Shore Excursions with Small Children...

[Lessum]

We will be cruising with a 4.5 yo and a 15mo. Anyone have suggestions for shore excursions with kids this young....??? We have never been on a cruise before. We haven't picked our itinerary yet as we are still debating on where to go/what to do. Not sure what if any excursions are good for kids this small....or should we just taxi to a beach and go shopping ourselves ...

 

Thanks

[cb at sea]

The beach is always a kid-friendly thing to do...and in almost every port, you do NOT need to pay for an excursion to go to the beach!

Get a guidebook on your ports, once you decide where you're going, and read up on what each has to offer....the book will tell you how to get to the places you want to go, and tell you if they are child-appropriate or not.

I can't imagine that most kids would be into "shopping"!

[Cheryl H]

We took our son on vacation at 18 months, 2 years, and a 3 1/2. We kept our tours down to 3 hours or less. He seemed to like anything with a bus.

 

He did have a limit though. In the evening time at age 2, he just wanted down time. So we didn't do much in the evenings.

 

We did bring the DVD player so we could play Elmo, Wonder Pets, etc in our cabin. He loved that.

 

Have fun planning your trip.

 

There's some photos of our cruise vacation below (when he was 3 1/2).

[Cheryl H]

I might add, that on Royal Caribbean, our 3 1/2 year old was free on most of the tours. We did the New England/Canada itinerary.

[chipmaster]

Only you can decide if the cruise will be of value.

 

Part of what we enjoy in cruising is the dining, not 5 star food, but fun multi course breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. Honestly our kids couldn't sit still till they were 9 or 10. Disney worked out well for us when they were young, but still a challenge.

 

The other thing of course is wake up in a new port with new adventures and excursions. To be honest doing it with a todler and a smal child you need to pick the ports/excursions correctly and have the right set of expectations.

 

Our kids have really enjoyed beaches, movies, pool, kids club, the rest was above their heads literally and figuratively :D

 

 

 

We will be cruising with a 4.5 yo and a 15mo. Anyone have suggestions for shore excursions with kids this young....??? We have never been on a cruise before. We haven't picked our itinerary yet as we are still debating on where to go/what to do. Not sure what if any excursions are good for kids this small....or should we just taxi to a beach and go shopping ourselves ...

 

Thanks

[hooked-on-travel]

Beach is a good general suggestion, but DD was terrified the first time we took her to a beach. That and not all ports have beaches (or sometimes the weather isn't good for it.) So there are always good options but a lot of them depend on where you're going. What I've found most useful is to do a search on the family board for your port. Since you haven't picked an itinerary yet maybe just read posts to hear what other families have done and you may find a good destination.

[Lessum]

Thanks everyone! We did book our cruise....finally...after much research and debate. It was one we were looking at, but really was narrowed down to it for other reasons (including being able to get either early or choice dining as opposed to late dining which we can't do with the little ones). Anyway, we are headed to Belize, Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Roatan. We are really excited - even if we don't do much at all in the way of excursions. Just to get away will be nice. If anyone has any suggestions...please share!

 

Thanks!

[ladeeesquire]

we just went on that exact cruise with our 2.5 yr old. She loved it!! So many fun things to do. We did the stingrays in cayman, island cruise including monkeys and iguanas in roatan, and dolphin swim in cozumel. In belize we went to altun ha to see the ruins. It was our least toddler friendly day but she was fine. We just kept it fun.

 

One thing that I think helped was that we really didn't do too much after dinner. We'd walk around a bit then go back to the cabin somewhat early, do bath, story, etc and put her in bed at a decent time. Our days were big so we wanted to make sure she got plenty of sleep.

[Jacob's Mom]

Thanks everyone! We did book our cruise....finally...after much research and debate. It was one we were looking at, but really was narrowed down to it for other reasons (including being able to get either early or choice dining as opposed to late dining which we can't do with the little ones). Anyway, we are headed to Belize, Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Roatan. We are really excited - even if we don't do much at all in the way of excursions. Just to get away will be nice. If anyone has any suggestions...please share!

 

Thanks!

 

We leave Sunday for this Cruise!! We are taking an almost 3 year old with us!! I'll let you know how is goes when we return!!

[G&TQ]

Check out the port threads for your desitnations. Lots of ideas that are cheap and doable. We are taking our son (6) on his first cruise. Coco Cay is a private island beach day and Nasau we are doing a walking tour (free) of Nasau and the priates musem (he love pirates). Both are complete time controled by us, cheap and we can wing it.. Cant wait! Hope you have a great time!

[A&Jfamily]

We will be cruising with a 4.5 yo and a 15mo. Anyone have suggestions for shore excursions with kids this young....??? We have never been on a cruise before. We haven't picked our itinerary yet as we are still debating on where to go/what to do. Not sure what if any excursions are good for kids this small....or should we just taxi to a beach and go shopping ourselves ...

 

Thanks

 

My youngest was just shy of 3 when we started cruising - and I picked Carnival because they take kids 2+ in the camp. So, depending on how quickly you are looking at traveling, that might be a factor as many cruise lines are 3+. Carnival changes diapers and everything!

 

I would think that the Liberty would have an excellent iten for your family. Half Moon Caye is a private island - you take a tender boat to the island. Grand Turk is likewise just a great beach day. St. Thomas is very kid friendly in terms of walking around the port - check out the ports of cll boards as there is just too much to put in one post. And San Juan can be seen with a walking tour.

 

Our first two cruises with my son were to the Western and that was more than managable too. We took a sting ray/island tour/turtle farm in Grand Cayman, went to Gumbalimba park and Tabayana Beach in Roatan, hung at the port in Costa Maya, did a dolpin encounter at Chankanaab park in Cozumel, and took him to Goff's Caye in Belize, where he could play on the beach with dad while I took his big brother snorkeling off shore.

 

The only port I would avoid, if possible, is Nassau. The bahamas (Nassau or Freeport) as a whole are not on the same as the other islands/stops because it is run down and over-crowded in comparison. But, we have taken the kids there too and done Adastra Gardens which we all enjoyed. We also went to Blackbeards Caye one time and played with the sting rays. And in December I am dropping the cash to do Atlantis - but my youngest is now 48" tall and can do the water parks. But all in all, it can be a very disappointing port - many chose to stay on board.

[Lessum]

we just went on that exact cruise with our 2.5 yr old. She loved it!! So many fun things to do. We did the stingrays in cayman, island cruise including monkeys and iguanas in roatan, and dolphin swim in cozumel. In belize we went to altun ha to see the ruins. It was our least toddler friendly day but she was fine. We just kept it fun.

 

One thing that I think helped was that we really didn't do too much after dinner. We'd walk around a bit then go back to the cabin somewhat early, do bath, story, etc and put her in bed at a decent time. Our days were big so we wanted to make sure she got plenty of sleep.

 

Thanks so much! We are very excited! I appreciate the tips on suggestions! We don't expect to do a whole lot after dinner either. We did book a balcony cabin so we can at least go out there after the kids are in bed. Thanks again!!!

[Lessum]

We leave Sunday for this Cruise!! We are taking an almost 3 year old with us!! I'll let you know how is goes when we return!!

 

 

Definitely let me know who it goes!!!!! Can't wait to hear!!!

[Lessum]

My youngest was just shy of 3 when we started cruising - and I picked Carnival because they take kids 2+ in the camp. So, depending on how quickly you are looking at traveling, that might be a factor as many cruise lines are 3+. Carnival changes diapers and everything!

 

I would think that the Liberty would have an excellent iten for your family. Half Moon Caye is a private island - you take a tender boat to the island. Grand Turk is likewise just a great beach day. St. Thomas is very kid friendly in terms of walking around the port - check out the ports of cll boards as there is just too much to put in one post. And San Juan can be seen with a walking tour.

 

Our first two cruises with my son were to the Western and that was more than managable too. We took a sting ray/island tour/turtle farm in Grand Cayman, went to Gumbalimba park and Tabayana Beach in Roatan, hung at the port in Costa Maya, did a dolpin encounter at Chankanaab park in Cozumel, and took him to Goff's Caye in Belize, where he could play on the beach with dad while I took his big brother snorkeling off shore.

 

The only port I would avoid, if possible, is Nassau. The bahamas (Nassau or Freeport) as a whole are not on the same as the other islands/stops because it is run down and over-crowded in comparison. But, we have taken the kids there too and done Adastra Gardens which we all enjoyed. We also went to Blackbeards Caye one time and played with the sting rays. And in December I am dropping the cash to do Atlantis - but my youngest is now 48" tall and can do the water parks. But all in all, it can be a very disappointing port - many chose to stay on board.

 

Thanks...We are booked the Carnival Legend. Looking forward to it!