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Port ideas with 3 year old

BCCRUSINGCOUPLE

By BCCRUSINGCOUPLE,
in Family Cruises

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BCCRUSINGCOUPLE

BCCRUSINGCOUPLE

Posted
Posted

Hello

 

We are sailing on the Grand Princess in a few weeks and would love to have suggestions on what do to in these ports with our 3 year old

 

San fran

Santa Barbara

Catlina island

LA

 

We have cruised many times but never with our 3 year old. Would love to hear suggestions on any of these ports above and what would be best for the little guy to see.

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moesyk4

moesyk4

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I can't speak specifically for those ports at that age...I have been to them but not with our son. I will say that at that age, depending on personality, they are pretty flexible. We went on a cruise this past January with our son who was barely 4. We did an all inclusive resort at one stop that had a kid's swimming area and of course beach area. We did a snorkeling/sting ray trip on another stop. Our final stop we did river tubing and a beach break. He loved them all.

 

I will say one thing about the west coast is there is not much in the line of beaches..I know in Catalina Island we did snorkeling but it was nothing like island snorkeling and pretty rough, I wouldn't take a 3 year old. There was lots of little shops including like ice cream stores that I bet your 3 year old would like. It's been 10 years though.

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Tggrtoes

Tggrtoes

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This hands on science museum is a lot of fun in San Francisco: http://www.exploratorium.edu but might be primarily for older children. This museum might be better for toddlers, but isn't near public transportation http://www.baykidsmuseum.org

 

Funny - that was going to be one of my suggestions too! :p

 

I haven't done those ports cruising, but have been to those cities with DS. The above science museum is great. You can also just spend a few hours riding the carousel, seeing the sea lions and eating a bite at pier 39. Just riding the cable cars is fun for young children. sit up front and operator will ring bell if you ask.

 

For Catalina - maybe a glass bottom boat tour?

 

For Santa Barbara - maybe the zoo? Or Ty Warner Sea Center - lots of hands on kid friendly activities there.

 

For LA - not sure how far from port, but Knottsberry Farm is/was one of DS' favorites.

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travelhound

travelhound

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Posted

Tggrtoes said many of the same things I was going to say. We have taken our three year old dd on three cruises so far and I've noticed that she just likes to do what we are doing. Of course she loves the beach, but I think the water is too cold in CA for a good beach day in Sept.

 

The biggest hurdle will be how to get to the destinations if you're not on a tour. Car/cab/car seat, etc.

 

San Fran: I agree with Pier 39 and the seals. Also you can get to the cable car there and make on run on it. Not sure where the ships dock there, but I would think there are tours to get you from the ship to the pier.

 

Catalina: Semi-sub or glass bottom boat tour. We did a glass bottom boat there and saw a shark swimming in the kelp bed. The town is nice to walk around too or take one of tours that goes around the island. There are no cars, just golf carts, so it's easy to walk around.

 

SB: We were not there with a kid but went to the mission. It was nice and there was a lot of green space. Maybe too boring and the zoo would be better, but we enjoyed the mission.

 

LA: I'm assuming you're at the Long Beach pier. The Pike is like the pier in SF and Aquarium of the Pacific isn't too far away either. You could go to the beaches of Orange County (Huntington, Newport, etc) but that would be a bit of a jaunt without a tour. There is also the Queen Mary that is docked. I think that may even be fun for kids, since it's an older version of what they are sailing on now.

 

Whatever you do, have fun!

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BCCRUSINGCOUPLE

BCCRUSINGCOUPLE

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  • Author
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Tggrtoes said many of the same things I was going to say. We have taken our three year old dd on three cruises so far and I've noticed that she just likes to do what we are doing. Of course she loves the beach, but I think the water is too cold in CA for a good beach day in Sept.

 

 

 

The biggest hurdle will be how to get to the destinations if you're not on a tour. Car/cab/car seat, etc.

 

 

 

San Fran: I agree with Pier 39 and the seals. Also you can get to the cable car there and make on run on it. Not sure where the ships dock there, but I would think there are tours to get you from the ship to the pier.

 

 

 

Catalina: Semi-sub or glass bottom boat tour. We did a glass bottom boat there and saw a shark swimming in the kelp bed. The town is nice to walk around too or take one of tours that goes around the island. There are no cars, just golf carts, so it's easy to walk around.

 

 

 

SB: We were not there with a kid but went to the mission. It was nice and there was a lot of green space. Maybe too boring and the zoo would be better, but we enjoyed the mission.

 

 

 

LA: I'm assuming you're at the Long Beach pier. The Pike is like the pier in SF and Aquarium of the Pacific isn't too far away either. You could go to the beaches of Orange County (Huntington, Newport, etc) but that would be a bit of a jaunt without a tour. There is also the Queen Mary that is docked. I think that may even be fun for kids, since it's an older version of what they are sailing on now.

 

 

 

Whatever you do, have fun!

 

 

Thank you so much for the info it really helps thanks everyone.

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Lerin

Lerin

Posted
Posted

Long Beach

-the aquarium

 

San Fran

-Children's museum( I think called Discovery museum) there is also a large park called Koret Children's corner, zoo or if he likes smaller boats take a ferry ride ,also the trolley

 

Santa Barbara

-zoo or there are also a few city parks that have wonderful play structures for kiddos. Kidsworld in Alameda Park and Chase Palm Park which also has a merry go round.

 

Have fun!

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ajaasved

ajaasved

Posted
Posted

Living near San Francisco and having a 3 year old, I will share what we do.

 

Cal Academy Museum in Golden Gate park. It's amazing and even adults LOVE it. Across the way from it is the Japanese tea gardens which are so fun.

 

Pier 39 is fun because there is so much going on but it is a touristy area. You can catch a cable car there that will take you to Union Square which is a shopping area. Macy's, Nordstroms, Bloomingdales and all the typical shops you would find anywhere else.

 

Giants game. They have a children's play area and maybe there is a game the day you are there.

 

Alcatraz. There is a great ferry ride out there and the views of the city and the bridge are amazing.

 

The Bay Area Discovery Museum is currently under renovation right now so before you take a pricey cab ride over to Sausalito, I would check their website to see if they are open.

 

Make sure you dress in layers, people think that it's warm all over California, it's not.

 

Also, IF you happen to be in town October 9-13, it's fleet week and the blue angels are in town. AMAZING. Kids love this event. You can go down to the Marina Green and there are a TON of military trucks the kids can climb all over.

 

Have fun!

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Cruisin' Chick

Cruisin' Chick

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LA: I'm assuming you're at the Long Beach pier. The Pike is like the pier in SF and Aquarium of the Pacific isn't too far away either. You could go to the beaches of Orange County (Huntington, Newport, etc) but that would be a bit of a jaunt without a tour. There is also the Queen Mary that is docked. I think that may even be fun for kids, since it's an older version of what they are sailing on now.

 

Whatever you do, have fun!

 

If the OP is on the Sept 29 sailing for the Grand, they may be docking at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro (pretty rare for a non-Carnival ship to be docking in LB, and the cruise ship calendar for LA says the Grand will be there that day).

 

You can still take a taxi to Long Beach and go to the Aquarium. It's very kid-friendly (if your kid isn't scared of birds, the lorikeet exhibit will be much fun).

 

Funny - that was going to be one of my suggestions too! :p

 

I haven't done those ports cruising, but have been to those cities with DS. The above science museum is great. You can also just spend a few hours riding the carousel, seeing the sea lions and eating a bite at pier 39. Just riding the cable cars is fun for young children. sit up front and operator will ring bell if you ask.

 

For Catalina - maybe a glass bottom boat tour?

 

For Santa Barbara - maybe the zoo? Or Ty Warner Sea Center - lots of hands on kid friendly activities there.

 

For LA - not sure how far from port, but Knottsberry Farm is/was one of DS' favorites.

 

Knott's Berry Farm is about 25 miles from the Port of LA. I just went on the taxi fare finder website and at this time of night (7pm on a Saturday), it's some $70-plus and is sure to be much more expensive on a Monday morning and Monday afternoon (and you won't want to try to cut it short time wise for the return to the ship). Plus you should plan to take your kids' child seat as it's illegal to drive with a child under 80 pounds in California without the proper child restraint.

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Cruisin' Chick

Cruisin' Chick

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Posted

If you're a member of the Auto Club, you should be able to pick up a book there that's about kid-friendly spots, but yours might not have the one for California. For sure, pick up their travel guide for Southern Cal/Nevada and for Northern California. You can also google each port and find many tourism sites, especially if you add "child" to your search, that should help you. I know that Catalina Island has a good site, but it's not a beach type of place.

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travelhound

travelhound

Posted
Posted (edited)
If the OP is on the Sept 29 sailing for the Grand' date=' they may be docking at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro (pretty rare for a non-Carnival ship to be docking in LB, and the cruise ship calendar for LA says the Grand will be there that day).[/quote']

 

You're right. The last time we were in LA was on Carnival, so I was thinking of what was around the Long Beach port. We are ending a Panama Canal cruise in LA on NCL at San Pedro in November, so I should have known better.

Edited by travelhound
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