Southern Caribbean family cruise

[alizas3figs]

Hi all, I'm cruising with my husband, in laws, parents' and 3 children ages 1, 4, and 6. It was supposed to be just my husband and myself but now everyone wants to go so I'm looking for family friendly excursion ideas for the following ports in Nov 2013:

Antigua

Barbados

St. Lucia

St. Maarten

St. Thomas

We are planning alone time on St. Lucia so excursion ideas for my parents with the kids on the island would be great.

Are there any hotel packages that allow us to use their facilities for the day or beaches that offer umbrellas and chair rentals?

Flying means bring minimal gear :)

We are sailing on Celebrity summit and I've heard that they aren't very kid friendly. We originally booked this cruise as a relaxing couples getaway. Oh well! Now it will be a big family vacation! Thanks for suggestions in advance!

[ashmac8]

We were on the summit last April on their repositioning cruise to New Jersey. Our son was 5 at the time and we had a great time. There were not many children on board (say less than 30 or so that we saw total). But it was very port intensive and we had a great time.

 

We are doing a southern carribean similiar to your route below in August.

 

Our son is now 6 1/2 and in St. Thomas we are doing a ship excursion to St. John, St. Maarten likely a beach day since we did an island tour, and in St. Lucia Cosols Tours. In Barbados we are doing swimming with the turtles.

 

The 1 year old is the tricky one because you never know when they will get fussy or need to nap.

 

I think staying flexible is your best bet.

 

Hope this helps.

[cb at sea]

Celebrity is as "child friendly" as any other line! No worries!

 

A guidebook will really help you plan your time ashore!

[sunquest76]

We booked a sail and snorkel in Antigua. It was an amazing day with lunch included. My daughter fell asleep on the boat and another wonderful Mom offered to watch her while hubby and I snorkeled (our only alone time the whole trip).

 

Barbados was a walk around port. My daughter was pretty young, so we found it too hot to do much. We walked downtown, then cabbed it to Malibu Beach. The beach was great, but it was just too warm for her so we went back to the ship.