Recommendations for excursions with 22 mo old?

[HHW]

We are travelling with our 22 mo. old in Sept. on the Explorer( Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel, Grand Cayman)...Can anyone recommend excursions you planned for your family that were kid friendly? I thought I read a post about Cayman Stingray City glass bottom boat and swim tour, and Dolphins in Cozumel? Any recommendations of how to book these excursions outside of the cruiseline?

 

Thank you.:)

[dosi]

Quite honestly I wouldn't book an excursion of any type while travelling with a young child. Our son has been cruising since he was 2 and we have yet to book any excursions at all. The primary reason is that I don't want to be stuck somewhere with an unhappy little boy. Tummy upsets, mood swings and general crankiness can and do happen. In Caymen we had a cab take us to Smith Cove which is a little more than a mile from where the tenders land. We asked our cab driver to come back in 2 hours and sure enough she showed up. If she hadn't it was only about a mile and we could have easily walked back to the port.

 

In Cozumel we do Paradise Beach. You take a cab there and back and are free to leave at any time you want.

 

In Costa Maya we took the city "bus" for $5 each (I think). The bus drops you in the beach area. There are tons of chairs and lounges with plenty of umbrellas. The merchants love kids and for the price of a few Coronas you have a great day at the shore.

 

Usually my DH, who is an avid diver, books a couple of dives independent of the ship and while he is diving my little boy and I just explore the town on foot.

 

I do recommend that you make sure you can easily get back to the ship if you need to. Also keep in mind that the safety regulations of water craft in other countries is not the same as our own. I know that some of the boat and snorkle trips sound great but unless someone here can specifically recommend a vendor as having a ship that is child safe I would really think twice. It won't be very much fun for you if you have to constantly keep your baby from dangerous edges and railings that he/she might slip through. I am guessing this probably more info than you really wanted but I have seen some really unhappy over heated kids come back from excursions that were just too much for them to handle. I hope you have a wonderful trip!!!

[speakupjc]

My 21 month child loves excursions. We have her booked on the Stingray tour and I am sure we will probably book the trip where she can interat with Dolphins. She just loves animals. Our recommendation is to take along plenty of refreshments for your child.

[serene56]

http://www.cozumelinsider.com for dolphin excursions- (i think you have tobe a certain age for this-- or maybe a certain height?

 

anyway--in grand cayman there is the Turtle farm. Its not a long excursion- it takes maybe 30 mintues to get through the whole place. http://www.turtle.ky/

[boatbunny]

Hi HHW,

 

We are actually going on Explorer on the same route in 2 weeks. We have a 5 and 8 year old, but my oldest was 18 months old on her first cruise. On that cruise we stopped at GC and Cozumel as well. In GC we had taken the Atlantis submarine ride, I highly recommend it. My daughter loved being able to look out the windows and see the fish and being underwater. We have also done an Atlantis submarine ride in Maui, they have excellent service.

Here is the website for Atlantis, you can also book directly through them:

 

http://www.atlantisadventures.com/destinations.php?site=5

 

In Cozumel, we had actually done a 4X4 Jeep Safari. Now, I was a little nervous about a rough ride with such a young child, but we also had my inlaws with us. So, we had 1 jeep for all 4 adults and put my daughter in the back seat in the middle of us. She did very well, and honestly, the jeeps didn't go that fast nor was it really bumpy. But, I would understand someone being a little concerned with this one. I believe Atlantis is also in Cozumel if you opted for beach time in GC and did submarine in Cozumel.

 

The sun is Mexico is very hot, so make sure whatever you do that you have a lot of sunscreen, a good hat with enough shade over the face. We took a lot of snacks, juice boxes, bottled water, etc. for her. She did not eat any food outside of the ship, just because I knew her stomach couldn't handle anything foreign. So, I brought along a loaf of bread, some peanut butter, goldfish, crackers, fruit (from the ship) for her to snack on during the day.

 

From what I understand about Belize, it is still very much a third world country. It is highly suggested that if you are getting off the ship, you do so as part of a scheduled excursion. So, I would not suggest getting off the boat to find a beach on your own. We are taking an excursion through Coral Breezes on a snorkeling/stingray/shark excursion, this might still be a little too much for a 22 month old, but they also have a beach excursion to Caye Caulker which is suppose to be absolutely beautiful (and I think you can snorkel from the beach as well)

 

http://www.coralbreezelimited.com/current_category.15/tours_category.html

 

As for Costa Maya, we are going to Majahual to the beach. It is suppose to be a beautiful beach, only a 5 min drive from the cruise ships, so you are not that far if you have to get back in a hurry if she gets grumpy, etc.

 

RCCL is very accomodating when traveling with kids. We are a pretty adventorous family, and one of the best parts of cruising to us is the ability to experience all the different islands, so not doing excursions is just not a thought that passes over us.

 

Have a great trip, feel free to email me with any other questions about traveling with a young child:

smdbelskis@prodigy.net

 

I'll be happy to give you more tips after we return to help you make some decisions as well (ie: port safety)

 

Michelle

[I&MsMom]

Hi! We were in Belize and Cozumel in January with our then 25 month old.

 

In Belize, we walked over to the water taxi (a short walk of less than 5 minutes) and went to Caye Caulker. Once you get away from the cruise pier (where the vendors are fairly aggressive), everyone was friendly and busy going about their own business. No one bothered us. The one caveat about this plan is that it took longer than we had planned to tender in, and we missed a taxi by about 10 minutes, and had to wait almost 90 minutes for the next one. This substantially impacted our time on the island. Also, if you do your own thing, make sure you understand the difference between ship time and island time!

 

In Cozumel, we too went to Paradise Beach. It is very nice, with clean facilities. This is not a negative comment, just an observation: we felt we could have been on a beach pretty much anywhere in that there was little uniquely Mexican about it. But that's just style, not substance.

 

In any event, whatever you decide, enjoy your trip with your little one!

[dishealth11]

Where did you pick up the refreshments?

 

 

 

My 21 month child loves excursions. We have her booked on the Stingray tour and I am sure we will probably book the trip where she can interat with Dolphins. She just loves animals. Our recommendation is to take along plenty of refreshments for your child.

[dosi]

Where did you pick up the refreshments?

I pack juice boxes and also small cartons of flavored milk. Horizon Organics makes great packs of milk that are juice box sized and require no refrigeration until they are opened. They come in great flavors like orange, banana and strawberry. My little boy loves them. The vanilla flavor is also very good in coffee in a pinch!!

 

Additionally we bring animal crackers and gold fish. Make sure you put them in tupperware containers or you will end up with nothing but crumbs :p .

 

You know I am surprised you didn't do a search on this topic, maybe Shoreguy could steer you in the right direction. :D :D :D