Thanks for the advice! I am a little bummed about the onboard ship activities- my kids really liked the midship game and the Aquaduck, and my (then 12) year old was not a huge fan of the clubs. We def want to do the ports, so I purposely chose an itinerary that would let us do that. But I do worry she won't have much to do on sea days. Were the "live/participatory" activities you are referring to for adults only, or did you feel that there were family activities also?
We stayed in Old San Juan a few days before our Southern Caribbean cruise a few years ago. With kids, they would probably love the forts in OSJ. Others have stayed outside of OSJ at hotels / resorts with beach access - and by all reports, they enjoyed their beach time and were able to get out and about to explore as well.
We loved the food in Puerto Rico!! Who Knew that rice and beans could be so good!! And the Mofongo!! In OSJ there is a "chocolate restaurant" with very good food - we will be going back there
We booked an "excursion" through our hotel that went out to the rainforest - we were there in september - so there was a lot of rain, but we had a very enjoyable hike through the forest down to the waterfall. There are a couple of "Bio Bays" in Puerto Rico where you go kayaking at night, and the water lights up as you paddle through the water - something sci-fi about it, but its real. There are many other things to do in Puerto Rico.
I'm Another NorthWesterner, so I fully expect the water to be fine in all locations. And flying there and back again will fully suck!!
The Wonder is a fine ship. The 14yo might not be as enamored with the "clubs" (well the Vibe in her case). That's a function of her age - "Nothing" Disney is "Cool" at that age. The 10 and 6 yo will probably love the clubs (they have been completely redone with the major dry dock that the Wonder is just finishing (or finished) up with). They did add the Twist and Spout slide up on the pool decks. No AquaDuck or AquaDunk. They did add the AquaLab. No "detective" agency, No Mini Golf either. It really seems to me that there are more "live / participatory" activities on the classic ships than on the Dream class ones.
This itinerary is Port Intensive - so really not a chance to be "bored" on the ship.
I think that answers / addresses your immediate questions.
just a quick rundown of the ports that I have been to:
St. Kitts - we love the old forts so we went out to
Brimstone Hill fortress. We also stopped at Romney Manor. We hired a private guide for the day since we knew that we wanted to be at the fortress longer than any of the
DCL excursions. We had a fantastic day at both locations. Then the guide drove us around the island.
If you make it to Romney Manor, be sure to bring some money to buy some items from
Caribelle Batik. It's beautiful stuff. We didn't have enough cash with us (and we try not to use our Credit Cards outside of the USA).
St. Johns Antigua - we did a Snorkel, Hike and Kayak tour. Tried to book independently with Antigua Paddles, but DCL booked their entire capacity (price DCL charged was about what they charged so no harm, no foul). Lots of fun (for the entire family). "High Speed" (no white knuckle) boat ride to an island. Took a short narated hike to the top, then came down and snorkled in the Caribbean then walked across and swam on the Atlantic side of the island (how cool is that). Then back into the boat to go to the Kayak location. Through the mangroves and we saw starfish, fish and other sea critters. Then back on the boat and returned to the property (very lovely) where they had treats and drinks for us.
Aruba and Martinique will be new to us. I assume that I will be snorkeling in Aruba and have no idea what Martinique brings.[/QUOTE]
There are car rentals right there and getting a taxi to/from the port was easy.
