Excursion window opening - looking for suggestions for kid friendly excursions

[jlbridg2]

We are going on the Fantasy in September for an Eastern Carribean sailing. This will be our first cruise with kids and are looking for feedback from families on excursions. We have two boys, ages 5 & 3, and are most interested in the beach day excursions in Tortola and St. Thomas/St. John. What excursions have you done with your kids that you would do again? Or what excursions were not kid friendly enough? Their ages exclude a lot of excursions but the others don't seem to have any real differentiation on paper.

TIA!!

 

[SunDevilFanAZ]

When we went in 2014 on the Eastern, we did Trunk Bay in St. John when docked at St. THomas. After seeing a pic of the place, there was no way I was missing out. It was fun but very short time snorkeling there. We left the boat at 10:15, took an hour boat ride there, had 2 hours tops and then hour boat ride back. I was glad I did it but it was not a lot time there. At the time, my boys were 5 and 8 and had fun playing on the beach.

 

[fredandkell]

No real suggestions, but just popping in to say that I'm on the same cruise! (9/23 I presume?) My kids are older, 7 and 10, so we have different needs that you. I would be leery, though, of these full day beach experiences at that age - you don't want to be stuck somewhere if your kid has a meltdown and it would take forever to get back to the ship.

 

[Chrislovesdisney]

We will be going this July, and my youngest is just 18 mos. (the other is 4). We ultimately decided to stay on the ship in Tortola (or just explore port area) b/c the beach excursions were a fortune and I wasn't too thrilled with the safety of those open-aired taxis. Maybe in a few years we will return and do virgin Gorda! For st. Thomas, we booked Magen's bay. Even though the secret sands seemed tempting, with little ones I wanted a beach with More amenities (i.e. Food stalls, plenty of cabs back if they get cranky or to stay longer if they're having a ball). I wish I could give you btdt advice, but just wanted to share my thought processes!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It is actually very easy to get to Magen's Bay on your own, and back, and more flexible with littles.

1. Walk off ship.
2. Find cab to Magen's Bay.
3. Pay flat rate per person to get there.
4. Pay beach fee.
5. Beach until you realize if your kids don't go back soon you will go nuts.
6. Walk to cab queue and pay flat rate back to another cabbie.

The total per person will be around $22, if I recall current fees correctly, which is lots cheaper and more flex than Disney.

 

[jlbridg2]

Thanks for all the suggestions! We decided to go with the beach and lunch excursion to Long Bay Beach resort in Tortola and then the Kon Tiki excursion in St Thomas. We loved Trunks Bay when we went pre-kids but our youngest is too young for that one this trip. Guess that means we'll have to go back.
We went with shorter excursion lengths and ones that had definite places to eat. Thanks for all your feedback! And yes fredandkell we are on the same cruise!