There have already been a lot of responses to this thread so you may not need one more. But I wanted to note that we went on a Mediterranean cruise a couple years ago with our three boys. As a family of 5, it was not cost effective to do the cruise line tours. We did 6 private tours for less than the cost of two cruise line tours and every one of them was amazing.
I spent many hours on TripAdvisor looking up tours and getting prices. The reviews are invaluable and provide a lot of great information. I find Europe overwhelming and there are so many places to see. I wish I had the time to plan every stop and figure out buses, taxis and trains but it's just too much for me. Since we don't plan to revisit most of the places we went on that itinerary, we wanted to make the most of our time which we were able to do.
Our tour guides were a WEALTH of information. To tell you that I felt uneducated is the understatement of the year. We learned so much about all of the places we visited and, while Turkey was on the bottom of our list of places to visit before the trip, that was two of our best tours. All of our tours were in comfortable cars/vans (with good A/C) and they were great about answering all of our questions. The guides let us spend as little or as much time as we wanted at each destination. (In Turkey, I was clear that I did not want to go to a leather store or a rug shop and they honored our request, which I appreciated.) In Rome, we only have 4 hours to visit and we saw a TON. We saw everything I wanted to see. My only two wishes were more time to do an actual tour of the Colosseum and the Vatican but that was just a result of lack of time. Fortunately, our guide was able to get us to the front of the line at the Colosseum so we at least had time to go in and we probably stayed for 30 minutes. Rome is probably the one place we will visit again when we go back to Europe.
To comment on your note about being disappointed about the
DCL tours. On our last cruise, we took a DCL tour in Cozumel and it drove my husband nuts. Having to wait for everyone to stop at the bathroom. Having to wait for everyone to buy their gifts at the gift shops. It was very regimented and there was so much wasted time. It's a great option for people who like to be able to just plan everything through DCL for peace of mind. But if you have ever done a private tour, it really magnifies the flaws. If they could limit the size of the tours, it would be a much better.
If you are going to Naples, go to Pompeii and ABSOLUTELY get a private guide. They can be booked in advanced or there are plenty at the gate when you arrive. There is so much to see and you won't know what any of it is if you don't have someone to explain it to you. It's an amazing experience.
Oh, and totally agree on Rick Steve's book. I didn't finish reading the chapter about Turkey and this guy kept trying to sell me a rug. I kept saying "no thank you" and he must have followed me for a mile. Turns out, the books tells you that, it seems rude to ignore them, but if you don't, they will keep following you. Lesson learned!
Even if you have to do the DCL tours, I think you will still have a great time. but I hope your parents come around because I think the experience will be even better if you can do it on your own terms. Good luck!!!!
One other really important note. When we arrived in Athens, there were 7 cruise ships in port. And there were dozens of tour buses waiting in the parking lot to take people on tours. Since we had a private tour, our guide was there as soon as the ship docked and we were at the Acropolis long before the crowds. It takes a lot more time for the buses to get everyone organized and loaded up. I am sure they didn't leave for at least another hour. As we were leaving the Acropolis, there were buses full of people waiting to get in. We accomplished so much more and had less crowds to fight because we made it to all of our stops before the buses. That is definitely something to consider.
Jennifer
