Young Kids and Shore Excursions

[Fouremco]

We will be doing a family cruise in 2017, including one child who will still need a car seat by Canadian standards. Has anyone any experience with taking shore excursions with a child in a car seat? We may well need to look at alternative activities, but thought I'd explore the possibility if it's feasible.

[akcruz]

We did not start cruising until after kids were past this stage so can't help with the question itself, however have you looked on the family board? Lots of great info there and maybe a better place to ask your question? Here is a direct link if you haven't yet.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[cb at sea]

Where are you going? Are you cruising in Canada? If not, then there are other rules in other places. If you want your child in the seat, bring it with you. If you take buses/shuttles, no seats are required, as there's no way to attach them.

[AlluraUni]

We took our 3 year old on a cruise last year. We stuck to buses instead of taxis as a safer mode of transport for that age. That said, if you're flying, you may want to bring your car seat with you for use in a taxi from the airport to the cruise port. It's a pain to lug them around, though, and not every place will have a good way to attach them.

[Fouremco]

Thanks for the replies. To answer one question, it's a Caribbean cruise with stops in Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

 

As even taxiing in Fort Lauderdale to and from the airport will require a car seat, DD has decided to bring it and use it whenever possible.

[LemonNeko]

We are going to be on the Freedom next week with the same situation. My son is pretty thin so he's still in a full car seat here. I've read that lack of seat belts is a big problem so even if you bring your own car seat you may not be able to secure it.

 

We will be doing ship excursions only due to his age and specifically ones that uses buses. I'm not booking until we are on the ship so I can confirm that they use buses. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how it went.

[Woodmnky]

We've taken multiple cruises with my now 4 yo. I am not comfortable with him being without a carseat at this point, so we have chosen shore excursions carefully (often choosing to explore the port on foot). When on Freedom in April we chose the Kon Tiki Boat excursion in St. Thomas. The boat leaves from the same dock as Freedom (probably a 3 minute walk). If this is offered on your ship, it may be an option.

 

In St. Maarten, you can take the water taxi to a shopping area and free public beach. Again, this involves only short walks and no vehicle.

[Fouremco]

We are going to be on the Freedom next week with the same situation. My son is pretty thin so he's still in a full car seat here. I've read that lack of seat belts is a big problem so even if you bring your own car seat you may not be able to secure it.

 

We will be doing ship excursions only due to his age and specifically ones that uses buses. I'm not booking until we are on the ship so I can confirm that they use buses. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks how it went.

 

Please do! I look forward to hearing about your experience.

 

We've taken multiple cruises with my now 4 yo. I am not comfortable with him being without a carseat at this point, so we have chosen shore excursions carefully (often choosing to explore the port on foot). When on Freedom in April we chose the Kon Tiki Boat excursion in St. Thomas. The boat leaves from the same dock as Freedom (probably a 3 minute walk). If this is offered on your ship, it may be an option.

 

In St. Maarten, you can take the water taxi to a shopping area and free public beach. Again, this involves only short walks and no vehicle.

We will probably book a private tour with Bernard in St. Maarten. I've gone on one of his tours with a roll call group previously and we should be able to get the whole family in one of his vans. I just have to double check with him whether they have seat belts. But the water taxi over to the shopping area is something DW and I might do if there isn't room for everyone.

 

For St. Thomas, we may take the water taxi from Crown Bay over to Water Island for a beach day, but no decisions yet. We'll consider the Kon Tiki too.

[Cuizer2]

Where are you going? Are you cruising in Canada? If not, then there are other rules in other places. If you want your child in the seat, bring it with you. If you take buses/shuttles, no seats are required, as there's no way to attach them.

 

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