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Old 11-17-2009, 01:17 PM   #1
graceandaudrey
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Feb 20 Western Excursions?

My sister, my two girls (8 & 3) and I will be going on our second western cruise on Feb 20, 2010. I am looking for some tips on doing some excusrions ourselves. Last time, we did it through Disney and felt we just paid too much. So I am willing to do some legwork to save some money.

Key West -- I am thinking about renting one of those little cars with GPS for the day. Has anybody done this? How much? Do I need to think about a car seat for my 3 year old? Where should we go?

Cozumel -- We swam with the dolphins last year and it was great. Now I am just thinking about some quiet time at the beach. Which would be a good one with kids? Light surf etc.

Grand Cayman -- I went there many years ago and would like to go to Rum Point again. No need to swim with the stingrays. Any ideas about how to get there? I do know that it is a bit of a drive, but how much?

Thanks for any info. We are looking forward to cruising again, but we would like to try something different as well this time.
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Old 11-17-2009, 07:47 PM   #2
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Western Excursions

We did the Magic Western Carribean Jan. 2009. Lots of fun! We also did the electric cars with the GPS. I would for sure recommend the car seat for your child. The speed isn't that fast, but you are still on the open road with other cars, and the electric cars are all open. We didn't use the GPS because it was too hard to hear, there is so much traffic and you can't really go at a slow pace. We just used a map and kind of did our own thing. We drove to a beach, which someone told us about on our way around town. There are pretty sites to see, you can see a bigger area with the car, we were just overwhelmed with trying to figure out the GPS, hearing it and worrying about traffic. We had a good time, but wouldn't do the electric car again. I would recommend going to Sloppy Joes. The Southern Most Point is a must see. I agree with you about doing your own excursions, you can save some money instead of using Disney. Grand Cayman was our favorite!!! We grabbed a cab and went to 7 mile beach and got an umbrella and chairs and relaxed all day. We rented wave runners. The cab ride was $10 round trip. The rest of the time we just walked around town and did some shopping. Have Fun!! We are returning on a the Western Carribean in 2011.
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Old 11-17-2009, 11:07 PM   #3
MelissaL
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When we were in Key West with our kids ages 4 and 8, we just brought our stroller and walked around on our own The aquarium and pirate museum are both within easy walking distance of the dock, along with of course many shops and restaurants.

Happy planning,
Melissa
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Old 11-18-2009, 12:27 PM   #4
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In Key West you can also buy the trolley tickets on your own from their website. It's cheaper, and you can get on and off as you like all day.
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Old 12-09-2009, 08:42 PM   #5
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My husband and I are on the same cruise!

Michele
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Old 12-10-2009, 01:30 PM   #6
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Our family of five are on this cruise too. Thanks for asking the question. We plan to go out on our own in Key West and are considering the Pirate Museum.

We plan to do 7 mile beach on our own on Grand Caymon, as well.

Jungle Hike on Cozumel. Plan to leave the kids on the ship this day. I've heard some awful stories about Mexico lately. Would love to hear others opinions on this.

See you on the ship!
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