What to do with Family of 8

[cl.klink]

For my wife's and my anniversary, we are taking three generations on RCI Adventure of the Sea from San Juan to Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Maarten, St Croix. We have adjoining staterooms with balconies and I know the ship has tons of things to offer. But, with 5 ports of call to deal with, any suggestions for logistics to keep all 8 busy/happy without (further) breaking the bank?

 

Thanks.

[Paumavista]

We also did the S.Caribbean with 6 last year. and 8 in the Western Caribbean this April....but they were all our kids so they didn't have as much opinion/choice as your group may have. We loved to cruise and very much want to do it again (as soon as we can possibly afford it).

 

Youre right.....the port intensity can make the trip much more expensive for a large group....everywhere we went we multiplied by 8....doesn't seem like much at $20/each until you start multiplying......anyway, we visited Barbados and it was probably our favorite port because we hired a small catamaran for just our group and snorkeled and swam with turtles. Everyone absolutely loved the laid-back catamaran! - We'd gone sailing in St Thomas to St John and we all enjoyed laying around and relaxing on the catamaran a lot better! We went to St Martin and St Lucia and on both islands we rented a cab and I'd done some research on the boards here for each stop....I picked a great beach and we spent the day. My family are BIG beach/water people. In St Lucia the young boys 7&8 decided to stay in kids club while we went to a park/beach with the older ones - it turned out to be a great day for everyone. The boys really loved the kids club on RC - I've read great things about Adventure of the Sea it should be great if you've got young kids. Antigua we hired a van and toured the island and then went to the beach....it was a fun island to tour. You can usually hire a van at most ports to accomodate your group if you're willing to snuggle up......I had little ones so we fit all 8 in the mini-van in Roatan without a problem.

 

Research your ports here at Cruise critic and decide ahead of time where you plan to splurge on a "tour" and where you'll just take a cab or walk into town. Antigua was a town you could easily walk into for shopping....it makes it really easy to go back and forth to the ship when you can just walk to the end of the pier and be in town. I don't think ANY of the other ports we visited were as easy to get to "town". In St Martin they run shuttles to the main beach area (I forget the name...famous nude beach)......just to let you know it was absolutely beautiful, we went early and my little boys did NOT even notice or comment on the nudity....my 18 year old daughter seemed most embarrased by others - Most people are not nude!

 

We stayed an extra night in San Juan when we got off the ship.....stayed at a Marriott right on the ocean.....GREAT pool and nice beach. We took a cab to town that evening for dinner and walked around....it was right before Christmas and the entire waterfront was decorated and there was music and dancing. It was a great atmosphere. I'm glad we spent and extra wonderful day.

 

Have a wonderful trip - I am sure you will it's a fabulous itinerary!!

 

Judy

[boulders]

My suggestion would be to have the individual families decide how they will spend their own port time. It's difficult with a large group to get everyone to agree on excursions. Do arrange to have dinners together and set up a system so that everyone knows where the others are.

 

Since you are already paying for the cruse fare, it would be fair to expect the individual families to pay for their own shore excursions. They can get very pricey. If you don't feel comfortable with this, maybe consider putting $XXX on everyone's account and they can decide how they wish to spend it - shore excursions, foo-foo drinks, spa etc.

[rebeccalouise]

Historic San Juan is a good place to wander around- no excursion nec. There is a fort and a palace that you can tour. There are some cute shops, cobblestone streets. I really like San Juan.

 

In St. Lucia we took a taxi ride to the Hyatt Hotel and used their pool and beach. They charge $ 25 a chair to use the beach. It was well worth it. Lovely stretch of beach. Quiet location.

 

It depends what you like to do as a family. We like to go to the beach. For us that's a real getaway. I am not an excursion person- I don't like having to be up at a certain time, etc. So can't comment. St. Maarten is my least favorite of the ports you mentioned. If I were you, I'd make that a ship day.

 

Barbados- I'd find a nice beach. St. Croix, probably a beach that has snorkling. Antigua is an ugly island IMO.

 

I would never do a beach excursion through the ship. I have done this and you get a plastic chair and have to ride on a hot bus. Just research nice hotels near the ship and go there by taxi. Westins and Hyatts tend to have great pools and beaches.

[cb at sea]

I would allow everyone to do their days on their own--it's just too many people--someone will be unhappy with the plans, or will be too slow, or go too fast.... You will have PLENTY of "together time" at dinner, after dinner, etc....

[138east]

I saw your posts on all the ports of call boards and found this post. Several years ago we did a very similar trip with my parents (then in their early 80's), my husband and myself, and our two children 16 and 23. My parents paid for the cruise and the tips and we paid for our family excursions. We ate dinner together all week and frequently met at breakfast or lunch. In the evening we went to shows.

 

Our kids committed to getting up and out for early excursions. We were always back by lunch. Then in the afternoon we relaxed or explored the area by the port. On Barbados we went back out to the beach.

 

St. Croix - this was our first stop and we did not book an excursion. Instead we took a shuttle bus across the island to Christiansted where we poked around and explored the fort. It was a low key day, but nice after a day of travel to San Juan.

 

Antigua and St. Lucia - 4x4 adventure

 

Barbados & St. Thomas - snorkeling

 

Meanwhile my parents did their own thing - a batik factory in St. Lucia, Orchid world on Barbados, Nelson's dock yard on Antigua.

 

Our family had taken several trips with another family so I felt comfortable negotiating this trip within our family. Engage everyone, find out their priorities and try to satisfy a priority for each person. Having dinner together was my parent's priority. Having their own cabin was my kids priority. Active activities was my husband's priority (no sitting on the beach all day for him). Snorkeling and beach was my priority. Everyone got what they wanted and we had a wonderful time. It was the family trip of a lifetime.

 

If you can identify the priorities of your family members, the activities for each island will fall into place. I would recommend booking an excursion for St. Lucia and doing it yourself in St. Martin. For excursions you are basically looking at beach, water activities, sightseeing tours and shopping. On your itinerary St. Martin would be the shopping island. On Antigua there is lots of shopping right in the port, so that is a good afternoon activity. St. Lucia and Barbados also have nice shops at the terminal.

 

One last thing - remember that you will be in the Caribbean in July so it will be hot hot hot. Early activities will be more enjoyable.

[cl.klink]

Thanks for all these great replies. I'm taking lots of notes!