East Carib transportation ?

[pepsiwoman4711]

We're planning a cruise on the Carnival Dream for February of next year to Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Marten. What are our transportation options with a small child? He will be 15 months during the time of the cruise. Do the Carnival shore excursions offer transportation to a child this young? Taxis? I just can't really seem to discover many options. Any help is appreciated.

[loan_girl]

Everywhere we have been over the years, when we are out of country, there is no specialty transportation for young children. I think, you would either need to be comfortable with lap-sitting/bus riding or not travel further than you can walk. That's a personal decision. We have always let our children lap sit so we/they can experience where we are but, if it makes you uncomfortable it would be best to stay close to the boat.

[Marie51]

We're planning a cruise on the Carnival Dream for February of next year to Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Marten. What are our transportation options with a small child? He will be 15 months during the time of the cruise. Do the Carnival shore excursions offer transportation to a child this young? Taxis? I just can't really seem to discover many options. Any help is appreciated.

 

I have never seen transportation options specifically for children. You will have to bring your own carseat which will be a pain to carry around but keep in mind that some buses, shuttles, and cabs on these islands do not even have seat belts.

I have cruised with my grandchildren. We just make do the best we can. Other than that you will only be able to go as far as you can walk when off the ship.

[acceber32]

This is a tough one. I am really torn as to what to do about car seat or no car seat. So far, I have found a few choices but all are much more than the normal transportation. In Nassau, we have decided not to get off the ship. We went to Nassau on our first cruise and we were not impressed. But in my research (before we decided to stay on board) I did find one taxi company that would provide a car seat. We were looking into going to Cable beach and round trip from the port was going to be $40. The contact email was fergiestaxi@coralwave.com.

 

For St. Thomas I am trying to get a quote from vicertifiedtourguides@yahoo.com. They said they would hook me up with a tour guide that would provide a car seat but have not given me a price yet. It took them a week or two to get back with me just to ask questions (like what ship we would be on) that I had already put in the email. But from my understanding this is a group of tour guides that are certified by the government and each one is independent.

 

And for St. Maarten we are just staying close to port. There is a beach there and I think some shopping so we won't need to travel any where.

 

We haven't used any of those places listed above. It's just information I have gathered from reading these boards. Hopefully someone else will post some first hand experience with someone (I would love some info for St. Thomas). Good luck with your search and as the above poster stated, it is really a personal call as to how comfortable you feel with your little one in your lap or in a car seat.

[A&Jfamily]

This is a tough one. I am really torn as to what to do about car seat or no car seat. So far, I have found a few choices but all are much more than the normal transportation. In Nassau, we have decided not to get off the ship. We went to Nassau on our first cruise and we were not impressed. But in my research (before we decided to stay on board) I did find one taxi company that would provide a car seat. We were looking into going to Cable beach and round trip from the port was going to be $40. The contact email was fergiestaxi@coralwave.com.

 

For St. Thomas I am trying to get a quote from vicertifiedtourguides@yahoo.com. They said they would hook me up with a tour guide that would provide a car seat but have not given me a price yet. It took them a week or two to get back with me just to ask questions (like what ship we would be on) that I had already put in the email. But from my understanding this is a group of tour guides that are certified by the government and each one is independent.

 

And for St. Maarten we are just staying close to port. There is a beach there and I think some shopping so we won't need to travel any where.

 

We haven't used any of those places listed above. It's just information I have gathered from reading these boards. Hopefully someone else will post some first hand experience with someone (I would love some info for St. Thomas). Good luck with your search and as the above poster stated, it is really a personal call as to how comfortable you feel with your little one in your lap or in a car seat.

 

I think a lot will depend on how well "controlled":p your child is at 15months - it's still too early to tell. Will he sit calmly and nicely? Mine would, and thus, I have done it. There are many on here that are not comfortable with that and I respect their opinions. You get all sides from "we didn't have car seats and we survived" to "I could never live with myself if something happend." Both make sense. However, if I made the choice, and something happened, I

 

In Nassau, if you are in good shape, you could take a stoller and walk to Adastra Gardens - it is a cute little zoo and a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

 

In St. Thomas, check where you are docking. At one of the piers you can walk to the butterfly exhibit. We took an open air 6 row jeep (youngest was 5 - and rides in a car seat here, but just said nicely in the jeep) with Henry of EEE tours - loved him and got a really nice tour of the island.

 

Can't comment on St. Martin - haven't done that with little ones.

[pepsiwoman4711]

Thanks so much for the great replies and information! My husband and I have been to both Nassau (on numerous occasions) and St. Thomas (once) before, but we were single, married people who paid no attention to families with kids. Whoops...so now that we have a child, although we're seasoned cruisers...we've not done it with a child which puts us back a few.

 

No judging, but depending on the type of transportation, we're comfortable going without a carseat. I know Nassau has a water taxi that will take us to Atlantis, which might be good to show baby the great aquarium they have there. Otherwise, Adastra gardens sounds nice.

 

St. Thomas is supposed to have a place called "Coral World" which sounds really interesting, unfortunately Carnival doesn't go there on an excursion from what I've seen.

 

Can anyone tell me if Carnival has an age limit or minimum for excursions involving transportation?

[A&Jfamily]

Thanks so much for the great replies and information! My husband and I have been to both Nassau (on numerous occasions) and St. Thomas (once) before, but we were single, married people who paid no attention to families with kids. Whoops...so now that we have a child, although we're seasoned cruisers...we've not done it with a child which puts us back a few.

 

No judging, but depending on the type of transportation, we're comfortable going without a carseat. I know Nassau has a water taxi that will take us to Atlantis, which might be good to show baby the great aquarium they have there. Otherwise, Adastra gardens sounds nice.

 

St. Thomas is supposed to have a place called "Coral World" which sounds really interesting, unfortunately Carnival doesn't go there on an excursion from what I've seen.

 

Can anyone tell me if Carnival has an age limit or minimum for excursions involving transportation?

 

If Carnival has an age limit on an excursion, they post it in the description on line. Otherwise, children under 4 are considered lap children and FREE!:D