E. Carib shore excursion ideas w/ 3yr old

[newkruzzer]

Will be doing an Eastern Caribbean cruise with Carnival in Dec. & would like to get some opinions of good excursion ideas with 3yr old. We don't want to leave toddler on ship but would like to enjoy ports as a family. Was thinking of visiting some beaches, dolphin encounter. Has anyone done excursions with a toddler and could give us some ideas?:confused: Thanks for you help.

[merela]

Will be doing an Eastern Caribbean cruise with Carnival in Dec. & would like to get some opinions of good excursion ideas with 3yr old. We don't want to leave toddler on ship but would like to enjoy ports as a family. Was thinking of visiting some beaches, dolphin encounter. Has anyone done excursions with a toddler and could give us some ideas?:confused: Thanks for you help.

We don't bother with scheduled shore excursions when travelling with a toddler mostly because of the fact that toddlers nap in the afternoons and that we can never get up early enough for scheduled excursions (because we are from the west coast and there was a 3-hour time difference). So by the time we got off the ship, it's always close to noon.

Go to the ports of call board and look up what people do at each port. We basically got a stroller and took the kids down for a walk. I believe for St. Thomas, there is a tour guide that people on this board have used often for a tour of the island and some beach time. We just walked along the main street right outside the terminal.

In Tortola we did the same thing, but we stopped at several shops and got the kids some t-shirts.

[bambilin]

Hi, we are sailing on Norwegian with our son who will be almost 2 in December. We are goign to go to Coral World in St Thomas and spend sometime on Coki Beach which is right there.

Like a giant aquarium marine park thingie.

Linda

[Nebr.cruiser]

We took four young grandkids (3,4,5 & 5) on the W. Caribbean route and I have been on the Eastern route several times, albeit without kids. My general recommendation for shore excursions with the toddler-preschool set is to focus mainly on beaches and water or nature activities. With just one kid walks (with a stroller) might be fine--it would have been exhausting with four preschoolers. I'd also steer clear of bus or van sightseeing tours, which are of little interest to most small children. On our shore days we went to two beaches, did river tubing and a snorkel/sting ray tour. The kids enjoyed the beaches the most, loved the boat ride but not the snorkeling or sting rays and loved the river tubing. We didn't attempt shopping with them, but it might be ok with one child in a stroller.

Only the three-year-old was still taking regular naps, which he missed on shore days, but he seemed to get along ok and we usually had some down time with him before dinner. Napping in a stroller is an option. (We didn't take a stroller, but we didn't do any walking excursions and also had 6 other adults along to help.) One good thing is that they were all so tired from their busy days that they were more than ready for bed when Camp Carnival closed at 10.

[I&MsMom]

Which ship, what ports? Are you calling in San Juan, and if so, early in the day or late afternoon into the evening?

We were in some of those ports when DD was 3, so I'd be happy to let you now what we did and how it worked out for us, but don't want to bog you down with info. on ports you aren't interested in!

[crusinmama06]

We did Coral World in St. Thomas. It was a big hit with the young kids. They have an underwater observatory. And a touch n feel tank with starfish and other sea creatures. And the kids got a kick out of the giant lizards walking freely around the property.

Beach days are also nice for toddlers. Nothing beats building sand castles. :D

[newkruzzer]

Thank you for your ideas. We will be on the cruise which includes San Juan, Antigua, Tortola, Nassau, St Thomas (just to name a few ports). I like the Coral World idea and the beaches. Is there any short boat rides? Little one would like to take a boat ride but I don't think he would like it for more than 30min - 1 hr at most. I would love to take a short boat ride floating over the crystal blue water....