Disney Fantasy - Eastern Caribbean - First Family Vacation

[millertimecruising]

We will be venturing out on the Disney Fantasy on June 1st. This will also be our first big family vacation (5 & 9 year olds). I'm looking for suggestions of what we can do in St. Maarten and St. Thomas/St. John. Also, for those who have cruised on Disney with kids, are the rumors true about the kids clubs. Are they really that amazing????

[Jeffnewc]

We went with our 13 year old daughter and we hardly ever saw her. She instantly had 4 or 5 friends and said the best thing about the cruise other than the amazing ship was the freedom! She loved the kid's clubs and the ratio was 15-17 kids total to the 4 or 5 counselors, what a ratio huh?

[rktilleryj]

We have cruised on the Dream a couple of times with our 6yo son. He loves the kids clubs - so much that on more than one ocasion he would get mad at us when we would come by to take him out. The facilities are pretty awesome and we were always impressed with the staff.

[millertimecruising]

Good information, Jeffnewc and rktilleryj!

 

Have either one of you been to St. Thomas and/or St. Maarteen? If so, do you have any family friendly excursions that you would recommend?

[ilovetexas]

We did the Fantasy Western last year and you're in for a real treat, it's a beautiful ship! As to kids clubs, we didn't have our kids with us on the Fantasy and they usually don't do clubs anyway, but the activities looked like a lot of fun to me.

 

As for those ports, I can't comment as I've never been to them. You may want to go over to the Ports of Call board and see what others are saying:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

 

That's a link to the caribbean and you can just scroll down and find the specific locations you want to research.

[CariBear]

In St. Maarten I would suggest a stop at Maho Beach to see the planes land....as both my son and daughter ( 3 & 8 at the time) enjoyed it. In St Thomas my family made their way to St John and onto Trunk Bay for the day. We did this independently and it was very easy....but took some time.

[Scrapnana]

In St. Thomas my daughter, son-in-law, and grankids (2 and 7) went to Magens Bay. They were going to go on the Disney excursion but decided to go on their own. They did not have the reserved seats (had to pay separate for these) but still did it for half the cost. The water was beautiful and the kids had a lot of fun.

[SDJen]

You are going to have so much fun! My daughter and I did an Eastern cruise on the Magic last year in Feb. Different ship but same ports. We are booked for the Fantasy Eastern in Feb 2014 and cannot wait!

 

Here are the excursions we did:

 

St. Maarten - on our own took a taxi to the Butterfly farm and then walked to a perfect kid - friendly beach called Le Galion. The butterfly farm and beach are very close to Orient Bay which is a popular place. We asked the cab driver and she dropped us off right after dropping people off at Orient Bay. The butterly farm was neat but the beach is awsome!! No nudity and in a protected cove so very little waves and shallow. You can rent a chair and umbrella for about $10 and there is a good beachside eatery with food and drinks. Then just take a taxi back to the port. Very fun and also pretty budget friendly.

 

St. Thomas - we did the Disney excursion to Coral World that included the semi sub tour. We really enjoyed this too. Coral World isnt too big so you can pretty much see everything. My daughters favorite was feeding the birds in the aviary there. Also had a really nice gift shop! I didnt feel like the cost was too high considering what we got for the money spent.

 

Castaway Cay - we shared a Cabana with another family - AWESOME. And, we also did the stingray excursion which I would highly recommend too.

 

Happy planning and have a great time!

[2prettygirls]

Do you know who they booked the Meagens Bay excursion through?

[2prettygirls]

We are booked on the Disney Fantasy for January 2014, first Disney cruise for our family! We just got back home a couple weeks ago from an Easter Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Dream. We LOVED the Eastern Caribbean that we are going back in Jan. 2014.

 

In St. Thomas we booked an excurions through the cruiseline to Meagen's Bay and it was BEAUTIFUL!! Our 2 kids (ages 6 & 3) loved the water and beach time there. Highly recommend going here, as it's rated as one of the top 10 beachs in the Nation and it's definately a treat! But if you can book outside the cruiseline, I am sure you will save some money. St. Thomas also has an amazing shopping area at Havensight mall, right off of the pier.

 

In St. Maarten we booked independently through a company called Benards Travel Tours. I was skeptical on booking outside the cruiseline but after reading hundreds of reviews on this company, we decided to give it a try. It was fabulous! The tour itself was very informative and we got to see so much of this beautiful island. The tour guide was wonderful, gave us so much information and did so well accomdating everyone on the bus. They provided drinks (soda, water, and rum punch) on the bus, then we got to see both the French and Dutch sides of the island and we stopped at 2 beaches...Orient Beach and Maho beach. We had our 2 kids with us and they will not stop at Orient Beach where nudity is allowed due to kids being on the bus but they will take your further down and you will have the option to walk that direction if you wish. Maho beach was neat just to see the planes fly in but other than that, we didn't care much for it. Not a lot of play room for the kids. Orient beach was nice but once again, it just didn't compare to Meagens Bay in St. Thomas. But the tour was very nice.

 

Since we plan to go back, we hope to do a few things differently. We want to go back to Meagens Bay but will book on our own next time. As for St. Maarten, we have read great things about a beach right off of the pier called Great Bay beach...in walking distance from where the ship will dock and heard it's great.

[millertimecruising]

Thanks, 2prettygirls! That's some good information. I've been reading up on Saphire Beach in St. Thomas which sounds amazing. People have been taking taxi's to the beach and saving quite a bit of money doing it that way. Do you know anything about this beach? Also, you mentioned that in St. Maarten going on the Bernard Tours which I've read quite a few reviews on and sounds like a good deal and I'm considering the same tour that you went on with Bernard. Tell me a little bit more about Orient beach and being dropped off at a different location because of having young kids. My kids will be 9 and 5 at the time we are there.

[2prettygirls]

I don't know anything about Sapphire Beach but I too have been reading up on it and considering that as our next beach if we don't go back to Meagens Bay. Meagens Bay was beautiful but we want to experience something different next time. I will say this, out of the 4 beaches we went to on that cruise, Meagens was the best one. The waters were calm, the tour there was great. We stopped at a look out point and it was gorgeous! But you are correct, you can take a taxi on your own and get the same thing cheaper. That's what we are considering for our next trip to St. Thomas in 2014.

 

Benards I would HIGHLY recommend for a family excursion. The company itself is very accomodating and the driver we had was phenomenal! They provided the drinks on the bus, they made sure everyone was happy, it was great! We stopped at a tower overlooking the ocean and it was a gorgeous view! We met a man who takes sea urchins from the ocean and shows them off to the tourist there at the look out point, my kids loved that....they got to hold a live starfish, sea urchin, etc. We went to an iguana farm, another hit with the kids and may I remind you I have girly girls so for them to enjoy these things was mind blowing. We stopped on the French side to experience a market along the water way, just a brief stop to get out, browse, shop, get a bite to eat, etc...thinking 30 min there. Then we went to Maho beach where the airplanes are, once again not our favorite but it was a cool experience to see the planes come in and take off right there. Orient Beach was very nice. Benards will not drop you off on the full nudity optional side, regardless of who is on the bus. They have a cabana/hut that they drop you off at on the "topless optional" side and Benards allows everyone, regardless of age, to have 1 free drink on them there. We were only there for 1.5 to 2 hours I believe but it was a great amount of time for the kids to play. The waves were rather big that day but we all still enjoyed it. There were a few topless beach goers but to be honest, my kids never noticed, they were too busy playing in the water. Being the option is there, you will more than likely come across some that choose to go that route but it didn't seem like it was over populated by it. :-) Benards gives a great tour, you won't be sorry!

 

I hope this helps!

[millertimecruising]

That's awesome! Thanks for the feedback on Benard's. I am defintely starting to lean more towards this tour with them. How far in advance do you book with Benard's? I noticed that there is only a $5 deposit pp but can you pay it in full ahead of time as well?

[2prettygirls]

We booked about 1 month prior to our cruise and paid the $5 deposit per person and then we paid the remainder at their booth that you meet at the day of tour. If you have any questions regarding payment, tour, etc, you can send them an email (go to their webpage for this address) and they will respond fast.

[ladeeesquire]

We've done Bernard's twice and surprisingly the two tours were very different. You actually don't have to book it in advance, you can just walk off the ship and book the tour then. They have drivers available and will whisk you away in minutes. Bernard is a very gentlemanly man. Nice and calm. The first time we went our dd was only 2.5 yrs old, the second she was 4. Very nice day each time. Orient Beach is a nice beach but a bit crowded. Some are bothered by the nude side but we don't care about such things. You will almost assuredly see topless women on the clothing side. My only complaint is that it was quite windy both times we were there, not sure if its just the location on the island or what. For sure you should go feed the iguana and see the planes land on maho. These are the classic st maartin experiences.

 

I agree, the fantasy is a beautiful ship! we sailed western carib the first week of jan and enjoyed ourselves although we did get sick. :( I thought the kids clubs were nice. They're big! Lots and lots of kids and I think for some that may be a bit overwhelming. I liked the staff a lot though and they do have a fairly constant string of activities going on. This may be the fuddy duddy in me but I wish there was a bit less emphasis on the computer games and such but I'm probably in the minority on that one.

[LeeW]

We will be venturing out on the Disney Fantasy on June 1st. This will also be our first big family vacation (5 & 9 year olds). I'm looking for suggestions of what we can do in St. Maarten and St. Thomas/St. John. Also, for those who have cruised on Disney with kids, are the rumors true about the kids clubs. Are they really that amazing????

 

St Thomas is one of the best places in the Caribbean for snorkeling, so if your kids want to see fish, this is it. The full-day catamaran tours to St Johns go to some of the better areas, but other tours are also good. Turtle cove on Buck Island is pretty good, and the Disney tour then goes to Honeymoon Beach on Water Island. Very sheltered beach on the island just off Charlotte Amalie with almost no people. Magens Bay is a beautiful beach, but can be crowded.

 

Search for "Water Island" on the web and you will get a ton of information on St Thomas activities.

[millertimecruising]

Thanks, LeeW! Since my kids just really want to play on the beach and swim around. I'm leaning towards Magen's Bay or Sapphire. I looked up what other ships are going to be in port on the same day and there is only one so I'm thinking Magen's Bay. Do you have suggestions for St. Marteen? I've been looking into Bernard Tours and doing a tour of the island with a couple of beach stops.

[ilovetexas]

I'm glad I commented on this thread earlier so I'm subscribed to it, I just booked an Eastern for next month!! Not DCL, but the info on Bernards and the various beaches will be helpful. My DH said a big NO to Orient Beach, even without the kids. :D

[millertimecruising]

ilovetexas, I'm glad you commented on this thread as well! If you remember please come back to this thread after your cruise and tell me all about your experience! Which cruise line did you book with? Have fun!:D

[buzzmom]

We have cruised twice when Disney including 1 eastern cruise when are children were the same age. We did doubloon tour in st Thomas and loved it! We are also going this year June 1st and have booked tour with Bernard in st marten. Have heard lots of great things about the tour. Good luck!

[ilovetexas]

ilovetexas, I'm glad you commented on this thread as well! If you remember please come back to this thread after your cruise and tell me all about your experience! Which cruise line did you book with? Have fun!:D

 

Oops, sorry, I just saw this. We will be on the Celebrity Silhouette in mid March. No kids, just me and DH. We try to do a vacation without them once a year. Celebrity isn't a heavily traveled line by young kids but it's spring break time so there will be some. I'll try to notice where they go in ports. We will be in St Maarten and St Thomas as well!

[barbaro_3003]

Hey Millertimecrusing! We are on the same sailing! I have 7 and 8 y/o daughters that know we are going on a cruise, but not on a Disney cruise. We are all very excited for this trip, as it will be the first time my wife and I have been on a cruise ship since 1998!

[CI66774]

OP - can't recommend anything extraordinary in St. Thomas/St. Maarten (quite possibly due to the Mind Erasers I drank before each excursion - but that's another story). I can tell you the kid's club is huge and somewhat chaotic. The kids can go back and forth between the two clubs and there is a lot for them to do. The counselors were great and the Disney characters would make appearances. But it was soooo busy and so loud that I had to go have a martini just to calm myself after dropping off the little girl. :D One negative - the wrist "band" she had to wear rubbed against her little wrist and created a scab-type thing. But the facilities are clean and lovely.

[millertimecruising]

Hey Millertimecrusing! We are on the same sailing! I have 7 and 8 y/o daughters that know we are going on a cruise, but not on a Disney cruise. We are all very excited for this trip, as it will be the first time my wife and I have been on a cruise ship since 1998!

 

Well, welcome aboard! We are very excited as well and are counting down the days! Have you booked any excursions? We have booked a snorkel/beach tour at Trunk Bay in St. John. There are a couple of others that we are wanting to do but have been "sold out" and I'm told to keep checking back because sometimes they become available.

[barbaro_3003]

W Have you booked any excursions? We have booked a snorkel/beach tour at Trunk Bay in St. John.

 

The only excursion we have booked is Full Day Caribbean Sail & Snorkel to Turtle Cove & Honeymoon Beach in St. Thomas. We have been kicking around the idea of the Butterfly House in St. Maarten, but have not committed yet. I mostly don't have a clue about what to do in St. Maarten, although there is a market that sounds interesting and is featured in both the Disney excursion tour and Bernard's tour.

 

True what they say about checking for availability on excursions. I really wanted to do the full-day sail and snorkel, but it has been sold out since I was able to book excursions. I kept checking back, and a couple of weeks ago I saw it was open. I jumped right on it.

 

good luck. We are starting to do our preparations "in earnest" now for the cruise. Both my girls are gonna do the BBB thing, so I wanted to find them some pretty "princess" dresses to wear. Got those nailed down last night. Added bonus, I found a couple of pirate costumes (one authentic "Disney" Pirates of the Caribbean Elizabeth Swann pirate costume) at a yard sale, so the girls are gonna be all piratey for the party. Me and the wife are still looking...

I think we are almost more excited about this vacation than the kids!

 

-E