Ports with kids

[lpk29]

Looking to cruise next year with 5 yr old twins. Which ports are best for younger kids

 

[CanuckTraveller]

IMHO it's not so much about the ports as what you plan to do in port with young children. Our youngest was 3 when we first started cruising and yes, it took some research to find appropriate excursions, but they can be found. The easiest itinerary IMHO would be an eastern Caribbean, or Bahamas on the Dream. St Thomas and St Maartin have lots of child-friendly excursions, but you can also enjoy just walking around the port area. Castaway Cay is an easy port, since you walk off the ship when you want, and simply walk back on when you're done.
We did a western Carribean itinerary through NCL when our boys were 6&4 yrs, and had no problems finding interesting things to do that also fit what the boys could handle. It's all about the research and knowing what will work for your family.

 

[Four Swampers]

Looking to cruise next year with 5 yr old twins. Which ports are best for younger kids

What do you want to do?

You can, of course, do anything you want. I have taken a 2 year old to Beijing and Shanghai. She got little out of it, but her mom and I wanted to be there and child services would have been cranky if we left her in Ohio.

That being said, a five year old will typically look for five year old fun, with the exception of all the five year-old children whose parents will respond to this post by stating their five year-old prefers hours at the Louvre. Those fortunate few aside, most five year-old kids will love Castaway Cay. Very hard to go wrong there. Mayan ruins can be exciting, but a prolonged tour from a guide might bore some kids. If you are willing to duck away from the formal guide and let the kids climb and explore, Chaccoben ruins at Costa Maya could be fun. Grand Cayman has the Atlantis Submarine: pretty darn cool no matter how old you are. Even precocious six month old children of DIS board users love submarines. (ok, now I'm just being sassy.)

The lazy river and other water features at Atlantis are great, too. So a Bahamas cruise or a western Caribbean would likely work well. Haven't been on an Eastern, so I can't say.