Sharing a recap of our 7-night Mediterranean cruise (Italy & Greece) on the Disney Dream! This isn’t sponsored (I wish I was, lol), but I’m excited to share our experience.
They have a handy little trick when you’re on a Disney cruise: You have the option to book a placeholder for a future cruise at a slight discount. This way, when you get off the ship, it’s a little less depressing because you know you’ll get another one soon. We just got off the Disney Dream in Rome a few weeks ago and already, we can’t wait for our next Disney cruise.
This is Disney Cruise #4 (we’ve done Alaska, the Bahamas, and Mexico), and it’s our favorite. It was a combination of destinations and a large ship, it was literally a dream.
(We can enjoy Rome on either side of our cruise! You can read about our Rome adventures here.)
7-Night Disney Dream European Cruise
We arrived at the port of Civitavecchia via a private car booked for us by the hotel and it was a very quick and seamless boarding experience. By 1:30pm, we were at the pool, watching the kiddos swim and drinking cocktails with friends. (Tip from our best friend: pack your swim gear in a tote bag and check everything else. Your room isn’t ready yet, so you can head straight to the pool. It’s the least busy of the entire trip and a couple of hours later all your luggage is waiting for you outside the door.)
We had lunch from the cabanas (buffet) and ate it by the pool, checked into our room and then changed for the muster drill, sail-a-wave party and dinner.
On Disney cruises, you are in the dining rotation. You get early (6pm) or late (8pm) seating and alternate restaurants each evening. You may opt out of your more formal meal to have a quick bite or room service instead, but no matter what, your table will be waiting for you. You have the same server and assistant server every night. We had early seating and dined at all the major restaurants. The menus were similar to previous cruises and were the beautifully plated Disney fare that we love. 🙂
You can also order whatever you want. You can choose from their 4-course menu, or if you prefer, order two appetizers, two entrees, etc. On the Disney Cruise Facebook group, a suggestion is to ask the server if the cook would like to make a family-style meal from their home country. He said he had the best Indian food and curries of his life along with naan and rice this way. We haven’t tried it yet – I think we’d inconvenience them – but I’m curious about trying it.
Of all the ships we’ve seen (Dream, Wonder and Magic) our favorite is the Animator palette. You draw a person on your placemat and during dinner, they *have* a show in which all the animations come to life on big screens throughout the restaurant, dancing to music and interspersed with famous Disney scenes.
On this particular excursion, we stopped Naples, Mykonos, Santorini and Chania, And we have vacations planned in Naples and Mykonos. The rest of the time we enjoy exploring the ports on our own and living our best cruising life on board.
Excursion 1: Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii
It was about a 10-hour excursion, definitely long for the kiddos, but well worth it. Also, in between, we were treated to an epic 4-course meal with wine pairings overlooking the ocean.
Positano
Positano is one of my favorite places in the whole world, so of course, I couldn’t wait to show the girls. I wish we had more time there! We had a chance to get a chocolate croissant and coffee, put our feet in the ocean (it was so warm and beautiful), and do a little shopping. (Highly recommend Luisa Positano! Liv and I each got dresses from there and they are so beautiful and unique.) Maybe it’s a good thing we came for a limited time, because I wanted to buy everything. 😉
Sorrento
After Positano, we bus back to Sorrento for a long stop. It was my first time in Sorrento and although it had a Positano feel, it was a bit too noisy, especially on the main road. We shopped and walked around, grabbed gelato, and then met up with our tour group for an Italian meal I’ll never forget.
Here we have the famous zucchini pasta with chicken, salad, bread and chocolate hazelnut mousse desserts.
The meal was paired with sparkling wine, white wine, red wine and dessert wine. Almost everyone in our tour group snoozed for the entire ride to Pompeii.
Pompeii
Pompeii was very cool. It was fascinating to see such a well-preserved ancient city, along with various aspects of life in Pompeii such as the bakery, baths, etc. By this time, the kids were pretty tired, but they rallied! We learned a lot during the guided tour and from here it was only a 45 minute ride back to the cruise ship.
Excursion 2: Super Paradise Beach Day in Mykonos
This was our favorite outing. Super Paradise Beach is a private beach club, a peaceful beach with relaxing loungers, umbrellas, a full menu and bright, turquoise waters. It is partially blocked by the strong winds that affect Mykonos.
The funny thing is that our Naples excursion was time-specific—we knew exactly when we had to get back on the bus or at a specific meeting point—and for this beach excursion, the guide was like, “Eh. Enjoy and I’ll let you know when we have to get ready to leave. 
We stayed there for about 3 hours, which was a perfect amount of time. We all swam, the girls played in the sand and waves, and we proceeded to order half the items on the menu.
(My favorite is the Woori suit)
A sandwich was included with our excursion, but I’m sure our Greek friends would disown us if they ate a turkey sandwich in their home country.
Before we left, he gave us a list of everything to order while we were in Greece. The pilot wrote everything phonetically so we would be able to pronounce it, for example, “Gotta Booty Yo”. I think we did them proud; Between our time in Mykonos and Chania we tried everything they suggested. The food was out of this world incredible. So fresh, vibrant and delicious. I highly recommend the pasticcio, which is similar to spaghetti lasagna with a cheesy foam.
(We had grilled octopus, salad, baked garlic greens, stuffed grape leaves, beef patties and some donuts)
Santorini:
In Santorini, we didn’t do much. In Oia you can see the famous white buildings with blue domes, but it was very hot and the children were melting. It is also a kind of unusual port. You take a small tender boat to the bottom of the harbor where you take a cable car up the steep hill to the town of Fira (lots of shopping and restaurants). You can walk up the stairs, but there are 400+, which may not be realistic for small children or those with mobility issues. Our plan was to take the cable car UP, but walk down the stairs at the end of the day.
The cable car line is extremely long without much shade. The line was easily 200+ when we got there and moving slowly. The girls wore fans around their necks and we kept pouring water on them and they were very hot, so we went back.
If you’re stopping in Santorini in mid-June or July, I recommend booking a cruise with a motor coach transfer so you don’t have to deal with the cable car line. Or bring plenty of water + an umbrella, or brave the stairs!
(I had an iced tea at a cafe at the bottom of the harbor. I mentioned this in a previous post, but iced tea is crazy in Greece. Whether it’s brewed at home or canned, it’s really special. Many flavors are infused with lemon, ginger or fresh fruit, like cherry and I knew about sweet tea. And ever??)
The owner brought shots of ouza with our bill, ice creams for everyone, and a giant piece of baklava to go back to the ship.
Chania:
In Chania, we ended our quest on our own, which was fitting. We followed a tour guide group into the Old Town, which is lined with small shops, kiosks, restaurants and a gorgeous view of the bay.
We bought souvenirs and jewelry and had another legendary meal + great idea tea.
(The sardines were very tasty and flavorful)
Disney Cruise Dream Meals and Activities
On board, we enjoyed all the usual Disney Cruise offerings: live shows – Beauty and the Beast It was fabulous – movies, character greetings, bingo, gym, kids club, swimming, endless ice cream cones and Mickey bars, whiskey tastings, and all the wonderful restaurants.
The best part was that we traveled with friends. The girls had built-in friends, and so did the adults 😉 It definitely made the experience even more fun!
Disney truly goes above and beyond when it comes to guest experience, cleanliness and quality of food. If you have any questions about the Disney Cruise Experience, please let me know!
(The best cruise ship magnets are on Etsy!)
So, tell me, friends: are you a cruise fan or not so much? Have you been on a Disney Cruise??
Trying to figure out what we should do next!!
xo
Gina
*All dresses in this post are from Nuli! I’ve had hit and miss experiences with them, but all the dresses this trip have been great
