Another Excursion Question W Caribbean

On our Dec 7 Freedom of the Seas cruise, we have two 5 year old children with us. My daughter is more adventurous and willing to try new things whilst my friend's son tends to get frightened and upset more easily.

We want to to a dolphin encounter and turtle farm but we don't know if my friend's son is going to freak out at the dolphins once we are there. The same for the stingrays. My daughter has seen them before and is excited (she thinks they're cute, go figure) but I'm worried that their enormous size will scare our friend's son and maybe even my daughter. I don't know if I can book just the turtle farm and/or dolphin encounter and then add stingray city once there if kids are up for it? Will it be way too busy to do so? There are 4 other ships in port that day from what I looked up.

I don't want to do our excursion via RCII and may or may not use a tour operator. I find that grabbing a taxi and setting things up ourselves gives us way more freedom, especially with children. I also don't like to be waiting for a large group. We have done private tour companies and our own tours before and it's worked very well. I'm not concerned with missing the boat or any of that stuff. I just want to know about experiences with small children and the stingrays.

Is it too much to do the dolphin encounter, turtle farm and stingray city in Grand Cayman? Should I do the dolphin encounter in Cozumel instead and the turtles (and maybe stingrays) only in Grand Cayman?

Is there anything else worth doing in Grand Cayman (shopping?) if we only do the turtle farm?

My daughter and I have done dolphin encounters before (Cancun and Aruba) so I know she'll be fine with that part of it. It's just the other boy I'm worried about but he should be ok with the dolphins and turtles at least.

In Cozumel, I was thinking of Nachi Cocum, especially if we've done the dolphins in Grand Cayman already. Any advice or other suggestions?

In Jamaica, my daughter wants to horseback ride and my friend wants to check out Dunn's Falls. I'm not sure how interesting or child friendly Dunn's Falls is. Is it necessary to do the Falls with the tour guide? In case the children don't enjoy it, I'd like to be on a private tour so we can move on or end things.

What else do people suggest in Falmouth? Is there a restaurant, beach or something fun for the kids?

Is the tubing too much for 5 year olds? My daughter would do it fine but for the little boy, can his mom go in the tube with him?

I apologize for all the questions but planning this itinerary has been left to me and I'm overwhelmed. We are single moms so need to plan wisely and with cost in mind. I don't want to be too cheap and miss out on must see or do activities but would like to narrow it down to one good excursion per port, except Labadee. After the fun activity, we'd like to look around and eat somewhere in the town so a good fun restaurant is a must too.

I like being on the ship during port days as no one is in the pool and spa prices are dropped. Therefore, we may come back early or if possible, on one of the days we are in port later, like Cozumel, head out later and not worry about the rush of people off the ship. I've been to Cozumel before during my vacations to Cancun. However, I didn't do much there besides look around and eat. I want to do more this time.

I guess going across to Cancun would be an idea if I wanted to hit a major mall? lol!

Thanks in advance for any and all help and advice.

Kids are most apt to get upset by new experiences if they aren't given a chance to prepare for it. you might want to try some videos ahead of time to give the child a sense of what it involved and gauge the reaction. That doesn't guarantee that the child isn't going to reverse their decision when the big moment arrives, but if he is properly prepared, he may be more ready to get into it.

As for the tubing, my DD was 12 when we did it and she has a very slight frame. I remember we did the long 2-cave trip and she was violently shivering mid-way through the second. You are drifting through each cave for as much as an hour. If you try it, you may want to stick with the one-cave trip because of the age of the little ones.

You'll just have to book and wait and see going with the flow

This could be what he needs to help bring him out of his scared state with a little living coaxing

Just he prepared for quick change

Your daughter could be what he needs to get strength

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My daughter and I did watch videos of the sting rays and she saw people kissing them and feeding them and she was fascinated. Also, like I said, she has seen smaller ones and petted them before.

As for the little boy, I really hope he does ok. It's difficult to know with him. Since his mom and I are very good friends, we travel and do things locally together often. We did Disneyworld last year and there were some tough situations with him and things that upset him that I never thought would.

I guess the video thing is a good idea and I'll tell his mom to get him to watch them. Worst case scenario, he freaks out and he won't be the first. I've read of many children, teen and even adults being afraid or squeamish around the stingrays.

We can always do the turtle farm in Grand Cayman and the Dolphin Encounter in Cozumel with Chakanaab (spelling?).

Has anyone done a horseback riding excursion in Falmouth or Grand Cayman?

Dunn's Falls with little kids?

How about an all inclusive resort or beach club? Worth it?

DD was 8 when we did Dunn's River Falls. I wouldn't take a child any younger than that. One of the guides literally pulled her up the entire way. She had a grand time and I doubt she remembers just how much help she needed.:)

We were in Jamaica this past April with my 6 grandkids ... the two youngest were 6 and we ended up making it a shopping day in the morning and pool deck in the afternoon ... it was a perfect choice for us.

With the little ones, you have to tailor your expectations to their stamina and attention span. The important thing is to make sure that everyone has bought into the grand plan for the day. On a snorkeling trip, the timid can always go back to the boat (which several of our youngest ones did at Labadee), but if you embark on something where you can't turn back (river tubing and Dunn's Falls) you need to be sure they are up for it.

We did stingray city and my younger daughter was not comfortable going in the water. She stayed on the boat and just watched us. There are usually a couple of people who do not get in the water with the stingrays and not just kids.

We were with a family at stingray city and their little boy freaked out and didn't want to be in the water. I personally could understand that cause I was a little nervous myself! I didn't want to stand and have them swimming against my legs and I know they aren't supposed to hurt you but you still wonder what if?

Shortly after our trip the guy in Australia died from a stingray so it's a good thing that was afterwards or you wouldn't have got me near the water!

Dunns River you do have to go with a guide and everyone holds hands I don't think it's scary but the water is cold!

The tubing we didn't do there but I would think a child may get bored with it?

We did a tour of the island with a stop at the turtle farm which is right across from the dolphin encounter which they let us go into look (they tried to get us to buy a photo of the dolphin kissing you) Not sure if you could have actually went in with them without booking ahead, but you could atleast let them go watch the other people in with the dolphins

At Dunn's River Falls, you go as a group with a guide and you all hold hands. Whether you book on your own or book through the cruise line, you will have a guide, which is a good thing. You wouldn't want to climb that blindly. It was a blast!

We went to Stingray City just a week or so after Steve Irwin died. My oldest son refused to get in the water so he just stayed on the boat and watched. As another poster said, our experience has been that not everyone gets off the boat. This was a very enjoyable excursion as well.

I have cave tubed (in Belize) but not with children. I don't recall people sharing tubes.

I have no knowledge regarding the dolphins or the turtles, so I'm sorry I can't help you there.

Have fun planning. You've come to the right place for answers.