Favorite Caribbean vacation with kids?

[Anonymous]

I would love to hear about your favorite Caribbean vacation WITH kids --- please name the island AND the resort/condo, and tell me what made it a great vacation for your family.

We have four kids (ages 2 through 12), so we would probably need a condo, suite, or adjoining rooms. We wouldn't use a babysitter or child care service for the two little ones, but we might put the older ones in a kids program if it was really cool and they wanted to participate.

Thanks in advance for sharing info on your best Caribbean vacation!

[Anonymous]

NYTimes Travel Section pays homage today with a front page feature article on Atlantis. If you have the money, I'd echo the recommendation for a family of 6.

[Anonymous]

Westin St. John's

[Anonymous]

Atlantis is my kids favorite by far. Stayed at the reef so we had a kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! We've been to St. John's pre-kids (also St. Thomas and PR pre-kids). Have been to Grand Cayman a few times (pre-kids and with our first as a toddler).

What did you love about St. John with kids? Ditto for Atlantis?

[Anonymous]

Ritz Grand Cayman when our kids were 1 and 4. Relaxing. Camp for older one if she felt like it. Kid friendly but not kid focused (key for us). Ice cream for free at the pools and beach each afternoon. Kids under 5 eat free. Swim diapers provided for the one year old. Easy flight.

But, so expensive. There are also condos next door to the Ritz and plenty of other condo option on seven mile. Friends have stayed in them and eaten at the area restaurants.

[Anonymous]

I think with kids, the accommodations, convenience and service are what makes the best vacations.

Here's what we've done:

St. John- we've done this 2 times. Two kids under 5. Stayed in a villa, rented a car.
Pros: We had our own pool, cooked our own food. But we also had other family with us to help.
Cons: There are only 2 resorts in St. John with direct beach access- Westin and Caneel Bay. So to get to the beach, you have to drive. It's not far but still a pain lugging stuff.
St. John is a gorgeous island, probably my absolute favorite island of all a far as character, feel, and beauty.

Aruba- Two kids under 5 years old. Stayed at Marriott condo right on the beach. Beach wasn't spectacular. This one was the least favorite vacation. Too much work and didn't have family with us to help. We ate in most of the time because it was a bit challenging to get kids out of the pool/beach and head to dinner off the resort. We did dine at the resort a couple of times. Pretty enough island but the constant breeze was a challenge to deal with. Fun in theory but your stuff flies around everywhere!

Turks and Caicos- We've done this 3 times and stayed at Beaches resort. Kids ages: 1 and 3, 4 and 6, and 6 and 9.
Pros: super convenient everything. All inclusive is the way to go. Beach right at the resort. Gorgeous. no need for a car or to even leave the resort. Service is super spectacular. Amenities are fantastic.
Cons: super expensive!
This is my perfect case scenario vacation. They also have activities for kids of all ages so DH and I are able to have dinner on our own.

Atlantis, Bahamas- Kids were 7 and 9.
Pros: Resort is gorgeous! Pools were heated. beaches on property.
Cons: food is insanely expensive. kids activities are about $75 for 3 hours.
I liked this resort but it wasn't very kid friendly. lots of walking. service was good enough but not great.
I think this is a vacation you have to at least do one time. It's Vegas on the beach.

[Anonymous]

Atlantis - so much to do for all ages. Several pools, slides, and lazy rivers. Water slides will keep kids busy all day. I could sit on lazy river all day. They have a huge kiddie play area pool. Casino if interested. Look at the website. Con- very expensive but can save w/ kitchen unit,. They have a neighbor hotel, I think econolodge or comfort inn, that s much cheaper and gives full acces to the facility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Atlantis - so much to do for all ages. Several pools, slides, and lazy rivers. Water slides will keep kids busy all day. I could sit on lazy river all day. They have a huge kiddie play area pool. Casino if interested. Look at the website. Con- very expensive but can save w/ kitchen unit,. They have a neighbor hotel, I think econolodge or comfort inn, that s much cheaper and gives full acces to the facility.

We stayed at the Comfort Inn. Free breakfast, free wi fi and complete access to Atlantis. We also had a fridge in the room and access to a microwave.
For $1000 more, we could have stayed at the cheapest room at Atlantis with no free breakfast, pay for wifi and no fridge in the room.

[Anonymous]

Did you have to pay for access to Atlantis when you stayed at comfort inn? Transportation to the beach?

[Anonymous]

Our favorite has been St. John. My husband and I rented a villa with a private pool when I was pregnant with my second, when DD was 18 months old. I liked that it was a nonstop flight from Dulles to St. Thomas (though then you did have to take a taxi to the ferry dock, then the ferry to St. John...) We rented a car, which was necessary for getting to the beaches as PP said. We'd do beach in the morning (several super calm ones for little ones), lunch out, then back to the villa and pool in the afternoon. The villa was relatively affordable compared to staying nightly at other Caribbean hotels we've been at, and with the advantage being when DD napped we had a private pool etc just steps away. It was very low key and relaxing if that's your kind of thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our favorite has been St. John. My husband and I rented a villa with a private pool when I was pregnant with my second, when DD was 18 months old. I liked that it was a nonstop flight from Dulles to St. Thomas (though then you did have to take a taxi to the ferry dock, then the ferry to St. John...) We rented a car, which was necessary for getting to the beaches as PP said. We'd do beach in the morning (several super calm ones for little ones), lunch out, then back to the villa and pool in the afternoon. The villa was relatively affordable compared to staying nightly at other Caribbean hotels we've been at, and with the advantage being when DD napped we had a private pool etc just steps away. It was very low key and relaxing if that's your kind of thing.

Could you post a link to the villa where you stayed? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

St. John is our favorite vacation. We (family of 5) rented a villa. I just love the island and the beaches.

That being said, we just got back from Antigua though and it was the most *relaxing* vacation we've ever had. We stayed at our first all-inclusive resort and it was sooooo relaxing. We stayed in one of these two bedroom villas: http://www.verandahresortandspa.com/villas.htm. The villas are like your own little house. They are not in a large hotel. They are separate little huts. They aren't fancy, but it was perfect for us. It was so nice not to have to cook and clean. When all was said and done I think it cost about the same as our St. John trip.

[Anonymous]

This is 20:57.
We stayed here and it was perfect for us:
http://www.vrbo.com/232891

[Anonymous]

Disney Cruise. We sailed to Nassau last year and spent a day at Atlantis - fabulous! Also stopped at Disney's Island, another WOW.

We're leaving in a month for another Disney Cruise, but this time we stop at Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Disney does a fabulous job at entertaining everyone, of all ages, and provides a wonderful vacation. The kids camp is phenominal, and is offered for all ages. We're all excited!