wonderful time w/out shore excursions

[3lilkids]

Hi eveyone. My family of 5(dh and kids 11,5,and 3) are cruising DCL Magic on 10/11/08 Eastern Carib. 2 months.!!! :D Things were much easier finacially 1 and 1/2 years ago when we booked this cruise. I now see how expensive the shore excursions are! would love to do the Dolphin observer but cannot financially..almost $700 for us 5. Will we still have as much of a wonderful time if we dont do any shore excursions. We are going to do a tour of St.Thomas,that was reasonable.. I have gotten so many great tips from this site and would appreicate any feedback.

 

thanks:p :cool:

[eritouma]

You will have a great time... the shore excusrions and ports are only a part of the trip... the Magic lies within the ship and what you make of it. We have had a blast in the ports, and sometimes the only thing we did was walk around or go to a nearby beach.. I am sure you will have a great time...:)

[crusinmama06]

If you have a chance, stop on over to the Family Board and ask for "low cost or no cost" shore trips for kids.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

 

Many of us have done that itinerary and can tell you the most family friendly places to visit. You won't need to do a cruise sponsored tour. :)

[Growler]

First time I went on a cruise I didn't even know about shore excursions, (at least not until I got on the ship), and assumed that you had to make your own entertainment in port. We had a blast! It was on a Disney boat too, and we had three generations, Grandma, DW, DD and I. I love just walking around new places and chatting to the locals, asking them about places to visit off the beaten track. I always ask them where THEY'D go to eat for a special lunch away from the crowds for example.....

 

Don't worry - you'll have a great time, just make sure you observe the usual safety precautions to avoid getting scammed!

 

Tim

[Nobbi]

Although we have cruised several times, we have NEVER done a shore excursion. We always just explore on our own and have a great time. We have even rented cars for the day to be more flexible. Perhaps if we went to a country where no one spoke any of the languages I know and travel were restricted, we would do an organized tour. But this doesn't apply to any of the current DCL destinations.

 

Enjoy! :p

[shelbell77]

We do some shore excursions..but we really enjoy the ship...and though we might walk around in port a little bit while ashore----we when the ship is in port is a great time to be aboard! Ship is totally not crowded at all...primo spots at the pool and its nice and quiet!

[melc0305]

Hi! We will also be on the 10/11 Eastern Carribean cruise! We have a 3 and 5 yo too. On St. Martin, we plan on taking a taxi to Orient Beach and spending the day there. On St. John, we plan on doing the Paradise Tram on our own. It's $19/per adult and kids 5 and under are free. (I don't know what the charge would be for 11 yo). Then we are taking a taxi to a beach. So...no excursions for us either!

 

Most excursions are so expensive and honestly, I don't think my 3 yo could handle most of them anyway. The best part of the vacation is to relax and enjoy so I think you'll have a great time regardless!

 

Melissa

[mymollysue]

melc0305--I just wanted to make sure you knew that Orient Beach was clothing optional....in case you are bringing the kids! :)

[Georji]

YIKES!! No Orient beach for us, or we'll be doing the birds and the bees a bit earlier than planned! LOL! (boys 6&7)

 

I was considering not doing any shore excursions either ... but just because I didn't see much for my boys ages. Hopefully we'll find more for them, but so far we're not seeing anything that they would just adore! Enjoying the relaxing time on the ship sounds nice after a bit of exploring! Unless someone has some suggestions?? Boys 6&7 with a moderate budget for shore excursions ... thanks!!!

[travelgirl64]

We were in the middle of a tropical storm when we were on the Disney Wonder last year, were not able to dock at Castaway Cay due to the weather. It was a holiday in Nassau, so there were no stores open. Despite no sunshine at all and not able to do any shore excursions, we had a WONDERFUL time on our cruise.

There is so much to do, and you can have a great time without spending a fortune on the shore excursions!

[liketraveling]

The first time I went on a cruise, I didn't have allot of money.

 

I met allot of people on the ship and we took taxi's to the beech's

 

The Carribean is so beautiful.

 

Last year I did the WB Transatlantic. Everytime we got back from a shore excursion there were tons of people out by pool.

 

My niece was 11 yo at the time. She met allot of friends and everytime we were on an excursion she would tell us. "I need to get back to the ship to my firends" I talks to one of the other mom's and her daughter said the same thing.

 

You will have a great time!

[Guinness6]

We recently -- July 2008 -- did our first Disney cruise with our son, who turned 7 on the ship. We decided to stay on the ship on Nassau day -- I have a little regret that we did not do the Blackbeards Cay & Catamaran tour. But we had a blast just staying on the ship -- if you like to relax you won't regret it!

[parrotcruiser]

Our best "shore excursion" with our 5 year old daughter were taking a taxi to a beach with a beach shovel and bucket. Only costs taxi fare and drinks from a nearby by beach club. I think "beach day" shore excursions priced around $50pp are criminal.

[melc0305]

melc0305--I just wanted to make sure you knew that Orient Beach was clothing optional....in case you are bringing the kids! :)

 

Thanks, MollySue, but my kids actually want to be the ones naked on the beach! I think they are young enough that it doesn't even phase them. If they were older and a little more curious, I might think twice, but I'll have a hard time keeping their trunks on I'm sure!

 

Melissa