re: Sailing Victory with infants

[ultimate_jatt]

Going on my first cruise with wife and 15 month daughter on Victory (Southern Caribbean - St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Maarten) from San Juan, PR. Parents and brother's family coming along as well.

 

Just wondering if there are short tours (2 - 3 hrs) which can be done on any of the islands. Day trips will likely be difficult with little ones (brother has a 6 month old and 3 yr old).

 

Any suggestions would be awesome.

[runner15km]

Yes, you can customize a 2 hour island tour right on or near the pier. Trust me, the tour guides will spot you.:) Most likely you will need your own child safety seats.

[BenjiRodney]

In St Thomas we loved the island tour we did with Papa Bear from Air Force One Tours. just do a google search for them and their web site will come right up. You don't pay until the tour is over.

[Newbie41]

I don't have kids, but am going on that same cruise in a few weeks so I have done extensive research. The 6 month old and the 15 month old are too young to enjoy it, but the 3 year old would probably enjoy Coral World. It is a big aquarium on St. Thomas and a short cab ride from the pier. It is located right on the beach so there is an underwater tunnel and from the tunnel you can view all the colorful tropical fish and coral reef. Other than that there are island tours, but most of them are long so the little ones would probably not tolerate that to well. As a poster above mentioned you can hire a taxi and do your own tour. In Barbados there is a monkey preserve. The little ones would probably enjoy that. On one of the islands, and I don't remember which one, there is a butterfly farm. Look at the excursions the ship offers then do some google searches on taking them on your own with a hired taxi. That way if it gets to be too much with all the little ones you can have the taxi take you back to the ship. If you are on a group tour going back to the ship won't be an option.

[ultimate_jatt]

Thanks everyone. I'm really glad to hear that short tour options exist. Not sure how long the little ones will cooperate.

[Julz226]

Again in St. Maarten, we did a "private tour" with our cab driver, Virgin Mary when our regularly scheduled excursion was cancelled due to weather.

[Tapi]

Our son has sailed 3 times: at 12 months, 17 months and 23 months. DEFINITELY plan on taking a private tour customized to your needs.

 

The first time we sailed (when he was 12 months), we took what seemed like an "easy, infant friendly, short" tour. We booked it through the ship's desk. The tour ended up being close to 4 hours between waiting in line inside the ship, then outside the ship (with around 50 other passengers), followed by multiple delays. There were no bathrooms or changing facilities so that really added to the "non-enjoyment" of the tour. My wife almost killed me since I had been the one with the "brilliant" idea...:o

 

When we sailed again (at 17 months) we just did our own thing (BEST IDEA). At 23 months, we did our own thing again except for Belize. Since we had never been there before (and taking a tour was highly recommended), we took a Belize City Bus Tour. We were a bit skeptical, but enjoyed it greatly. Our son was now old enough and thought that being on a bus was exciting enough. We grabbed the last row on the bus and he even napped back there during part of the tour.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that even though your little one will not be able to go to Camp Carnival, they will have a few "drop off" hours while the ship is in port (usually until 12pm). It's not enough time to get away for an extended period of time or to go too far, but if you wish to do some shopping or exploring near the port area, (or you just need to take a little break), you can. There's a per hour charge for the service.

 

Here's the card from our sailing aboard the Dream, but the services on the Victory should be similar:

 

[BenjiRodney]

The Butterfly Farm is in St Maarten, Carnival offers an excursion over to it, it's on the French Side of the Island.