??? for those who have traveled with school age children on 7 night Magic

[DisneyPoly]

We will be traveling with our four children (4,8,9,12) on the 5/4 Magic and was wondering if anyone could give me advice on port stops with children. Mine are not the adventurous type (afraid to snorkel and swim with dolphins), any suggestions on what we could do at St. Maartan and St. Thomas with children this age?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

You might want to try one of the bus tours. This way you get to see some of the islands.

Our oldest thought they were ok, but she was complaining that with all these tours, that the make such a big deal about trees, and haven't people seen goats before? Sure enough, we round the corner and the driver is busy pointing out to everyone the oldest tree in town, the cameras are clicking....

The 4 of us just start laughing about this and everyone wonders why we are laughing.

 

[WIcruizer]

The bus tour is a good idea. Coral World in St. Thomas is fun for most kids also. We just got back less than a week ago, and our kids are 10 and 6. At St. Maarten we walked to the beach (I think it was called Great Bay) directly from the ship. It was only about a mile walk. We never really heard anything about this beach in advance, but we all thought it was very nice. There are probably better beaches, but this was close to the ship and downtown shopping.

At St. Thomas our daughter was not feeling well so we were only there for about an hour. Finally, Castaway Cay has alot of fun activities. Skuttles Cove, bike rentals, paddle boat rentals, hair braiding, etc.

What I discovered on the islands was as long as the kids were happy WE were happy. We couldn'y expect them to shop for 3 hours straight or go on an excursion they wouldn't enjoy. As long as we were together relaxing and playing on the beach they loved it! You can even buy some inexpensive beach toys in the shopping areas.

Good Luck!

 

[TartanFan]

Our DD (9) didn't even see St Maarten! She wanted to stay in the Lab so we went shopping. We went back at lunchtime and tried to tempt her with Great Bay Beach and jet skis (she is a bit adventurous!) but even that didn't lure her away so DH and I had a lovely couple of hours by ourselves on the beach.

She did come with us to St Thomas, where we had a look round the shops then got a taxi to Coki Beach, where she made some friends and spend her time building sandcastles and swimming.

We're not really the organised tour types as we like to go our own way but have only heard good things about them.

Have a great time!

xxxXXXxxx

 

[Kaa]

We did the Sea and See excursion in St. Maarten. The "sea" part is a ride in a semi-submersible (sort of a glass-bottom boat, but better). My son was 6 at the time and he loved that. We did the Island Tour in St Thomas and he wasn't as thrilled about that.

 

[DaisyDebbie]

My dd was 7 and my ds was 4 when we cruised. In St. Maarten we jumped in a taxi with another family we met on the ship and headed over to Orient Beach. It's absolutely beautiful. One side is a nude beach though so you might see some topless women and some nude men. We only saw 3 totally nude people. My kids didn't even blink.

For St. Thomas, I highly recommend Coral World. My kids couldn't snorkel either and this was a great way for them to see all the tropical fish. They have a small shark tank. We spent about 3 hours there, then back to the ship for lunch. The kids went to the club and we went shopping. Very nice day.

 

[SingingMom]

We travelled with our DD7 in July (going into Grade 3). She LOVED Great Bay Beach in St. Maarten - for a kid who never would venture into the ocean at the Jersey shore, she spent 5 straight hours in the water at Great Bay Beach! What a day!

In St. Thomas she and Dad went on the Atlantis sub. She really enjoyed that experience, also!

 

[tecdavidt]

Our children were 7, 15, 15, 18 on our 1st DCL cruise. We went to the Blue Lagoon in Nassau. On cruise 2 we were the 1st 7 day. St. Maarten we did the 2 island tour and the 3 boys stayed on the ship to sleep then in the afternoon they got off and just walked with us to explore. In St Thomas we did the Atlantis Sub. Fun but pricey. Cruise 3 was the best yet. We parked ourselves at the beach closest to the ship and had a great time. We rented chairs and jet skis. In St Thomas we did a little shopping downtown then we took the tram and just sat up on top and relaxed. There is a tropical bird show that the kids really enjoyed. In fact in March we are repeating what we did on the 3rd cruise. Kathy

 

[candleonwater]

I can't say enough about the Sea and See for small children - my 5 year old LOVED it. Coral World - we really could take it or leave it... there were reptiles (I think they were) walking around loose and they terrified my daughter. Then for the "pet a shark" part, we didn't get to do that since a the shark bit the hand that fed it - well, actually the leg, but of course after that we weren't allowed to pet them... next cruise I'm going to do a snorkeling trip with my daughter (either a disney sponsored excursion, or one on our own, haven't decided yet)