kids who can't swim

[constanze]

Hi there! My husband and I have booked our first Disney 7 night, Eastern Cruise set to sail in September. We have a boy who will be 8 and a girl who will be almost 5. Neither who can really swim yet, however my 8 year old is pretty close. Are there excursions we can take them on or would we be better off just finding a beach? And what about the pools, I saw a picture with a big yellow slide, is that something they could go on?
I'm just hoping this will still be fun for them. They're late starters with swimming because they use to be afraid of the water.

My husband and I love to snorkel. If anyone has any suggestions on places to try that with the kids as well.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[depomas]

Hi, there the yellow slide in the Mickey pool is fine for non-swimmers, as the water they slide into in on the side, and does not lead into the water. They must get up, and then walk into the pool. The pool is also fine for non-swimmers. It is about 2 feet deep (or so). The goofy pool is 4 feet something I believe. I saw a lot of kids with arm floaties, or another type of floatie in this pool.

My kids both swim, we have done excursion, and sometimes we didn't. The ones that young kids can go on are not really swimming required anyway. The eastern is our favorite because of the beach choice in St.Thomas, and St. Maartan.

Swimmers or not, you will all LOVE your cruise. Congratulations!!

 

[constanze]

Thank you so much!

What beaches do you reccomend in those places? My husband and I have been to St. Martin before on another cruise, but we did a snorkling thing on the French side, where there was nudity, which wouldn't be good for kids. And St. Thomas we went on another snorkling thing so I don't really know which beaches would be good to go to, also can we just rent a cab to get to some of these beaches?

 

[dwkwootton]

Contanze, it is hard when your kids are afraid of something. Maybe checking with your local Y, high school, or swim club would be a good start to signing them up for swimming lessons before your cruise. Its likely it would be helpful to abate their fear if they learned to swim before being in the crowded Mickey pool or in the ocean.

 

[constanze]

Thanks! We've had them in swim lessons at the Y for the year. My son has come a long way, he's not afraid anymore...as long as he doesn't have to jump in the pool. My 4 year old also likes the water now, but won't put her face under. I'm thinking of putting them both is private lessons to speed things along.

 

[depomas]

We went to Megan's Bay in St.THomas on our own. We took a taxi which was 5 or 6$ per person. IT was about a fifteen minute ride. We loved it there, and did not see any nudity, as I would sure my ds8 and dd5 would have definitely been asking questions.

There are also excursions through Disney to the beaches, which I find expensive. We pack a bag for the day, and bring room service sandwiches in a soft sided cooler. Much cheaper, as the food is very pricey.

I do not know of any first hand in St. Maartan, as the first time we did an excursion, and this past September we went to Antigua on the special eastern which skipped St. Maartan. But, there is a great search button on the upper right hand side which you can use to help you with other first hand experiences.

Good Luck..

 

[constanze]

Hey our Ds and DD are the same ages!

Actually my daughter is 4 but will be 5 literally one month later when we cruise. I'm not sure what age group to put her in. She's very friendly, listens well and social...so I'm considering bumping her up. What do you think?

 

[depomas]

From personal experience, bump her up. The 3-4 group is young. My daughter will be 6 in April and my son 9 next month. My daughter did so much better this year in the 5-7 group. I think the younger one is really quite young, and she had done it twice in 9 months, and nothing had changed much. She really loved it last time, actually they both did, that is all they talk about. Hopefully we will go again in September. Just started a new business last week, so we are praying all goes well.

Just to mention that the counselors are amazing at the kids clubs, and will work well with you and the kids, but you can only change their group one time, so you may be stuck with something. Try and read a lot of navigators and you will get a good feeling. dcltribute dot you know what has them..

 

[lbgraves]

I would recommend that you sit down with your DD and look at the kid's navigators that are available on a couple sites to see what activities will interest her the most. I chose to have DS who turned 5 the day before we cruised stay with the 3-4 yos due to the fact that they had more activities with some of the characters that he liked, especially the princesses. His bday is November so even though he was 5 then, he was in the 4 yo preschool class and was use to being around younger kids.

 

[constanze]

That's an excellent idea! Where can I find these Navigators?

 

[musicgirl]

We did the Capt. Nautica snorkeling excursion. I'm not sure what the minimum age is. Of course they have life vests that everyone had to wear. They also provided fun doodles and kick boards for those who were not comfortable. A few people used them and just looked through their masks in the water.

We did have some young kids on our trip and they loved it. I think the one was 5 or 6.

This is a speed boat ride. It was awesome.

edit: I just checked the excursion sheet. It said the min. age is 8. Sorry. However, I know the boys on ours were not 8, they were talking about kindergarten. I wonder if they booked it outside of DCL.

There is also the Sapphire Beach excursion which you can do on your own.

These are both at St. Thomas.

We went to Dawn Beach in St. Martin. The taxi was $6 per person one way. We went snorkeling here in the am. If you go to the left in front of the hotel, that was pretty good. It is beautiful. You can rent umbrellas and a chair for about $10. It is pretty shallow quite far out for the kids.

 

[lbgraves]

I had lost the bookmark but did a search & found this site for the navigators. http://www.dcltribute.com/

 

[budwmn]

My DS 8 is allergic to chlorine which has delayed his ability to learn to swim. He only gets the chance when we're at the beach which isn't often enough! Don't worry, there is still plenty to do on board the ship and in ports. Castaway Cay is great because the water is calm and shallow. We haven't been on the Eastern, yet (going next January). Still, there looks to be plenty of excursions where you don't need to do extensive swimming. Have a great time!

 

[kg66]

Hi There,
We Did The Dolphin Encounter At Blue Lagoon In Nassau, And I Can't Swim. We Were In Waist Deep Water, And The Dolphin Comes Into The Platform Area Where You Are Standing, He Hugs You,kisses You, Dances With You, And Has Fun Spitting At The Dad's And Making Fun Of Them While He's Kissing Their Wives...a Real Hoot....they Know How To Get You To Buy The Pics And Video. There Is Also A Dolphin Swim, Where You Wear A Life Jacket In Deeper Water...not For Me, I Have To Be Touching Bottom. My Daughter Is 7, She Was Slightly Shy Of The Dolphin, She'd Pet Him, But Not Let Him Hug Or Kiss Her, But The Water Thing Wasn't An Issue For Her, And She Can't Swim Either. They'll Give You Wet Suits If You Want, No Charge. You Can Check These Out On The Dcl Site, Under Excursions I Think. It Was $113 Per Adult, And $83 For My Daughter, Slightly Pricey But Worth It, Beautiful Pics And Memories.