Confused About Whether to Take Car Seat

[GirlWriter]

Hi all. We are taking a cruise next month from Barcelona to Italy and back. We originally were not planning to take a car seat for our 15-month-old, because (a) we are planning to take trains/buses in Barcelona and probably will only be in a cab for the ride from the hotel to the pier and back, (b) we heard that many cabbies don't want to wait for you to get a car seat installed and will refuse to pick you up or will insist that you carry the child on your lap anyway, and © once we're on the cruise itself, there will be no use for the car seat.

 

We definitely have to take a stroller regardless, so the car seat seems like an unnecessary extra piece of gear that could be damaged or stolen during the trip.

 

However, now I'm reading some accounts that Spain requires the child to be in a car seat in a cab. Is that true? Does anybody know for sure? Is there an official source of such information?

 

Any advice?

 

Btw, the combination stroller-car seats that are out there won't work for us ... we have looked at them and don't like them, because they do not seem to be that great as a stroller and that's the piece of gear we need the most during the trip. We will be pushing the little guy over rocky, bumpy Italian roads and want him to be in his regular stroller for comfort.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Kerry's Girls]

we heard that many cabbies don't want to wait for you to get a car seat installed and will refuse to pick you up or will insist that you carry the child on your lap anyway,

 

 

This is absolutely false - you don't want to land in Barcelona without a car seat or non-cab arrangments for transportation. I also read before our travel that Spain requires car seats and it was true. Every cab driver in Barcelona required me to have car seats for my 5 year old twins and had no problem waiting for me to install both (and in some cases helped me do it). If you don't bring a car seat, you'll have to pre-arrange a car that will provide one (we actually had a cab at one point that had car seats built into the cab - clearly they are serious about car seats in Spain - but there's no way you could count on that without pre-arranging). I looked into pre-arranged taxis and found them to be more expensive and less convenient, but you may consider it if you're really against bringing your seat.

 

I used my car seats in most of our Med ports (but we did private tours where we could leave the seat in the car or van).

 

Have a great time!

 

Best,

Mia

[RoadTripFanatic]

I would pay the extra money for the arranged transportation. There is no way I would want to try to hassle with a car seat, stroller, luggage and such while quickly boarding a train for Barcelona. We found it tough enough with 1 9 year old, two large suitcases, duffle, carry-ons while getting on the train from Rome to Civetevecchia. (Or any of the 5 other train rides we took!) It would be worth the extra money to me not to hassle with this burden. I say if it's under $100 I wouldn't mess with dragging the car seat.

[sharky23]

It's a great question GW, and one I am keenly interested in as well. We're going on a med cruise this summer with our toddler, and have been flip-flopping on bringing the car seat. Most European airlines don't want them on-board, and airlines such as Alitalia, flat-out won't allow them.

 

That said, we got a car service that has car seats to take us from FCO to the port at no extra charge. But what to do when touring a city such as Athens? Bring the car seat anyway and lug it around, hoping a taxi will pick us up? Sounds like a lot of fun! :rolleyes:

 

Very interested in hearing some feedback from those that have done this. Good post.

[Kerry's Girls]

It's a great question GW, and one I am keenly interested in as well. We're going on a med cruise this summer with our toddler, and have been flip-flopping on bringing the car seat. Most European airlines don't want them on-board, and airlines such as Alitalia, flat-out won't allow them.

 

That said, we got a car service that has car seats to take us from FCO to the port at no extra charge. But what to do when touring a city such as Athens? Bring the car seat anyway and lug it around, hoping a taxi will pick us up? Sounds like a lot of fun! :rolleyes:

 

Very interested in hearing some feedback from those that have done this. Good post.

 

In Athens (and in Rome), I hired a cab for the day once we got to the port. It worked out wonderfully - he drove us everywhere and we were able to leave all the stuff that goes along with toddlers in the cab while we climbed the Acropolis and visited other sites. I've become a big advocate of private tours when going with little ones. Ironically, it often was less expensive than paying for a ship tour, but we were able to go at our own pace, keep our stuff in the car/van, eat when we wanted to (or not). We had planned to take the subway in Athens on our own and the train in Rome, but I'm so glad our charming drivers ended up taking such good care of us.

 

In Egypt we pre-ordered a van and guide that was specifically wonderful with children.

 

Best,

Mia

[GirlWriter]

Thanks for the suggestions. What we are leaning toward is prearranging for private shuttle/car service in Barcelona (I found several that provide car seats if requested in advance). I guess we'll have to look into what to do in Florence. We were hoping to avoid the expense of a private-hire car there -- we're taking the train on our own from Livorno to Florence and then just hoped to hop in a cab if needed to get to the sites we want to visit.

[6rugrats]

I guess we'll have to look into what to do in Florence. We were hoping to avoid the expense of a private-hire car there -- we're taking the train on our own from Livorno to Florence and then just hoped to hop in a cab if needed to get to the sites we want to visit.

 

IMO, you don't really need a cab at all in Florence; you will be able to easily walk to the major sites from the train station, especially if you have the stroller. My only suggestion would be to make reservations in advance for the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia if you were interested in going there, as the lines are sometimes crazy long (note that both of these are closed on Mondays).

[GirlWriter]

Thanks! We went ahead and booked a private tour to take us from Livorno to Pisa and Florence; the van will be equipped with a car seat, according to the email I got.

 

So, it's more than we wanted to spend, but at least that worry is removed for me!

[RoadTripFanatic]

Thanks! We went ahead and booked a private tour to take us from Livorno to Pisa and Florence; the van will be equipped with a car seat, according to the email I got.

 

So, it's more than we wanted to spend, but at least that worry is removed for me!

 

Could you just take the train? We found that when we go to Pisa you don't need transportation there because the train station is with in walking distance of the major sites. :) It's the same with Florence. Everything there is walking distance.

[GirlWriter]

Could you just take the train? We found that when we go to Pisa you don't need transportation there because the train station is with in walking distance of the major sites. :) It's the same with Florence. Everything there is walking distance.

 

That was our initial thinking, but thought that wouldn't work everywhere -- we didn't want to try to do the walk from the Pisa train station to the Leaning Tower, because we are going to be pressed for time. We were concerned that if we tried to catch a cab, we might encounter a cabbie who would refuse to take us unless we had a car seat, or the reverse (i.e., if we took the seat, we might find a cabbie who didn't want to bother with us and it).

 

Overall, it just makes for less stress for us (make that, ME -- LOL) to prearrange for transportation everywhere we know we'll be needing it.

 

Thanks!

[RoadTripFanatic]

That was our initial thinking, but thought that wouldn't work everywhere -- we didn't want to try to do the walk from the Pisa train station to the Leaning Tower, because we are going to be pressed for time. We were concerned that if we tried to catch a cab, we might encounter a cabbie who would refuse to take us unless we had a car seat, or the reverse (i.e., if we took the seat, we might find a cabbie who didn't want to bother with us and it).

 

Overall, it just makes for less stress for us (make that, ME -- LOL) to prearrange for transportation everywhere we know we'll be needing it.

 

Thanks!

I understand that completely. It was less than 20 minutes to the tower.

[sabound]

Girlwriter - did you find a company in Barcelona that will provide car seats? My family and I will be traveling on a MEd cruise in September and I just found the information on Spain as well. I had not planned to take a car seat for my almost 5 year old daughter - we have enough luggage. There will also be a 1 year old in the group.

 

 

 

Is Europe that strict? We travelled to South America 2 years ago and I did not take the car seat along as we rode the ship motorcoach to and from the airports and we either had private tours in Vans, or motorcoach rides and we held our daughter. Some may not agree with this, but it is no different than traveling in NYC and we felt plenty safe and saved ourselves the hassle besides the airline lost our stroller as it was.

 

Thanks

[cruisincarly]

Girlwriter - did you find a company in Barcelona that will provide car seats? My family and I will be traveling on a MEd cruise in September and I just found the information on Spain as well. I had not planned to take a car seat for my almost 5 year old daughter - we have enough luggage. There will also be a 1 year old in the group.

 

 

 

Is Europe that strict? We travelled to South America 2 years ago and I did not take the car seat along as we rode the ship motorcoach to and from the airports and we either had private tours in Vans, or motorcoach rides and we held our daughter. Some may not agree with this, but it is no different than traveling in NYC and we felt plenty safe and saved ourselves the hassle besides the airline lost our stroller as it was.

 

Thanks

 

I don't think anyone can say whether "Europe" in general is strict. Each country in Europe has its own laws and its own standards for enforcement. I'm sure there are big differences between them.

 

I live in Sweden, and you would not be able to ride in a taxi without a carseat, but carseats are provided in nearly all taxis (and in my experience, the driver will install it for you without grumbling -- it's part of their job).

[SuperCoolOne]

There is a metro (or subway) in Barcelona. Would that get you where you need to be?

 

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/maps/barcelona-metro-map.html

[GirlWriter]

Girlwriter - did you find a company in Barcelona that will provide car seats?

 

Yes, I found several, actually. The one we ended up deciding to use is one that our hotel recommended. I don't have the company's name, but here is the phone number: 93 296 82 82. They are supposed to be waiting on us when we land in Barcelona.

 

In addition to this company, TaxiVanBCN and A2B Transfers both provide car seats. They were more expensive than the one the hotel recommended, however.

[sabound]

Thank you I will contact them and get quotes including car seats.