Sun Advise Please!!!!!!!

[mpduquaine]

Hi fellow Cruisers-

Please help me~

I am taking my 4 children on a 10 day and have lots and lots of questions. Please help! This will be our 1st cruise with our children. They have nothing to compare it to. We will have 2 rooms, next to each other. Me and the girls in 1 and my husband and the boys inthe other . It should be interesting! But please tell me, is this the ship for children? I do like the safety of Princess but am concerned with the pools and other activities for children... Where is the children's pool area. I do not have small children, but they love the water! They are 16, 15, 13, 11! I still have today to make a change, but have loved the idea of a 10 day and it is a great price. Please any input would be, I need help!

Thanks!@

 

Michele

[leeleemarie]

Need more details to help you with better responses... What ship are you on & what date are you sailing?

[chrysalis]

the children's pool is right beside the "main" pool. Look at the deck plans on the Princess site to see what I mean. (not sure your 16 and 15 year olds would want to use the "kids pool"..or even your younger ones, for that matter.

 

Also, the Princess site will give you a ton of info about childrens activites aboard. Check it out.

 

The Sun is a great ship and the 10 day voyages are wonderful...we have done a couple of them on her.

[hillslife]

Princess is very kid friendly. They will be welcomed in the kids clubs as well as the dining rooms, etc. You don't mention which ship, but we find the bigger the better when you are travelling with kids. They have more activitiies, arcades and better ooprtunity to meet and mingle with others their own ages.

 

Have a great time - we love Princess and my daughter has been on 6 cruises and loves it!

[mpduquaine]

We will be on the Sun Princess on April 17th - April 27th. This will be our first cruise with our children!! Whew!! And actually need lots of advise. Will they be busy enough to have fun or not be bored. How are the pools?

What about the activities?

Thanks

Michele

[yarlenna]

For kids? Of course - but

1 If you are looking for lots of kids - shorter cruises have more.

2 If you are looking for lots of kids - times when schools are closed have more.

Water! Of course there are pools! Are they big? NO. That can't be that big.

[leeleemarie]

Oops, should have read your subject line. Will be on the Sun too for Easter cruise with my 11 yr old son. I know from our Easter cruise last year on the Dawn, there will be children, as it is a school holiday time, but a 10 day will not have as many children as a 7 day or during the summer. My son went to the kids activity usually just to find others to hang out with. Most of the activities for his age group were grouped with he younger kids, so he wasn't very impressed & didn't want to participate much. There were approx 12 10 yr old boys on this cruise, as that is the count that the kids program had, but usually never saw many in the room of this age or above. Get your kids to go the 1st & 2nd day of cruise, at least to meet others to hang out with. Whether they choose to participate or not will really be based on whether they find others with similar interests participating. Good news is, you have 4 children & at least they have each other to play off of.

[chrysalis]

We will be on the Sun Princess on April 17th - April 27th. This will be our first cruise with our children!! Whew!! And actually need lots of advise. Will they be busy enough to have fun or not be bored. How are the pools?

What about the activities?

Thanks

Michele

 

I would expect that they will not have enough time in the day to do all that they want to do. They will have a blast!....and since it is Easter, there will be plenty of others their age aboard. We have been on the Sun during Easter and there were a good number of children.

[leeleemarie]

The 3 older ones will be able to participate in the teen program... they have a separate room just for them that the younger ones will not be allowed in while they are there. Your 11 yr old will be in the middle group & will not be allowed in the teen program... however, he/she will be allowed in the teen room in the mornings till 1pm, cuz teens tend not to wake early. There's a basketball court on the upper deck. They'll have PS2 or Nintendo. There's plenty of organized activities, during the day & night. It just depends what your kids will be interested in. The big pool next to the adult pool is 4 or 5' deep... my son thought it was too crowded & there weren't any organized games in the pool for the kids, probably due to the depth. The adult pool had a volleyball game every afternoon around 4pm... after that game & when most had left the pool area, my husband would always get a volleyball game going for the families with pre-teen & teens... noone complained & it was great fun... too bad Princess didn't pick up on this, cuz the adult pool was empty quite a bit. Any specific questions, let me know. The Dawn was the exact same layout as the Sun.

 

Le Anne

[kruisey]

Hi fellow Cruisers-

Please help me~

I am taking my 4 children on a 10 day and have lots and lots of questions. Please help! This will be our 1st cruise with our children. They have nothing to compare it to. We will have 2 rooms, next to each other. Me and the girls in 1 and my husband and the boys inthe other . It should be interesting! But please tell me, is this the ship for children? I do like the safety of Princess but am concerned with the pools and other activities for children... Where is the children's pool area. I do not have small children, but they love the water! They are 16, 15, 13, 11! I still have today to make a change, but have loved the idea of a 10 day and it is a great price. Please any input would be, I need help!

Thanks!@

 

Michele

Michele I have been on the Sun on a long cruise .......My opinion is that if I were a child again I would rather go on the larger ships...that has a special center for teens I think it is called 'Off Limits'....bigger areas especially for them

THe pools are very small on Sun Princess,not as many.

Have a look at the ship deck plans on the bigger ships via Princess website and you will see what I mean about the area for children/teens.

Whatever you choice You will enjoy with Princess:)

[mpduquaine]

Thanks for the help!! I love the input. My kids are pretty concervative. We come from a small country town. I am though concerned about some advise. That we should head for a larger ship for the kids.....I have only a few hours left to save my flight and cruise booking. I do love the advise, but maybe this is the wrong ship for us......I am planning this for them basically and would hate for them not to LOVE it as much as their mom and dad. Like I said, my older kids are pretty quiet and pretty conservative. They chose to babysit, rather than hang with their friends. They do love to hang with their siblings, but still like to be busy. Anyone know of the activities they have in the kids clubs.....

Thanks Tons!

 

Michele

[leeleemarie]

I know there's a posting of examples of kids activities. Let me see what I can find.

[mpduquaine]

Thanks for your effort!!

Do you think this is a good choice for me? I know you don't know me, but would your kids love this if they had nothing to compare it too! We are pretty laid back country folks. I am more of a stickler for nice things to be nice. I just want it all to be great.

Do they have a "free" sundae bar for the kids and adults alike!

[mpduquaine]

Do they have to pay for PS2 and Nintendo or it is free of charge in the kids/teen club?

[PhillyCruiser]

Michele,

 

I think you should go on the cruise and not worry too much. Remember, you'll be in port a lot of the time, and the kids will be exploring the islands with you. In the evenings, they may enjoy attending the shows. I wouldn't switch ships for three days at sea. If you have a good price, just go for it. We'll be on the cruise before you, along with Lee Anne, and we are bringing a 13-year-old, who has enjoyed himself on ships both large and small. I'm sure he will have the time of his life. He loves to cruise.

 

Joan

[leeleemarie]

We booked this cruise because we had such a great time last year. You just can’t beat the price for the ports you get to visit. Like PhillyCruiser said, you’ll be in port most days. We spend our port time doing our own activities, we usually hit the beach, as we love the water & love to snorkel.

Yes this is not one of the larger ships & it is an older one. But, don’t let that stop you… I find the smaller size means less crowding. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes for anytime dining, even at the busiest time, 7pm. And lounge chairs were never a problem...I saw a lot of reserving around the main pool on the 1st day, but after that, I could always find a chair any time of the day.

While the kids won’t have their own separate deck space or pool, there is a lot to do. My son is on the shy side until he meets a few people. So we would play some games with him (basketball, ping pong, shuffle board) & there’d always be kids coming up watching & we would always get them to join in. The ping pong is right next to the main pool area.

Your cabin steward will leave a packet of the kids activities for the week in your room on the first day. This is separate from the Princess Patters that is left in your room each evening for the next day’s port & activities info. Since I couldn’t find a sample (just yet) of the kids activities, I asked my son to help me recollect what we did last year & here’s what we came up with.

Day:

Shuffleboard; Ping Pong; Bingo (fee); Horse Racing w/ wooden horses (small fee); Free Ice Cream around 3 – 4 pm every day; Don't know if there's more, but we did catch a Pool Game one day which was so fun to watch…this was just teens & adults… my husband participated & I took lots of pictures. Then they had a Houdini type act by the magician in the pool one day...that was sooo great!

Night:

Trivia Contests; Audience Participation Shows: Name That Tune, Not So Newlywed Game (very funny); Princess Idol (much fun)...the first night of this was in the disco & the finals were in a lounge; Shows; Jugglers; Comedians; Magician; Caribbean dance party around the pool deck (here’s where I saw the most preteens & teens). There’s a card room where they also had quite a few board games in the drawers. We set up my son with other boys his age to play cards (we met their families onboard); there were teens in there playing “Texas Hold ‘Em”… asked if my son wanted to play, we would have let him, but they were playing for $. And there’s a movie theatre too. Kids under 18 were allowed in the disco till either 10 or 11pm. (can’t remember exact time).

Princess Kids Center:

PS2 &/or Nintendo (Free); Arcades in between kids & teen center…1 night was free.

Pirateers (8-12):

Arts & Crafts; Videos; Scavenger Hunt; Ice Cream Party; Sports night…golf simulator (free for this event), basketball, ping pong tournaments; Karaoke night; Disco night; Arcade night. There was more, we just can’t remember it all.

On Princess Cays, there is an area for the younger kids, but my son thought it was a bit babyish (& I agreed). The highlight event for the kids this day was a scavenger hunt, but my son was so busy playing with his friends & us that he didn't participate. And there was beach volleyball that we all played (even my son).

Teens (13 – 17):

Ty loved the teen room & would have rather been in there. Being that my son isn’t a teen, I can’t tell you much about them, except that the ones I saw stuck together & were very well mannered. I can tell you that I just read a post yesterday on the RCCL board about a mom who brought her pre-teens/teens on the last 3 cruises on RCCL (which are known to have much more activities) & each cruise they had different experiences…it all depended on who they met & if they clicked with the kids on board. On Princess Cays, the teens had their own area & beach activities like volleyball.

Yes there were a few times my son was bored. But he admits that that was the 1st 2 days when he hadn’t met anyone yet. Once he broke out of his shell & met others, he always made plans to meet them & we would get together with their families.

Things to bring: walkie talkies (charger & extension cord); travel games; game boy, cd or ipod.

By the way, your doing different ports then us. We did exactly the ports your doing last year on the Dawn. We loved Barbados... your kids will love "The Boat Yard"... you just have to take them to that beach, the activities are such a blast. And if you're going to try a beach at St. Thomas, I would recommend Sapphire or Coki. We did Sapphire last year, there's beach volleyball there. We're doing Coki this year. I could give you the name of the tour guide we used for Dominica...we did the best Island tour & the price was great...this island was very beautiful!

Le Anne

[leeleemarie]

Here's a link to virtual tours of areas on the Sun...

 

http://smillay.cruisesinc.com/travel/cruises/virtual_tours.jsp?pg=4&mediatype=1&ITINERARY_ID=803|SP

[mpduquaine]

Hi -

Thank you so much for the wealth of info. I would love to get the names and places/tours you took. As we are traveling with 4 children, I would like a reputable service. Also, I love the info on the beaches. We are definitely into that. It is more reasonable. Please tell me the details:)

 

We are going to go over to St John's from St Thomas, as this is the main reason we are taking the kids. My husband fell in love with the island, the beaches, water and reefs! So, we will go there. Any idea's on a great excursion.

 

I am getting excited, and again, I would take any info you alll have on places to go and places to see!

 

Thanks!!!

Michele

[PhillyCruiser]

Michele,

 

I'm glad you did't cancel and go to another ship.

 

Joan

[leeleemarie]

Michele,

 

On day 7, when you're relaxing on the ship, watching the sun set as you pull out of port, you'll be soooo happy you booked this over a 7-day cruise.

Below is a list of info I gathered last year on what we chose to do. You should check out the ports on this board to get the most current info on tour guides & prices. I found that renting taxis when we got off the ship was easy & safe. Hope this helps you. Le Anne

Curacao:

We loved Seaquarium Beach...

Seaquarium Beach:

Best Beach for a Half-day Visit. Has many facilities: shops, bars, watersports vendors and restaurants; plus white sand and palm trees; a good choice for families. Within walking distance of the Curaçao Sea Aquarium. The Sea Aquarium Beach has restrooms, showers, beach shops, a fully- equipped dive shop and security. You will also find a variety of beach bars and restaurants, offering fresh fruit shakes, tropical cocktails, nice lunch and romantic dinners.

Entrance fee: Nafl 4,00 ($3/pp) Beach Chair Rental: Nafl 5,00. ($3/chair)

The Kontiki Beach Club is next to SeaquariumBeach, which is also known as Mambo Beach. 15 mins by taxi - $12/4people each way. $3/pp entrance.

Sea Aquarium Park: http://www.curacao-sea-aquarium.com/

Park Entrance Fee: Adult: $15 / Child $7.50. Park Hours: 8.30 till 17.30, every day of the year. Feeding Shows @ 15 minute increments…Sea Turtles, Sharks, Sea Lions, Stingrays, Flamingos, Pelicans, Seahorses, Dolphins…touch & feed the animals. Also, Touch Tank, Underwater Observatory, Theatre & Musuem.

Transportation: Taxi drivers have an official tariff chart, but confirm before getting in. Taxis are available to meet every cruise ship. For getting around Willemstad you're better off using Konvoois, yellow public buses. Buses and minibuses depart from near the waterfront in Punda, right by the post office. Public minibuses follow eclectic routes but may still get where you're going. You'll know them by the 'BUS' on their licence plate. You can get a schedule of "Buki di Bus:" Bus Schedules and Routes" on-island. Fares vary but are generally around $2.

Taxis are plentiful in the capital - look for TX licence plates. City fares are set though taxis can also be hired for longer trips around the island at negotiated rates.

Taxi Drivers: We just hired a taxi driver once we got off the boat.

Donald Martina tel# (5-99) 667-5214 but he also has email so if you wanted to arrange something ahead of time it is: donaldmartina@hotmail.com

Another taxi service: www.curacaotaxi.com

Margarita Island:

We went/walked to the beach right next to the port. There’s plenty of vendors there & great prices for shopping on your way over to the beach. We wanted to go to El Agua Beach, but weren’t sure if we would have enough time (we were in port from 10:30 – 3:30), but we met someone else on board that evening who did go to this beach & loved it… they said the taxi prices were great, & a beach massage is a must here....they just arranged the taxi driver to take & bring them back & didn't have to pay till their return. We were going to book Casatrudel in advance but they were already booked… http://www.casatrudel.com/crusin-n-style.htm

El Agua Beach: This is the most popular beach on the island, as well as the longest, and is a 45-minute drive, one-way, from the cruise port. Round trip fare is approximately $50 (don't know about price today). Facilities: Restaurants, chairs and umbrellas, bungee jump,ultralight plane rides, jet skis, showers and bathrooms. shops, minimarkets and more. There are 46 restaurants and kiosks that not only provide all manner of food and drink but also rent lounge chairs and umbrellas on the beach at reasonable prices. (It doesn't hurt to shop around for the best price.) There are exchange houses, tour operators, car rentals, a police station, a communications center, one of the best Bodegons on the Island (Bodegon Johnny) where in addition to a huge liquor, wine and beer section there is a fairly extensive supermarket, a gold nugget jewelry store, a large flea market and of course restaurants and bars. A popular restaurant at this beach is Papagayo.

http://www.casatrudel.com/PlayaElAguaPhotos.htm http://www.playaelagua.info/

Barbados:

The Boatyard located in Carlisle Bay offers great beach facilities including the use of Beach Chairs & Umbrellas, Kayaks, Pedal Boats, Snorkeling, Glass Bottom Boats, Scuba Diving at Roger's Scuba Shack, Ocean Trampoline, Ice-berg Climb & Slide, rope swing from pier, Beach Volleyball, Showers, Changing rooms and much more. Plus plenty to eat and drink. Beach, watersports, cruises (Jolly Roger party cruises), restaurant, bar, night club. Located in the bay is one of Barbados best shipwreck snorkel site where you can snorkel on 3 shipwrecks. The boatyard offers cruise passengers a daily special rate of $12/adult & $5/child; with $8 redeemable in food & drinks on all adult entries. Admission fee includes beach chairs, umbrellas, kayaks, ocean trampolines, iceberg & slide, showers, changing rooms, bathrooms, beach games. Jet skis, parasailing, glass bottom boat tours available. Bay Street, Bridgetown, http://www.theboatyard.com/ We snorkeled & found a lot of sand dollars here & I even found a $20 floating on the bottom while I was snorkeling. We thought the water at this beach was crystal clear, like pool water, but others said that there were even better beaches...we couldn't imagine.

Most Popular West Coast Beaches: Mullins Beach, Brandon’s Beach, Paynes Bay, Fitts Village. Mullins Beach is a very popular beach with moderately calm waters it is easily accessed and parking is available right across the road…bar there is Suga Suga; Good food and drinks are available from Mullins Beach Bar right on the beach.

Most Populare South-West Coach Beaches: Known as tourist haven because beaches are near restaurants, bars & parking facilities. Accra Beach, Enterprise Beach (aka Miami beach), Sandy Beach (aka Caribe Beach), Casuarina Beach.

Shopping: Right off the ship is Pelican Village with quaint shops. For a more robust shopping experience head into downtown Bridgetown and the department stores, shops, boutiques and street vendors on Broad Street. Stores are usually open weekdays from 8-4.

Dominica:

We booked Reyno Tours & had a blast. I just did my research, decided what I wanted to see & planned a tour with him.

Lester Pond across the street from the tour operators at the end of the pier, stopperb_5@hotmail.com.

Look for his van "Time to Eat" written across the front window!

Reyno Tours, reynotours@hotmail.com

The following are must sees, but you can't do them all...

Trafalgar Falls: twin waterfalls; An incredible pair of waterfalls, the beauty of which really lies in their ability to coordinate and offer you a spectacular adventure - climb them, swim them, admire them! These famous twin waterfalls are a 20 minute drive from Roseau. A pleasant, short walk takes one from the Visitors Centre to a good viewing platform; the more intrepid can continue on to swim in the refreshing waters of the smaller waterfall or find the hot springs of the tallest fall. Guide not required. Easy Hike. Close to Roseau (less than a 20 minute drive).

Emerald Pool in Morne Trois Pitons National Park, in the southern half of the island. At the northernmost tip of the park, is a small basin in a lush green setting at the foot of a gentle waterfall. It's on the road that runs between Canefield and Castle Bruce, a drive which goes through jungle vegetation and has mountain views and lots of beep-as-you-go hairpin turns. The pool is a five-minute walk from the road, through a rainforest of ferns and tall trees. A popular grotto deep in the heart of the rainforest. It boasts an easily accessible waterfall which can be busy when there's a cruise ship in port. But if you time it right, it's a magical spot.

Snorkeling: Perhaps our most famous spot is Champagne, just a few metres offshore. Not just a fascinating reef teeming with fish, this area has extensive hot water springs which come to the surface as warm air bubbles. Just as if you were swimming in a glass of warm champagne! Close to Roseau (less than a 20 minute drive).

Titou Gorge: (25 to 45 minute drive from Roseau)A crevice in which hot and cold streams intermingle, a swim in these crystal clean waters leads to a spectacular view of a waterfall. Located after a short stroll from Laudat, at the start of the Boiling Lake Trail. Medium Hike.

Visitors to the following tourism sites around the island are required to pay a Site User Fee - $2.00. Passes are available from Cruise Agents, Tour Operators, Car Hire Agencies and at various other locations around the island. Passes can also be bought from officials at the sites themselves.

St. Thomas:

We spent our morning shopping & had friends meet us over at Sapphire beach in the afternoon after they did their own snorkeling thing at St. John. Sapphire beach is close to the Red Hook ferry. Here’s what they said: “We went to Cinnamon Bay and also Trunk Bay. They are right next to each other and you can hop on a Trolley and go from one to the other in a matter of minutes. I really liked Trunk Bay much better. I enjoyed the little coral island there. Both are beautiful. We did take the hiking trail from Cinnamon Bay. It was very scenic at the top. We were told we could easily hop a taxi at the end of the trail as it led out to a major highway. This was a little misleading and we ended up hitching a ride back to the ferry. St. Johns is a very gorgeous island.”

Trunk Bay, St. John Snorkeling: You can walk right in from the beach in Trunk Bay. You can rent equipment there too. Trunk Bay is a National Park of the U.S. They have rangers. And there is a marked underwater snorkeling trail. And when you're done snorkeling, you can't beat the beach. They have a snack bar, if you want to spend the day.

Ferry: To get to St. John’s, you can take the ferry from downtown Charlotte Amalie ($16 RT) or take a taxi to Red Hook. Red Hook is closer to St. John, so the ferry ride is shorter & cheaper. Once in St. John, you just hop on one of the trams that act as taxis, and get off at Trunk Bay.

[mpduquaine]

How much is it to the Boatyard from the port???

Do they charge pp or the trip. There is 6 of us.

 

Thanks!

Michele