Article published October 11, 2009
Disney does Africa … and Russia too
Cruise line aims to make new exotic ports of call family-friendly
Mickey in St. Petersburg, Russia, with the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in the background.
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DISNEY
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By MIKE KELLY
SPECIAL TO THE BLADE
SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia - We sat on colorful mats in the Caf des Nattes, sipping the house specialty: steaming glasses of strong mint tea sprinkled with toasted pine nuts. Around the dark cafe, among the big green and red pillars and little blue tables, men sat with their backs against the walls, talking quietly, playing cards, and sucking on burbling sheeshas - communal water pipes that filter flavored tobacco smoke through cool water.
We were taking a break from the 90-degree heat outside, where we were in the middle of a treasure hunt that had been leading us up and down the steep cobblestone streets of this tiny seaside village just outside Tunis for more than an hour.
The point of the exercise was to provide an entertaining way to experience the sights, sounds, and even the flavors of this exotic little spot on the north coast of Africa. It was a trial run of a shore excursion for senior staff from Disney Cruise Line, which is preparing new, family-friendly itineraries for cruises in the Mediterranean and northern Europe that are scheduled to begin sailing in April. Disney has sailed the Mediterranean before, but several of the ports of call are new this time around.
The cruise line will send one of its two ships, the Disney Magic, to Europe for an unprecedented five-month season next year, with 10 and 11-night cruises in the Mediterranean and 12-night trips in northern Europe. I was one of four American writers allowed to accompany the Disney team as they dropped in on some of the future ports of call to preview and fine-tune a few of their planned shore excursions - or as Disney calls them, "port adventures."
It's no small feat trying to make unfamiliar and exotic destinations family-friendly without sacrificing authenticity or watering down the experiences until they resemble Pirates of the Caribbean-type make-believe adventures. That challenge is not lost on Disney planners, according to Jason Lasecki, the cruise line's public relations director.
"Obviously, Disney Cruise Line's focus is the family market," he said, "and when you're taking families to destinations that are exotic [and] culturally rich, like the ones we'll be sailing in 2010, you have to take great care that you're developing not only experiences that are fun for everybody in the family, but you also try to eliminate the hassles that can come along with traveling to these kinds of places."David Duffy, the cruise line's creative director, said the unfamiliar destinations provided new opportunities for Disney. "These are places that have tapped into a more mature audience, so it's exciting to be the first to go in and really address the family needs of travelers," he said. "There are plenty of families out there that might have been interested in these destinations but just haven't felt the right cruise opportunity was there for them."
Duffy pointed to the treasure hunt at Sidi Bou Said as an example of the effort to help guests navigate exotic locales.
"It's obviously a very different cultural experience, and making that culture accessible and friendly, with experiences like the treasure hunt, I think will be a great help for the guest to really begin to understand the culture, and to have a unique, immersive experience that can bring different aspects of the culture to life for them," he said.
Like other cruise lines, Disney contracts with local tour operators to run its shore excursions, but it has a more hands-on approach to the process than most. Virginia Quintairos, a manager for Intercruises, a Barcelona-based shore excursion company, said Disney demands more from its tour operators than other cruise lines do.
"We have to be a lot more creative [with Disney] than with the others," she said. "There's no comparison. We have to think about things in different ways. We think of what an area has to offer, and then we think what is there that would be of interest to families with kids.
"Then we'll see what Disney thinks. We're the experts on this area, and they're really the experts on entertainment and on families and kids."
Here's a look at a few of the stops on next year's Baltic and Mediterranean itineraries, as well as some of the twists Disney has in mind:
This glittering imperial capital on the Baltic Sea is Russia's second largest city, and its most cosmopolitan, with a modern European flavor. Until recently, the country's stiff customs regulations barred cruise passengers from exploring it unless they had purchased costly visas ahead of time or were on formal shore excursions. Now those rules have been relaxed, but for most visitors, organized tours are still the way to go.
Disney, which has never sailed to Russia before, will offer dozens of shore excursions in and around St. Petersburg, some of them standard-issue but others with a kid-friendly twist.
They'll visit some of the city's most famous landmarks, such as the Hermitage museum. Built in the 1700s as the winter palace of the czars, it is the top tourist attraction in Russia. With more than 300 galleries and 3 million pieces in its collections - including works by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Renoir, and Monet - it's one of the largest art museums in the world.
Mindful of the attention spans of most children, Disney excursions will give kids the opportunity to split off from the main group and, accompanied by youth counselors from the ship, engage in some kind of hands-on activity, such as decorating Faberge eggs or making Russian nesting dolls.
At the Palace Theatre, young visitors will be treated to a ballet class - another Disney exclusive - followed by a professional performance of classic Russian ballet, a backstage tour, and a chance to meet the show's prima ballerina. The cruise line may end up having to rent out the entire theater to accomplish this, according to Lasecki.
At Catherine's Palace, once the summer residence of Russian czars, guests will wander through dozens of fabulously decorated rooms, including the famous jewel-encrusted Amber Room, once dubbed "the Eighth Wonder of the World."
The massive palace is a frequent stop for cruise line shore excursions, but the Disney twist here will be an over-the-top experience for kids: an after-hours "Princess Ball," where little girls - and boys, too - can dress up and party down in a real gold-encrusted, chandeliered ballroom with an orchestra and Russian royalty - and some Disney royalty as well.
"Right now, we're planning to have Cinderella, Snow White, Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), and maybe some others magically appear at the ball," said Duffy.
Located in the heart of western Italy's Tuscany region. Florence is a good two hours by bus from the port of La Spezia, where the Magic will dock. But it's well worth the trip. A tourist magnet, Florence's exhilarating mix of art, wine, food, and natural beauty attracts upwards of 10 million foreign visitors a year.
Among the countless artworks on exhibit here is probably the most famous sculpture in the world, Michelangelo's David, at the Galleria dell' Academia. As in St. Petersburg, youth counselors from the ship will be along to help organize kids' activities to free up Mom and Dad for more sightseeing.
At the medieval Palazzo Veccio, a massive fortress that serves as Florence's town hall, young Disney visitors will get to paint their own little frescoes, or plaster artworks, and take them home as souvenirs - if Duffy's shore crew can figure out how to quick-dry the frescoes.
In nearby Lucca, a medieval walled city, the available adventures include a medieval parade complete with drummers, flag flyers, and crossbow demonstrations, and the chance to dine with a genuine Italian count, the genial Massimo Bernardini, at the palace that's been in his family for five centuries.
There will be special opportunities for adults as well, and one of the most enjoyable will be a hands-on cooking lesson at a Tuscan farm, Torre a Cenaia. This adults-only activity will be a "controlled-capacity opportunity" in Disneyspeak - which means it will be limited in size and probably a bit pricey - and it will also include a wine tasting.
Tucked between Algeria and Libya on Africa's northern coast, this peaceful Muslim country is mainly desert (parts of Star Wars and Gladiator were filmed here), but the capital city of Tunis, on the Mediterranean coast, seems like another world, a lush oasis. The former colonial capital is a mix of European, Middle Eastern, and North African influences, with traditional culture and modern amenities coexisting seamlessly.
At the center of the city is the medina, or walled-off old quarter, where a mazelike series of tangled alleyways and covered passages make up a teeming marketplace of souks (vendors' stands) where jewelry, crafts, rugs, spices, and countless other goods are sold.
Just outside the city are the ruins of ancient Carthage, once a major power in the region and an enemy of the Roman Empire. Eventually conquered by the Romans in the Punic Wars, all that's left of Carthage today are stone remnants of theaters, temples, and baths. At the ruins of the coliseum, young visitors can play make-believe gladiator on the same sandy ground where real gladiators once battled lions and tigers.
And of course, there's Sidi Bou Said, a picturesque, cliff-top village just outside Tunis, overlooking the brilliant blue Bay of Tunis. Nearly all the buildings here are white, with blue studded doors and shutters that match the color of the sky and sea. Visitors can try belly dancing at the Arab and Mediterranean Music Centre at Erlanger Palace, and get henna tattoos on their arms of their name in Arabic.
Speaking of Arabic, though these are Disney cruises and excursions, you'll see no reference to Aladdin, one of Disney's best-known fictional characters. Duffy explained that was to avoid confusion between real and make-believe Arabs, but it's no doubt intended to avoid offending local sensibilities as well.
There's still some fine-tuning to be done before Disney's new collection of port adventures is ready to be launched next year - and the prices haven't been set yet -but Duffy said he's confident that families who sail the cruise line's new itineraries are in for some pleasant surprises.
"These are unique opportunities to visit some really cool places," he said, "and I think families will get much more than a cursory experience at these ports of call. I think we'll be bringing things to life for them in an exciting and fun way."
Mike Kelly is a retired Blade travel writer.
Contact him at: kelly.writer@yahoo.com
If you go...
In 2010 Disney Cruise Line will launch a five-month season of Mediterranean and northern Europe itineraries. During June and July, 12-night trips out of Dover, England, will include stops at Scandinavian ports such as Oslo, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, as well as Warnemunde, Germany (gateway to Berlin), and St. Petersburg, Russia. Fares start at $3,650 per person.
Bookending the summer cruise season in the Baltic will be 10 and 11-night cruises in the Mediterranean, with new ports of call not offered when Disney last sailed there in 2007. The Magic will sail from Barcelona, Spain, and in addition to stops in Italy, France, and Spain, the ship will also visit the islands of Malta and Corsica, as well as Tunis, in northern Africa.
The Mediterranean cruises will sail in April and May, and again in August and September. Fares start at $2,200 per person.
Kids age 17 and under traveling with two full-fare guests in the same stateroom can sail free on select Mediterranean cruises from April 24 through May 26, 2010. Taxes and fees are not included.
Information: 800-951-3532 or disneycruise.disney.go.com
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