Which would you choose?

[canadian85]

We took our first cruise last year for New Years. Thinking about booking another for this December. Maybe if we book early this time we can get a better deal.

 

Most important to us is safety and the beach. We have a 5yo and 3yo, so all we will want to do it find a cheap way to a nice beach.

 

Options are:

Conquest (Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan)

Glory (Nassau, St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk)

Dream (Nassau, St Thomas, St Maarten)

Freedom (St Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, Nassau)

 

Last year we were on the Freedom, we loved the stops (except wasn't a fan of Cabbage beach in Nassau). But would like to try something different. Conquest has all different stops, but i'm not sure i'd be comfortable finding a beach in those countries with the kids (except GC).

 

What would you choose?

[BubMunkeyBles]

We chose western for our kids first cruise, but we're not big beach bums truthfully. There's beaches in all the ports though and Carnival's Roatan port has a Carnival beach as soon as you get off so would be a free day and you could always walk back onto the ship for food.

 

I'd probably choose the Glory next. :)

[kitkat343]

I did the Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan cruise pre-kids, and am planning on doing this cruise again when my son is older. Grand Cayman has a great turtle farm and amazing stingray experience (although your 3 year old might be too small for this), Belize has an amazing zoo, which is small so it is the perfect scale for children, and Roatan had wonderful beaches and places to interact with monkeys. If all you want to do is visit beaches, I'd consider holding off on this cruise until your kids are older since there were so many child friendly activities at all the ports.

[cb at sea]

Get a guidebook on your potential ports....libraries have them, and see which places have the beaches you want! A guidebook will also detail transportation options....and any safety warnings or tips!

 

That way, you can make a truly informed choice!

[RSLeesburg]

Wow... So many ports. We will be taking our 3 y/o (almost 4 at time of sailing) on his first cruise, and we never even considered trying to do that many ports. We picked a cruise that goes to Bermuda, stays there almost three days, and then comes back...lol. I figure if he does well on this trip, we might try something different next time. But we really thought too many ports would too overwhelming to him, and too much work for us - I am struggling to learn all I can about one ship and one port :)

 

I must say though, I am liking that Conquest itinerary. Maybe when he is closer to five though...

[kitkat343]

I should also note that although Roatan is a very lovely island that I would love to visit again, I would recommend booking a tour ahead of time since it isn't the safest place to get in a random cab at the port without knowing your way around. We were very happy with Bodden tours in 2009, although it appears that there have been some less happy customers there more recently according to trip advisor. But victor has an amazing monkey experience in his backyard, which was lovely and would be a great experience for children.

[Prinycesa07]

I would go with the conquest. But I want to add that we went to grand Turk last month and the kids loved it. The beach is immediately when you get off the ship and its gorgeous. Now, if you had an option with half moon cay, that would be my winner hands down.

 

And just wanted I add that I don't think theres anything wrong with 4 ports. My kids get bored at ports so 4 different ones would work really well for us, 1 port wouldn't at all. My kids are only 2 & 3 and I would do 4 ports in a heart beat :)

[Warm Breezes]

We took our first cruise last year for New Years. Thinking about booking another for this December. Maybe if we book early this time we can get a better deal.

 

Most important to us is safety and the beach. We have a 5yo and 3yo, so all we will want to do it find a cheap way to a nice beach.

 

Options are:

Conquest (Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan)

Glory (Nassau, St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk)

Dream (Nassau, St Thomas, St Maarten)

Freedom (St Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, Nassau)

 

Last year we were on the Freedom, we loved the stops (except wasn't a fan of Cabbage beach in Nassau). But would like to try something different. Conquest has all different stops, but i'm not sure i'd be comfortable finding a beach in those countries with the kids (except GC).

 

What would you choose?

If I were you, I would choose the Dream. I would walk to the Pirate Museum in Nassau and then go back to the ship and enjoy it with everyone else gone. St. Thomas has Meagans Bay which is a beautiful Beach (we did Air Force One Tours with Papa Bear) and St. Martin has Maho Beach where they can watch the planes take off and land over the beach (we did Bernard's Tours with Slim).

[canadian85]

We took them (they were 4 and 2) on the Freedom last year, which was 4 ports. I didn't think it was too many ports, and the kids liked the beach days better than being on the ship. It did feel busy and I didn't like being on a schedule, but if we're going - I'd rather get to as many beaches as we can.

[Prinycesa07]

We took them (they were 4 and 2) on the Freedom last year, which was 4 ports. I didn't think it was too many ports, and the kids liked the beach days better than being on the ship. It did feel busy and I didn't like being on a schedule, but if we're going - I'd rather get to as many beaches as we can.

 

Same with us. We had 3 sea days on our cruise last month and it just got very monotonous with a 2 and 3 year old. The 3 yr old liked camp carnival so that helped but the 2 yr old hated it and was with us every moment. He wasnt potty trained so couldnt use the pool, there were only so many things that we could find to fill the day for him. The different ports and different beaches definitely held their interest and broke up the days.

[KITKAT0229]

I'd probably go with the Conquest. All but Belize would be easy.

 

Glory would be my 2nd choice. San Juan & Grand Turk would be easy.