Native Choice tour with children?

I am new to this site, and it has been a fabulous resource. All the tips are so wonderful. I am hoping to get a recommendation on which tour my family would like the best. I have three kids- 16, 13, and 11. I am torn between the Chaccoben Ruins tour, the Extreme tour, and the Mayan Experience. Has anyone done these tours with kids? Thoughts on it? Also, we are arriving in port at 10 and leaving at 6- enough time?

We did this tour a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it!! We did the Chaccoben Ruins Mayan Experience and I highly recommend it. We chose to do this instead of the extreme because the hubby and I thought it was good for our children to experience the village portion of the trip. My children are 2, 5, and 11. My 2 year old was sleep most of the time until we got to the village for lunch(She had a ride on my back so she was very comfortable). My 5 year old only got bored when we stopped to listen to the tour guide speak. Our tour guide was Ivan and he was awesome our son got right back in the tour as we arrived at each new temple. My 11 year old, who was dying to do the tour to begin with, loved it. There were other children there as well but were more like 12 and up and they all seemed to enjoy it. They all loved the lunch! We arrived in Cozumel at 10am Cozumel time and were back on the ship by 4pm Cozumel time or 6pm ship time(there was a 2 hour difference because of daylight savings time. Cozumel had not observed it yet. Native Choice is always checking their watch throughout the tour and are very aware of each ship's schedule. I wouldn't worry about that at all. I hope I have given you enough information. Please ask away if you have any other questions.

Walking Towards the First Temple They gave us each bottles of water.

Ivan Using Some Visual Aids

One of the Temples and Daughter Resting Peacefully On My Back

Kids Liked This Part

And Here Are Pics From The Village

My Son Making Tortillas with his Nana's Help

All Done

Some Of The The Children From The Home

Showing Us Some Of The Local Spices

Everyone Enjoying The Wonderful Meal

luvmylilangels- thanks for the review and the great pics. what would you think about this trip for a family with a 3.5 yr old and a 13 month old? we will have our umbrella stroller and i will also have a carrier for the baby so easy ways to transport both kids if needed. what was the transportation? how long was drive? thanks :D

luvmylilangels- thanks for the review and the great pics. what would you think about this trip for a family with a 3.5 yr old and a 13 month old? we will have our umbrella stroller and i will also have a carrier for the baby so easy ways to transport both kids if needed. what was the transportation? how long was drive? thanks :D

Hey there. The drive was about 45 minutes to get there. We rode in small mini van like shuttle vehicles that fit like 10 people. They were really nice and air conditioned. The drive to the village after was about 20 minutes and then a 30 minute drive back to the ship from the village. My 5 year old normally is in a booster seat and my daughter is in a toddler seat but I did not bring either for the ride. I know naughty naughty but if you wanted to bring yours they would fit nicely in the shuttles. I didn't ask but I bet they have seats available. They are very accommodating. My 2 year old would not sit by herself because she is extremely shy and because there were other people in the van she didn't know she wanted to sit on my lap for the ride. The umbrella stroller would be fine. I saw a man in a wheelchair while we were there and he seemed to be getting around okay. There were parts of the path that were a little rocky but nothing an umbrella stroller can't handle. There is one part where you have to climb up a partial temple to get to a couple others I would think you could just fold up the stroller for that part and let your 3 year old climb. He/She would probably love it. See pics below of the steps. The carrier I used called the Boba would accommodate your 3 year old and is made for older children for things just like this. Then you can use it when your younger child grows out of their infant baby carrier. The Boba can be worn front and back. It has stirrups so your little one's feet don't have to dangle and the pictures don't show it but it also has a hood that can be detached. I actually used it on this tour to keep my daughters head in place while she slept. I love mine and actually enjoyed carrying my daughter around rather then strolling. She did too because she fell asleep. I got mine off of Diapers.com. It's called a Boba 2G(that's the newest model) and if you decide to shop there and it is your first time you can use code LUVM5540 and get 15% off and free 2 day shipping. I have included a picture of it below as well. Hope I have helped. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

The Boba

thanks for the great info! we will def look into this trip more. it seems very family friendly!! im not sure how much jacob (the then 3.5 yr old ) will actually want to be in the stroller but i figure between the 2 kids someone will probably want to be in it!

i am actually familiar w the boba and was trying to figure out what carrier it was in your photo but you were too small haha! i havent tried it but know of it. i am a very avid babywearing and was very pleased when this came out on the market. it has gotten some great reviews and its really nice to be a more affordable quality soft structured carrier (ssc) as opposed to to darn crotch danglers (ie bjorn, infantino, chico crap :mad:). i am a woven wrap and mei tai user myself so im sure i will end up having both w us on the cruise. i bet the women in the village would love seeing a baby in a woven wrap like they use, probably doesnt happen too much!!! maybe ill even buy a mexican rebozo (shorter woven wrap) just for this trip :p

eta- what food did they serve lunch?

thanks for the great info! we will def look into this trip more. it seems very family friendly!! im not sure how much jacob (the then 3.5 yr old ) will actually want to be in the stroller but i figure between the 2 kids someone will probably want to be in it!

 

i am actually familiar w the boba and was trying to figure out what carrier it was in your photo but you were too small haha! i havent tried it but know of it. i am a very avid babywearing and was very pleased when this came out on the market. it has gotten some great reviews and its really nice to be a more affordable quality soft structured carrier (ssc) as opposed to to darn crotch danglers (ie bjorn, infantino, chico crap :mad:). i am a woven wrap and mei tai user myself so im sure i will end up having both w us on the cruise. i bet the women in the village would love seeing a baby in a woven wrap like they use, probably doesnt happen too much!!! maybe ill even buy a mexican rebozo (shorter woven wrap) just for this trip :p

 

eta- what food did they serve lunch?

OMG I am a total babywearer also lol! When my little ones were infants/young toddlers I use to make my own out of long (very long lol) pieces of cloth. You are right it is just sooooo much better and natural! Once my daughter turned 2 she just got too heavy for them(or my wrapping skills weren't as good as I thought) and that's when I met the Boba lol! Going from my wraps to this was a very easy transition and when I'm telling you it is so comfortable it really really is!! And I am too excited older children can fit in it because for things like this tour it worked perfect. I think you should totally do the themed wrap or mexican rebozo how perfect!!

Oh as for the food, I forgot to mention. It was so good. It was like some chicken stuff, rice, salsa(sooooooooo amazing my mom ate like 4 helpings no lie), some vegetable stuff, tortillas lol, and a dessert can't remember what kind but reeeeeally good! My husband was very nervous about eating there before we got there but once we got there and he saw how clean and wonderfully prepared everything was he was at ease. They did things like wrap the food with plastic wrap until it was time to eat. When the women who prepared the food met us when we arrived they of course shook our hands but then immediately went and washed their hands. They also made us wash our hands when we got there. We had no issues. It was an experience I am so happy my children were able to experience.

aelittleb,

I know it's been a few years, but wanted to see whether you ended up doing the Native Choice Chacchoben Ruins tour? I'll be in Costa Maya in 3 weeks in almost your exact same situation with a nearly 4 year old daughter and a 14mo old son. I want to see how feasible you think this will be with them.

Thanks!

I would definitely take them! It is an experience they will both love. I went into more detail above that should help. :)

I would definitely take them! It is an experience they will both love. I went into more detail above that should help. :)

This wasn't my post, but we did this tour a few years ago and my boys ages 4 and 7 loved it! They're both adventurous though and love to try new things! The lunch was amazing and the ruins were great as well. It was nice being in a small group vs the large ship tours. We were able to arrive before most of the other tours and had the place to ourselves for awhile. We booked it with some others from our roll call and were able to get a small discount.