What do you do with the car seat at the beach?

[kellylw]

I think the title says it all! We will be going on a cruise next month with our two year old. On his last cruise we didn't do anything that required driving and a car seat. This time we plan on doing a beach day in Cozumel and will be wanting our car seat for the taxi ride. For those that have done this before, what do you do with your car seat when you get to the beach? We have a Diono which is a slim profile but insanely heavy. We do have a car seat bag but its not fitted.

 

We plan on doing Chackanub (I'm sure I spelled that wrong).

 

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

[cb at sea]

If you can do it without a cab, and use a bus, there's no need for the carseat. Most of the ship's excursions transport via bus....that's what I would do.

[kellylw]

If you can do it without a cab, and use a bus, there's no need for the carseat. Most of the ship's excursions transport via bus....that's what I would do.

 

Thank you for your reply! We really don't like the two options provided by the ship and I really don't know that I would feel comfortable with the bus/no car seat.

[tkportersat]

My experience is that a lot of their cabs do not have good seat belts, so you may have to go with the shuttle bus option. We brought ours along for our day in Belize but we were on a private excursion and the only family on it so we were able to leave it on the bus. You might look into a private excursion to the Beach, go to google and type in Cozumel excursions. With those companies you have more of an ability to communicate with them what you need and they are usually less expensive. Good luck :)

 

Or, maybe you can see if there is a rental car company there you can make arrangements with ahead of time? Not even sure if that is an option...but a thought that popped into my head.

[Kerry's Girls]

I think the title says it all! We will be going on a cruise next month with our two year old. On his last cruise we didn't do anything that required driving and a car seat. This time we plan on doing a beach day in Cozumel and will be wanting our car seat for the taxi ride. For those that have done this before, what do you do with your car seat when you get to the beach? We have a Diono which is a slim profile but insanely heavy. We do have a car seat bag but its not fitted.

 

We plan on doing Chackanub (I'm sure I spelled that wrong).

 

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

If you go to the ports of call board, you may be able to find a cab/driver recommendation to pre-arrange transport and keep the seat in the car until the ride back.

 

Best,

Mia

[kellylw]

Thanks guys! I'll look into a private car or rental. I know people are always talking about car seats on this board, but I never hear about how what they do once they get to the excursion!

[luvsviola]

I plan to get one of these to keep the sand off...

 

It has backpack straps to make it easy to carry. I would never gate check on a plane (you never know if they drop kicked it down there), but this seems perfect for an excursion.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Childress-Ultimate-Seat-Travel-Black/dp/B0009RNXNA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1374818013&sr=8-4&keywords=gate+check+bag+for+car+seats

[dforeigner]

Do not, I repeat, do not rent a car in Mexico. If for some reason you get in a wreck, whomever is the driver will not get back on the ship that day. Hire a driver, or take an excursion that involves a bus.

 

Not sure why you are concerned about taking a bus without the car seat. As long as you are not sitting on the first row of seats, you and the little one are relatively safe. It is a matter of physics. A bus weighs more than a car.

 

There are at least two horror stories from people that rented cars in Cozumel and spent some time in jail until compensation money was paid to the injured party. And yes, they did get insurance with the rental.

[Mom2B&Z]

We were in Cozumel with our boys a year ago, and while we didn't use any transportation, I made sure to check out the seatbelt situation :). Not all taxis had seatbelts, which is typical of Mexico, but they could be found.

If I were you, I would get in touch with your destintion and ask them about a place to store the car seat. I've done this in many ports and never had a problem, as long as I ask and tip appropriately.

As for those who suggest going without the car seat, if you really want to use it, you will find a way. I won't travel without ours, and I've never had a problem using them, even if I need to spend a few minutes to find seatbelts.

Enjoy the trip!

[kellylw]

Do not, I repeat, do not rent a car in Mexico. If for some reason you get in a wreck, whomever is the driver will not get back on the ship that day. Hire a driver, or take an excursion that involves a bus.

 

There are at least two horror stories from people that rented cars in Cozumel and spent some time in jail until compensation money was paid to the injured party. And yes, they did get insurance with the rental.

 

Thank you for this info! I had decided that renting the car would not be a good option for how long we plan on staying at the beach, but I never thought of this. That would be awful!

 

We were in Cozumel with our boys a year ago' date=' and while we didn't use any transportation, I made sure to check out the seatbelt situation :). Not all taxis had seatbelts, which is typical of Mexico, but they could be found.

If I were you, I would get in touch with your destintion and ask them about a place to store the car seat. I've done this in many ports and never had a problem, as long as I ask and tip appropriately.

As for those who suggest going without the car seat, if you really want to use it, you will find a way. I won't travel without ours, and I've never had a problem using them, even if I need to spend a few minutes to find seatbelts.

Enjoy the trip![/quote']

 

Great idea! I think we decided on Paradise Beach and they have always seemed friendly in the past. I'll try to contact them and see if they are willing to do this!

[kellylw]

I plan to get one of these to keep the sand off...

 

It has backpack straps to make it easy to carry. I would never gate check on a plane (you never know if they drop kicked it down there), but this seems perfect for an excursion.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Childress-Ultimate-Seat-Travel-Black/dp/B0009RNXNA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1374818013&sr=8-4&keywords=gate+check+bag+for+car+seats

 

That looks really interesting! Our car seat bag is not at all that nice/fitted. Its like a giant sack. We may have to get one of these!

[kellylw]

Just wanted to do a quick update in case it would help anybody!

 

As recommended I contacted Paradise Beach about car seat storage and in just a few hours received an email back stating they would be happy to hold it in the back during our stay. No fee was mentioned, but we'll probably tip a couple bucks to the poor person who has to lug the mammoth thing around the resort.

 

I'll let everyone know how it goes after we get back!