Excursions options - Grand Cayman - Cozumel - Falmouth with kids

[Lanie]

Hey everyone! We're booked on the Fantasy with Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Falmouth (and of course Castaway Cay!) as ports. Does anyone have recommendations as good excursions with kids 9 and 6?

We love snorkeling but I'm not sure we can do that with the kids... I think I've heard that Feeding the stingrays at Castaway Cay is great?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[KashasMom]

Cozumel: we love Chankanaab Beach Cozumel. We've been there twice. It's easy to book on your own. Grab a cab and go - plenty of cabs to get you back to the ship as well. First time we did the Royal Dolphin Swim and loved it. Second time we did a swim with a sea lion. Chankanaab is a great place to spend the day. After your encounter (and included with the entrance fee) is a sea lion show, a pool, great beach with chairs/huts/hammocks, and snorkeling. A casual lunch or a buffet lunch is available. You don't have to do any of the dolphin/sea lion encounters. You can just go to the beach and still use all the amenities mentioned above and see the sea lion show. It's really a great place to spend a full day. We've been twice and still haven't explored it all. https://www.dolphindiscovery.com/cozumel/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=mybusiness

We've also gone to Paradise Beach twice. LOVE their pool. Great beach and food. Not very crowded. Again we just took a taxi there and back.

One of favorite excursions ever was the Sea turtle release. It was an amazing day. At the time we booked through Royal Carib but it looks like you can now book directly. I highly recommend it. (May only be offered certain times of year.)

In Falmouth we did the Heritage Walking tour and then had amazing jerk chicken in town. 　 We've also gone tubing down the Rio Bueno twice which was a blast but I don't think DCL offers Rio Bueno.

Haven't been to Grand Cayman in a long time so don't want to recommend anything there.

Western itinerary is our favorite - best excursions - but it's just as easy to walk around the port or grab a taxi to the beach. Lots of shopping in Cozumel and inside the gated port area in Falmouth. In Falmouth they have a trolley tour that lets you see a bit of the island. It's at the end of (inside) the gated area. You don't have to book - you can just get a ticket that day.

 

[lovewdwfun]

For Cozumel, we booked Mr Sancho’s Beach Club independently and really enjoyed it. We did the “Discover Grand Cayman” at Grand cayman and also enjoyed that. Most people were older but my kids liked having the chance to see so much of the island.

I can’t recall our Falmouth excursion, but I wish we’d stayed on the ship!

 

[TracyC.]

We were on the 7-day Western at the beginning of April and booked all of our excursions through DCL. My boys (12 & 9) really enjoyed all 3 excursions we booked.

In Cozumel, we did the Amazing Secret River (Rio Secreto). Because the caves are in Playa Del Carmen, there's a 30 minute ferry ride each way, and we made it back to the ship with 5 minutes to spare before boarding time. We got about 30 minutes free time in Playa Del Carmen after the caves and before the ferry ride back if you want to shop, but everyone in our group headed for the beach. The caves are amazing - there's 5 different routes, and it's a 90 minute guided tour in the underground caves. The route varies between walking on rocky terrain to wading in water that's ankle deep to 10ft deep and you need to float/swim through. We were accompanied by a guide as well as a photographer, as you're not allowed to bring any phones/cameras/etc. The USB package with all photos is $99. Our boys deemed this their favorite excursion. Lunch is included.

In Grand Cayman we did the dolphin swim and Stingray City. Stingray City was crowded, and having been there before with a private vendor, I feel that if we were to go again, I would not book this excursion through Disney. There were too many people in our group for the stingrays and every family got one interaction with the stingray (more of a photo op that they try to upsell you - you hold the ray, kiss the ray, and then the guide moves on to the next family). We did not buy the stingray pictures. The dolphin experience is a lot better. We had a group of 9, so it was a manageable group. Pictures for the dolphins are $60 per person. Lunch was not included in this excursion, but there's a food stand at the dolphin place.

In Jamaica, we did the bobsledding and Dunn's River Falls. Dunn's River Falls is so fun - my boys had this as their second favorite activity. Our bus did the bobsledding first, lunch was provided at Mystic Mountain, and then we were taken to Dunn's River Falls. The climb up the waterfall was amazing, with a lot of different stops to slide down a small rock slide, or be completely submerged behind a small waterfall. There was a guide to help move the group along and a videographer that filmed clips as well as took still shots of the family. The DVD that they sell you at the end is $40 with all the video clips and stills. The quality is poor - fuzzy pictures, but we were glad we got the family pictures.

 

[rere101399]

Jumping in with a question about the same thing...in these same ports, any half day excursion options/recommendations through DCL? We’d love to get off at all 3 western ports to say we did it/did something and are nervous about wandering on our own but aren’t necessarily looking for 3 full port days. Would love to be back on board for lunch, or get off after lunch...

 

[tee11]

In Jamaica I would prefer to book a tour with the ship... we have done Dunn's River Falls (crowded, but awesome experience, however Falmouth is farther away for that one I think) and a river tubing tour in the past.. both were great, however, I'm not sure I would do either with a 6 year old... maybe someone else can chime in.

Grand Cayman - DCL pulls to the main port in 'downtown' / the capital - it is super easy and safe to get pay for a spot mini-van to 7 mile beach (various stops, we've done a couple...). We've also done Stingray City, which was fantastic and we booked it with an independent tour that left right from that main port. I mention the "main port" because other cruise lines pull into a different port in the far south... I recommend a booked tour if the ship is diverted to that port because it takes 45 minutes alone to reach the "downtown" one way, and the cab/minivan ride is prohibitively expensive from that pier/port. That said, DCL has always tendered us to the "main port" … it's just something to keep in mind.

Cozumel... it's very easy and safe to pay a cab (set prices) to various beaches... we also did beach days with DCL.... I will be very honest... I was not that impressed with any of the 3 beaches (sand wise...) or food wise. However, we once did an excursion with a jet boat to a beach to the far north that is on a separate island and that was spectacular... but because the boat is very fast with super fast turns I believe only older children are permitted - that excursion is fantastic and the beach is sugar white and like a dream and food was very good... We also did an excursion to the mainland with the catamaran and then to the pyramids... we did this on our own, but I highly recommend booking a tour for that one - even though we did make it back to the ship on time.
We also did the dolphin experience in Cozumel with DCL and it was really wonderful.

I'm happy to answer more questions - I might still remember the names of the excursions and beaches …. but I'm currently blanking on it.

P.S. regarding: Snorkeling with kids - we started doing it with our oldest who was 5 - however we snorkeled from the beach (walking in on Castaway Cay and from 7 mile Beach, Grand Cayman)… we had brought our own snorkel and mask to make sure it's a comfy fit. I'm not sure if I would snorkel in deeper water off of a boat at that age, probably not. Also of course, kid should be an excellent swimmer...

 

[kathi]

We love Nachi Cocum, a private beach, in Cozumel. Have been many times. It's a short taxi ride from the port and is very relaxing.

We don't go outside of the port in Jamaica. Usually get off and do some shopping, maybe go to Margaritaville and then enjoy the ship. We have friends who did a resort for a day in Jamaica a few years ago and enjoyed it.

 

[Melissa S]

We visited these ports last week!

Agree with PP to do Cozumel on your own. It is so easy to find a taxi at the port. We went to Playa Mia. Our kids are 9& 4 so they enjoy the splash pad, inflatables, and piñata.Our first time in Cozumel we booked through DCL but hated the lunch and didn’t think it was worth the higher cost. This time we went on our own, paid $18 each way for a taxi and for day pass $96 for 2A2C. We arrived one hour before the excursion and enjoyed the empty beach and saved $150.

For Jamaica highly recommend the Dunn’s River Falls and Sky Explorer excursion. It is about an hour drive to the falls so we booked through DCL. this excursion was the highlight of our trip. The falls were amazing and we really enjoyed the ride up Mystic mountain and the beautiful pool at the top.

In Grand Cayman we did the Catamaran ride to Rum Point. Although the boat ride was beautiful, Rum Point was a dump and we would never go there again. We decided for our next visit just to visit a local public beach on our own.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Starwind]

We did the "Discover Native Cayman and the Saltwater Forest (G33)" DCL excursion and quite enjoyed it. Relaxing and educational.

SW

 

[CinderellaDream]

Just wanted to add that we visited these same three ports last summer with our 9 and 6 year old girls.

In Cozumel, we did Playa Mia and it was a really great beach day. The floating obstacle course was fun but challenging! On a prior visit to Cozumel when our girls were 7 and 4 we did the dolphin encounter at Chankanaab. I highly recommend either of those options in Cozumel. On our next visit to Cozumel we are planning the Amazing Secret River excursion.

In Grand Cayman, we did not get off the ship on our last cruise because it was overcast and rainy so we spent the day riding the Aquaduck over and over. The kids loved that! The prior year we did Stingray City with Captain Marvin and it was fantastic!

In Falmouth, we did Dunn's River Falls. This was the excursion I was most worried about because I thought my petite 6 year old might have a problem climbing the falls. Everyone in our group held hands and we were able to help her in spots that were a little more difficult. I would highly recommend Dunn's River Falls - it ended up being our favorite excursion of that cruise. One word of warning though - the ride to the falls from Falmouth is long, at least an hour if I remember correctly. Our kids were tired and fell asleep on the ride back to the port.

 

[Lanie]

Thank you so much for all the info! Life got in the way of disboarding so I couldn't get back to these before, but I will definitely be checking out some of those!

Thank you, thank you THANK YOU!

 

[motherdaughtercruisers]

In Falmouth, highly recommend a Resort Day at the Hilton Rose Hall. My mom, aunt, and I went and got a cabana next to the pool (just looked at my confirmation e-mail, we went back in 2017 and paid $117/person included transportation). It was fantastic! In addition, my aunt and I bought a snorkel cruise (I think like an hour or two) from the guys at/next to the hotel and it was just the two of us and it was really great - one of the mates dived down and got some really cool sea animals from the bottom of the ocean and let me handle them. They have wonderful pools and a waterpark. The beach area is really nice, too! We really enjoyed our time there.

 

[soniam]

Jumping in with a question about the same thing...in these same ports, any half day excursion options/recommendations through DCL? We’d love to get off at all 3 western ports to say we did it/did something and are nervous about wandering on our own but aren’t necessarily looking for 3 full port days. Would love to be back on board for lunch, or get off after lunch...

Falmouth is hard for a short excursion. Most activities are closer to Ocho Rios, which is about an hour away by bus. You could always just get out at the port, which is securely fenced and guarded. There are shops and a Margaritaville, which I think has a pool and a slide. Cayman is very easy for a half day. We always snorkel there, and it's about a half day. Cozumel is hard if you do a mainland excursion, because you have to take the ferry. The ones that stay in Cozumel aren't always long. Plus, you can always just walk around the port/town. The Atlantis sub in Cozumel is very close to port and short, but it's more expensive.

 

[motherdaughtercruisers]

Jumping in with a question about the same thing...in these same ports, any half day excursion options/recommendations through DCL? We’d love to get off at all 3 western ports to say we did it/did something and are nervous about wandering on our own but aren’t necessarily looking for 3 full port days. Would love to be back on board for lunch, or get off after lunch...

Falmouth is hard for a short excursion. Most activities are closer to Ocho Rios, which is about an hour away by bus. You could always just get out at the port, which is securely fenced and guarded. There are shops and a Margaritaville, which I think has a pool and a slide. Cayman is very easy for a half day. We always snorkel there, and it's about a half day. Cozumel is hard if you do a mainland excursion, because you have to take the ferry. The ones that stay in Cozumel aren't always long. Plus, you can always just walk around the port/town. The Atlantis sub in Cozumel is very close to port and short, but it's more expensive.

I agree with @soniam, Falmouth is hard for a half day excursion.

I also agree that Cayman is easy for a half day, and definitely recommend snorkeling at this port. However, I would not recommend going with a snorkel cruise to the most commercialized "stingray bay". Highly recommend a private/private group tour for snorkeling in Grand Cayman. Personally, I also like to make sure that the vessel offers plenty of shade (you never know how much sun will impact you ... or any other cruiser...) and that the maximum capacity is small (I prefer less than 15 passengers).

As for Cozumel, my mom, aunt, and I did the salsa and salsa excursion that we booked through the port excursions on the Disney website (all of use are 21+) and it was not a full day excursion. So if that interests you and the rest of your cruisers, that would be an option. And it was a very nice excursion at that! I'm pretty sure we would all do that again!