Western Caribean recomendations ship/itinerary with tweens

[bethtogo]

We are looking to take the kids ages 14 and 11 next april (2012). Any advice or recomendations as to which ship and or ports would be the best?? Have cruised one before but the kids were young and really dont remember much. Would like a ship with outdoor movie screen I think. Husband and I have been to Jamacia and Grand Cayman - would like to try something different; but want to go where the kids would enjoy too.

[Oompaland]

Almost all western trips go to Grand Cayman. Cozumel is a fun port...we did dolphins and it has been something they talk about ALL the time!

 

Belize you have cave tubing. Roatan has Mahogany Bay or take a scenic tour and go see the monkeys. Our girls loved doing this. (So did I!)

 

Although you have done Jamaica, DRF is awesome!

 

Have fun planning!

[jmwg49]

Our first family cruise was on the Liberty and it was awesome! The big screen, the beauty of the ship...we went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman (the stingrays!!) and Ocho Rios (DRF and a tour around the island!) We loved it so much, we came home and booked 3 more cruises! Lots to do on Liberty and this itinerary worked great with a nice balance of sea days! Happy cruisin'!!

[swimmom32]

We did the Western in December with both our kids they were 11 and 15..We went to Ochos Rios (wouldnt do that one again) and Grand Cayman and let me say it was awesome...We are Sailing on the Liberty in November thanksgiving Week with the kids and going to Cozumel (we will be swimming with the dolphins) Belize, Roatan (Cant Wait) and Grand Cayman which we loved....:) my kids are 12 and 16 now..Have Fun...Let me add my parents friends just got off the Glory last week and LOVED IT..They were so impressed with Carnival and the Food they booked another one!!

[Colorado Kat]

We like the Western Caribbean itinerary. In Cozumel, if you want a beach day, we love Paradise Beach. Great beach, new pool, water toys (fee) tasty food and drinks. You can google it for more info.

[pe4all]

We have always found excursions that the kids would be interested in in every port we have ever been to. Examples of a few: Costa Rica= white water rafting. Jamaica=Catamarran/Dunns River Falls/River tubing. Roatan=zip lining/Maya Key (has a nice animal preserve there) Grand Turk=dune buggies/snorkeling. Half Moon Key= horseback riding. Coz=Paradise Beach, Nachi Cocum (very mellow day - a bit boring for us), Twister Boat to Passion Island (great!). Belize= cave tubing, snorkeling. St. Marten= America's cup Regatta. Nassau= Blue Lagoon (dolphins). San Juan = forts. Then there are always beaches on each island - can't go wrong there. We sit with the kidsa few months before we cruise and get their opinions on excursions offered, and make a joint decision on what to do. That way they are not "forced" to go on something they have little interest in. We have never been disappointed on an excursion, and they have always been happy. And happy kids = happy parents!:p:D

[DisneyNutMary]

We did the Magic Western Caribbean with 5 kids, aged 11 to 17, and they had a ball.

We visited Cozumel, Paradise Beach was a blast, they were exhausted from the workout they got on the water toys.

Roatan, the kids all zip-lined at Clip n Zip right across from the terminal, best experience of the trip for them.

Belize, cave tubing (we ended up staying onboard, but next trip we will definitely be cave tubing, we were sorry we didn't do it after talking to people after they came back.

Costa Maya, the kids were pretty tired by this point, they were up late every night at shows and karaoke, so we just went to the pool at the pier, they mostly just laid around on lounge chairs, and swam a bit.

[Crazy4Koko]

We took DD's 13 and 16 to Grand Turk, Aruba, Curacao, and LaRomana. Even tho they weren't happy with La Romana, they absolutely LOVED the other three ports... swimming and snorkeling and looking for conch shells in Grand Turk, tours, shopping, wandering around Aruba ( we were there after dark, which was great!) and more of the same in Curacao... We did an AI in LaRomana..and collectively, it was not our favorite port.

 

Neither of them are speaking to us at the moment because we are taking a

kid free cruise in September to Grand Turk, HMC, and Nassau...

[LarCourt]

My 13 year old loved the Legend cruise. Four very good ports with great beaches, snorkeling, stingrays, Monkeys... Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Roatan and Belize......