Deciding on Itinerary for Kids

[Mamabear247]

Sorry if this has been asked before or If I should look on a different board please let me know!

I was trying to read up on a few ports of call and couldn’t quite find what I was looking for.

 

Background: Thinking about a cruise on Royal Caribbean next year with kids (who will be) age 4 & 6.

I have sailed Carnival before without kids.

 

Question: What Caribbean ports of call would be most similar to Grand Turk? (Aside from the cruise lines private island)

Thinking in terms of quick/easy/hassle-free walk from ship to beach, low cost or free access. I don’t want to lug car seats around for taking a taxi to a beach.

I see ( I think) that Grand Turk was built by Carnival and is thus not an option for a cruise on Royal.

 

I remember feeling hassled and not many beach options at Ocho Rios.

 

I haven’t decided between Eastern or Western Caribbean yet.

 

Any ports that are super easy to do with kids that I should look for on an itinerary?

Any ports to skip for now until kids are older?

 

Thanks in advance!!

[Essiesmom]

Amber Cove for sure.  It's Grand Turk only better.  Same kind of pool but much more seating/loungers.  No beach, though.   At a quick glance I don't see much activity for Royal Caribbean there, just Empress of the Seas.  Carnival does have a lot of visits there.  Costa Maya also has a pool, but it seems more adult oriented, not a lazy river type thing.  EM

[Mamabear247]

I just stumbled upon a different thread that had some of the info I was looking for. 

I don't know how to retract this thread?? Is there a moderator??

 

Thanks to anyone who viewed!

 

(Other thread is currently on page 6 according to my computer)

 

[kitkat343]

I don't think this is what you are looking for now, but when your kids are older (we had car seats):  

 

- in Aruba, you can grab a taxi in the port, and go on a tour of the island.  Philips animal garden is an amazing rescue center for animals who needed a home (they rescued a bunch from the Venezuela zoos, and you can feed them).  Then you can go to a beautiful cave, and then visit a beach.

 

- in Roatan, Bodden adventures can take you all over the island, and you can play with monkeys at Victor Bidden's house.  The iguana zoo is excellent, as was the eco walk at south shore adventures (they also have zip lines if you want to send an adult separately).  Roatan has gotten a lot safer, but is a port you want to book a tour ahead of time and know exactly where you are going.

 

- in costa maya, native choice adventure runs a wonderful Mayan experience excursion where you visit a pyramid, and then have an authentic lunch cooked by Mayan grandmothers.  They're great with kids.  It's  a long walk to the Native choice office (they recommend taking a cab if you have kids or disabled party members, but there were no cabs available when we exited the port).  It is also a drive to the pyramid.  

 

 - Santo Thomas, Guatemala - we really enjoyed our tour of the Rio Dulce with Go with Gus (they had some mixed reviews though so you might want to check again).  We visited a local school, rode on a boat over the beautiful Rio Dulce, got to visit hot springs).

 

- Belize - some kids might like cave tubing, but I wouldn't do that until they are older.  The belize zoo is amazing, and great for children of all ages.

 

- Jamaica - in Ocho Rios we went to Dolphin Cove, which is conveniently located right next to Dunns river falls (not great for young children, great for adults).  Dolphin's cove is a lovely animal park, where you can swim or touch dolphins, feed lovebirds, swim with stingrays, and touch the animals in a touch tank.  Scotchie's is a chain of delicious jerk chicken restaurants that is quite lovely.  We had a private tour arranged here, so we didn't experience the vendors, but as you noted they are quite aggressive here if you aren't on a private tour that takes you to private excursions.

[cb at sea]

Almost all of the cruise lines stop at one of their "private islands/beaches".  I think that's what you're looking to do.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

at 4 and 6 they may be quite ready for no back boosters for travel. If they are over 40#, you can use BubbleBum inflatable booster for travel - super easy and has a very good seat belt fit. Also, Graco turbo GO starts at 40# and is super easy to travel with.

 

Other than that, Labadee is one of those ports.

Some ports have a water taxi - also fun. RCI's Blue Lagoon excursion in Nassau, Bahamas was also great - on a ferry.

 

In Costa maya you can take a regular taxi or an open air wagon pulled by a tractor (sort of like a hayride) for the same price ($3 pp). You don't even have to leave the port - they have a nice pool and activities, like dolphins.

 

DS starting cruising at 3, and we never limited our itinerary to ports where you can walk to the beach. We travel with a Harmony Youth booster which starts at 30#. Well, he was the size of an average 5 yo at 3 and followed the rules of proper sitting in the booster at that point.

Edited February 24, 2020 by Itchy&Scratchy