Caribbean Cruise Day Trip Suggestions?

Question

Will be going on a Caribbean Cruise in the spring and want to start planning my day trips for the 4 islands we will be visiting.

First stop is Aruba, then Curacao. What are some good beaches to visit on these islands? Preferably one that little kids can swim at and have some type of restaurant or beach bar.

Next stop is St Maarten. I'm thinking of taking the ferry to Anguilla for the day but I'm not sure yet. I've heard the beaches on Anguilla are fantastic, how are they on St. Maarten? Has anyone been to both islands and can tell which they preferred and why?

Already planning on going to St John when we stop in St Thomas.

Are they any other tours or great experiences on these islands anyone can tell me about? Keep in mind we'll have three kids with our group - ages from 4 to 6.

Answer 1

First of all, check and see what your cruiseline/ship offers in the way of excursions. See if there are any that interest you.

Narrow it down and then, like another person suggested...head on over to http://boards.cruisecritic.com and chat it up with other ppl who've actually been to these islands, on these excursions, or have booked independent excursions. These people really know the ins and outs of the ports and can help you out much better than anyone on Yahoo! Answers.

Make sure you know what cruiseline, ship, and date you're sailing on to make it easier for people to give you suggestions over there at Cruise Critic. It'll make it easier for you to find the right board too, to post on.

Answer 2

First of all, though I have never been to Curacao, the other islands you mentioned are my favorites. Aruba is beautiful, and St. Maarten has some of the prettiest beaches in the World. St. Thomas is quaint, but also a great place to visit. I went to St. John and the water and beach were perfect, a great place for adults and kids alike. Palm Beach on Aruba is known as "Aruba's best fun beach" with the amenities you mentioned. I have not been to Anguilla, but I don't think you will be disappointed with St. Maarten. Have Fun!!

Answer 3

I had some ideas for you until I saw the part about the very young ones. Go to CruiseCritic.com and click on "Boards" then "Ports of Call" for some great info on these islands. Also check the "Roll Call" for your cruise date - you may find some people to do trips with, if you need a minimum number, say.

BTW, going to Anguilla from your stop in St. Maarten may be difficult unless you have a lot of time in port, especially with little ones. There probably won't be any ship's excursions there so you'd be "on your own" - rather risky, I think.

On Curacao, Porto Mari is supposed to be beautiful, but it costs $40 each way for a cab and you need to arrange to have your driver come back for you [ours didn't want to do that and that was too much for just the two of us]. We went to Jan Thiel beach, which might be a good choice for kids. That was $25 each way and she came back for us, right on time.

St. John has a great hike in the National Park, down to deserted beaches [no facilities], called Lind Point Trail. But not with little ones [it's not a difficult hike, but it's about a mile and, as I said, no facilities at all].

Have a great time!

Answer 4

i have visited st maarten, st john and st Thomas many times and have done many tours. problem is all the really good stuff i have done isn't really suitable for young children.
if its beaches your after then i would recommend going to the french side st martin (just make sure you don't go to the famous nude beach) I'm guessing you'll dock in phillipsburg there is a small beach there close to all the shopping.
st Thomas has many great beaches, first up you've got Megan's bay (voted in the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean) or if you prefer somewhere more quiet the you have emerald beach. short drive from crown bay. (port)
i can suggest going to paradise point on the sky ride, its in havenside, cable car takes you to a great view point where you can have lunch do some shopping and they have a great little bird show up there that the kids would like.
st john is just beautiful.
have a great time

Answer 5

We are also going to some of these locations this spring. Traveling with 5, 7 year olds. I was told to see Coral World and
Magen’s Bay Beach. I looked at excursions on this website:
shoretrips.com.

They are expensive so we'll probably just do the same type of trip using cabs and paying ourselves. This is what we've done on other cruises. You end up seeing people from your cruise and know that you paid 1/3 the cost and a lot less hassle. Your own time frame etc.

Keep in mind too that you'll need some unscheduled time with kids this little.

have fun. We cruises with our kids at 4 and 6 too. It's a lot of fun.

Answer 6

My suggestion is to not book any excursions on the boat but instead check the web for excursions available. For example, google "stingray swimming Cozumel" or "tours Grand Cayman". The tours when purchaed on board are typically double what you pay for at the dock. I don't care for the Western Carribean. We have done it twice and the ports aren't that good but Grand Cayman wh have not been to and I suspect it will be fine. We once booked a stingray adventure - $25 each and they wanted $55 on board. Our boat went right next to the ones from the cruise ships, same equipment, same process.

Answer 7

my hubby and i went to some of the beaches you are looking into, there is shell beach and i know there are others but cant remember all of them it was awhile ago. but you can go onto the visitors website of the places and they tell you things about each place. all i know it is a nice place for adults but i am not too sure about kids . see what the Cruise line offers. try WNW. ncl.com and orbit's.com too.

Answer 8

St John is great!

Answer 9

Check out cruisecritics.com and post your question there. Lots of veteran cruisers love to share their experiences.