jthayek

Recently returned from a cruise with a 4 year old and 10 month old. One of the stops was St. Thomas, so I thought I'd share our experience in case it would help someone else. We were on Royal Caribbean, and we docked at Crown Bay. If you're doing something on your own, it's important to know where you are docked, because there are two cruise piers. We booked a snorkeling excursion through our travel agency before arriving. The excursion left from the OTHER cruise pier, so we needed to get ourselves over there. We did not bring any car seats or strollers with us. Once you exit the pier, there are taxis waiting. A taxi in St. Thomas is a custom pickup truck with the bed outiftted with rows of seats. It can fit 20 people and the driver will try to jam on as many people as possible. Tell the driver where you're going and he will group passengers going to similar destinations. I think we paid $8 per person for a ride to the other cruise pier, ~15 minute ride. Kids are half off or free to ride. Just pay the driver with american dollars. The driver might make stops on the way to pick up more people. From what I understand, taxi drivers in St. Thomas are notoriously bad. So just make sure they're dropping you in the place you want to be. He didn't quite get us to our intended spot - we had to get some extra help from a security guard in a golf cart. We went on a sailboat snorkeling excursion out to Buck Island to see sea turtles. The name of the company is Fury Charters. It's just a guy, his girl, and their sailboat. There were about 15 of us on the boat. Know that there are other options going out to Buck Island. This was definitely a small boat option. I saw some larger (and presumably cheaper) boats out there. If the seas are rough (which they were), you are going to feel it on this boat. The kids slept, so that was no big deal. It takes about 45-60 minutes to get out there. Sails up. Fun ride. The waters at the island are calm. We saw sea turtles and fish, so that was good. We snorkeled for about 45 minutes and then headed back. We got back in probably half the amount of time. Calmer waters heading back. They provided snorkel gear, life jackets, and pool noodles. We brought our own snorkel gear for the 4 year old to make sure we had a set that would fit her. Overall, the excursion was a fine, while not outstanding, experience. The boat was fine, the crew was fine. I think there are some things they could have done a bit better, but overall a fun experience. My biggest issue was that we had to pay full price for the kids (even the baby!). I believe we paid $130 per person. If we were to do it again, I would find one of the larger, cheaper boats to get a similar experience for much less. Heading back to our ship, we had to wander a bit to get a taxi. I wish our snorkel host would have helped us get a taxi back - he knew we needed one. Anyway, we found one, the driver made some stops looking for more riders, and we eventually made it back. If using a taxi, give yourself plenty of time, because they will wait and look for more passengers if they're not full. Enjoy your trip!

Recently returned from a Royal Caribbean cruise and the first port was Puerto Plata. I thought I'd share what worked for us in case others are going in a similar situation. We were traveling with a 4 year old and 10 month old. I believe all Royal Caribbean ships go to the Taino Bay port. I think this is preferable over the other one. We did not schedule an excursion; we just decided to stay in the port area, as I had done some research on it beforehand. There are some tuk-tuks that will drive you down the pier from the ship exit to the port area. It's free plus tip, or you could walk it. Lines for a tuk tuk could be long. The port area has shops, restaurants, bars, sidewalks, a pool, lazy river, birds, Flowrider surfing thing. If you don't plan an excursion, there is plenty to do in the port for a few hours. Top on our list of things to do was to go to the Monkey Island experience. So we went here first. It's within the port area, a 5 minute walk from the ship. They only allow 10 or so people in at a time, so get there early and get on the list. We waited about 45 minutes until it was our turn. It's not cheap - I think $25 per adult and maybe a little less for kids. You enter a fairly large caged area where the monkeys live. There are probably 20 monkeys in there. They're small, about the size of a squirrel. They'll come right up to you. The workers will show you what to do and how to get the monkeys on your head and in your hands. You can bring your phone for pictures, and the workers will also take photos and try to sell them to you later. It's a pretty quick experience - we were in there about 15 minutes. My 4 year old did not enjoy having a monkey on her head, but the baby was surprisingly OK with it. Overall, fun and memorable experience. The workers are not super friendly but they're fine. If you're a huge animal rights person, you'll probably have some issues with this. The monkeys are not mistreated, but they are in a cage. But if you're looking to get some good pictures with some monkeys, this could be worth your time and money. Other things for kids in the port area - the pool and lazy river. Both free. The pool is a little more of a party scene. DJ with thumping music. But super nice pool, plenty of chairs and some shade. The lazy river is super fun too. It's a little more quiet over there but there are chairs and a little less shade by the lazy river. Drink servers are always walking around for the adults. We ended up snagging some comfy chairs under a bar cabana in the shade. I stayed in the shade with the baby while my wife and 4 year old went swimming. That worked well, and the bartenders were totally fine with us being there even though we weren't actively ordering drinks. As you walk around, you'll see some super cool tropical birds just hanging out in the trees. You can get close and take pictures. There are bars everywhere, lots of shops but not tons of food options. We did buy a few coconuts for drinking. Credit cards are widely accepted. If you have young kids, staying in the port area is perfectly fine way to spend a few hours. You could do it without spending any money. Just splash in the pool, play in the lazy river, and then head back to the ship for food and naps.

We will be in St. George's April 24 and we thought we would rent a car to travel around for the day on our own. Have you had any good experiences with any particular providers? One walkable from the cruise pier would be preferable but it seems like most are in the Grand Anse area. Any tips?

I was also searching for info on this port and found this blog post to be helpful: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/12/27/ultimate-guide-puerto-plata-cruise-port

This is great! Thanks for the lead - we will definitely pursue this one.

Do you know of any volunteer opportunities in either PV, Cabo, or Mazatlan? I would really like to take my 3 year old to do something different in at least one of the stops. Something with kids, working with the poor, at a church, or anything else with locals. Any ideas or leads?

We are cruising on the Panorama 12/2 with 2 adults and 2 kids - 3 years and 6 months. We are flying into LGB the night before and will need a shuttle to a hotel - thinking the Hotel Maya or Residence Inn near the cruise terminal. Are these hotels walkable to the cruise terminal? Also, I'm trying to figure out the shuttle from the airport to the hotel with the kids. We have done short airport shuttles with no car seats before, but just wanted to see if anyone had suggestions for shuttles with little ones? We can't be the only ones in this position.