Carnival Victory with kids

[sadams26]

We will be on the Carnival Victory out of San Juan in April 2012. Our itinerary will be St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St Kitts, and Barbados. (not in order) We will be traveling with our kids age 8 and 4. I am trying to figure out what to do on each island.

 

We are not big shoppers, nor big drinkers. We do love the beach, snorkling, waterfall, caves, ecotrips etc. Couple of questions

1. Which island has the best snorkling if you had to pick just one?

2. Which island has the best beaches if you had to pick just one?

3. Any suggestions on tours that are kid friendly on any island. Something that isn't going to have us driving/riding all day.

 

Thanks for your help :)

[fossil2k2]

Bump, interested in hearing what people have to say...

[Family Travel Story]

I have been to most of the islands your cruise will visit, with my daughter. We started cruising with her when she was 2 and now will be doing our 8th with her in April (7 years old now).

In St. Thomas, I would actually hit 2 excursions, both are great with kids. As soon as you get off the ship, walk about 200 yards down the pier and their is a boat called the Screaming Eagle. This is a fast paced, fun jet boat tour of the harbor. It only lasts about 45 minutes, but it is so much fun that when we go back to St. Thomas, we do it every time. In fact, we will be doing it for the 5th time this April, and taking our friends 2 kids with us. Also, I think the best beach you will see on your cruise in St. Thomas, Megan's Bay. It is only a short taxi/bus ride and the water is so calm, and scenery is so pristine, you can't loose. I believe it is also listed as one of the world's top 10 beaches by just about every list.

St. Lucia is the prettiest island that I have ever been to in the Caribbean, and if you put me on some the most beautiful areas of Hawaii (which I have also been to) I might have a hard time telling you if I was back in St. Lucia. This is a great island to just take a tour as there is so much to see, especially those twin peaks.

St. Martin is my wife and daughter's favorite island. The snorkeling is really good there. This is also a good island for you to snorkel, because so many other people will be flocking to Front Street to shop. Last time there, we did a catamaran and snorkel tour on the Golden Eagle. We have also done the butterfly farm on St. Martin, which is fun for kids, but it is a longer bus ride.

To be honest, in St Kitts, there is not a ton to do with kids. It is known as the island with 360 beaches and golf courses. I have been to some of the beaches and although their are many, I have not found any to be anything special, particularly compared to Megan's Bay in St. Thomas, or Trunk Bay in St. John.

I have never been to Barbados, and it is the next island on our wish list, so perhaps someone else who has done a few southern Caribbean cruises can chime in.

I hope this helps and have a great time!

[Ms411]

St Thomas - Coral World and Coki Beach

St Lucia - Our Planet interactive exhibit

St Kitts - South Friar's Beach so they can see monkeys. There's also a bat cave hike in the rainforest if they can climb a rope.

Barbados - Harrison Cave or maybe a gulley hike

St Martin - Maho Beach to see planes land and snorkeling

[kimmcc69]

Now that you've been, do you have any tips. Our 10 and 8 year old boys will be with us on this cruise in November. Did you utilize Camp Carnival and if so what were your thoughts and how did the kids like it?

[sadams26]

You are going to love the ports! We didn't do camp carnival. We figured with all the busy itenerary why bother. There was only one day at sea which we spent swimming and sliding, ping pong, golf etc. I did talk to a couple who used the camp canival while they were in port. It allowed them some adult time doing rum tours etc. We wanted our kids to see the different islands/cultures so we took them with us. Plus we were traveling with grandparents which allowed us to have some time without the kids. We went to Saphire Beach in St. Thomas. It got busy by the end of the day, but it was well worth it. Beautiful beach with snorkel rentals, facilities and lots of iguanas.

In Barbados we did our favorite tour. We snorkeled with the turtles. We booked with a local man names Stephen Tryhane http://www.thriller-ocean-tours@caribsurf.com We and another family enjoyed a half day trip by boat to 3 different snorkel spots. Every spot we were the only ones there. Swam with about 10 turtles. I highly reccommend this trip. I did a full review of this trip here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1616788 St Lucia was our least favorite island. The island was beautiful, but we could go a minute without being asked to buy something. If I went back I'd try to find a private beach and pay to be left alone. I expect to have people wanting to sell me things, but this was extreme. St Kitts was our 2nd favorite island. We went early to the Brimstone Fortress. We got there when it opened. It was awesome. Spents about an hour there, then went to Shipwreck Beach. There we say monkies and mongoose. LOVED the beach, and the little snack bar. The food was good and you cant beat the location. Great day! St. Martin we did a island tour then parked it at Maho beach. Crowded, but well worth it to see those planes land. The water was beautiful. The trip went by sooo fast. It was the best cruise weve been on so far. Hope that helps... and have fun.

[kimmcc69]

Thanks so much for all the info. We have a bunch of the same type of excursions planned. St. Lucia is the only island I am leary about because we have an all day tour planned and I'm not sure how the kids will handle it. Hopefully good because a boat ride is included. I had already contacted Stephen, but he said that tour only goes out at noon. Was this the time you went out? I was hoping for an earlier trip to see the turtles.

[luvdisney2010]

Now that you've been, do you have any tips. Our 10 and 8 year old boys will be with us on this cruise in November. Did you utilize Camp Carnival and if so what were your thoughts and how did the kids like it?

 

We were on the Victory in November. DS was almost 8 then. He only went the one sea day, but he said he really liked it. He is very picky about kids' clubs and will not go if he does not like them. It must have been above average at least for him to say that he liked it. We just got off a cruise Sunday, and he refused to go to that club.

[kimmcc69]

Thanks LuvDisney2010. At sea and possible one or two dinners are all we are hoping they will want to go there for. Were there many kids on the cruise when you went in November? We are going early in November and are wondering how many kids will really be on the cruise to begin with.