car seats

[jlrn366419]

For those who cruised with toddler before, did you take a carseat with you for the ports? Just trying to get an idea of how difficult it is if you take one with you to the ports. I realize many Caribbean countries have busses or shuttles and taxis without seatbelts. If you didn't use a carseat did you try to plan excursions you could walk to from the ship or were a short drive? Also, I'm not looking for a lecture on car seat safety and how badly injured my child could be if we got into an accident. TIA.

[6rugrats]

There are probably a couple hundred threads discussing this issue. If you do a search on this forum, you can pull up ten pages of them. Here's a couple to get you started:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1371085&highlight=car+seats

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1396152&highlight=car+seats

 

 

I have never had a problem anywhere finding a cab with seatbelts.

[pandabebe]

We did not bring our carseat with us when we were in port. First off, we knew that most taxis/shuttles did not have seat belts. Plus, we honestly did not want to lug our carseat around with us all day. That being said, all the places we went to via taxi/shuttle was only a short drive (less than 5 mins).

[DALSAL]

Im sure you will find many passionate responses to your question. The weight of the car seat will be nothing compared to the weight of your guilt if something should happen. Whats that expression they use, most accidents happen a block within your home.

 

We have never taken the car seat, but we only walk to where we are going to. Im busy myself trying to come up with something to do that doesnt require lugging the car seat. I think you might be able to find some tours that will have a car seat upon request. But, they might be outdated. Also, I did read about a car seat that wasnt suppose to be that heavy.

 

Its so hard traveling with a little one! If all else fails, we will do what we did last cruise..we waked around at the port, then MeMe took Lilly back to the ship while mom and dad explored a little more. :D Since Im the MeMe, I didnt mind at all!

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. We so enjoyed taking our then 10 month old on her first cruise. It should probably be more fun this next cruise. She will be able to go in the pool this time. Although, you cant beat that blow up pool on the balcony, and we will take it again this time too. Dot

[Mom2B&Z]

I am one of those passionate people, but I'll keep my response brief.

Yes, I have travelled with a toddler (still do!) and yes I bring a car seat. We use it for all transfers and ports. Contrary to others, we had no problem finding cars with seatbelts. It may not have been the first vehicle in line, but it was definitely possible. I was prepared to go without top tethers but I found those too. In ports that I thought (through research) it would be too difficult to find appropriate seatbelts, we travelled by water taxi or foot. We had a great time in three ports and have no regrets. This trip we are making similar plans, although we have added a coach bus as acceptable transportation due to our children being another year older.

If there is a will to use a car seat, there is a way.

[bmgaritty]

Traveled through most of the typical cruise stops in the Caribbean, (18 cruises to different itineraries) plus those via air/land only (maybe 12 or so.)

 

Always found a taxi with seatbelts, sometimes had to dig for the seatbelt, but .....yes...it was there contrary to other beliefs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seatbelts are REQUIRED in most CARIBBEAN ISLANDS, (Check the island's travel/tourist website!) I think once or twice I had to wait for a taxi where I could find a seat belt, not a big deal when I considered my daughters safety.

 

I have to agree with B&Z's mom, if there if there is a will there is a way. I know that we had the carseat for the plane, why stop there? Keep using it for the rest of the trip.

 

If you want to walk to beaches, this website can help you to determine which beaches or shopping areas are close.

 

How old or big is your toddler? There are a lot of different options depending on size/weight.

 

Have a great vacation!

[jlrn366419]

Thanks for all the input. Going to take a cheap lightweight carseat and try to minimize the rest of the packing/gear as much as possible. If there was a safe way to get from the airport to hotel to cruiseport w/o bringing my own seat, I'd leave it and just avoid transportation other than by boat or foot in ports. That is too much planning and relying on things working out perfectly, so a carseat it is. (we aren't renting a car once in the port city so renting a carseat w/car isn't an option).

[jennygirlmt]

This was my biggest stressor when my inlaws booked us all on an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle from Philadelphia, with our 13 month old. I really wanted to avoid taking a car seat. She is in my lap for the flight, then I found a transportation company who will provide a car seat in our van (there are 7 of us so this makes sense financially) to the hotel from the airport. Then we can walk around Seattle and walk to the pier (putting Gram in a taxi with all our luggage). Then we are taking turns at the ports just walking around the town with DD. I feel pretty good about it. I also spoke with a car service in Seattle who said they would provide a car seat as well if they were notified at least a week in advance. With a little extra research and a commitment to walking in the ports or taking boats, etc, you might be able to get away without it (assuming you aren't using it on the plane, otherwise I wouldn't hesitate to throw it in a taxi if there was something special I wanted to do in port.) This is our first time planning a vacay with a baby, boy it's a lot more to think about :-)

[jlrn366419]

Originally I thought we would rent a CARES harness for the plane ride and then use shuttle busses to get from the airport to hotel and hotel to cruise port. I was going to try to plan excursions that involved walking only, water taxis and/or busses/mini busses. I think it will be easier and less stressful to tote a carseat and be able to take the first available taxi to our destination of choice vs. waiting for a shuttle to arrive or fill up with a little one who may be antsy, tired or cranky. It will give me the peace of mind knowing he is as safe as he can be and it will give us more flexibility.

 

I would still like a CARES harness for the plane but I don't really want to spend the extra money to rent or buy one. After reading about them I think it would be better than a carseat for comfort purposes and will keep him from potentially kicking another seat. It really irks me that this is the only non carseat FAA approved device for kids in the specified age/weight range and the airlines won't provide them.

 

Anyway, this whole thing made me think of another question....When you get to the port on embarkation day, do you put a luggage tag on the carseat and give it to the porters? We aren't using a travel system so I don't want to carry that and an umbrella stroller if it isn't absolutely necessary. Does it have to have a cover on it? Should I take a trash bag or nylon laundry bag to cover it in? Buying a cheapo, don't expect it to be pristine after being handled but am hoping it will fare better at the cruise terminal than it would if I was checking it on a plane (which I will not be doing since it will be in use).

[Mom2B&Z]

If you go the disposable car seat route, then I'd check it at the port. My logic is that it's not going to be handled any worse than the airlines.

Personally my car seats are worth their weight in gold so we carry them on with our carry on luggage. NCL lets us check our carry ons once on board if our room isn't ready, which I'm ok doing. The other thing we've done is put the car seat on the umbrella stroller, then put DS2 in the Ergo carrier. It works really well for us to get all our stuff (and children!) to the places we need to go.

On our first cruise, the car seat and our carry on luggage sat beside us at the pool while we ate our lunch :D.