No Excursions?

[busymom29]

Has anyone taken a cruise with kids and not gone on excursions?

Did anyone just stay on the ship?

 

my husband thinks it will be "too much work" to leave the ship

(14, 4 and 1) - I'm out with them every day - so to me it isn't too much work.

 

Thanks!

[harryfat1]

You didn't say what ports you are going on, so it's hard to say in general since some ports are better for walking than others.

 

We have 2 boys, now 6 and 8, but when they were younger, we would either do the basic city tour or walk around town. Typically they don't like the "just walk around town while mommy shops" routine, so I find places to buy drinks/snacks for them while in town.

 

I am a firm believer that its their vacation as well as ours and they deserve to see the town. Yes, it's a lot less work to just stay on the ship with the kids, but you miss out on the adventure of taking them into town.

 

Now if you are sailing into a more marginal port, than I would suggest you join an official tour of some sort than walking around town with 3 kids.

[CanadianTwosome]

I think it all depends on what you think you're going to get out of the ports. Your 14 year old will likely be disappointed if they don't get to visit the ports (I would have been at that age and I know my 11 year old would be now). Perhaps if they're not a big deal to you and your husband, you could take turns getting off with the older child(ren). Some ports offer resorts that you can go to as well, so you can have a nice, basically relaxing time, and trade off with the baby while those big enough enjoy the amenities.

 

On the other hand, if you're just looking for a relaxing vacation and have no driving interest to see the ports, I see nothing wrong with staying on the ship. It's no different than visiting a hotel and hanging out by the pool - though depending on what you're paying, it might cost less! :)

[A&Emom]

We were on a cruise to Alaska last month with our 2yo & 6yo. Excursions were no more difficult than the average day out at home. Actually easier since at home it's usually just me and the 2 kids. Having my husband to help was a bonus.

 

We had a "man-to-man" defense. For my husband & 6yo, I booked their tours before we left home. For myself and our 2yo, I played it by ear and booked tours in port, depending on when he woke up and his nap schedule. It all worked out fine.

[busymom29]

we are on the Freedom of the Seas (RCCL) -

stopping at 4 ports - 2 days at sea -

 

CocoCay

St. Thomas

San Juan

and Nassau

 

I know we will get off the ship for a beach day at cococay - and I have a list of activities to do - I know it might be a bit harder than at home, but getting off the ship and just walking sound good to me!

 

I suppose we will just have to play it by ear!

 

thanks for the suggestions so far!

[harryfat1]

we are on the Freedom of the Seas (RCCL) -

stopping at 4 ports - 2 days at sea -

 

CocoCay

St. Thomas

San Juan

and Nassau

 

I know we will get off the ship for a beach day at cococay - and I have a list of activities to do - I know it might be a bit harder than at home, but getting off the ship and just walking sound good to me!

 

I suppose we will just have to play it by ear!

 

thanks for the suggestions so far!

 

We were in St. Thomas in December 07 when the boys were 4 and 6 at the time. We had pre-arranged for a local tour operator to pick us up at the dock side and the drop off at downtown for one plus hour of shopping before riding the open air truck to see the island at the top of the mountain.

 

The boys liked the tour and it’s definitely no work at all since they pick you up at the pier and drop you off back at the ship at the end of the day. If you like beach time, the tour drops you off at the beach and come back couple hours later to pick you up or you can opt for direct return to the ship.

 

Much cheaper than the ship price and you get to see the sights of the island that you can't see from the ship.

 

Downtown St. Thomas is a shopping Mecca. Great if you like to shop, not so great for kids to just “walk around” (especially in the heat). Then your husband will say, ”it’s too much work” with 3 kids in tow going from store to store in the narrow streets. If so, then stick to shopping at the mall area by the pier instead of going into town.

[Luv2Cruise525]

My family and I have NEVER done an excusion! We go on a cruise for the ship... that's what we're paying for! We could easily fly down to any port and do those activities. We usually get off the boat and walk around for a couple hours. My family does a sport called geocaching so we have something to do that gives us some direction. We really get to see the area (sometimes places that tourists wouldn't normally see) without paying a cent! Then, go eat lunch in the MDR (we eat every meal there unless we are forced not to) and hang out on the pool deck.

[98Charlie]

we are on the Freedom of the Seas (RCCL) -

stopping at 4 ports - 2 days at sea -

 

CocoCay

St. Thomas

San Juan

and Nassau

 

I know we will get off the ship for a beach day at cococay - and I have a list of activities to do - I know it might be a bit harder than at home, but getting off the ship and just walking sound good to me!

 

I suppose we will just have to play it by ear!

 

thanks for the suggestions so far!

 

Not sure how much time you have in each port or what times you are porting but:

 

St. Thomas is a great place to shop and just look around without a ship sponsored tour. It's a very friendly island and you can take a tram ride to the heart of the town for very little money.

 

San Juan -- take a walking tour of the area. If you are there in the daytime, grab a taxi (or take a free trolley) to El Morro, a fortress that was used for centuries to guard the bay of there. Your 14-yr-old will learn some history there. The fort was even used during WWI and WWII by US soldiers.

 

The lawn in front of the fortress is normally filled with children and families flying kites on a good weather day.

 

If you do a good job googling San Juan you will find a wealth of historic places to see.

 

Been to San Juan during the day, at night and spent overnight trips there as well. Love San Juan. Don't think we as adults would ever get tired of trips there and know that there are many places your children would enjoy.

 

Nasau, try Atlantis and the water park there. You can book a ship excursion or look on the internet for other options.

 

Dianne

[cantwait2cruize]

Is there any way you can leave the one year old baby at home with a babysitter, or is there any way you can leave the BIG BABY (husband) at home with a babysitter. Either way your vacation would be easier:D

[gummyvites]

When we did our first cruise a few years ago, my dh was also very nervous about taking the kids off the ship (5 & 3 at the time) and into a foreign country (Mexico). We did end up doing an excursion at one port and just walked around at the other two. My experience was this: the excursion felt very comfortable. The tour operators collected you right away and whisked you off to your tour. When we tried to just walk around the other two ports (Mazatlan, Cabo) we felt like we were running a gauntlet. There were so many taxi drivers, tour operators and store owners shouting to us and even occasionally grabbing our elbows, trying to get our interest, that it made us very nervous with children in tow. We headed back to the ship pretty quickly. Our next cruise (Carribbean) we planned excursions at every stop and had a great time. But, I also sensed that vendors were a little less pushy there. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

 

I think it depends on your comfort level. Our kids love just playing on the beach, building sand castles and splashing in the water. They would miss out on that if we stayed on the ship. So I try to find some excursions where we can just do that and avoid the whole shopping scene. It probably depends on your personal comfort level. I do not like people too close to my kids -- so all the vendors coming at us in droves was very nerve-wracking.

[ElsieToo]

Personally, I find that the parts where we have planned an excursion are always more enjoyable than when we just show up and hope to stumble onto something - I know you can plan your own thing, but for us the convenience and reliability of the ship's vendors make it worthwhile. If we hadn't planned an excursion for Nassau I don't think we would have enjoyed the port very much, as we are not ones to just shop all day or sit around on a beach (we live an hour's drive from great beaches, though, so it's not a novelty to us).

 

You should definitely consider doing an Atlantis excursion while in Nassau. Your teen will love the Aquaventure water park (and will probably meet some other teens going to the same place at the kids clubs), and the rest of you can enjoy their aquariums - we took our toddler there last year when he was almost 2 and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

[MnAsMom]

In St Thomas get in a cab and tell them to take you to Coral World. Your kiddos will enjoy it and you can easily spend some time afterwards on the beach there ... coki beach. The water is SO CLEAR and if you get a snorkel from the beach vendors there they will give you a couple of milk bones (or you can bring some crackers or cereal from the ship) to put in the water... you'll be surrounded by fish in seconds! If you don't like Coki Beach get back in a cab and tell them to take you to Meagan's Bay... absolutely beautiful beach! http://www.usvi.net/usvi/pix/magnbch.jpg

 

On our honeymoon cruise we got off in each port, got in a cab and told the driver to show us what the island had to offer and take us to a nice beach. We were never disappointed! Chances are your 4 year old and 1 year old will just like spending some time on the beach playing in the sand/sea!

[HOHSgunny]

We have 2 teen sons 16 & 17 and find it is less work (besides them being older) to cruise then do then the 2 week Orlando summer vacation we did for 7 years. on our next cruise we are on excursions that take in the sights but fill most of the day, zip line in Haiti (plus laying on the beach), rafting on the river in Jamaica, visiting Hell and then swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman, and horseback riding to the Mayan ruins in Cozumel. depending on your ports there are always excursions that the whole family can do - we had our kids go through and make a list of the top 3 at each port and we put them all together and those with the most votes ended up being what we do.

If it is something they want to do then you will find a whole lot less problems getting off the ship.

[sbhdmh]

In St Thomas get in a cab and tell them to take you to Coral World. Your kiddos will enjoy it and you can easily spend some time afterwards on the beach there ... coki beach.

 

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. We were there the day after my dd's first birthday and it was great. You can even send the 14 yo and your hubby on an adventure. Standing inside the glassed in area where you can see fish in their natural habitat was amazing. Seeing the folks who donned metal helmets with airhoses to actually walk on the sea floor - wow! Personally I don't think you should limit the older child's opportunity for something like that because dh wants to keep things simple for the little ones...

[cb at sea]

There's no rule that says you must do ANY excursions, but getting off the ship and walking around is in NO WAY "too much trouble"....

Most beaches are public, and easy to get to...that's a nice break from the ship for awhile.

Get hubby a guidebook on the ports you'll visit, and have him read it, (if it's not too much trouble) so he can get a feel for what's avail. on your family vacation!

[sandytoes03]

Your ports seem very manageable! It would be a shame to miss these lovely spots just because it's "too much trouble." It depends what you want to do, but I would think that grabbing a cab and going to a beach would not be too difficult to manage. In St. Thomas you could head to Magen's beach--just lovely. In Nassau there are many choice, such as Cable beach. Coco Cay is a no-brainer. You can't miss that one. San Juan is the only port I think would be a little harder because it's a city, and therefore much busier. If I stayed on the ship it would be in San Juan, not the other ports.

 

Good luck!

[brenderlou]

If it were up to me, we would never leave the ship but hubby and family (we usually cruise w/ my mom & my dh's parents) like excursions...well my father in law but my mother in law is just like me.

Do what you guys want to do.....and have fun. Maybe you can take the 14 yr old if dh wants to stay on the ship with the others. Just have fun!!!

[reallyitsmema]

It would be nice to see the OP come back and tell us what they actually decided to do on their cruise and how it worked out. They sailed the Nick cruise back in August.

[newbiecruiser09]

Has anyone taken a cruise with kids and not gone on excursions?

Did anyone just stay on the ship?

 

my husband thinks it will be "too much work" to leave the ship

(14, 4 and 1) - I'm out with them every day - so to me it isn't too much work.

 

Thanks!

 

My guess is that your hubby is one to stay at home all day with the kids if he is alone with them? (my BIL is of the same ilk!) I would say you can do excursions as long as they are planned and timed well (for naps of little one(s), witching hour etc). Our 2 kids are almost 6 years apart (and different genders) so a lot of times on vacation (and in regular life too) we divide and share. DH will take son/dtr and I will take the other. Sometimes not having to coordinate so all can be together is easier, everyone enjoys what they do and it goes more smoothly. I would check out the ships excursions and the ports of call threads to see what is recommended for each port. Then talk with hubby (and older kids too if you want) and figure out if there is something you want to do. You could do it all as a group or divide up. Whatever you decide--enjoy!!!

[meatball77]

If your husband wants to stay on the boat then let him stay with the one year old and you can take your other two off for an adventure.

 

I'd bring a backpack for the baby if you're going to be walking (easier to transport than strollers, a stroller would work also though). I'd also concider splitting up for at least one port so the older kids get to do somthing adventourous.

 

I can't imagine staying on the ship the whole time.

[Cruisin' Chick]

It comes down to knowing your family. You never have to leave the ship until disembarkation. If you go into the port, you can go on a ship's excursion or an indy one, or just walk around the port (as long as it's a safe port). You can have the kids research the port (books, websites) and come up with a sightseeing plan of historical buildings, etc.

 

The restrictions would be any age restrictions (some excursions may have one) or going out on a tender (maybe not the time to go with a squirming toddler).