Grandkids in S. Carribbean

My grandkids will be 3 & 10 on a South Caribbean cruise next year with stops in Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. Anyone done this area with kids that young and what if any shore excursions did you do?

Most of HAL's posted shorex requires age 4 or higher.

Thanks

Shar

Unfortunately, most of the excursions are for age 4 and up because this just isn't a great itinerary for little ones. You can just take a cab to the beach in Aruba. Curacao offers very little near port. We rented a car and drove to Cas Abou - gorgeous beach with great snorkeling, but most don't want to venture this far.

We took our son to Aruba when he was 2, and he really loved it. In Aruba, visitors with children will love Philip's animal garden: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g488162-d2513634-Reviews-Philip_s_Animal_Garden-Noord_Aruba.html#REVIEWS

After Aruba's only zoo closed, Philip took in many of the animals and runs a rescue center for them. My 2 year old son really loved visiting this animal sanctuary, since you can get very close and feed the animals. Its not that large or expensive, so it can easily be combined with a visit to one of Aruba's gorgeous beaches. They will give you food to feed the animals, and there are guides available to give your family a tour so you can learn about the animals.

Another attraction to possibly consider is the Casibari Rock Formations, although this will be much less accessible for a 3 year old. My son could only climb a little bit (but he was really happy with his small climb) and I stayed with him at the bottom and my husband climbed to the top.

Sorry - I forgot to mention:

If there is a HAL shore excursion you are interested in, you might want to research the third party vendors who provide the service to determine what their age limits are. On our Panama Canal cruise, Princess offered a shore excursion to Dolphin's Cove in Jamaica. Princess' excursion would not let any child under five participate in a dolphin encounter, but if you book with Dolphin's Cove directly, they have a dolphin kiss option in which visitors stand in knee high water, and a dolphin comes up and kisses you. They allow children of any age to participate if they are supervised by a parent. The only way we were able to let our son meet a dolphin was to book directly through Dolphin's Cove, since Princess would not allow him to participate if we booked through them. Booking directly with the vendor was also substantially cheaper, even factoring in the private transportation we needed to arrange so we were quite happy with how everything worked out.

We just did the Southern Caribbean with our 2 and 5 year old.

In Aruba we went to Reflexions Beach Club. (also called Niki beach). We had a great relaxing day. Beautiful beach, nice pool. Food and drink for purchase. And the kids loved watching the planes land.

In Curacao we did the Irie bus tour. Not something I would recommend for the kids.

Have fun!