Best excursions for kids on the Fantasy

[Dreams&wishes]

Hi all,

I'm trying to decide between a Western vs Eastern Caribbean Fantasy cruise,to do so I'm trying to understand what excursions on offer on both of them.

I went on the Disney excursion page but I found it very hard to understand which excursions would be the best for our kids. We will have kids ranging from 6 to 13. We live in Australia so we see starfish, stingrays and dolphins on our local beach all the time. When we go on a holiday we look for things that are more 'fun' rather than 'relaxing'. In saying that my kids are not adrenaline seekers and wouldn't go on fast boats etc. A day at Atlantis it's something they would enjoy for example, although that's not included on the 7 days cruises.
Based on this which excursions would be the best for us? and which cruise do you suggest us booking?

Thank you

 

[Princesca]

I would choose Eastern. We just got back from Western and the Mexican ports were meh. I think Mexico is better experienced from a land vacation. The ports were a gauntlet of high pressure sales and it took us a long time to get from port to excursion, which made it not worth the time investment for us. I prefer Mexico from a 'roll out of bed and onto the beach' all inclusive resort

 

[soniam]

If you like snorkeling, Grand Cayman is one of the best spots in the Caribbean. Cozumel is OK, but I like the sub better there. There’s a cool under waterish cave spelunking excursion on the main land; we keep missing it due to weather and illness. There are also awesome beach resorts in Cozumel. Jamaica has plenty of active excursions, like Dunns River Falls and the bobsledding. The excursions in Jamaica usually take an hour+ by bus to get to, which isn’t great. I feel like Western is more active, but there are some annoying sales people in Cozumel and Jamaica. It’s not dangerous if on an excursion, just annoying.

St Thomas supposedly has good snorkeling. St Martin, if included, is ok. Haven’t done Tortola. The Eastern cruises usually have one less port. It’s great if you love staying on the boat, but I feel they are generally less active. The ports on the Eastern feel very shopping heavy to me.

Both go to Castaway Cay, which is great! I feel for active families, Western is better. Our family loves snorkeling and nature. We are not necessarily an active or athletic family though. We are kind of nerdy and cerebral. However, we usually do somewhat active things on cruises, sometimes by accident.

 

[PAGA2003]

For the Western itinerary there are local Mayan ruins on Cozumel (we're going with a tour company outside DCL-Leon Tours) and also the possibility to go to Tulum (outside of DCL), Cayman, as already mentioned is a great snorkeling destination and Jamaica does have Dunn's River, zip lining, tubing etc. We're actually doing one of the historical great houses (Greenwood) in Jamaica to change it up to be a bit more relaxing (closer to the port, short excursion and not water based).

For Eastern it is really all about water activities and boating in the Virgin Islands. We've never cruised there but have done two sailing bareboat charter vacations there. In St. Thomas you can go over to St. John or do a day boat charter. In the BVI I would either do the Baths on Virgin Gorda or do a day sailing charter to visit JVD and the Indians. There are several companies that offer small group boating excursions so there is no need to do a private charter.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Thank you everyone, we are not really into snorkeling either as we live close to the reef so we don't want to do things on holiday that we do on a daily basis at home.
I'm still quite unsure on which cruise to choose which towns are nicer to visit? Shall I just do a 4 day cruise instead?

 

[auntlynne]

I would really reconsider a Caribbean (Disney) cruise. Have you looked at Alaska? (I realize it’s probably the middle of the school year for you). Maybe even pick one of our National Parks.

With so many choices, you could find one that gives you an experience that differs from home. Or maybe is somewhat similar but unique. The state of Utah has 5 National Parks that offer hiking and outdoor activities in beautiful settings. (Dry, it beautiful rock formations). Yosemite (California) and Yellowstone (Wyoming) are classics.

(I have cruised - a bunch - multiple cruise lines, but mostly Disney. If you want the Disney cruise experience, perhaps a 4-night with a stop at Nassau would fit. I just have a hard time imagining paying $1K for the family to spend a day there. On top of the cruise fare! It’s not that great a day.)

Even Hawaii seems better despite its being an island. There is plenty to see and do - each of the 4 islands offers a variety of experiences that don’t require the beach (but it is available).

(I also admit that Alaska, as a cruise, and Hawaii, as a land vacation, are my favorite vacation destinations. New Zealand and China were great vacations of discovery, too.)

I just got back from a Caribbean cruise. Lots of beaches. Very relaxing trip, despite 5 ports.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

Thank you for your replies.
Last night we were watching videos of cruise locations and kids saw Atlantis they obviously loved it! I'm now battled whether we should do a shorter cruise on the Wish instead, if the other destinations don't offer much for us? However 4 days seems really quite short.

Have you looked at Alaska? (I realize it’s probably the middle of the school year for you). Maybe even pick one of our National Parks.

Alaska maybe another time. However before going to Florida we will be going to California to see major landmarks and ofocurse a little bit of Disneyland. But yes I love the US National Parks they are amazing and an holiday on it's own. However my youngest is still too young to walk for extended periods (which I love) we will just have to wait, but thank you for the suggestion.