First timers looking for port advice

[EthierFamily]

We are cruising for the first time in a couple weeks with our 6 children aged 1,2,5,9,11,15. We are on a carnival cruise and our ports our Key West, Cozumel & Grand Cayman.

 

How do I go about finding the best information to avoid excursions? We just want to take our children to the beaches.

 

Any advice would help.

 

Thank you all in advance :)

[cruiseonthebrain]

Key West is a ton of fun and beautiful, but KW itself is not really known for great beaches. With that age range you may want to make a point to hit Kermit's known for all yummy things key lime. If you are there in the early evening there is a boardwalk area with street performers they may enjoy.

[6rugrats]

Go to the appropriate forum on tripadvisor.com or to the Ports of Call forum here. You just need to a cab to the beach. Just be advised you'll need to arrange a van for that many people, or take two cabs.

[Cruisin' Chick]

You can go to your local library and check out a guide book for Florida and one for the Caribbean. There should be info about the local beaches. You can also google each port and find plenty of tourism websites. Use Google maps to help you pinpoint the location of each beach so you can see how far they are from the port

 

The one time we were in Key West was during a post-cruise stay in the Keys back in 2001. There was a beach next to our hotel so I know there's at least one beach there. Considering that you are probably just interested in beaches that your kids can play at (with the younger ones maybe staying on the sand with beach toys), you really don't need a fancy beach. Just one that's safe.

[cruiseonthebrain]

And to actually try to help you instead of sending you to other places where you already know to look: I don't remember any great beaches in Grand Caymen. I did take my 5 and 6 year old nieces on the swim with stingrays excursion and that was truly awesome. I normally don't do things like that but watching over them made me more brave:-)

[cb at sea]

Beaches are easy to DIY...get a guidebook from your library, so you'll know something about the beaches and transportation. Not all beaches are created equally....some are rougher than others...some are rocky...some are sandy...a bit of research will help you greatly.

Libraries have guidebooks!

 

KW is NOT a beachy place! GC and Coz...yes indeed!

[6rugrats]

And to actually try to help you instead of sending you to other places where you already know to look: I don't remember any great beaches in Grand Caymen. I did take my 5 and 6 year old nieces on the swim with stingrays excursion and that was truly awesome. I normally don't do things like that but watching over them made me more brave:-)

 

I am not sure how this helps OP. OP doesn't want to do excursions. There is a beautiful beach in Grand Caymen - Seven Mile Beach. Also, Rum Point and Smith's Cove.

Edited January 1, 2016 by 6rugrats

[ladygal4.4]

Nothing was in walking distance in Cozumel port unless you paid for access, and then it was a small man-made beach. Plan on a taxi ride

 

 

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[NMLady]

We are cruising for the first time in a couple weeks with our 6 children aged 1,2,5,9,11,15. We are on a carnival cruise and our ports our Key West, Cozumel & Grand Cayman.

 

How do I go about finding the best information to avoid excursions? We just want to take our children to the beaches.

 

Any advice would help.

 

Thank you all in advance :)

 

There is a section of CC called Ports Of Call forum. You could choose that section to ask your questions.

[MOcruiserman]

We are cruising for the first time in a couple weeks with our 6 children aged 1,2,5,9,11,15. We are on a carnival cruise and our ports our Key West, Cozumel & Grand Cayman.

 

* * *

Any advice would help.

 

Thank you all in advance :)

 

About Key West. When we went there last October we noticed quite a few people walking around the main commercial area with very brief costumes on - some of the women wore paint instead of tops. Perhaps not appropriate for your kids.

[Cruisin' Chick]

And to actually try to help you instead of sending you to other places where you already know to look: I don't remember any great beaches in Grand Caymen. I did take my 5 and 6 year old nieces on the swim with stingrays excursion and that was truly awesome. I normally don't do things like that but watching over them made me more brave:-)

 

You are assuming that everyone knows how to research. From my years on this site and others, I have found many new to cruising or even to vacationing to whom it might not occur to check the various resources many of us are mentioning. (just as some don't seem to know that just about every major cruise line has a FAQ section on their websites)

 

Plus, the seven mile beach mentioned above is a pretty famous beach.

 

I think that maybe this family is thinking more in terms of a beach her family can easily get to, not necessarily for the best beach in that port.

[GTO-Girl]

About Key West. When we went there last Octoberso we noticed quite a few people walking around the main commercial area with very brief costumes on - some of the women wore paint instead of tops. Perhaps not appropriate for your kids.

 

Sounds like you were there during Fantasy Fest and I am surprised that's all you saw....LOL.

 

That is not the norm for Key West. Yes you might see some characters, but nothing like during that time in October.

 

It was all family friendly the times we were there....

[jamessemaj]

You might also check your roll call board in addition to the ports boards. Some people on the roll call may have the same interests as you, although I don't think there will be many children on your cruise in a few weeks. There's also the option of just remaining on the ship with most people gone, or just strolling in the port area. That's enjoyable to me.

Edited January 2, 2016 by jamessemaj

[EthierFamily]

Thank you for your advice everyone !! yes, basically just looking for the best way to get to a nice, clean, safe beach. Letting the bigger kiddos play in the water and the babies play with some sand toys ....

[livinlavidaloca]

Just returned from Grand Cayman and Cozumel. In Grand Cayman you can get a taxi for $4/person, most of the taxis are small vans and would be able to hold the number of people you have with you. We like to go to Royal Palms on Seven Mile Beach. We reserved a cabana online which was a nice way to be sure to have chairs and space to yourself. But you could access the beach there for $2 per person and then find a place to sit on your towels or a blanket in the sand if you so choose. There are also other public access areas you could get to the beach for free, just may not be as near to services. I consider Cozumel to be one of the easiest ports to get a taxi from, with a board listing various destinations and the prices so you will know up front. We usually go to Chankanaab park, so not sure of the public beaches in Coz. But rest assured it is easy to take a taxi, it was $12 for 4 of us to get to Chankanaab.

[whataboutport]

You will most likely have to book something in advance, or pay for admission on Coz. Everything within walking distance, the beaches are all owned by the resorts or a restaurant/bar. We walked from the main shopping area all the way back to where the ships dock. I'd say it's about a mile or so. The only part of the coastline where we didn't see it owned by any property was very rocky with small tide pools.

[h-sar]

We spent a beautiful, relaxing beach day at Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel on our cruise a couple of weeks ago. About $4-5 per person one way cab fare from the pier. Ten to 15 min drive and there will also be taxis waiting to take you back to the ship. No entry fee at Mr. Sanchos if you go on the pay as you go side. They just want you to buy some food and drink. Inflatable water course/park for kids at $12 per child. Jet skis are available for rent as well. The fajitas and coconut shrimp were awesome. After 6 visits to Cozumel, have never needed to pre book, although it might be different if you're doing all inclusive or going to a place like Nachi that limits number of guests. Check out Mr. Sanchos on trip advisor.

 

Also, visit the Caribbean ports of call site for these islands and you will glean a wealth of information. I have two posts from a couple of days ago under Grand Cayman you might want to check out: one was about getting a public bus at 2.50$ per person one way to 7 Mile Beach; the other was about picking out two beaches for our beach day - one was super quiet with no facilities, absolutely gorgeous, and the other was a 15 min walk away from the first and had facilities, food, loungers for rent, etc. Best of all, no entry fee at either. It was truly the best of both worlds in one beach day! Catching the public bus was as simple as grabbing a cab and required about a 5 min walk from pier. Any questions, please ask.

Edited January 14, 2016 by h-sar