Excursion ideas for eastern caribbean with small kids

[DisneyMom2000000]

7 day Fantasy in April! Our girls are 3 and 5. Both can swim. Wondering what excursions would be best at Tortola, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay.

Thank you!

 

[Juan M]

We are doing a catamaran snorkel trip with Aristocat Charters (booked direct with them, not DCL) on Tortola on the Jan 12th Eastern cruise with a 3 year old who can swim, and a 1 year old who cannot. Will report back on that experience and how it worked out with the little ones.

 

[Dug720]

IMHO you really don't need an excursion on Castaway Day.

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

In St. Thomas we took a open air cab to Coral World. Not on par with the Monterey bay aquarium, but still fun. Right next door (literally) is Coki beach. Great beach. Bring cash for snacks and loungers/umbrellas

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

We are doing a catamaran snorkel trip with Aristocat Charters (booked direct with them, not DCL) on Tortola on the Jan 12th Eastern cruise with a 3 year old who can swim, and a 1 year old who cannot. Will report back on that experience and how it worked out with the little ones.

Thank you so much. I look forward to hearing what you think. My husband loves snorkeling.

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

In St. Thomas we took a open air cab to Coral World. Not on par with the Monterey bay aquarium, but still fun. Right next door (literally) is Coki beach. Great beach. Bring cash for snacks and loungers/umbrellas

I’ll look into Coral World! Thanks!

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

IMHO you really don't need an excursion on Castaway Day.

It bought that might be the case!

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Not sure how competent your kids are on bikes, but we always rent bikes on CC. They have them in all sizes. It's lots of fun for us

 

[Chemist]

We loved our beach day at Megan's Bay!

 

[Engineeringbella]

I'm thinking we'll do the Coral World and Coki beach (priced it out doing it without disney and it's actually cheaper with). BTW We're going on the 7 NIght Eastern Caribbean in April with (get this) our 3yo and 5yo girls. But they can't swim, they'd tell you they're experts but another round of swim lessons start tomorrow.
Agree, Castaway doesn't need anything - BUT I will say we plan on dropping the girls off at the kids club there on the island (did that with one last cruise) and try the adult section again. Though this past December the water at the adult beach was unswimmable and the water at the family beach was freezing, April may be better.
See you on the seas!

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

I'm thinking we'll do the Coral World and Coki beach (priced it out doing it without disney and it's actually cheaper with). BTW We're going on the 7 NIght Eastern Caribbean in April with (get this) our 3yo and 5yo girls. But they can't swim, they'd tell you they're experts but another round of swim lessons start tomorrow.
Agree, Castaway doesn't need anything - BUT I will say we plan on dropping the girls off at the kids club there on the island (did that with one last cruise) and try the adult section again. Though this past December the water at the adult beach was unswimmable and the water at the family beach was freezing, April may be better.
See you on the seas!

Great info! Love that they’re the same ages have you been to st Thomas before? I’m just wondering if we should spend our first time there in Coral world or just explore? coral world seems so neat though!

 

[Van Houten]

I've been debating going to Coral World and Coki beach (kids 7, 5 and 1, also going in April) - e.g. ST70 - and it is the only excursion which leaves early enough at least on our sailing (8:15) to beat the crowds from the other two ships which will be in port on that day. St. Thomas can get very busy, and popular beaches fill up with cruise passengers quickly.

 

[lklgoodman]

I've been debating going to Coral World and Coki beach (kids 7, 5 and 1, also going in April) - e.g. ST70 - and it is the only excursion which leaves early enough at least on our sailing (8:15) to beat the crowds from the other two ships which will be in port on that day. St. Thomas can get very busy, and popular beaches fill up with cruise passengers quickly.

We leave Jan 12. We're doing ST57, it goes to Secret Sands beach 8:15-11:45. Haven't been there before, but can give you a review once we return if you're interested. I've read that it's a nice beach and doesn't get as crowded as some of the others. Includes a chair and water/soda for each person. Since it's just a few hours in the morning, we plan on eating luch once we get back on the ship and then doing the Aquaduck/mini-golf.

 

[Engineeringbella]

Great info! Love that they’re the same ages have you been to st Thomas before? I’m just wondering if we should spend our first time there in Coral world or just explore? coral world seems so neat though!

We haven't been to St Thomas before, but I figured with the littles in tow, they'd appreciate the sub tour (windows on their levels, finally!) and the animals/aquarium and if we really wanted beach, Coki is right there. Then we're back on the ship in time for lunch! I had wanted to do the Catamaran beach club - but my littles can't bc they drop us off in the water and DH is NOT interested in slogging to the shore with 2 who can't swim... I have been doing some research and there're a couple beaches that have an excursion where it's so much cheaper to do it yourself with a taxi and probably even cheaper with a safari/open air taxi:

• Secret Sands Beach/Linquist/Smith Bay Beach Park and Eco Reserve Getaway (ST57): $152 (Disney w/ 2 adults, 2 kids) || $84 (non Disney, $5 entry/pp, cab $8pp)
• Magen's Bay (ST27): $198 (Disney w/ 2 adults, 2 kids) || $64 (non Disney, taxi = $8pp; though this doesn't account for a chair, I have read that the cruise line passengers are herded like cattle in a small enclosed area where you can spread out if you don't opt for that PA!)

I have a spreadsheet with others, but these were appealing due to affordability and no ferrying.

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

We leave Jan 12. We're doing ST57, it goes to Secret Sands beach 8:15-11:45. Haven't been there before, but can give you a review once we return if you're interested. I've read that it's a nice beach and doesn't get as crowded as some of the others. Includes a chair and water/soda for each person. Since it's just a few hours in the morning, we plan on eating luch once we get back on the ship and then doing the Aquaduck/mini-golf.

That sounds nice. Please report back! Have fun!!

 

[JessP81]

Following this thread and can’t wait to hear how some of these excursions went! We will do the eastern itinerary in September.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We did a private excursion on St. Thomas with St. Thomas Scuba and snorkel adventures. The guide/owner Webb was awesome. He brought us to Coki beach before the crowds started and then went to the beach at Secret Harbor resort. My kids were 4 and 1.5 and we had an amazing time.

The water at Coki beach was incredible. It was like being in a warm pool. It was turquoise and so calm. But it got super busy there after an hour or so. So if you do it, definitely do it first, not after the aquarium.

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

Thank you! Did you do the beach then aquarium? Or beach only?

We did a private excursion on St. Thomas with St. Thomas Scuba and snorkel adventures. The guide/owner Webb was awesome. He brought us to Coki beach before the crowds started and then went to the beach at Secret Harbor resort. My kids were 4 and 1.5 and we had an amazing time.

The water at Coki beach was incredible. It was like being in a warm pool. It was turquoise and so calm. But it got super busy there after an hour or so. So if you do it, definitely do it first, not after the aquarium.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

Thank you! Did you do the beach then aquarium? Or beach only?

We just did the two beaches. It was the best day of our cruise .

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

We just did the two beaches. It was the best day of our cruise .

That’s awesome! I’m wondering if we can do the beach then Coral world? Or if we will feel too gross?

Any ideas for Tortola? Which beach to do?