Fantasy Western Caribbean Itinerary - Excursion Recommendations with Kids

[pezgirlroy]

Hi all, we will be on the Fantasy in April going to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth and Castaway Cay. It will be my parents, my husband, myself, my 9 year old daughter and 4 year old daughter. This will be our third Disney cruise but first with kids in these locations. Any suggestions on kid friendly excursions? What did your kids love? My husband will be going scuba diving in Cozumel so we are looking for something without him. Thanks as always.

 

[MomOTwins]

We are going on one in November and there did not seem to be a whole ton that was open to 4 year olds if you want to stay with DCL port adventures. We are doing the Ruins/Discover Mexico excursion in Cozumel, the submarine in Grand Cayman, and a beach excursion in Jamaica. There seemed to be more variety for 4 year olds if you book independently--you could do Dunns River in Jamaica or Stingray City in Grand Cayman--but sadly not through DCL.

 

[lklgoodman]

We are going on one in November and there did not seem to be a whole ton that was open to 4 year olds if you want to stay with DCL port adventures. We are doing the Ruins/Discover Mexico excursion in Cozumel, the submarine in Grand Cayman, and a beach excursion in Jamaica. There seemed to be more variety for 4 year olds if you book independently--you could do Dunns River in Jamaica or Stingray City in Grand Cayman--but sadly not through DCL.

What beach excursion are you doing in Jamaica? Our booking window opens this Frid. I plan on booking the Falmouth Beach Break(Fa75) If you go there could you let me know what you think. It's newer and has good reviews on TripAdvisor.

 

[Quellman]

Have yet to sail. We aren't worried about excursions for our 6 and 1 year old. We did book in independent private boat charter for Grand Cayman to do stingray city, starfish point, etc.

 

[lklgoodman]

We did the WC in 2017. We went to Chankanaab Nat'l Park. We did a dolphin swim there, your 4 yr old is too young for that, but they have a lot of other stuff you could all do. They have a beach, pool, sea lion show, mini ruins along a path, a restaurant, a tequila hut(samples for adults). My dd was 8 yrs old and enjoyed our time there. We were going to do the stingrays at GC, but rough seas cancelled it. We did the stingrays excursion at CC instead. Stayed on boat in Falmouth. We're doing another WC next Jan. We're staying on boat in Cozumel, not sure what we'll do in GC, and beach resort in Falmouth.

 

[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.

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.

 

[MomOTwins]

What beach excursion are you doing in Jamaica? Our booking window opens this Frid. I plan on booking the Falmouth Beach Break(Fa75) If you go there could you let me know what you think. It's newer and has good reviews on TripAdvisor.

I did seriously consider at that one but it didn't seem the right fit for us because our kids were all to young to use the obstacle course and according to one review from a Disney cruise guest they said you had to pay another $150 to rent a shaded cabana on the beach and it looked like there were no loungers anywhere else on the property, so we decided to go ahead and pay the extra to go to the Jewel Beach excursion. At least there it looked like everything was included and there were also some nice extra features I know my kids would enjoy like the lazy river and slides. But the price and long bus ride does make me nervous...

 

[lklgoodman]

I read a TR earlier this summer from someone with young kids who went to Jewel Beach and they had a wonderful time there. I didn't know they had a lazy river there, that would be nice. My dd is a tween, and loves things like the inflatables, but I agree those are a waste if you have young kids. All I need is a chair with a nice view.

 

[MomOTwins]

I read a TR earlier this summer from someone with young kids who went to Jewel Beach and they had a wonderful time there. I didn't know they had a lazy river there, that would be nice. My dd is a tween, and loves things like the inflatables, but I agree those are a waste if you have young kids. All I need is a chair with a nice view.

Thanks! Definitely nice to have some reassurance that someone here recently had a good time at Jewel. I definitely think the inflatables at other beaches are going to be a big hit for my kids years from now when they are big enough, but right now the splash pad stuff and small slides at Jewel are more our speed.

 

[KantLose]

We were on this itinerary last spring - my kids were 10, 8, & 5 at the time. For Cozumel, we went on the Cozumel Ruins, Chocolate, & Beach Break excursion. This was a nice mix of learning about the culture and also some time at the beach. Our tour guide for the ruins, Bianca, was wonderful and kids learned a lot. They also liked the Mayan chocolate demonstration and tasting. The beach had some large inflatables in the ocean that were fun. They provided life jackets, so all of us were able to swim out and enjoy them. The only thing that might have made it better was a little more time at the beach, but it did allow us to have a late lunch back at the ship.
For Grand Cayman, we did the Adventure to Stingray City Sandbar. The boat ride was great and the crew were very friendly. I really enjoyed the experience of seeing the stingrays, but my two youngest were a little nervous and chose to enjoy the sandbar by staying on the boat and watching. We looked into Captain Marvin's at the recommendation of others on this board, but chose to go with the DCL excursion because it was in the morning, which again, allowed us to return to the ship for a late lunch.
For Falmouth, we walked around the enclosed port area - it was your typical souvenir shops, but also had local crafters and we enjoyed talking with them and purchasing some of their items. We then enjoyed time at the pool on the ship with a lower crowd.

 

[lilmc]

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.

Do you remember about how long the taxi ride took? About how much it cost?

 

[KashasMom]

Do you remember about how long the taxi ride took? About how much it cost?

It's only a few miles - less than 10 minutes. There's a taxi line and you'll know the price when you get in the taxi. I think it was about $12. Be sure to have a ten and some singles. The driver didn't have change when we went and they wouldn't break our $20 at the ticket counter.

 

[Mom24Princesses]

We’ve book private in GC twice and had great excursions- smaller groups. Last time there were only 11 guests.
We did Dunn River Falls in Jamaica. Google that one to see how it is.
We usually go to Paradise Beach on Cozumel on our own.

 

[Mom24Princesses]

oops