{"id":2623,"date":"2009-11-26T07:59:19","date_gmt":"2009-11-26T13:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=2623"},"modified":"2016-12-17T00:43:49","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T06:43:49","slug":"cruise-ships-private-islands-offer-fun-for-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2009\/11\/cruise-ships-private-islands-offer-fun-for-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruise ships’ private islands offer fun for families"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Family<\/em><\/em>

The beach at Castaway Cay<\/p><\/div>\n

By John George<\/em><\/p>\n

A stop at a private or secluded island has become almost mandatory for cruises<\/strong><\/a> in the eastern Caribbean. Most of the cruise lines, including Disney Cruise Lines<\/a><\/strong>, Norwegian<\/a><\/strong>, Royal Caribbean<\/a><\/strong> and Holland America<\/a><\/strong>, have private islands for their guests. The basic program is similar: You will enjoy a beach, both paid and free activities and a barbecue lunch. Don\u2019t forget the fruity drinks at the tiki bar, either!<\/p>\n

A word to the wise: If your idea of the perfect family vacation<\/a><\/strong> day is just lounging on the beach, get there early enough to claim your lounge chairs. While there are hundreds of them, our experience was that they quickly get taken.<\/p>\n

We have had the pleasure of visiting both Great Stirrup Cay<\/strong>, (Norwegian Cruise Lines) and Castaway Cay<\/strong> (Disney) while cruising the eastern Caribbean on family vacations.<\/p>\n

Great Stirrup Cay<\/strong>
\nWe\u2019ve been to this slice of paradise twice, with stops during four-night and seven-night cruises.<\/p>\n

\"Family

The beach at Great Stirrup Cay<\/p><\/div>\n

For us, the highlight of Great Stirrup Cay each time was the family Beach Olympics<\/strong> — a well-organized event with activities to challenge the kids and parents. The leaders were even able to engage the teens in the group, which amazed me. Breaking through the eye-rolling, I\u2019m-too-cool facade of these young adults requires a special skill, as parents are all too aware.<\/p>\n

The activities were both silly and challenging. Although the friendly competition was fierce, the team our family joined came away with a medal, which still hangs proudly in Zeke\u2019s bedroom!<\/p>\n

Our experience at Great Stirrup was more relaxed during the seven-night cruise. I think with four-night cruises, there may be more of an urgent feeling among the guests to \u201cdo everything\u201d in the short time they will be at sea.<\/p>\n

Castaway Cay<\/strong>
\nDisney is known as a family vacation specialist — dedicated to guests’ enjoyment, and this experience was no different. We stopped here on the third day of our four-day cruise.<\/p>\n

\"cruises\"

The writer and his son on top of the lookout tower on Castaway Cay.<\/p><\/div>\n

Disney has constructed a proper dock here, so there\u2019s no need for tenders. This made access very easy, especially for the families with younger kids in strollers. There\u2019s a half-sunken replica of a pirate ship in the bay, and we enjoyed the Disney character \u201cencounters\u201d along the way to the beach<\/strong>. There\u2019s a motor tram going to the beach from the dock, but the walk was easy enough for us.<\/p>\n

After the barbecue lunch, we took a hike to the lookout tower above the old airstrip, which gave us a panoramic view of the island<\/strong>. The terrain was quite different away from the beach — almost desert-like. We encountered a lot of lizards along the way, much to the delight of the kids.<\/p>\n

Disney offers an adult-only beach here, which we did not visit. I\u2019m sure this was a relief for the cruisers without small kids to supervise.<\/p>\n

The highlight of our visit to Castaway Cay was the snorkel diving<\/strong>. The beach area is protected by a reef, and they\u2019ve sunk many items to provide shelter for the fish.\u00a0 About halfway into our dive, we even ran into a stingray. This was a thrill for Zeke, and sent Jenny swimming to shore!<\/p>\n

As Zeke and I were walking back to our beach spot, he said: \u201cDad, this is the coolest thing I\u2019ve ever done in my life!\u201d High praise indeed from an 11 year old.<\/p>\n

If your idea of a family vacation cruise includes some beach time, I highly recommend choosing a cruise line and itinerary with a private island stop.<\/p>\n

Related Oribtz resources:<\/strong><\/h3>\n