Southern Caribbean with Toddler

[bermycruiser]

Am I crazy? I am planning to cruise with a 2 1/2 year old on board the Carnival Victory out of San Juan. This cruise stops at 6 different ports with no sea days. Do you think this is too much? How does camp Carnival operate on port days? Does anyone have any advice on what to do at the following ports:

 

St. Thomas

Dominica

Barbados

Antiguqa

St. Kitts

St. Lucia

 

Which ports do you think that we should just stay on the ship?

 

Please help:confused:

[kr1st1nm]

As the original poster of this "question" and that's what it was, a general question, I have to say that I am amazed by the responses I received. I have been a member of these boards for years, this will be my 11th cruise (and my son's 2nd) and I have NEVER received such negative posts after posing a question.

 

I tip above and beyond for well received service and was in no way looking to "avoid tipping". I was simply unfamiliar with Carnival's policies and was looking for some information.

 

As for the difference between the services a 2 year old requires vs an adult, I do not think my son will be using the services of the guest service desk, shore excursion desk or bothering the ship's crew. He will also not be using the casino, the spa, the gym, the main pools, playing bingo, ordering drinks or attending the midnight buffet. He will not have a bed that needs to be made up, will use minimal towels and his diapers will be wrapped in plastic bags and disposed of in the garbage can. And we ALWAYS pick up after him at meals. That said, I do still think it's a bit extreme to charge him the same as an adult. This is just my OPINION. And on this board I thought I was free to express that.

 

We love to cruise and will continue to do so. I have not cruised with Carnival in some time and the nature of my post was to find out their POLICIES. As one pp mentioned, NCL does charge only $5 per day for kids so I wanted to see what Carnival charged. And I wanted to know if they put it directly on your account or not - just a question that I did not know the answer to.

 

When we sailed NCL last year, everyone was very friendly to my son, however I don't feel anyone went out of their way (and I didn't expect them to). Maybe Carnival is different and if that's the case, you can be sure that we will tip accordingly.

 

I read a recent post that mentioned many "anti-children" threads lately, I sure hope that's not the case. This is the "family cruising" board, right?

 

It's unfortunate that my thread may have been misunderstood. I will continue to use these awesome boards as always, to gather and to share information, as they were meant to be used.

[sas80]

Am I crazy? I am planning to cruise with a 2 1/2 year old on board the Carnival Victory out of San Juan. This cruise stops at 6 different ports with no sea days. Do you think this is too much? How does camp Carnival operate on port days? Does anyone have any advice on what to do at the following ports:

 

St. Thomas

Dominica

Barbados

Antiguqa

St. Kitts

St. Lucia

 

Which ports do you think that we should just stay on the ship?

 

Please help:confused:

 

Dh and I just did this cruise last January with our 15 month old. It was a bit of a different itinerary, but 6 ports of call. Nope! You are not insane! Here is what we did....

 

DH and I have been to St. Thomas a buch of times so we decided to take a stroll thru the new shopping area that is close to the ship. There are several places to eat (tho we headed back to the ship for lunch) and there are several high end and mid end shops to browse in. We grabbed some lunch on board and then let DS nap for a few hours. We didnt get back off the ship.

 

Barbados - we toured the wildlife preserve - free roaming monkeys, kangaroo like animals, turtles and other animals, caged birds and caged reptiles. DS really got a kick out of this. From this trip he learned that a monkey makes a screeching sound and would happily make the screetching sound for you if you asked him "what does a Monkey say?" We then headed over to the Stalactite/Stalagmite caves called Harrisons Caves. This your was very interesting. This was nice because you are in the coolness of the caves and you board the tram for a ride thru them, and also stop to explore for brief periods. This was a private your thru Glory tours. The barbados boards will show you the website for Glory Tours. DS managed a nap in the tour car while we were travelling from preserve to caves. We asked and Glory Tours provided a car seat. It was not so well secured when the tour car arrived, so DH re secured it,

 

Antigua - we took a boat trip called Eli's Eco Tours. It was a 6 hour trip. It was fun. DS did manage a nap on my shoulder in the afternoon. The antigua boards will reveal more about "Eli's Eco Tour"

 

St. Lucia - we took a tour that came highly reccomended, and I reccomend it to everyone. The Cosol Tour. Again, we requested a car seat and got one. This one was better secured. Again, DS napped in the car. this was an absolute fabulous tour. A decsription is below and more info can be found on the St. Lucia boards.

 

Yes i will be available.The tour fee is US$50 per person. Its 5 to 6 hours, You only pay in cash at the end of the tour. We will be visiting the tourielle waterfall, volcano, botanical garden, marigot bay, fishing villages, banana plantation, shopping, beach and snorkling at the Hillton Jalousie hotel that between the Pitons and many more things on the way. I will be paying all the entrance fees. There will be lots to see, lots to do, lots to sample of our local taste on the way, and I will have a cooler with drinks like water, rum punch, local beers and soda. We will be leaving at 8:30am You have to be at the gate for 8: 20am.You walk in the building turn right until you meet the gate next to the security booth and i will have a sign say (COSOL). ask to show you the way to the security booth which is next to the taxi stand. Bring along your camera, swimsuit and snorkling gears. If you have any more queries call me on my cell (758) 7196697 or visit my website at cosol-tours.com.Thanks for emailing me. Looking forward to your reply.

 

The other ports of call we did were different than yours we had a great time with the toddler and plan on doing it again!

 

Go!

[kr1st1nm]

Sorry about my previous post - it ended up on the wrong board! I had asked if Carnival charged the full $10 per day tipping for kids (simply because I wanted to find out the answer!) and I was attacked! This was the first bad experience I've had on these boards... thus my abrupt response.

 

Regarding your question - Crazy? Not at all! In fact we're taking the Victory's repositioning cruise with our 2 year old at the end of October. I was also hesitant about all the port days but I think it will be fine. We took out son to Bermuda for his 1st cruise last year specifically b/c it wasn't such a busy itinerary but it really didn't matter. My son loves the beach so that's how we spent most of our days.

 

The pp had some great ideas for you - I love the sound of that animal park in Barbados - I wish we were stopping there!

[NoelsCat]

I don't think you are crazy at all ... and although I don't have great advice on your particular ports, I have cruised with toddler (actually two in our large family group) and am doing it again -- so it can't be so bad. :)

 

In our case, the port days were a godsend. On our last cruise we had my so who was just two and an 11 month old. There wasn't really a lot for him on the ship -- and he wasn't potty-learned yet, so he couldn't even use the pool. The beaches were truly wonderful for him -- he could run, play, hollar, and swim to his heart's content. He LOVED port days. He still talks about places we visited, riding on and open-air bus, the craft fair in Mexico and of course about the beach! He tells everyone, "I'm a lucky kid cuz I ride on big boats!" -- even strangers in the grocery store. LOL.

 

IMHO, I would recommend lots of beach time combined with family friendly jaunts for most of your ports. I don't have any experience with Carnival or your particular ports -- so hopefully more knowledgable people will chime in. Sas had some great ideas.

 

Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

[2112]

We did this itinerary on the Destiny with my 2 year old (he turned 2 the week before the cruise). I think it worked out great. In St. Thomas, we took Godfrey's tour and spent time at Sapphire Beach. This worked out well and our son enjoyed it, although it should be noted that his busses do NOT have seatbelts so a carseat is not an option. This beach was great for a toddler though:

 

http://www.pbase.com/2112/st_thomas_may_2008

 

In Barbados, we put our son in a stroller and walked through Bridgetown and up to Carlisle Bay Beach (at Lobster Alive Restaurant next to the Boatyard). This is a great beach as well for a toddler:

 

http://www.pbase.com/2112/bridgetown_and_carlisle_bay

 

In Dominica and Antigua, we left our son in Camp Carnival for the whole day and took a tour on our own. You are allowed to do this if you are comfortable doing so. The excusions were chose I did not feel would be enjoyable to my son (or the other passangers). In contrast to the response above, one of our tours was Eli's Eco Tour in Antigua, and I was very glad we didn't bring my son along. I do not think that tour is appropriate for a toddler.

 

In St. Lucia, we left our son in Camp Carnival in the morning and did our own excursion, and then took our son for a stroll in the afternoon.

 

In St. Kitts, our original plan was to do an excursion on our own in the morning and take our son to the beach in the afternoon. It didn't work out very well though since my wife was not feeling well, and she stayed on the ship all day.

 

As for time on the ship, it worked out pretty well. Our son liked Camp Carnival. He did not like any time he spent in the cabin though. It was too small for him to run around with and he spent a lot of time trying to open and close doors and drawers. It was very frustrating though.

 

Would I do this cruise again. Yes, in a heartbeat!

[bermycruiser]

Thanks for the replies. We were thinking about leaving DD on the ship in Dominica. What are the rules for Camp Carnival when you do this? I think we will go to Sapphire Beach in St. Thomas and in Barbados go to the wild life reserve. How do we get there? Still not sure what to do in the other ports. We are going to just plan things around her moods.

 

We are going to fly into San Juan 2 nights before. Can anyone recommend a child friendly hotel.

[2112]

We are going to fly into San Juan 2 nights before. Can anyone recommend a child friendly hotel.

 

We stayed at the San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino using a bid on Priceline. Their pool is great for a toddler as it was shallow enough for him to walk all around it standing up. They also had a beach for him to play at. The only problem at the beach is that there is surf there, so it is unsafe to take a toddler in (or even near) the water. There are plenty of restaurants near the hotel. Even with a Priceline bid it wasn't cheap, but we did enjoy our stay there.

[sas80]

In contrast to the response above, one of our tours was Eli's Eco Tour in Antigua, and I was very glad we didn't bring my son along. I do not think that tour is appropriate for a toddler.

 

 

Just out of curiosity - exactly why did you not think Eli's Eco tour was appropriate for a toddler?

[Karysa]

Thanks for the replies. We were thinking about leaving DD on the ship in Dominica. What are the rules for Camp Carnival when you do this? I think we will go to Sapphire Beach in St. Thomas and in Barbados go to the wild life reserve. How do we get there? Still not sure what to do in the other ports. We are going to just plan things around her moods.

 

We are going to fly into San Juan 2 nights before. Can anyone recommend a child friendly hotel.

 

We drove to the wild life reserve. That was an adventure on it's own! We did not see any monkeys but it was a lovely quiet, cool, shady spot to spend a couple of hours. P.S. Sapphire beach is a nice beach but they have rather large (and I mean dinosaur large) iguanas there.

Karysa

[2112]

Just out of curiosity - exactly why did you not think Eli's Eco tour was appropriate for a toddler?

 

My toddler (and I think most toddlers), would want to run all over the boat which has low sides that would make it easy for a toddler to fall out off the boat, not to mention disturbing other passengers. It is really too long to expect him to stay still. If I thought my toddler would sleep or stay still during most of it, I would take him. But that isn't my toddler, and I don't think it is most people's toddler. Heck, most people here are scarred enough about keeping their toddler occupied for dinner for an hour in the dinning room let alone on a small boat for 6 hours.

[sas80]

My toddler (and I think most toddlers), would want to run all over the boat which has low sides that would make it easy for a toddler to fall out off the boat, not to mention disturbing other passengers. It is really too long to expect him to stay still. If I thought my toddler would sleep or stay still during most of it, I would take him. But that isn't my toddler, and I don't think it is most people's toddler. Heck, most people here are scarred enough about keeping their toddler occupied for dinner for an hour in the dinning room let alone on a small boat for 6 hours.

 

Yea, we definitely have different kids. My kid was content to hang with Daddy and talk about all the stuff he was seeing. He didn't need to run anywhere, he was pre occupied with all the sights, sounds and actions.