Car seats - carry on or give to porter?

[KatieBug28]

Hey all!

 

Quick question for parents who have cruised with car seats in the past. Do you have to carry them on? Or can you put a luggage tag on them and have the porters deliver them? I've never taken them on a cruise before, but we have an excursion in Puerto Vallarta where we'll need them. If we do need to carry them on it's not a big deal, we have FTTF so we can just drop them off.

 

Also, where do you store them? Just under the bed?

[cb at sea]

I would carry it on, since you can go straight to your cabin. No sense risking loss or damage! I doubt it will fit under the bed...you'll find a corner of the cabin, if it won't fit in the closet...some folks will stick it in the shower when not in use.

[lbow2006]

We're bringing ours in November and will be carrying it on. I just don't trust giving them to the porters. Our luggage was torn open last time so I don't trust that the car seat would be treated well enough that I would still consider it safe to use.

[Tapi]

We've only taken car seats once (one time too many), and we just brought it with us onboard. Ours fit in the closet.

 

The reason why I say "one time too many" is because we didn't even use it once at any of our stops except for Costa Maya, Mexico in order to get to Mahahual. Well, our transportation didn't even have seat belts or anchors, so we couldn't secure the car seat. The driver looked at us like we were idiots and gave us that "dumb tourists grin". So ever since, we've ditched the car seats and stuck to activities and excursions where the safety of our kids won't be compromised because of dubious safety practices.

[Crusin Hogs]

I agree with the above post , You are not likely to find seat belts in cars ,vans ,bus's ect in the Caribbean ,or Mexico , They are not required there

[Cruisin 4 Ever]

It might be easier when getting a taxi to request one that already has car seats in it. I know taxis in many ports may not come equipped that way but some do.

[realjd]

We tag ours and gave it to the porters. It arrived just fine.

[aflyingbuttress]

We're traveling with our 3 year old and I was trying to decide whether we should carry it on or not. I was worried what we would do in an emergency but if cars don't have seat belts seems pointless. We don't have any excursions booked. Any reasons I'm not thinking of that we should bring it?

[Sooner-Cruisers]

We bought a super lightweight one special for the cruise, it was only $40 from Walmart (cosco Scenera). We carried it on, no issue at all. We dropped it in our room, it fit perfectly in the bottom of the closet. We've been on 2 cruises with our child and took the car seat both times. It's not hard to find seat belts. We waited in the taxi line, one didn't have seatbelts, but the next one did. That was the only time we encountered that.

 

Make sure you practice installing the seat so you can be fast.

[averysmama]

I've taken my daughter on three cruises now and have one booked for this fall and never once have I worried with a car seat. Most of the vans we have encountered do not have seat belts or anchors…. nor do the big charter buses….

[KatieBug28]

We've only taken car seats once (one time too many), and we just brought it with us onboard. Ours fit in the closet.

 

The reason why I say "one time too many" is because we didn't even use it once at any of our stops except for Costa Maya, Mexico in order to get to Mahahual. Well, our transportation didn't even have seat belts or anchors, so we couldn't secure the car seat. The driver looked at us like we were idiots and gave us that "dumb tourists grin". So ever since, we've ditched the car seats and stuck to activities and excursions where the safety of our kids won't be compromised because of dubious safety practices.

 

OP here. That is a good point Tapi! Thanks for bringing it up. I asked about transportation for my kids on this excursion and they said they could provide car seats, so I assumed that they have seat belts, etc. But it's a good idea to check again. I don't want to haul them all that way for nothing, and I want to make sure my girls are safe!