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The Mayan Ruins in Belize are amazing if that is something that might interest you.

Altun Ha is a smaller site that you can do a half day tour for but gives you a taste. Coral Breeze Tours does a great tour and charges a lot less than the cruise line.

Lamanai is about a 1 hour bus ride then a 1 hour boat ride up the river into the middle of the rain forest (howler monkeys in the trees, jaguar foot prints in the mud) it is truly another world. I would do this one through the cruise line because it is far away incase there are delays you don't want to get left by the boat.

We used him about 3 years ago for Altun Ha, seriously the best tour guide we have ever had. We want to go back to Belize and do his 10 day tour someday :) I think you can contact him on facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/ivar.marchand?fref=ts

I have visited several beaches on St. John and my personal favorite is Cinnamon Bay, but all the beaches there are beautiful, you really can't go wrong. Here is a great site with reviews and videos for many of the beaches.

http://blog.sunplay.com/blog/cinnamon-bay-review/

I think you would have time, and having been to both islands I would prefer a day on St. John 100 times over one on St. Thomas, just less crowded and so beautiful!

I am not sure how long the taxi from the port to Red Hook takes, but the ferry ride from Red Hook to St John is only about 15 minutes, I think I remember it being about $12 pp and I believe the ferry normally goes every hour.

Here is a great site I have found for info on St. John beaches and snorkeling...http://blog.sunplay.com/category/st-john-2/

My personal favorites are Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay, but the entire island is beautiful..my favorite one in the Caribbean of the many I have visited!

Love Playa Palancar!

We went there in January and loved it! There are a lot of shells to walk over into the water so if you have sensitive feet wear water shoes. If you are a shell collector it is great. My kids 7 & 4 collected probably 100 shells---nice ones and were so sad when they could not bring them all home :)

I don't remember the price of the drinks but I want to say lunch, I had the beef tacos was only $7-8 and delicious!

We got off the ship at about 9:30 and arrived there around 10am, we had the beach almost to ourselves for quite awhile but after about noon it did get more crowed but nothing terrible.

We snorkeled right off the beach, the water is a little murky right near shore but if you head out toward the buoys it is clear and there are lots of different fish if you find the right spots. If you aren't finding anything, keep going...they are there, just no reef but we still really enjoyed it.

A truly wonderful way to spend the day (and pretty cheap too!)

We have done both Altun Ha and Lamanai, they are both wonderful sites, if you enjoy history at all they are a must see when in Belize!

A few years ago we did the Altun Ha tour with Coral Breeze Tours it was wonderful, I was nervous not booking through the cruise line but they were great. Altun Ha is the closer one, about an hour drive from the port. It is a smaller site and is a much quicker to get to and tour than Lamanai. I would recommend booking through a private company as it saves a lot of $ and seems to be a more intimate experience.

More recently we booked the Lamani Ruins through the ship, it is a little over an hour bus ride and then a one hour boat ride to get to the ruins. They are truly in the middle of the rainforest which is very cool. Their were howler monkeys all over in the trees and we saw a jaguar print in the mud. It is a little tougher to get around than Altun Ha, the day we went it was pretty muddy and there were tree routes and things in the trail, but anyone in moderate physical condition should be okay if you are not planning on climbing the temples. This is a much larger site, but because it is so far away there is a lot more time spent traveling than actually seeing it. If you do Lamanai I would recommend booking through the ship just in case there are any delays. Our boat broke down on the way back and we were cutting it pretty close to the last tender...nice to have the ship guaranteed to be waiting for you!

We did this a few years ago and I had the same concerns, we had booked Altun Ha through Coral Breeze Tours. We were on Carnival and the weather was kind of bad that day so the water was very choppy, it took 2 hours standing in line to get off the ship making us 1.5 hours late meeting the tour guide. We were very worried but when we got to the meeting point they were happily there waiting for us as they knew it was not our fault. They assured us we still had plenty of time to complete the tour and got us back in time to do a little shopping at the port before the last tender.

It was a great time, highly recommend them if you are doing Altun Ha.

On our most recent trip we did Lamanai, if you do this I would recommend booking through the ship, we did book through the ship because it is much further away and we were worried about the time. I was really glad we did because our boat broke down and we were cutting it very close on the way back. :)

We have stopped in Belize twice and both times done Mayan Ruin excursions and I have never felt unsafe at all, and both times we were traveling with our small kids.

The first time we did Altun Ha through Coral Breeze tours on our own instead of the ship, as we had a group of 14 and it saved a lot of $. I was nervous since it was our first time not booking through the cruise line but it was wonderful! We had a great time and learned so much. The guide, Ivar, was knowledgeable, funny and kept us entertained the entire time.

The second time we booked the Lamanai Ruins through NCL, while the ruins were amazing, the large tour group with one kind of dry guide was not as good of an experience.

If you are going to do a ruins tour I highly recommend Altun Ha through Coral Breeze.

We cruised on the Dawn in January, in the 2 bedroom family suite with our 3 kids, ages 7,4,1.

We had a wonderful time, the only major issue we had was with the shore excursion desk, all I can say is just make sure if you book an excursion ahead of time you bring your printed confirmation with you and make sure they give you your tickets for it on day 1.

Other than that the ship and staff were great, our kids LOVED the Splash Academy---sounds like your child is a little older than ours but my 12 year old nephew was also on board and really enjoyed it.

The spa and food were not as good as we have had on other ships but they made up for it in other areas. We loved our suite and the little perks that came with it. Embarkation and Debarkation were a breeze. The entertainment was good.

Overall a wonderful time on the Dawn even though we had bad weather that week! I think a lot of times people are just looking for something to complain about.

Hope you enjoy your trip!

If you are not set on doing an excursion and willing to venture out on your own, I would recommend taking a taxi in St. Thomas to Red Hook then hoping on the water taxi to St. John. The water taxi only takes about 15 minutes and runs every hour, and there is wonderful snorkeling right from the beach in St. John.

Here is a wonderful guide to snorkeling in St. John I recently found:

http://blog.sunplay.com/category/st-john-2/

If you stop in St. Thomas, I would recommend taking the water ferry over to St. John for the day. There is tons of great snorkeling there. Here is a blog I loved detailing all the great snorkeling on St. John:

http://blog.sunplay.com/category/st-john-2/

They also have a section on Grand Cayman, comparing the two might be helpful for you.

http://blog.sunplay.com/category/grand-cayman/

We just stopped in Cozumel in January with our 7, 4 and 1 year old. We spent the day at Playa Palancar and had a wonderful time. The beach was great for them to play in the sand and the water was calm and shallow so the older two could walk out pretty far and they loved it. It is free to visit the beach, they just want you to buy food/ drink which is reasonably priced and the food was surprisingly great. There was also some pretty good snorkeling out near the buoys that my husband and I were able to take advantage of. Would definitely recommend Playa Palancar.

It has been about 3 years ago but we used Coral Breeze and ended up with Ivar as our guide for the Altun Ha Ruins, it was the best tour we have ever been on (and we have been on A LOT).

Unless things have dramatically changed in the last few years I think you will have a great time if you book there.

We booked with Coral Breeze for an Altun Ha tour a few years back with a private group of 14, Ivar was our guide and he was honestly the best tour guide EVER!

If you book with him you will have so much fun and learn so much! He is like a walking encyclopedia on all things Belize but funny and interesting at the same time.

On our most recent trip to Belize we wanted to do the Lamani Ruins and unfortunately that is not a tour he does so we booked through the cruise line, the entire time we were wishing we were with Ivar!

A few years ago we did the Altun Ha tour with Coral Breeze Tours it was wonderful, I was nervous not booking through the cruise line but they were great. The weather was not great that time and they were having trouble with the tenders, we were an hour and a half late meeting them because we could not get off the ship but they were still there waiting and assured us we still had time for the tour.

Ivar was our guide and he was wonderful! It was honestly the best excursion we have ever gone on.

More recently we booked the Lamani Ruins in Belize through the ship and the entire time we were wishing we were back with Coral Breeze, a much better more intimate experience!

We bought some gear at

http://www.sunplay.com/Snorkeling-Gear-s/689.htm

prior to our recent cruise and really enjoyed it as we have had trouble with flooding masks and things when we have rented previously, also as stated before a dry snorkel is worth the investment! Not having water come in your snorkel make it a much better experience! I also leaned this direction for the sanitary reasons also. It was not a pain at all to pack the stuff in our suitcases and just pull it out and put it into a smaller bag on the days we were using it.

We stopped in Cozumel last month and all we wanted to do was snorkel off the beach. We were originally planning on heading to Chankanaab (sp) but once we were in the taxi we started talking to the driver and he said he thought we would like Playa Palancar better so we took his advice and went there. We were so happy with it, it was the best day of our cruise. There is no cover charge to get in, they just want you to order food and drinks sometime during the day. The beach is beautiful and the food was surprisingly great!

Now back to the snorkeling....there is not a reef here so it is not the most amazing snorkeling I have ever done but if you swim out toward the buoys there are several places with tons of different species of fish, several people were finding starfish, and two members of our group say a stingray.

We loved it because it was a great beach to hang out at, good snorkeling, and all it cost was the taxi fare and food, if you have your own snorkeling gear. We purchased some at Sunplay before our trip.

I can't really comment on the boat excursions as I haven't done one but Playa Palancar was great for snorkeling right off the beach and relaxing, like I said best day of this cruise!

I would vote for Roatan, we did the Maya Key Private Island where the snorkeling was amazing. The Private Island was pretty boring but if you are just wanting to snorkel it is great.

In Cozumel, we snorkeled of the beach at Playa Palancar and it was okay. no reef there but lots of fish, starfish, and two in our group saw a stingray. It is also a nice beach with great food!

As compozer said, I would see if a local dive shop offers a class. I went snorkeling a few times and did not like it that much. Then I took a class at my local dive shop and found out I was doing a lot of things wrong which were making the experience less enjoyable. Since then I love snorkeling as I know how to use my gear, free dive, and I am much more confident in the water. I know some people think it sounds silly but I would recommend a snorkeling class to everyone!

We stopped in Cozumel last month and all we wanted to do was snorkel off the beach. We were originally planning on heading to Chankanaab (sp) but once we were in the taxi we started talking to the driver and he said he thought we would like Playa Palancar better so we took his advice and went there. We were so happy with it, it was the best day of our cruise. There is no cover charge to get in, they just want you to order food and drinks sometime during the day. The beach is beautiful and the food was surprisingly great!

Now back to the snorkeling....there is not a reef here so it is not the most amazing snorkeling I have ever done but if you swim out toward the buoys there are several places with tons of different species of fish, several people were finding starfish, and two members of our group say a stingray.

We loved it because it was a great beach to hang out at, good snorkeling, and all it cost was the taxi fare and food, if you have your own snorkeling gear. We purchased some at Sunplay before our trip.

I can't really comment on the boat excursions as I haven't done one but Playa Palancar was great for snorkeling right off the beach and relaxing, like I said best day of this cruise!

I think you would be fine doing it on your own (and probably a lot cheaper)! Just take a taxi from the cruise port to Red Hook, then it is a 15 minute water taxi ride to St. John from there take a taxi to Trunk Bay or one of the other great beaches. Same thing on the way back! I think the ferry's from Red Hook to St. John leave about every hour and are about $12 round trip per person. I recently found this guide to snorkeling on St. John and really like it. You might find it helpful. I think Cinnamon Bay is my personal favorite on St. John.

http://blog.sunplay.com/category/st-john-2/

Hope that helps! I would recommend St. John a 1000x over staying on St. Thomas for the day, very different feel and so beautiful and relaxing!

Here is a good article on why you should buy your own snorkel gear:

http://blog.sunplay.com/news/buying-vs-renting-snorkel-equipment/

Also, we did Carnival's Private Island Retreat on Roatan and while the island wasn't that exciting it was the best snorkeling I have seen in the Caribbean or Hawaii. I am sure there are probably more beaches that you can get too without the excursion that would be comparable as I think other posters have said about the reef system at Roatan.

I have purchased from Sunplay, they have good stuff at a fair price and fast reliable shipping.

http://www.sunplay.com/Snorkeling-Gear-s/689.htm