To excursion or not excursion?

[Hayduke]

Heading to the Easter Caribbean in April aboard the Fantasy. We’re a 10-member multi-generational family (4-70 is our age range), and I’m simply not finding any excursions that fit the group or our interests. Either they’re too action focused that the young ones can’t participate, or too “cultural” to keep the whole group interested.

(btw I’m looking both at DCL and Viator excursions)

I think the only ones that really make sense for us are beach/lounge focused ones. But that said, we’re really not up for anything resembling a party or otherwise crowded or noisy atmosphere. I don’t want to be fighting others for beach chairs, deal with people chain smoking near us, or be hassled into constant upcharges and scams.

The Cabanas in Cozumel look like our speed, but we’d have to get two to accommodate our group and that’s getting pretty spendy. Now I’m thinking that we might be happier with going to a resort through resort for a day pass. Curious what others opinions of that are?

A beach excursion to some place on 7-mile in the Caymans looks nice, but it’s a big beach with a lot of choices.

I’m at a total loss for Falmouth—so I’m guessing we may just stay on the ship. It’s too bad as I really appreciate Jamaican food and culture, but none of the excursions I can find would accommodate our crew. It also doesn’t sound like leaving the embarkation area in search of some traditional Jerk would be a safe choice.

Id love to hear any advice veteran cruisers have!

 

[OKW Lover]

Are you committed to all going on the excursions together? Perhaps one generation might prefer a day on board or shopping instead?

 

[Travel60]

Do you have to all do the same thing? We've traveled multi-gen and let everyone pick what they wanted to do in each port....almost always some overlap but paired up differently in each port. Obviously parent/ grandparent picks for and accompanies youngest.

 

[NKHarris329]

Not everyone has to do the same thing. Family vacations are great, group activities are great, always having to be at an activity with every member of the family at all times while on a family vacation is unnecessary and stressful. I'd give the people attending the option to choose between 2-3 activities and let people decide what they want to do.

 

[Hayduke]

I suppose that splitting up does make sense. When trying to plan ahead it’s a little harder to see who will want to do what that’s different so I’ve been thinking about us as a whole group.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

Heading to the Easter Caribbean in April aboard the Fantasy.

I’m at a total loss for Falmouth—so I’m guessing we may just stay on the ship. It’s too bad as I really appreciate Jamaican food and culture, but none of the excursions I can find would accommodate our crew. It also doesn’t sound like leaving the embarkation area in search of some traditional Jerk would be a safe choice.

Id love to hear any advice veteran cruisers have!

Do you mean Western Caribbean? Falmouth, Jamaica is not in the Eastern itinerary.

Regarding Falmouth, you might consider spending some time at Margaritaville. Inside the gated port area. Free admission. Big pool. I thought prices for food and drink were reasonable. Not an immersive Jamaica experience, but might work for your group.

 

[mrp4352]

The nice thing about splitting up is that it gives everyone something to talk about at dinner, too!

 

[aggiedog]

The nice thing about splitting up is that it gives everyone something to talk about at dinner, too!

We split our family for excursions in Finland on our Baltic cruise and the folks that did the speedboat tour had the rest of us laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. LOL

Definitely look at splitting. There will be almost nothing that everyone will want to do. We travel in a family of 8, ages 10-75, and very few excursions make everyone happy. I'd consider one "all together" beach day. Are you responsible for signing everyone up? If not, I'd just send out an email with the options and let people pick and choose. If you are the family travel agent, I'd give them fewer options and let them choose.

 

[GPaLarry]

We usually go with either our son's family and/or our daughter's. During the planning stage we (wife & I) put down the excursions we want to do in each port, while the other family(s) put down theirs...then we compare and contrast to finalize. Sometimes we match up...two out of four ports ain't bad. As mentioned above, this gives you all great adventures to discuss at dinner. Cruise on...

 

[Hayduke]

Do you mean Western Caribbean? Falmouth, Jamaica is not in the Eastern itinerary.

Regarding Falmouth, you might consider spending some time at Margaritaville. Inside the gated port area. Free admission. Big pool. I thought prices for food and drink were reasonable. Not an immersive Jamaica experience, but might work for your group.

Oops you are right, I did mean Western Caribbean.

Would Margaritaville better than just staying on the ship? Seems like traveling all that way just to go to an American restaurant would be somewhat of a letdown. Maybe not leaving the ship would be either.

 

[MrMichaelJames]

One rule about going with a lot of people spanning ages and families: 1 person does not have to take on the responsibility of lining up entertainment for the entire group. Leave it up to the individuals or families to plan their own time. Its way too much of a hassle. We are thinking of a family cruise next year but the rule will be, I'm not planning for anyone but my own immediate family. I'll tell them what cruise and what our room is but that's it.

 

[disneymomma76]

We did the Eastern 7-night July 2019. We didn't do a single excursion at Tortola or St. Thomas. We did get off the ship to explore, but only for an hour or two. Being on the ship when most people disembark was AAAAAMAZING! We had our choice of lounge chairs at both the family areas and adult only areas. Cabanas was not crowded at all. The kids loved riding the AquaDuck with no line. The main areas were clear of people and we got a lot of good pictures. We are doing the Western 7-night this July and will probably do the same thing. Disembark to explore on foot and then have the ship to ourselves.

 

[dprincessmom]

Oops you are right, I did mean Western Caribbean.

Would Margaritaville better than just staying on the ship? Seems like traveling all that way just to go to an American restaurant would be somewhat of a letdown. Maybe not leaving the ship would be either.

We are a similar situation 5-75 with 5 people and it's hard. I think we have nailed down Cayman (The jeep tour where you drive yourself as part of a caravan and see the sights then a little beach time). Jamaica we are leaning heavily toward the port/Margaritaville option and Cozumel we might split up and have one group hang at the ship, and one group go for a little more adventure. We were considering the Chocolate and Pinatas at Cozumel which looks like it would be fun for the whole family but we are opting for the jeep tour which is a little pricey.

 

[Quellman]

Consider a private boat charter. I know you have not clarified if you are doing Eastern or Western. We did a private boat in the Caymans for just 4 of us. We had individual attention, great service, beat crowds, flexible itineraries. The cost per person especially for a large group would be quite cheap as well.

 

[Hayduke]

Consider a private boat charter. I know you have not clarified if you are doing Eastern or Western. We did a private boat in the Caymans for just 4 of us. We had individual attention, great service, beat crowds, flexible itineraries. The cost per person especially for a large group would be quite cheap as well.

Oooh, I do like this idea. The one caveats is they seem quite focused on snorkeling and I’m not sure if the kids will be able to at this point.

 

[Dug720]

Heading to the Easter Caribbean in April aboard the Fantasy. We’re a 10-member multi-generational family (4-70 is our age range), and I’m simply not finding any excursions that fit the group or our interests. Either they’re too action focused that the young ones can’t participate, or too “cultural” to keep the whole group interested.

(btw I’m looking both at DCL and Viator excursions)

I think the only ones that really make sense for us are beach/lounge focused ones. But that said, we’re really not up for anything resembling a party or otherwise crowded or noisy atmosphere. I don’t want to be fighting others for beach chairs, deal with people chain smoking near us, or be hassled into constant upcharges and scams.

The Cabanas in Cozumel look like our speed, but we’d have to get two to accommodate our group and that’s getting pretty spendy. Now I’m thinking that we might be happier with going to a resort through resort for a day pass. Curious what others opinions of that are?

A beach excursion to some place on 7-mile in the Caymans looks nice, but it’s a big beach with a lot of choices.

I’m at a total loss for Falmouth—so I’m guessing we may just stay on the ship. It’s too bad as I really appreciate Jamaican food and culture, but none of the excursions I can find would accommodate our crew. It also doesn’t sound like leaving the embarkation area in search of some traditional Jerk would be a safe choice.

Id love to hear any advice veteran cruisers have!

I’m confused... I thought Falmouth was on the Western itinerary. You say you are doing Eastern, so no worries about Falmouth.

I agree with others who say “Do you all have to do the same thing?” Why not let people make their own decisions?

 

[Hayduke]

Yep sorry, I was incorrect, Western it is.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We did a private boat charter in the Caymans and, while we did a little snorkeling (it was WAY too rough and I would not recommend it for inexperienced swimmers), visiting the manta rays and going to starfish beach was fun - those two components might be worth looking at with your group. Our boat captain then took us to a lovely dockside restaurant for lunch. If you are considering resort-for-a-day at the other ports, you may to just stay onboard quite honestly. In Falmouth, you could just stay within the gated port area to poke around a little.

 

[Quellman]

Oooh, I do like this idea. The one caveats is they seem quite focused on snorkeling and I’m not sure if the kids will be able to at this point.

They do not have to be. For ours in the Caymans it was myself, my wife, my 6 year old with limited swimming ability, and our 1 year old. I crafted it so we did not do any snorkeling, though I did for a few minutes. We did line fishing on the way to the stingrays. My son caught barracuda. We spent time at sting ray city with Freckles the sting ray (and I snokeled a little). Both my wife and son got in the water. We then went fishing off a reef before heading to starfish point to hold starfish, which everyone enjoyed.

 

[Hayduke]

They do not have to be. For ours in the Caymans it was myself, my wife, my 6 year old with limited swimming ability, and our 1 year old. I crafted it so we did not do any snorkeling, though I did for a few minutes. We did line fishing on the way to the stingrays. My son caught barracuda. We spent time at sting ray city with Freckles the sting ray (and I snokeled a little). Both my wife and son got in the water. We then went fishing off a reef before heading to starfish point to hold starfish, which everyone enjoyed.

That sounds perfect. Do you mind letting me know how you booked it (and what operator)? DCL shows one that is crazy expensive (over $2k) that can’t accommodate our whole group. Viator has a variety of options that mostly seem viable.