Excursions with buses that are safe for children without car seats on Allure

[janets]

Our group of 10 (including 4 children ages 5, 4, 3 and 2) will be traveling on the Allure of the Seas in July 2018. We are not taking car seats on the plane and will be using bus shuttles from airport to cruise port and will not require car seats there.

 

The issue is with port excursions. Taxis in Nassau, Mexico and Roatan do not have car seats and do not require them. We will not allow our children to ride in cars without car seats and have heard that even if we did bring car seats with us, most taxis in these countries cannot accommodate US cars seats. Cannot get straight answer from RCCL if the excursions we are interested in use buses that are safe for children to ride in without car seats. How have other cruisers handled this? The Allure is a great ship but would like to go on excursions in some of the ports and have child-safe transportation.

[samlomax]

Our group of 10 (including 4 children ages 5, 4, 3 and 2) will be traveling on the Allure of the Seas in July 2018. We are not taking car seats on the plane and will be using bus shuttles from airport to cruise port and will not require car seats there.

 

The issue is with port excursions. Taxis in Nassau, Mexico and Roatan do not have car seats and do not require them. We will not allow our children to ride in cars without car seats and have heard that even if we did bring car seats with us, most taxis in these countries cannot accommodate US cars seats. Cannot get straight answer from RCCL if the excursions we are interested in use buses that are safe for children to ride in without car seats. How have other cruisers handled this? The Allure is a great ship but would like to go on excursions in some of the ports and have child-safe transportation.

I haven't personally travelled with young children but in 15 cruises worth of excursions I've not seen anyone use a car seat or a seat belt on tours with the exception of European tours. All the island style tours have had children just sat on normal seats and the smaller children on parents laps. Rccl tbh are a bit useless with details of tours, we have asked questions many times only to be told to ask when we are onboard.

Its a long shot but Maybe try phoning and see what's available in the accessible range of tours as their coaches and minivans will have extra safety equipment and maybe room for car seats??

 

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[Ourusualbeach]

How are busses without car seats any safer than cars without car seats? Accidents can and unfortunately do happen with any form of motorized transportation.

[andrew2346]

We went without car seats. Honestly, I don't think I have seen anyone lugging around a carseat in port. Maybe they hire a private car service for the day?

ETA: check out the family cruising forum. I bet they might have experience!

[Grandma Dazzles]

Buses are not going to be any safer than cars with or without car seats. No one can foresee accidents in any type of vehicle.

 

Have taken numerous excursions booked through cruiseline and independently and buses have varied in comfort/age, etc. I have never seen child seats unless passengers brought their own, and even then rarely seen belts. Often on any given excursion buses can be different for the same excursion - you don't really know until you line up.

 

From a safety point of view I would stick to walking off ship and exploring within walking distance and not using any form of transportation.

[Havingfun2010]

Based on the ages of the kids, why are you looking at excursions? First, the ship is a beautiful destination. It would be less stress free, just to explore the ports on foot, and go to a kid friendly attraction. Excursions are not geared to children those ages.

[Lmm79]

actually studies say that buses without seat belts are different than a car. Your comfort level may vary but riding in a bus without a car seat is different. For example you can’t use car seats on Disney buses. And those are filled with kids. Google why buses don’t have car seats and studies will come up.

 

I’m not sure how big your kids are but we took a mifold for our 3 year old. But he is the size of a 4 year old and we sat next to him and made sure he sat properly.

[muskrat191]

I'm going on my first cruise in March (different ship). We have a 4 year old and a 6 year old. One of our ports is in the US, so I'm bring a no-back booster for the 6 year old and an RSTV for the 4 year old (not heavy enough for a no-back booster) to use in an Uber/Lyft at that port. We will carry them in a backpack during the day. We are only doing things that are walking distance for the other ports. For example in Nassau, we booked day passes at the British Colonial Hilton because it is walking distance to avoid taxis.

[Rjh8842]

You may not be aware of this but you are able to leave kids in kids club while on ship. It may be easier if kids stayed onboard.

[cruiselvr04]

Great that you are thinking of your kids safety!

 

When we took our grandkids 1 and 3 we were concerned too. We did take lightweight but approved car seats in port. Used a back pack made for this. Was it a pain, yes. But they were safe. We used cabs that had seat belts in Mexico and researched excursions that had vans with seat belts.

If you choose not to take car seats the only safer options are a bus as passengers sit higher. However that did not save those on the recent bus crash in Mexico.

 

It's tough to take excursions with little ones. Do your research and feel comfortable with your decision. Your kids are your priority. Private excursions may give you more control.

[LMaxwell]

There are inflatable booster seats w harness that may be suitable down to the 3 year old, 2 year old will depend on weight and size. I have never found a kid safe excursion in the sense that the vehicle was equipped w safety equipment for kids; definitely an area tour operators have room for a lot of improvement. As long as these vehicles have a seat belt you should be able to use those booster style seats.

 

I would suggest private tour operators since you can communicate directly and at least know your answers ahead of time.

[matj2000]

We never brought car seats and our children made it ok...........

[JohninDC]

We never brought car seats and our children made it ok...........

 

And I never used a seatbelt as a kid and have the scars to prove it!

 

Your results may vary and maybe you were lucky, but the smart and safe way for kids to travel in a vehicle with seatbelts is in an approved car/booster seat.

[lbjen]

At that age your kids won't remember excursions, they'll enjoy the quiet ship much more. The pools were way too busy on Oasis on sea days for our kids to even want to get in. They had a great time on port days, it was like having your own private pool.

 

Our limited experience of excursions from a previous cruise was that on popular excursions, you could have several small vans show up for one part of the journey and a large bus show up for the remainder. You can't be sure until you are there that they will send the transportation that was stated and you don't get to choose which van they put you on, there could be some old and some new and you get what you get.

[flhokie]

We never sailed with a car seat (DD sailed at 2,3,4 and6 years). In most ports we just explored on foot (port shops, towns close to ship, etc).

 

In St. Maarten we used the water taxi to go to the beach & town when DD was younger.

 

Most recently (DD was 6), we took taxis in St. Thomas and St. Kitts. There would have been no way to use any kind of seat in St. Thomas as it was an open air truck with rows of seats.

 

For travel other than cruising, we've had a bubble bum for several years and love it (used in DC & NYC). It is inflatable and can fit in a backpack.

 

 

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[mjkacmom]

How are busses without car seats any safer than cars without car seats? Accidents can and unfortunately do happen with any form of motorized transportation.

Depends on the bus. Here, city buses and school buses don’t have seatbelts.

[Lady Chew]

 

I would suggest private tour operators since you can communicate directly and at least know your answers ahead of time.

 

We have never cruised with young children (yet! grandbaby on the way!) but I do know that some private tour operators will provide car seats if requested, for an extra fee. It never hurts to ask ...