Eastern Caribbean Port Excursions w/3 year old

[novazx3]

Hi,

We are sailing on the Fantasy in September, Eastern Caribbean. We will have a 3 year old with us. I was looking at the Port Excursions for St. Thomas and St. Maarten and wondering what are the best to go on with a small child. We love beach time, but i am wondering if all beach days at all three port stops is too much. I wanted to do the snorkeling, but our child is too small to go on this one. Any recommendations for these two ports (St Thomas, St. Marten) Castaway Cay is def beach time for sure!

 

[Jackiet123]

Honestly with my three year old twins all they wanted was the beach. So depends on the child bid your lives the beach it won't be too much. My husband and I before kids would've done excursions. Since the kids are too young for excursions and don't shop well all we can do is beach time anyway!

 

[All American]

This is our first cruise, so I can't speak to the quality of the excursions we picked but can tell which we decided to choose since we are going with our 3-year-old.

In the Virgin Islands, we chose the Magens Bay Beach Break. In St. Maarten we opted for the butterfly farm tour. It seems like a good balance with a day at the beach. That, and I think our little girl and our older little girl (8) will get a kick out of it.

 

[Woodmnky]

I second the above poster with recomendations of Maegan's Bay in St. Thomas & the Butterfly farm in St. Maarten. If you are not 100% set on doing excursions in all the ports then choose 1 day to stay on the ship while it is in port. You will be able to do lots of activities with a lot less people.

Although I have not done it there is also a butterfly farm in St. Thomas. It is a come/go when you want type excursion and a short walk from the ship.

 

[lbgraves]

We didn't do any excursions when the kids were 3 & 5. They just wanted to stay on the ship in the club or go back to the Mickey pool if we did get off the ship. I would recommend the butterfly farm/garden at St. Thomas rather than the one in St. Marteen simply because it is just down the street from the dock. You could also do Paradise Point there just across the street. Both of those things can be done on your own, so you can see how your child is doing that day and what you think they will enjoy before committing to the cost.

 

[sdjen]

You are going to have so much fun! My daughter and I did an Eastern cruise on the Magic last year in Feb. Different ship but same ports. We are booked for the Fantasy Eastern in Feb 2014 and cannot wait!

Here are the excursions we did:

St. Maarten - on our own took a taxi to the Butterfly farm and then walked to a perfect kid - friendly beach called Le Galion. The butterfly farm and beach are very close to Orient Bay which is a popular place. We asked the cab driver and she dropped us off right after dropping people off at Orient Bay. The butterly farm was neat but the beach is awsome!! No nudity and in a protected cove so very little waves and shallow. You can rent a chair and umbrella for about $10 and there is a good beachside eatery with food and drinks. Then just take a taxi back to the port. Very fun and also pretty budget friendly.

St. Thomas - we did the Disney excursion to Coral World that included the semi sub tour. We really enjoyed this too. Coral World isnt too big so you can pretty much see everything. My daughters favorite was feeding the birds in the aviary there. Also had a really nice gift shop! I didnt feel like the cost was too high considering what we got for the money spent.


Happy planning and have a great time!