Catamaran for 5yo on Eastern

[justcruisin]

Will be sailing with DS who will have just turned 5. The minimum age for the catamaran excursions is 5. Would there be any reason to think he won't be old enough or enjoy it? Which trip would be the best for us?

Thank you!

 

[jrabbit]

Golden Eagle in St. Maarten would probably be the best one. It's sailing, snorkeling, swimming and beach fun time. We haven't done this - but it looks like fun.

On St. Thomas we took the Barefoot Catamaran to St. Johns for snorkeling. The water there was fairly shallow, don't want to touch the coral (it kills them and there was a lot of the fire coral that'll give you a nasty rash/burn), and the current was pretty strong. So for a 5yo, I don't think this would be a good excursion.

 

[hydster]

We just returned from the Eastern and we did 1 excursion. We chose the Doubloon Sail and Snorkel and we have a 5 year old (just turned it in April) and he had a BLAST!! The sailboat is a 65 ft. schooner and the employees were hilarious! They give the kids (and adults) a temporary Pirate tatoo, free chips and salsa, free coke products on the way out to snorkel (so as not to let anyone get so drunk they drown) and then "boat drinks" on the way back. The Banana Bender is SO tasty and I hate rum! Our 9 and 10 year olds loved it as well. We took our own livejacket for our 5 year old and he did really good snorkeling. There was no beach time which was fine with us since we'd done Orient in St. Maarten and Castaway Cay coming next. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this excursion. Also I was nervous about my 5 year old but Disney has it worked out that it is age appropriate for the ages they specify.

HTH
Heidi

 

[JenLynn]

Just back from the May 1st Magic (Hi Hydster!!! )

We did the Golden Eagle Catamaran on St. Maarten. It was terrific! We sailed to Mullet Bay (which was not the usual destination, but it was too choppy that day to go to the usual place). You were able to jump off the side of the boat or wade down into the water via a ladder. Snorkel gear was available in a variety of sizes. They had lifejackets for the little ones as well as noodles. You could snorkel, swim, or play on the beach. They served soft drinks on the way out. Then pretzels and sandwiches and soft drinks and beer and rum punch on the way back. Although we didn't bring our children on this excursion (DS is 6, but DD is only 4), i think they both would have enjoyed themselves immensely!

 

[mobetsy]

We took our not quite 6 y.o. on the Golden Eagle in late March. Generally speaking, he liked it; he was in a crabby mood, so it was hard to tell at the beginning. We did have rough seas and needed to go to a different beach, which was harder to get into (strong surf); his favorite part was that on the return to the catamaran, I swam him out partway and then he got to ride the rest of the way in a little motorized rubber dinghy! He is relatively cautious by nature, so he didn't want to go out on the webbing in front, but liked sitting where he could see what was going on.