Traveling with family

[bahamaboundbaby]

I am sailing on the Carnival Dream Jan. 15th. We are traveling with many family members several who have never sailed before. It is my daughter's and mother's birthday and I want this to be a special trip for everyone. Does anyone have ideas for going ashore other than cruise excursions? We will be in Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Marteen. I have been to Nassau before so I know a little of what to expect. I have a son who is 5 and my daughter will be turning 9 on the cruise so I need something that will keep them occupied!

[familycruzr]

Take them to Atlantis. I don't know if they still sell day passes, but it is an amazing resort to visit.

[cb at sea]

Get a guidebook on your ports...that way, you'll know EVERYTHING there is that might interest you!

Seldom is booking an excursion "a must"...so many things are quite easy to do on your own, but you have to have the info in advance! Get a guidebook...libraries have them or you can buy one. It's your best investment into your vacation.

[dlbutler5]

If you get a guide book be sure not to look up St Marteen, the place you are going is St. Maartin.

[kiraryker]

We did Bernards Tour on St. Maartin - it was WONDERFUL!! My kids loved it and so did my sisters family - they held sea urchins and we saw the school and went to Orient Beach it was just a great day

[Cruisinchristie]

You can check the boards of the ports you are going to - lots of info there.

 

We are going on a daysail in St. Thomas with my parents & my kids (6 & 8) over Thanksgiving. The day sails are always a big hit. We went on a catamaran in Grand Cayman this spring with a group of adults & kids and everyone loved it.

 

Bernard's is a great option for a large & age diverse group in St. Martin. There is something for everyone and watching the airplanes land at Maho beach is really cool!

[Mysschevous]

We did top secret excursions on St. Martin. It is a private chartered yacht! It was a lot of fun, and really not much more expensive than a ship excursion. We had a great lunch, drinks, snorkling, fishing, and of course a boat ride. We had 8 people in our group. It was nice not having a lot of other people that we had to wait for, and being able to enjoy our time together without a lot of others.

[A&Jfamily]

I am sailing on the Carnival Dream Jan. 15th. We are traveling with many family members several who have never sailed before. It is my daughter's and mother's birthday and I want this to be a special trip for everyone. Does anyone have ideas for going ashore other than cruise excursions? We will be in Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Marteen. I have been to Nassau before so I know a little of what to expect. I have a son who is 5 and my daughter will be turning 9 on the cruise so I need something that will keep them occupied!

 

Nassau:

 

Atlantis is expensive - but tons of fun. Another cheaper excursion would be to blue lagoon. My kids also enjoyed Adastra Gardens for a couple of hours. (they were 5 and 11 at the time).

 

St. Thomas:

 

My kids had tons of fun on an island tour with Henry of EEE tours. There are so many thing to do here, though, you can't go wrong.

 

St. Martin:

 

Not my favorite place, but many others love it. Last cruise we were to go on Captain Alan's for a 3 island snorkel adventure; it looked amazing and got great reviews on the boards. I am sorry that the first storm of the season prevented us from docking. Maybe someday.

 

You can google EEE and Captain Alan's and find their websites, no problem.

[bahamaboundbaby]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! I will look into the tours. This will be our 4th cruise, 2nd w/ kids. The first 1 we booked excursions through the ship and then learned better for the others.:)

[rdmallory]

Nassau:

 

 

 

St. Thomas:

 

My kids had tons of fun on an island tour with Henry of EEE tours.

 

 

 

+1 My 5yo had a blast with Henry

[MamaParrotHead]

I am sailing on the Carnival Dream Jan. 15th. We are traveling with many family members several who have never sailed before. It is my daughter's and mother's birthday and I want this to be a special trip for everyone. Does anyone have ideas for going ashore other than cruise excursions? We will be in Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Marteen. I have been to Nassau before so I know a little of what to expect. I have a son who is 5 and my daughter will be turning 9 on the cruise so I need something that will keep them occupied!

 

My kids are similiar ages. Last cruise, their first, their favorite days were beach days. Nassau has some good day passes at their resorts on Cable Beach. St. Thomas- we're heading there in January and planning on heading over to St. John to beach it. St. Maarten I'd probably plan part shopping day and then there's a beach right near the water taxi stand that's close to the ship you could hang at for a little bit.

[MamaParrotHead]

Were those of you who took tours on St. Thomas (judging from pictures, in the open air tour trucks) with kids at all concerned about having smaller kids in those vehicles? As an adult, when I took those tours, on those crazy roads, it made me nervous. But I'm looking for a "Plan B" if the weather stinks and we decide against hoofing it to St. John. Thanks.