Port activities for kids

[Canuck38]

Hello. I posted some questions on the port boards this morning but no comments yet so thought I would try the "family cruising" board instead. We are going on our 3rd RCI cruise in March. Our kids are 6 & &. We are going to 5 ports (haven't been to 3 of them). Love a couple of excursions and then lots of beach days. Help....any great ideas. Our ports are Barbados, St. Maaten, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Croix. Thanks so much for your help.

[cb at sea]

Get a guidebook on your ports....use it as "bedtime reading" and find out about the places you'll be. Then, let the kids pick something that interests them. THEN, come to the "port of call" boards, and see what others have done.

Lots of , especially beaches, are easy to do on your own, too, without paying for excursions...it can get pretty expensive when you're paying for 4 people! The guidebook will let you see what's avail. and how to do it!

[Manatee Mom]

Our kids are 6 & &. We are going to 5 ports (haven't been to 3 of them). Love a couple of excursions and then lots of beach days. Help....any great ideas. . Thanks so much for your help.

Hi I can't tell the exact ages of you kids but we have been sailing with my boys since they were little. Here are some of the things they liked

 

Barbados- grab a taxi and ask for a tour of the island. Make sure he takes you to see the green monkey (if he's still there) it's at a point where there is a beautiful view. then he took us to a hotel that doesn't mind if you use their beach or pool.

 

St. Maaten- is another island we just grab a taxi at. It's neat to see the boarder between the 2 sides of the island. We always go to Mojo beach, but it's not your standard beach. The airport is right next to it and when the planes take off if you position yourselves just right their jet engines will blow you in the water. There are many other beaches also around just ask

St. Lucia- We did the pirate ship tour though the cruise line. It was actually one of the ships used in making of Pirates of the Carribbean. They shot the canyon, have crab races, and have other fun games while on the way to the state park. While at the park you go on a scavenger hunt to find keys to unlock the treasure chest onboard the boat. Who ever finds the right key gets a small gem from one of the jewerly stores (yes we won, and yes it was very very small, but it sure was fun). There is also a beach at the park where you can go swimming.

 

Antigua - is the one place we haven't been yet, sorry can't help you

 

St. Croix - I know we've been there, but can't remember what we did

 

Tips: google things or activies to do on that island. We found that when the boys were younger it was much easier to grab a taxi and go on our schedule instead of going with bus loads of people. I would also look in CC under that island to see what people do. There are alot of great private tour operators out there and it usually works out cheaper especially if you can get another family on your roll call to go with you.

 

Let me know if you have any more questions

[Mom2B&Z]

our boys are almost 6 and just turned 3 yrs. They loved the dolphin encounter in Nassau, it was definitely worth it. In St. Maartin we just took the water taxi to town and walked around, the kids had a great time at "That Yoda Guy" store (there's a small Star Wars museum inside), as well as playing with the colour changing shirts at Del Sol. We had considered grabbing a taxi to a beach, but the weather wasn't great and we wanted to stay fairly close to the ship.

HTH

 

Hello. I posted some questions on the port boards this morning but no comments yet so thought I would try the "family cruising" board instead. We are going on our 3rd RCI cruise in March. Our kids are 6 & &. We are going to 5 ports (haven't been to 3 of them). Love a couple of excursions and then lots of beach days. Help....any great ideas. Our ports are Barbados, St. Maaten, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Croix. Thanks so much for your help.

[sunquest76]

We did a catamarn trip with snorkeling and beach lunch in Antigua with our DD when she was 13 months. Might not be good for moving and shaking older kids.

We found Barbados HOT! We planned to spend time at the beach by the port (it was beautiful), but it was way too hot to be out. We wandered around in the shopping area downtown, walked to Mount Gay for some rum then back to the ship by lunch! We appreciated the A/C that day!

[Canuck38]

Thanks to all for the great ideas. Sorry about the typo. Our kids are 6 & 7.