Excursion for 5 year old and 2 year old??

[adogaer]

I'm trying to find a good excursion for our family when we are in GC in Januray.

 

I love the thought of the Carnival sponsored Turtle Farm, Hell and Stingray City tour but hate the price and crowds. I think the kids will really enjoy a tour like that. They both love animals.

 

For those of you that have taken small children to Stingray City, did it freak them out? I'm worried that my dd will be freaked out by them touching her. She's a bit of a wimp. They can watch the action from the boat, right?

 

Are there any private tour operators that do a similar tour? We don't have to go to Hell but I would like to do the Turtle Farm as ds is big on turtles.

 

My sil is thinking of taking her kids to the Jolly Roger Pirate boat thing. Any feedback on that?

 

Thanks for your help!! I'm still learning my way around the boards so bear with me if I'm repeating other posts. I am trying the search engine but not having much luck for some reason.

[rrdulworth]

We were in GC on June 2, 2006. We had 41 people our group. The ages ranged from 78 years to 2 years of age. We booked Capt. Bryans tour through island marketing.

Everyone had a blast!!!! My niece that is 2 got into the water with her dad and grandparents and loved the stingrays. The teenagers 17 and 19 also loved taking pictures with the stingray and holding the rays. We had 5 kids of the age 12, they also had a blast. The boat ride was awesome.

I highly recommend the stingray tour and strongly suggest going through a private tour guide. The excursions booked through the ship looked crowded and rushed. This was our first time to book through a private tour, and I was apprehensive about our group enjoying themselves and making sure we returned in a timely manner. We had so much fun at each port on our private tours, I will NEVER book through the ship again...

[Nebr.cruiser]

We went with Capt. Marvin last year on the two snorkel stop and Stingray City tour with 4 grandkids, ages 5,5,4 & 3 and their parents. It was a little cool and slightly choppy that day, though the water was a beautiful blue, and the little kids didn't stick with snorkeling--just too much water movement. (This was in late Jan.) Plus, of course, though they are comfortable in water, none of them really knew how to snorkel or manage the equipment. The crew was very helpful with the kids and were very willing to teach them. Only one 5 year-old would get into the water with the stingrays, and that only in Dad's arms and only for a little bit. Again, this was partly because of the cool weather, partly because they were apprehensive. BUT--in spite of all this, they loved the whole tour, riding on the boat, seeing the stingrays from the boat, drinking the free punch, etc. It was a very nice day.

 

I seem to remember that you could book a tour with CM that did the turtle farm. I think the Hell portion would be of little interest to kids--it's worth about 5 minutes anyway, if that.

[adogaer]

Thanks for your replies! I think we're going to go with a Stingray City only tour and skip the Turtle Farm and Hell. I want to do a little shopping and exploring and we wouldn't have much time to do that if we did all 3.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Love Boat Dream]

Do the Capts mentioned here (Bryan and Marvin) have websites? I'd much rather book privately than through the ship

 

thanks!

[viper88]

do you need to bring your own car seats for baby's on an excursion? or do the tours have them available? We have a 16 month old and want to plan on some kind of trip on GC. I also dont want to back a stroller, car seat, and diaper bag for the baby, if I dont have to.

[eagmommy]

On our last Disney Cruise, my girls were 5 and 3. We did the Island tour that stops at the Turtle Farm and Hell, but it also did a semi-submersible sub that went to stingray city and we watched a diver feed the stingrays. My girls loved it!! I can't see them snorkeling with the stingrays, so this was the next best thing. My girls still talk about the turtle farm and they can't wait to go back when we go on the Freedom of the Seas in Sept. They are now 8 and 6 and we have a 1 year old now also and they still have no interest in swimming with the stingrays, but they can't wait to hold a turtle and go on the semi-sub again! :)