Golden Eagle Catamaran with 5 year old?

[Ashley24]

I've always heard great things about the Golden Eagle Catamaran excursion. I would love to do this as a family (myself, dh, dd8, dd5) but I'm not sure if my dd5 will enjoy it. I know she will just make the age cut off (she will be turning five in March and we cruise in April) but I have heard that the ride home is quite wild. She has been on a lake where there are decent size waves from boaters cruising around and seemed ok with that. If she takes sea sickness medicine, will she be ok? Is there a place on the boat where less motion is felt? Also, she will not be snorkeling. It seems like I read on the disboard before that there are small boats that you can take to a beach. Is that right? Or would she just stay on the catamaran? Anyone who has done this excursion with children, please let me know. I would hate to have a crying child who would ruin other people's enjoyment. We might just have to split the family up and let dd5 do something more age appropriate. Any suggestions there? Thanks so much!
Ann

 

[bkline]

We did the Golden Eagle once on RCCL when DS was 5 and once on Disney when DS was 7. I think it's great for the younger set, because of time frame and activities. The excursion lasts only 4 to 4.5 hours, so if the little one gets tired you can go back to the ship, if not you can go right into town. The catamaran is close to a small beach. You go down a ladder and adults can walk to shore, so you could carry the 5 year old if she is uncomfortable in the ocean water. Some of the family can snorkle while the rest plays on the beach. They serve drinks and light snacks. I don't know if they do it every time, but the first time on Golden Eagle my DS got the steer the catamaran in open water. I saw only one child who got sick on both trips. I think it is a matter of how your children handle the motion. Most children do fine.
If you are looking for a great lunch spot, there is a restaurant called Everything's Cool in St. Marteen. We go there for burgers, chicken sandwiches, and the fruit drinks. It's right on the beach in downtown so my DS and I play on the beach and swim while the DW goes shopping. Good for everybody.
Have a great trip.

 

[lUVTOGO]

We did this excursion a few weeks ago. If you sit in the front and on the nets, it is very wild. If you do get seasick, you can sit in the back of the boat. When you dock, you go down a ladder and swim to the beach. When we where there it must have been high tide, cause the water was over my head when we went in. But it is a short swim to where you can stand and they give you a noodle to hang on too. My kids where fine (7 & 9 ), but I was feeling it on the way there. Coming home it was a smooth ride. You can always move to the back of the boat if the ride bothers you. I didn't snorkel, and the kids snorkeled for a while and then just swam around till it was time to leave. As we where leaving the nudists where docking and swimming to shore right next to our boat. I didn't say anything to the kids and then they finally noticed they weren't wearing any clothes but didn't say to much.

 

[SC Minnie]

Hi Ann!

We did the Golden Eagle in January. They gave all of the kids life vests to wear. DD8 was just an OK swimmer but did fine swimming from the boat to the shore with the life vest. DH was the only one of us that snorkeled. I got a chair on the beach and DD and MickeyMagic's DD played in the sand and looked for shells.

DD went 'inside' the catamaran during the ride back. There are seats in there and you do not get wet. It is not fully enclosed but your DD may feel better in there than out front.

We really enjoyed this excursion and would do it again!

 

[DisneyKids]

We did the Champagne Catamaran from St. Thomas to St. John when my daughter was 5. No problems at all and I believe that it was a bit longer of a ride than the Golden Eagle (2 hours each way). There were a few that were a little sea sick but nothing serious. We all loved it!