Car seat in St Thomas?

[alcie]

I'm posting on this board instead of the family board because I'm hoping for quicker replies since we're leaving on Sat for FOS. I'm trying to figure out if we need to take a car seat to St. Thomas for our 3 yr old. We'll be on FOS and will be going to the aquarium and Coki beach. We don't have an excursion but instead will just find a taxi in port. I've read some reviews on the family board that say don't bother because you won't find a taxi with shoulder harness seat belts. I've read others that say to take a full sized car seat and just wait until you find a taxi with seat belts (but then you have to carry the seat around all day). For those that have been to this port, should we take a car seat or is the aquarium really close to port? I'm also looking at this booster seat but I'm a little nervous about the weight limit - not sure if it's completely accurate Harmony Booster Seat.

[Betsy's Mom]

Having lived on the Island I say leave it home. You will spend more time and energy and be frustrated trying to find a cab with seat belts to attach the car seat to than it is worth IMO. The Island law is set belts only in the front seat and sometimes there are none even there. It is not far to Coki and the speed limit is low. Try and get a van cab rather than the open safari cabs. Enjoy and hold on tight:)

B.

[BND]

We've cruised to St Thomas 4 times and I have never seen a car seat either in a taxi or being brought on or off a ship. The other issue would be the time required to install it and remove it would severely crimp the driver's turnaround time. I totally understand the safety concerns and lots of people on cc have cruised with all ages of children, so the family board might get you a quicker answer as this will get lost in all the other threads.

[Cruising89143]

Below is your typical St. Thomas taxi. There are some vans but they are far and few between.

 

[Jpod]

We had a similar problem when we were in St. Thomas 3 years ago. My 2 kids were old enough to not be in booster seats, but we had my 4 year old niece with us. Where we are, kids are required to be in a booster seat until they are 7. I am an absolute stickler about car seats so we rented a minivan (there were a total of 7 of us) and took her car seat with us. It was under $100 for a minivan for the day and we were able to come and go at the times most convenient for us. My parents were with us and my father doesn't move very fast (just had a knee replacement) so we liked not being rushed. We brough her a booster seat just like you pictured and she used it with the shoulder belt. The rental minivan was quite new and had the full compliment of seatbelts.

 

Two caveats to renting though are 1) if we hadn't picked up the car first thing we would have been out of luck since the online reservation system rented out more cars than they actually had. So if you're not getting into port until later it may not be a good idea to rent. 2) they drive on the left on St. Thomas.

 

Other than that we felt it was well worth the money to rent rather than dealing with buses and schedules etc. If there are only a few of you, you wouldn't have to pay for a minivan but could just rent a regular car.

[princess lala]

I would leave it at home.

P.s. come join our roll call :)

[QTMichele]

I'm a stickler for car seats, but I have to tell you that they won't work on the open air buses (as posted above). However, there are other taxis available - you'll just have to look.

 

If you decide to bring a seat, a booster may be easier to carry with you. Boosters may be used on children who weigh at least 30 pounds. (Please know that a convertible seat is the safest option.)

[Marie51]

Leave the carseat at home. I have traveled to the islands with my grandchildren and half the time we ended up in one of those open safari vehicles or in a cab or bus with no seat belts.