We had just gotten off the ship in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. We were standing at the taxi stand, waiting for our private tour to start, when a band began playing traditional music. One of the musicians let my son try a metal guiro, which looks like a ridged coffee can and gets played by rubbing a stick up and down. When the musician wanted it back, he didn’t take the hint. He kept right on playing along.

Then he started copying the dancer. He added the guiro to his percussion lineup and picked up a few dance moves.

I wasn’t just watching from the sidelines, and neither was my husband. We were in it together, and seeing my son go all in on every moment brought me so much joy.

That was the first 20 minutes of our Eastern Caribbean family cruise on the Star Princess.

And the tour hadn’t even started
Once it did, we stopped for empanadas on Umbrella Street. My son was excited and hesitant at the same time, right up until the first bite, and then you could tell he loved them.
We learned how coffee is made the traditional way, and he met monkeys. He skipped the coffee, but they had hot chocolate for kids, so he was thrilled.

Puerto Plata was 1 of 3 ports on our Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Star Princess. We docked at Amber Cove.

Grand Turk: beach, snorkeling, and Jack’s Shack
In Grand Turk we spent the day at the beach and went snorkeling. We ate Caribbean food at Jack’s Shack, all 3 of us at the same table talking about what we saw while snorkling, still a little salty from the water.

Princess Cays: sandcastles and a stingray
Beach chairs and bbq lunch were included at Princess Cays, and we had our beverage package, so there was nothing to figure out. We just settled in.

My son built sandcastles with friends he’d made in the kids club on our first sea day. We built and dug right alongside them.

Early in the day, a huge stingray swam past us in the shallow, calm water. We won’t forget it.

Questions at every stop
My son is an outgoing kid, so I wasn’t worried he’d be shy. What surprised me was how much he loved talking with people from another culture. He asked questions at every port, and we got to hear the answers together.

That’s the part I’d hand to any parent weighing a cruise. You learn alongside your kids, in the moment, with everyone’s attention in the same place.

The kids club added to it
My son woke up every morning asking to go to the kids club, especially on sea days. The activities had a Caribbean theme: treasure hunts, lessons about bugs, birds and butterflies around the world, and a game about kids from other countries. He got more of the same curiosity he brought to the ports, and he made the friends he later built sandcastles with.

Unpack once
I unpacked one time. Nobody had to repack a suitcase between stops, so our energy went into the days themselves and into each other.

Two of our best moments, the band and the stingray, weren’t on anyone’s schedule. When you aren’t rushing to pack up and move on, you have room for them.

What I do for families
The pools on the ship are fun. The best part of our week was getting off the ship and doing things together in places we’d never been.

If you’re picturing a family cruise and wondering which ports and excursions will get your kids (and you) involved, send me a message. I take care of the details. You take the trip.