5 year old on Independence of the Seas Western Caribbean

[sbhdmh]

After considering NCL and Princess we finally booked IOS to the Western Caribbean and I have some questions. Are there minimum ages for things like the climbing wall or wave runner? Do they have children's skates available on board or do I need to bring them? How about helmets? I am trying to picture these in my carry-on... plus bringing along a car seat...

 

We are stopping in Belize, Cozumel and Costa Maya. Does anyone know of any kid friendly tours of Mayan ruins? I'm sure she would love to explore the pyramids, etc. I saw a thread on snorkeling with toddlers and bought a kid size snorkel set (we'll add that to the skates, helmet and car seat we're bringing along...) so she can try it out. Any suggestions for where to do that? We are not big on playing at the beach for a long time but I think she would love to try snorkeling. I've never tried it - she likes to pretend she's a mermaid and swims under water a lot - could that be a problem???? I made sure the set I bought has a mechanism to close off if she goes under water - do I need anything else? Any and all suggestions are welcome.

 

Thanks in advance for all the wisdom you will share.

[boulders]

For the Flowrider you must be 52 inches. They do have skates on board. You need long pants and sock for skating. Others might know the answers to the other questions.

[crusinmama06]

Yes, they do have childrens skates and helmets. PACK SOCKS and long pants. They are required. :D

 

When you said wave runner did you mean Flowrider? A wave runner is the name of the personal water crafts you can rent ;).

 

Flowrider, yep, the minimum height starts at 52" for kneeling (as Boulders said)

 

I did this exact cruise this past February with a then 4 and 8 year old. My review and the menus, kid schedules, etc is here....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=923729

[cb at sea]

Have her "practice" her snorkling in water that she can stand in....just to start! she'll get the "hang of it"...once you suck in a mouthful of water, you only do it once!

[sbhdmh]

Yes, they do have childrens skates and helmets. PACK SOCKS and long pants. They are required. :D

 

When you said wave runner did you mean Flowrider? A wave runner is the name of the personal water crafts you can rent ;).

 

Flowrider, yep, the minimum height starts at 52" for kneeling (as Boulders said)

 

I did this exact cruise this past February with a then 4 and 8 year old. My review and the menus, kid schedules, etc is here....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=923729

 

Thanks for the link. In a word WOW! Both to the ship and your review. I am so excited - we really backed into a great deal on this cruise and it looks absolutely perfect.

 

As I said I am not a beach person and I guess it shows. Yes, Flowrider. Too bad dd will be too little. It also looks like a 6 year age minimum on the climbing wall. She will turn 5 just days before the cruise so I guess she'll have to live without that one. She had her skating lesson this morning and I was looking at her skates, hockey helmet and hocket pants and thinking ":eek:"! Happy to hear I can leave them all home and use the ones provided on the ship. (Well no hockey pants but she can handle a few falls without them if necessary.)

 

Your excursions looked fun but I really want to take her to some Mayan ruins. DH and I have done 2 land tours of ruins in different parts of Mexico plus I did some with my parents when I was a kid. Not as important for us but I think it would be great for DD. She did awesome with all the palaces and castles on our Baltic cruise last summer so I think she would do well with this too. Has anyone done ruins with a little one? Belize, Costa Maya and Cozumel all have options. We usually do things on our own but I wonder if a ship's tour may be a better bet since they are all so far away. Any ideas anyone?

[sbhdmh]

Have her "practice" her snorkling in water that she can stand in....just to start! she'll get the "hang of it"...once you suck in a mouthful of water, you only do it once!

 

Thanks. The one I bought for her is "fully immersable" so hopefully it will be okay. Today I also got them for DH and myself. We'll take her over to the indoor pool a few times before we leave and try them out. I figure if she insists on going underwater maybe the mask will be enough and she can swim down, look and come up. Would that work?