HELP! Ft. Lauderdale is there a taxi or shuttle service that has toddler car seats?!

[MNmomof4]

And like I said, read the reviews and you can see the excursions. And buses DO NOT have seatbelts. I never said they did. On buses, you are not allowed to put a car seat on a bus. But here is each port...as you requested....

 

--Nassau

----water taxi (no need for car seat)

----water ferry to Blackbeards Cay (no need for carseats)

-----and the taxis. Went into the port building and got in line at the transportation desk. Asked for taxis to Atlantis. Was led by a driver to a taxi mini van. It has seat belts. The kids car seats were strapped in.

-----outside Atlantis, had the concierge get us a taxi (we were guests of Atlantis), the taxi had seat belts (did this trip twice - same experience both times)

--water ferry to Blue Lagoon (did this twice) Dolphin Encounter

 

--Freeport Bahamas

----taxi, mini van, picked up at the cruise terminal, had seatbelts

----limo from Our Lucaya back to the cruise port. Charged us the same per person as a taxi ($5). Had seat belts

----Cruise Excursion to Dolphin Encounter - used water ferry to Unexo, no car seats needed on the boat

 

--Grand Caymen

----Excursion through RCCL - Butterfly Farm, mini van, had seatbelts

 

--Cozumel

---RCCL exursion to Passion Island, first leg of trip, full sized bus, no car seats needed on a bus

------2nd leg of trip, a small ferry boat to get us out to the island

-----RCCL Excursion to Playa Mia, used mini van shuttles, had seatbelts for the car seats

 

--Belize

----tender to Belize can do the City/Zoo Tour which uses a boat down the river

----cave-tubing.com uses full sized buses, no need for car seat

 

--Costa Maya

----after the hurricane, the port area has been rebuilt for cruise guests. There is a large pool and fountains for young ones to play in. Sun chairs are all around the pool. No need to leave the port area. No need for car seats.

 

--St. Martin

----Disney Cruise excursion to St. Martin Orient Beach - uses full sized buses, no car seat necessary

----NCL excursion called "Under the Two Flags" tour. Used a full size bus to transport from one side of the island to the other - no car seat needed

 

--St. Thomas

----Cruise excursion to Coral World - uses small mini vans, seatbelts were in the mini vans, used car seats.

----Some of the tour companies use Open Air Safari Buses to Coral World - avoid these, no seat belts on the bench style seating

 

--Key West

----Aquarium - within walking distance, no car seat needed

----Glass Bottom boat tour, no car seat needed

 

--Labadee

----beach day, no car seat needed, walk to Dragon's Breath Point or take the tram, Adventure Ocean is moved to the island if needed

 

--CocoCay

----beach day, no car seat needed, Adventure Ocean is moved to the island if needed

 

--Great Stirrup Cay

----beach day, no car seat needed

 

--Castaway Cay

----beach day, no car seat needed. Disney's Kids club is moved to the beach if the adults want to do an excursion without the kids

 

--New Brunswick, Canada

----hired a private tour company called Freedom Tours. They asked if I wanted car seats when I booked the tour. I told them I was bringing my own. They used new mini vans for the tour - the car seats were secured into the belts.

 

US Ports and taxi/shuttle info from Airport to Ports

 

Miami - MUST have a car seat for a taxi. They will not transport without one. All taxis have seatbelts in Miami. MIA Airport to MIA Port is 8 miles, but 20 minutes by taxi. Flat rate $24 plus tip

 

Fort Laudedale - MUST have a car seat for a taxi. They will not transport without one. All taxis have seatbelts in Fort Lauderdale. FLL Airport to PE Port is 2 miles, but 10 - 20 minutes by taxi (pending on port traffic). Rate starts at $10 can be as high as $30 pending on traffic

 

Port Canaveral - Private Transport (car rental or private car) is a better choice when going to PC. MCO Airport to PC is 45 minutes by car. We've done both. We've rented cars from Enterprise and brought our own car seats. We used Florida Towncar Service ($200 round trip) on at least 3 of our cruise trips. They used to rent car seats. They stopped doing this last year. We always bring car seats. The Towncars have seat belts.

 

NYC - we parked at the terminal so no transport needed from airport to port.

 

I hope this info helps someone that is actually going to need it.

 

 

Thanks for the useful information. It definitely helps in planning excursions. I can't believe all the people who dont want the "hassle" of car seats.

[patseacruiser]

Synonym of the word sullen (as in I'm sullen -imsulen) - HOSTILE. I am so over you picking apart everything everyone says when you are obviously so much more knowledgeable.

[sungoddess28]

And like I said, read the reviews and you can see the excursions. And buses DO NOT have seatbelts. I never said they did. On buses, you are not allowed to put a car seat on a bus. But here is each port...as you requested....

 

--Nassau

----water taxi (no need for car seat)

----water ferry to Blackbeards Cay (no need for carseats)

-----and the taxis. Went into the port building and got in line at the transportation desk. Asked for taxis to Atlantis. Was led by a driver to a taxi mini van. It has seat belts. The kids car seats were strapped in.

-----outside Atlantis, had the concierge get us a taxi (we were guests of Atlantis), the taxi had seat belts (did this trip twice - same experience both times)

--water ferry to Blue Lagoon (did this twice) Dolphin Encounter

 

--Freeport Bahamas

----taxi, mini van, picked up at the cruise terminal, had seatbelts

----limo from Our Lucaya back to the cruise port. Charged us the same per person as a taxi ($5). Had seat belts

----Cruise Excursion to Dolphin Encounter - used water ferry to Unexo, no car seats needed on the boat

 

--Grand Caymen

----Excursion through RCCL - Butterfly Farm, mini van, had seatbelts

 

--Cozumel

---RCCL exursion to Passion Island, first leg of trip, full sized bus, no car seats needed on a bus

------2nd leg of trip, a small ferry boat to get us out to the island

-----RCCL Excursion to Playa Mia, used mini van shuttles, had seatbelts for the car seats

 

--Belize

----tender to Belize can do the City/Zoo Tour which uses a boat down the river

----cave-tubing.com uses full sized buses, no need for car seat

 

--Costa Maya

----after the hurricane, the port area has been rebuilt for cruise guests. There is a large pool and fountains for young ones to play in. Sun chairs are all around the pool. No need to leave the port area. No need for car seats.

 

--St. Martin

----Disney Cruise excursion to St. Martin Orient Beach - uses full sized buses, no car seat necessary

----NCL excursion called "Under the Two Flags" tour. Used a full size bus to transport from one side of the island to the other - no car seat needed

 

--St. Thomas

----Cruise excursion to Coral World - uses small mini vans, seatbelts were in the mini vans, used car seats.

----Some of the tour companies use Open Air Safari Buses to Coral World - avoid these, no seat belts on the bench style seating

 

--Key West

----Aquarium - within walking distance, no car seat needed

----Glass Bottom boat tour, no car seat needed

 

--Labadee

----beach day, no car seat needed, walk to Dragon's Breath Point or take the tram, Adventure Ocean is moved to the island if needed

 

--CocoCay

----beach day, no car seat needed, Adventure Ocean is moved to the island if needed

 

--Great Stirrup Cay

----beach day, no car seat needed

 

--Castaway Cay

----beach day, no car seat needed. Disney's Kids club is moved to the beach if the adults want to do an excursion without the kids

 

--New Brunswick, Canada

----hired a private tour company called Freedom Tours. They asked if I wanted car seats when I booked the tour. I told them I was bringing my own. They used new mini vans for the tour - the car seats were secured into the belts.

 

US Ports and taxi/shuttle info from Airport to Ports

 

Miami - MUST have a car seat for a taxi. They will not transport without one. All taxis have seatbelts in Miami. MIA Airport to MIA Port is 8 miles, but 20 minutes by taxi. Flat rate $24 plus tip

 

Fort Laudedale - MUST have a car seat for a taxi. They will not transport without one. All taxis have seatbelts in Fort Lauderdale. FLL Airport to PE Port is 2 miles, but 10 - 20 minutes by taxi (pending on port traffic). Rate starts at $10 can be as high as $30 pending on traffic

 

Port Canaveral - Private Transport (car rental or private car) is a better choice when going to PC. MCO Airport to PC is 45 minutes by car. We've done both. We've rented cars from Enterprise and brought our own car seats. We used Florida Towncar Service ($200 round trip) on at least 3 of our cruise trips. They used to rent car seats. They stopped doing this last year. We always bring car seats. The Towncars have seat belts.

 

NYC - we parked at the terminal so no transport needed from airport to port.

 

I hope this info helps someone that is actually going to need it.

 

Thanks! This was very helpful! I didn't find it "confusing" at all. We are going to Atlantis on our own (booked a room at Comfort Suites for the passes) in 2 weeks sailing CCL. What do reccomend our transportation be? Where will the water taxi take you? We would need to check into Comfort Suites first then head to Atlantis. Traveling with a 2 year old. This is the first cruise for all of us.

[crusinmama06]

I actually found this helpful, but on the beach days when you say no car seat is needed, did you walk to the beach? I have been to these islands before, but never with a child and I don't remember the beach being so close to port. Also, if anyone has any information about what I could do in Roatan I would really appreciate it!

 

The beaches that I said "beach day, no cars seat needed" are the Cruise Line Private Islands or Private Beach areas. So anywhere you saw that, it means that you can get right off the ship and the beach is right there. :)

 

CocoCay and Labadee are Royal Caribbean's. Half Moon Cay is visited by Carnival and NCL (maybe HAL, don't know for sure). Castaway is Disney's.

 

I would LOVE to tell you about Roatan but I haven't been there yet ;) Type Roatan into the Family Board search and there are some recent posts about it.

 

 

Thanks for the useful information. It definitely helps in planning excursions. I can't believe all the people who dont want the "hassle" of car seats.

 

Thanks Penny :D

 

Thanks! This was very helpful! I didn't find it "confusing" at all. We are going to Atlantis on our own (booked a room at Comfort Suites for the passes) in 2 weeks sailing CCL. What do reccomend our transportation be? Where will the water taxi take you? We would need to check into Comfort Suites first then head to Atlantis. Traveling with a 2 year old. This is the first cruise for all of us.

 

First of all, don't forget your stroller on this one. You'll want it.

 

If you REALLY want to avoid the taxi/car seat issue then you can take a water taxi to Atlantis Paradise Island (area) and then walk over to Comfort Suites. It's $3pp each way...but I will tell you, I really would recommend that you take a regular taxi ($4pp each way) and take the car seat. The water taxis to Atlantis are crowded and can be smoky (yes, the engine smokes on the boat).

 

Either way, water or regular taxi, here is how you do it....

When you get off the CCL ship, walk into the port building (right there at the dock, you'll see shopping in the back part of the building to the right) and walk up to the transportation desk. Tell someone at that desk that you need a taxi (or water taxi) to Paradise Island. They will line you up (usually with others going to Paradise Island) and will hand you over to a taxi driver or a water taxi guide.

 

You follow this driver/guide out of the port building and into the waiting taxi or the waiting water taxi.

 

If you take a regular taxi, you'll need a car seat. They will drop you right off at the Comfort Suites front door. You can check in (AND OUT at the same time if you wish). Then you can walk over to Atlantis (about 10 minutes, that's why you'll want the stroller) The Atlantis property is massive. HUGE!

 

If you take the water taxi, then it will drop you off at a small dock on Paradise Island that is about a 10 minute walk to Atlantis. Even farther to Comfort Suites, ask the guides and follow the crowd. Many will be going to those hotels.

 

Your 2 year old actually won't need a wrist band at Atlantis because the child will be free. I don't know if anyone told you that yet. So you will have an extra wristband. My youngest was 2 on one of our trips to Atlantis. She didn't need to wear a wristband. :)

 

Wait till you see all of the different children's pools at Atlantis! You will be amazed! There is a lazy river that you CAN take the child on, not to be confused with the Rapids. ;) My youngest would just lay on my chest and we would float around the place. :D

 

Oh and the slides! There are smaller slides for little ones all over the place. You just have to look for them. Off the top of my head, I can remember at least 5 separate pools/slides for the younger kids. One day just wasn't enough so we had to go back a few times. And we still haven't seen/done it all there. ENJOY!

[sungoddess28]

Thanks cruisinmama! You're a wealth of knowledge!:D

 

I think we will take the taxi. Question is, what do u do with the carseat while at Atlantis? I hear they have lockers you can rent but I am sure the lockers won't hold a carseat.

[crusinmama06]

Thanks cruisinmama! You're a wealth of knowledge!:D

 

I think we will take the taxi. Question is, what do u do with the carseat while at Atlantis? I hear they have lockers you can rent but I am sure the lockers won't hold a carseat.

 

Well we left our car seats with the Atlantis front desk because they have storage for their guests who don't have a room ready yet. And then when the room was ready, we moved everything up to the room.

 

With Comfort Suites, ask them if they have a "luggage holding area". You will have to return to CS to get your car seat - which is sort of a hike. So maybe if you have 2 adults in your group, send one for the car seat.

 

You'll have to come back after your cruise and tell us how you worked that part out. :)

[lmsscs]

Michele,

 

Thank you for the information, this is very helpful.

[Travalerie]

I just did a search and found this thread. Apparently I am not the only one with questions about carseats. Anyone have any experience in Alaska? I am thinking of taking the shuttle/bus to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau. I have heard it called both, so I am not sure what to do as far as carseats. I also don't know what we would do with them walking around on a glacier with a 2 and 5 year old with car seats in tow...I am thinking the only logical thing to do is rent a car. Also has anyone done one of those land/sea duck tours? Seatbelts on those?