Miracle Excursions

[WorkingMomNeedsaVacation]

I need some help with some excursion advice for our Miracle cruise. We chose the Miracle and Western itinerary so my husband can go scuba diving at most ports. That leaves me, 36, and my 2 kids 11 y/o son and 7 y/o daughter to find something to do on port days. We are a pretty active family so the notion of staying on the ship doesn't do anything for me. We have been to the Eastern Caribbean several times, but all the Western ports are new for us. My son is more adventurous than my daughter, who is a little timid. Many of the excursions have a minimum age of 8 - which won't work, even though my daughter is often mistaken as a 9 year old (she is very tall!) I wouldn't mind 1 (maybe 2) beach days, but would really like to do something fun. To give you a sense of our interests, on past vacations we have swam with dolphins, taken a helicopter ride over a volcano, gone on catamaran rides (son will snorkel, daugher will not), gone on banana boat rides, etc. I am looking for something fun and special, but most importantly safe where I can easily manage keeping an eye on both kids by myself.

 

Any suggestions?

[Yeldarb]

grand cayman- Island highlights with stingray city. Goes to Hell, turtle farm and the island's big attraction Stingray City.

 

costa maya- Chachoben mayan ruins?

 

belize - cave tubing.

 

cozumel- beach day at paradise or san francisco beach

[staylor]

Cozumel...Chankanaab Park...Great for kids....Your husband can also drive from there......good diving right off the beach........ So it can still be a family day.

http://www.caribbeanportreviews.com/CozumelChankanaab.htm

[walkswife]

Tampa-If you need to burn a little time before or after your cruise.... the Florida Seaquarium is directly across the street from the port... we did it pre cruise and the porters took our luggage at 8:45 am and we stored our carryons at guest services inside the aquarium.... it was like $15 pp and we spent about 3 or 4 hours in there before we got on the ship....

 

Cayman-Stingrays are great or you may want to try the Off the Beaten Path Jeep Adventure...

 

Cozumel-Definitely Paradise Beach.....they have the water trampolines, climbing icebergs, kayaks, float mats... all included in the $8 a day pp .... there is also, for an extra cost, parasailing, massages, henna tattoos and I believe hair braiding ... it would be a great beach day....

 

Belize-Tubing would be my choice ... but through the cruiseline your daughter is to young... you may be able to book through an independent though.... or there is Altun Ha Mayan Site and the River Wallace...that would have a boat ride down the river and mayan ruins....there is the Jungle Buggy & Mayan Cave Exploration... minimum age is 6....but I wouldn't do this port without an excursion...

 

Costa Maya-You could just take a cab to Majahual and spend a day at the beach..... You could just spend the day in the port at the pool and shops and watch the shows.....There is a Dune Buggy Jungle & Beach Safari.....Horseback Adventure or an Off Road Jeep Tour......

 

I still had my binder from our trip in March... I just flipped through it ... these are all excursions offered through the ship.....

[I&MsMom]

We were on the Miracle with our 3 and 7 year old...

 

Keep in mind that all of the ports, with the exception of Costa Maya, are tender ports.

 

When we were there in Feb. Chankanabb had not yet re-opened.

 

We did the River Wallace/Altun Ha through the ship in Belize (our only ship-sponsored excursion ever.) There were large swells that day and tendering took forever. Our tour, scheduled to leave at 8:30 didn't get on our tender until 9:45! I have no idea when they opened up the tenders to those not taking ship-sponsored excursions. We enjoyed this, although the river part was a little long, and we felt the time at the ruins was brief.

 

In Cozumel, we did the Atlantis sub on our own, then went to Paradise Beach for a couple of hours.

 

I Grand Cayman, we did the stingray city and Rum Point tour with NativeWay. Rum Point was beautiful.

 

In Costa Maya we went to Chacchoben with David and Ivan. That was awesome. Then we hung on the beach in Majahual for a couple of hours.

 

It was a great cruise. Whatever you decide to do, enjoy!

[SockMonkey]

Definitely do the swimming w/ stingrays. It was incredible!

 

We did Chacchoben and had a great tour guide, so I liked that. She was very knowledgeable about the Mayan culture and history, and I'm a school nerd, so I was alllll over that. ;)

 

We did the power snorkel in Belize, which I really liked, but my husband kinda didn't. He couldn't get his power thingy to work really well. I, on the other hand, thought it was a blast. :)

[oakleys]

looks like you hubby gets to relax, while you watch the kids. cant you all do something together. divorce him now, before its too late. your only 36 :D

[WorkingMomNeedsaVacation]

Thanks for all the suggestions - I think I will follow the advice and try the following:

 

Cayman - Stingray Sandbar, Hell & Turtle Farm

 

Cozumel - Paradise Beach (stupid question, but do you just take a cab there on your own? I don't see this listed as a Carnival excursion. Someone mentioned it was $8 pp so I assume this is a do-it-yourself tour?)

 

Belize - Cave Tubing - Can't do thru the ship b/c daughter isn't 8. Most independent excustions have a minimum age of 8 as well, but I found one - X Stream that has a special excursion for families with kids. It is for ages 5 and up and limits the group size to 8 or 9. Sounds good - anyone have any experience with them?

 

Costa Maya - either the dune buggy or off road jeep adventure to combine the beach with something a little out of the ordinary.

 

I still have TONS of time to decide - we don't go until February :( . But thanks for the suggestions - I love to plan these things!

[walkswife]

Cozumel - Paradise Beach (stupid question, but do you just take a cab there on your own? I don't see this listed as a Carnival excursion. Someone mentioned it was $8 pp so I assume this is a do-it-yourself tour?)

 

 

Yes, this is a do it yourself, the cab will probably run about $12 to $20. make sure you get the price before you get in the cab..... your kids will love Paradise Beach and you can get a lounge chair and relax.... they have a restaurant and bar on premisis also and they will bring your lunch and drinks right to you on the beach.... if you meet PB Tom tell him walkswife... the girl scout leader from Wisconsin says HI:D

[WorkingMomNeedsaVacation]

looks like you hubby gets to relax, while you watch the kids. cant you all do something together. divorce him now, before its too late. your only 36 :D

 

Actually, oakleys - my husband won this vacation from work and he works the 9-5 job taking care of the kids all year round while I work long hours, travel on long overnight trips, have dinner meetings, take conference calls at home, etc. He does the laundry, cooks, runs carpool, coaches the kids sports and everything in between. I am pushing him to go off and scuba dive (I bought him the lessons for Christmas this year) because he enjoys it so much and I hate fish! If it were up to him, he would be right there with us at every port. Whether or not he will go diving at every port remains to be seen, but I need to show him the kids and I will be all set and we can meet up with him mid-day after he goes diving.

 

So, you see, he's not a bad husband. He is one in a million!

[staylor]

Thanks for all the suggestions - I think I will follow the advice and try the following:

 

Cayman - Stingray Sandbar, Hell & Turtle Farm

 

Cozumel - Paradise Beach (stupid question, but do you just take a cab there on your own? I don't see this listed as a Carnival excursion. Someone mentioned it was $8 pp so I assume this is a do-it-yourself tour?)

 

Belize - Cave Tubing - Can't do thru the ship b/c daughter isn't 8. Most independent excustions have a minimum age of 8 as well, but I found one - X Stream that has a special excursion for families with kids. It is for ages 5 and up and limits the group size to 8 or 9. Sounds good - anyone have any experience with them?

 

Costa Maya - either the dune buggy or off road jeep adventure to combine the beach with something a little out of the ordinary.

 

I still have TONS of time to decide - we don't go until February :( . But thanks for the suggestions - I love to plan these things!

 

When in Feb are you going?

[WorkingMomNeedsaVacation]

Staylor - looks like we'll be there right after you. We are on the 2/18/07 Miracle - President's Week - which is school vacation here in the Northeast.

[staylor]

I was going to invite you to join our Cruise Critic group........Have a wonderful cruise! :D

[Carnival Queen]

Belize - Cave Tubing - Can't do thru the ship b/c daughter isn't 8. Most independent excustions have a minimum age of 8 as well, but I found one - X Stream that has a special excursion for families with kids. It is for ages 5 and up and limits the group size to 8 or 9. Sounds good - anyone have any experience with them?

 

 

We were on the Miracle in February and went cave tubing with Yhony (cave-tubing.com). Junior was our guide. We had our own private tour for 8 of us - it was great and I would highly recommend them. It is only $45 each (or $50 with lunch included) and you don't pay until the tour is over (no deposit needed). Check out the "ports of call" section of these boards under Belize, and you'll see lots of great reviews for them. You can also check out their website: cave-tubing.com. Good luck!:)

[MSUcruiser]

We were on the Miracle in April and had a great time. We have 3 daughters, 5, 13 & 17. We did the rays, reef & rum tour with Nativeway, it was a lot of fun, but the girls were scared of the rays! Had a beach day in Cozumel at San Fransico beach and it was gorgeous. We did the cave-tubing and zip-line with X-Streme and the kids LOVED the zip line. Cave-tubing was mixed. It was kind of chilly and involved way more "paddling" with our arms than anticipated (maybe the river was low). Our youngest was "helped" by Nathan the entire cave-tubing experience. He said she was the youngest person he'd ever seen zip-lining. I have to say it was kind of scary seeing her all suited up in the gear -- it weighed half as much as she did. She thought zip-lining was the best part of the cruise! I would trust X-Streme with the kids.