guests are not comfortable arranging their own transportation or tours around cities that are 2+ hours away from the ship, so they offer a wide variety of Port Adventures in these ports, and make sure that you know it. There were several times where the Cruise Director mentioned the benefits of the Port Adventures, not to the point of being annoying about it, but just so that everyone knew what Disney was offering. If you have been to the cities and ports in which the ship calls at, I would recommend either staying on the ship, it will be virtually empty, especially on the Rome and Florence/Pisa days, or finding something out of the box to do ashore, where there will be minimal crowds, such as a leisurely drive through the Tuscan countryside or something similar.
Fellow Passengers
This section will be about the other passengers on the ship, at least on my sailing. There was a sizable population of Europeans onboard which I found opposite of the Northern Europe itineraries, which were all very heavily American in population aboard. Not that this was an issue, but I just thought that it was interesting, not that it was a problem, but I just thought it would be good to include since this post is about the differences that Mediterranean cruises have compared to the Caribbean, Alaska, or even Northern Europe. Disney must have known that the Mediterranean cruises attract a larger European clientele than their other cruises, as the dining times were pushed back 15 minutes from the standard, embarkation day ship tours were offered in Spanish, and many movies were also shown in Spanish in the Buena Vista Theater.
Thanks for reading along! Please comment below, as always, if you were recently on a Disney Mediterranean cruise, have one coming up, or just have something thoughtful to add!
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