Falmouth Day with 3 and 5 year old?

[Gatordad815]

We will be on our first family cruise in May and looking for ideas for Falmouth. I’ve read quite a bit and am thinking this day may be best spent on the ship with some time walking around the port or swimming at Margaritaville. But I’m open to ideas, as that seems like kind of a waste of an opportunity to experience a new country. While the all-inclusive resorts (Royalton or Hilton Rose Hall) are intriguing, I’m not sure it’s worth the expense with such small children.

 

Complicating matters slightly, my daughter has Celiac disease so must have a strictly gluten free diet. I’m a bit hesitant to travel far from the ship if I’m not convinced I’ll be able to feed her something safe on a long day away.

 

Have any of you been to Falmouth with small kids? Were you able to have a good day at the port or find family-friendly options to leave the port nearby? Any thoughts appreciated!

[crewsweeper]

There are a number of beach areas near the cruise port, a short tram ride away. And trams travel frequently. So you don't have to spend a long time at any beach.

 

Not much to do in port except shopping. A day on the ship could work, though if various kid friendly options are open.

 

If you have any special needs catering/ menus being done for your daughter ont he ship, that would be preferable to eating off ship.

 

As far as gluten free in ports or beaches, if you stay away from the breads and sauces, your daughter could be okay. Just make sure seafood is grilled not breaded and fried. The beef patties are covered with flaky crust so I'd avoid them. Most other meats have jerk seasonings and may be a bit too spicy. However, if you remove the skin from the chicken you'll avoid direct spice contact. Most jerk chicken isn't breaded like fried chicken, but check to make sure. Again removing skin can handle this. also, plenty of fruit around.

[Gatordad815]

There are a number of beach areas near the cruise port, a short tram ride away. And trams travel frequently. So you don't have to spend a long time at any beach.

 

Not much to do in port except shopping. A day on the ship could work, though if various kid friendly options are open.

 

If you have any special needs catering/ menus being done for your daughter ont he ship, that would be preferable to eating off ship.

 

As far as gluten free in ports or beaches, if you stay away from the breads and sauces, your daughter could be okay. Just make sure seafood is grilled not breaded and fried. The beef patties are covered with flaky crust so I'd avoid them. Most other meats have jerk seasonings and may be a bit too spicy. However, if you remove the skin from the chicken you'll avoid direct spice contact. Most jerk chicken isn't breaded like fried chicken, but check to make sure. Again removing skin can handle this. also, plenty of fruit around.

 

Thank you-appreciate the assistance! I haven’t read much about trams to beaches. Do you know which beaches? And where do you catch the trams? Any info on this appreciated!

[FirstAnthem]

We are taking our first family cruise next week! Our daughter (age 13) has celiac. I am equally concerned about her eating off the ship—with celiac I just can’t trust that there won’t be cross contamination of some kind. Our plan is to have a good breakfast before excursions and pack factory sealed snacks (granola bars, chips, snack bags of crackers or popcorn, for example) to get her through until we are back on the ship. Only one of our excursions is a full day, so I think we can make it through. Then she’ll have a good dinner on the ship. It’s hard to vacation with celiac disease sometimes, and it’s a huge learning curve. Once we cruise once it will be so much easier because we will know what it’s like and you learn from experience. We will be stopping in Falmouth as well. We have a three hour excursion planned to Good Hope Estate for river tubing. I think your kids might be too young for that. Once we are back from our cruise I plan on doing a thorough review of the cruise, and also a thorough review of our gluten free/celiac on a cruise experience, so keep your eye out for it! Our cruise is April 1-8. :)