What excursions did you like in GC and Cozumel for 9 & 13 year olds

[Mastiff]

Just curious what excursions people liked with older kids. Have a 9 year old girl and 13 year old boy.

We have done the sting ray swim in CC twice so not sure they would want to do that again in GC.

We would like to do a dolphin swim! Everyone is on board for that. Which did you like?

Would love to hear your reviews!

Thanks

 

[BeardedDragons]

My DS11 and I did the Dolphin Swim in Grand Cayman last year and loved it! A good amount of time in the water interacting with the dolphins too. Aside from learning about the dolphins and touching them, we did high-fives, kisses, belly rides and got a push on a boogie board! At the end of our session they had the dolphins doing lots of jumps and tricks. Unforgettable experience. There was a small pool with stingrays and starfish in too that we waded through after we were finished with the dolphins. Our excursion also included admission to the turtle farm across the road. My son loved that too. We held baby turtles about 1/2 the size of my hand up to ones that we could barely lift.

There was a bit of a ride on a bus to get to the location but I didn't find it to be bad. I enjoyed seeing some of the area. When we were finished and ready to leave, we just went out and hopped onto the next shuttle going back to DCL. As soon as it was full, it left. We felt we had lots of time and didn't feel rushed at all.

In Cozumel we did the Atlantis Submarine Excursion. It was also amazing (this entire cruise of ours has been our favourite trip to date). You ferry out into the sea and wait a few minutes and then watch the sub emerge. There was lots of room inside and we didn't feel claustophobic at all. Everyone had their own large window. The crew were very helpful and entertaining. They pointed out everything and helped anyone who wasn't able to spot the barracuda or the stingray or whatever! Music really enhanced the atmosphere (such as playing Mission Impossible when they announced we were going to try and go deeper than 125m). We sat near the front so we could also see out the 'bubble' where the pilot was seated.

Hope this helps! Enjoy planning!

 

[Mastiff]

Thanks BeardedDragons! Glad to hear both your excursions were a hit! I think we may do the Dolphin Turtle excursion as well.

We did the sub excursion in Hawaii a few years back! It was so cool. You can't go wrong with that!

Keep those suggestions coming! Would love to hear some more!

Thanks

 

[CT Mom of 3]

I had a 9, 12 and 14 year old this summer - on GC we did the island tour/turtle farm/stingray city and it was all just a "eh" on their scale. In Cozumel we did the Secret River and they all loved it and want to do it again this spring when we're on the Wonder.

 

[Tara619]

My DS11 and I did the Dolphin Swim in Grand Cayman last year and loved it! A good amount of time in the water interacting with the dolphins too. Aside from learning about the dolphins and touching them, we did high-fives, kisses, belly rides and got a push on a boogie board! At the end of our session they had the dolphins doing lots of jumps and tricks. Unforgettable experience. There was a small pool with stingrays and starfish in too that we waded through after we were finished with the dolphins. Our excursion also included admission to the turtle farm across the road. My son loved that too. We held baby turtles about 1/2 the size of my hand up to ones that we could barely lift.

There was a bit of a ride on a bus to get to the location but I didn't find it to be bad. I enjoyed seeing some of the area. When we were finished and ready to leave, we just went out and hopped onto the next shuttle going back to DCL. As soon as it was full, it left. We felt we had lots of time and didn't feel rushed at all.

!

Do you remember which dolphin swim it was? Online, there is the "Dolphin Encounter & Turtle Farm" and the "Dolphin Extreme Swim & Turtle Farm." DS will be almost 8, so I want to pick the best one.

 

[zstyles]

The Dolphin Swim is across from the turtle farm in Grand Cayman, the Turtle farm we finished in about 2 hours or so, the swimming lagoon was nice but nothing crazy..we actually as we drove by the seven mile beach had wished we had just done the beach day there...it was fun to see the turtles but it wasn't anything that great, if you want to save money, have fun and relax on the beach skip the Turtle farm, the Dolphin excursion across from the turtle farm is NOT as nice as the one in Cozumel, the Grand Cayman Dolphin Excursion is more like 4 large swimming pools with Dolphins in them...

Also if your doing the "Observer" with a small child and your other kids are in the Swimmer" be sure to ASK THEM how the photo packages work! We got finished with ours went to look and add photos to the DVD (3 photos are 69.00) and were told we would need to order TWO packages if we wanted photos of our kids (one was in one group the other in another group)..we made a fuss and talked them down about 40.00 but still had to order two DVD's....FYI this is where they make MOST of their money...or have someone observe and take photos with a nice zoom lens..

 

[Zeppelin]

my 9 YO daughter absolutely loved the Fury Catamaran Sail Snorkel And Beach Party excursion...i gotta say i enjoyed it as well...the only bummer was its only half a day excursion...

http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c.../fury-catamaran-sail-snorkel-and-beach-party/

 

[quickcat]

My 11 year old son loved the Fury Catamaran in Cozumel. They have a lot of great water toys- that was his favorite. The waterslides, trampoline, etc. My husband loved the private beach. Like the other poster said, it seemed to be too short in time but a lot of fun!
In GC we used Native Way, if you look up their website (sorry I dont remember it) they have several different excursions and were very nice people.
Have a great time!

 

[Hope2cruise]

We did the Dolphin Extreme swim & Turtle Farm on GC. My DS13 loved the Dolphin swim (so did DH & I). The Turtle Farm was Ok for a half hour or so. Much more and it would get boring for an older kid.

We also did the Secret River tour at Cozumel which was fabulous as well. I highly recommend both trips for families with older kids.

 

[Menada1115]

My kiddos (ages 8-15) and dh are signed up to do the Dolphin Extreme Swim & Turtle Farm. I am going to stay on the ship with the 2 year old. I have heard great things about it, though!

 

[BeardedDragons]

Do you remember which dolphin swim it was? Online, there is the "Dolphin Encounter & Turtle Farm" and the "Dolphin Extreme Swim & Turtle Farm." DS will be almost 8, so I want to pick the best one.

We did the Extreme Swim which included an encounter. For the encounter part (and what other cruisers on the Encounter excursion told us they did) you enter the pool but stay at the edge and the dolphins swim along the row of people and then interact a few times one on one. Then for the Extreme Swim we had to swim out into the pool and then the dolphins pushed us on a boogie board and then gave us a belly ride.

For photos, we inquired about the barely advertised, in small print, CD photo option. It was $100. We sat at the computer for maybe 5 minutes, picked the photos we wanted (so every pic they took of my DS and I), they added the 'after swim shots' they took of our dolphin jumping and showing off and we were done.