Ports of call with toddlers?

[melsmom12]

If you have/had a toddler who was too young for the kids clubs while cruising, did you take them with you on the ports of call? Did you do any activities with them besides walking around? Did you use Flounders Reef for part of those days? Did your toddler enjoy the ports of call?

Specifically I'm talking about Key West, Cozumel, and Grand Cayman, but I'd love to hear about all of your time off the ship.

Thanks for letting me know, you all have been so helpful!

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We just traveled with our twin 2 year old grandkids. Their parents got off the ship and walked around. They went to a beach in St Maarten. They walked to Kmart in St Thomas. They never used Flounders.

 

[stout]

In Key West we took the stroller and just walked around, no plan, just strolling--all three of us enjoyed it and it was one of my favorite things. We walked down to Hemingway's house and watched the cats.
Grand Cayman was our favorite because we did the butterfly farm. To see my DD's reaction was priceless. Only problem was that I remember it being so hot that we were all exhausted by the time we got back on the ship.
For Cozumel we left DD in Flounders and did Disney's snorkel excursion (supposedly if you do a Disney sponsored excursion they can reach you by means other than the pager). It seemed like there was not much to see during the snorkeling tour (as compared to other times we have gone snorkeling), so I really wish we would have stayed on the boat with DD and just relaxed. Oh, and we did walk around some of the shops in Cozumel in the afternoon because DH was on a mission to purchase a watch, but DD was crabby and tired from spending all morning at Flounders.
During our most recent cruise we took DD with us to Atlantis to the aquarium.

 

[#1 Minnie Lover]

We just did the Western last month with dd who was 16 months. In Key West we did the Butterfly Conservatory/ Aquarium excursion, she loved it. We walked around after that and did some shopping and had lunch.

In Grand Cayman we took the stroller and walked around on our own, did some shopping and lunch. Same in Cozymel.

At CC we left dd in Flounder's in the morning until noon so dh and I could snorkel and get some lunch. We got her some lunch on the ship and then we took her to the beach to play. She had a blast and was only in the sun for a few hours instead of the whole day.

 

[ibela]

We went on the Eastern and took 17 month old dd with us everywhere. We didn't go too far (shopping on St. Maarten, Sky Ride in St. Thomas) but we made sure to take a stroller with a cover and she was able to nap with some protection. The only time we put her in Flounders was a few evenings during her bedtime.

 

[fairfax]

We were on the Magic eastern last week with my son who is 2 and daughter who is 4. They also went everywhere with us. In St. Maarten, we all took the water taxi to the beach and stayed there most of the day. In St. Thomas we did the Paradise Point skyway. We did not use Flounders for DS, but did take him to the Oceaneer's Club to play from time to time. He could stay there as long as one of us was with him. Also we had my parents with me and they helped with the kids. We also had a stroller with cover for my son.