Strollers?

[ChristinaN]

We are bringing our stroller with us for our 11 month old on our January cruise but I'm wondering what people do for excursions? We are most likely planning on doing mostly beach excursions, is a stroller that difficult to manoeuvre at the beach? If you did any excursions, did you take a stroller? Any advice appreciated. Thx.

[H184A]

We brought an umbrella stroller, it was easy to navigate the hallways on the ship. We used it on excursions, when we could. Otherwise we carried our 7 month old. Never went to the beach.

[CateW]

Any stroller is difficult to navigate on the beach; but if you bring an umbrella stroller, it's light enough to carry until you get set up. On board ship - not a problem at all.

[Onessa]

Don't bring a "full sized" stroller. Even on board they can be a pain - the passageways are a bit narrow and often have housekeeping carts and/or room service refuse. But with an 11 month-old, I wouldn't consider travelling without some sort of stroller or at least a backpack carrier.

 

When my kids were smaller, I always travelled with an umbrella stroller. Make certain that it is light, can very easily be folded and unfolded, and fits YOU. If you and/or your spouse are tall, I've discovered that some umbrella strollers are way to short to be comfortably pushed.

 

With my youngest, she was happiest in the backpack carrier, but she had spent large parts of her life in either a front pack or backpack carrier and always preferred being close to her dad or me rather than SO far away and ALL alone in her stroller!

 

Good luck and have fun!

[Guest Time2gocruzn]

Here are some handle extenders for those short umbrella strollers. I am tall, too, so I can relate! I have never bought from this site, so don't know if it is reputable, but you can get these lots of places. Just posting this site so you can see the pic of em...

 

http://www.cyberbabymall.com/8706.html

[savdoc2]

I have a Chicco Tuscany umbrella stroller. It is light and folds small but has some conveniences of a full size stroller: reclines, a basket, a good sunshade and a rain hood. We will be using it on the ship and maybe for walking excursions. But we are also taking our carrier. It is: http://www.sutemigear.com/sutemipack.php Even Dh loves carrying her in this carrier - he hated the Babybjorn and Snuggli. We will use this carrier for excursions that involve a beach and any tendered ports.

[I&MsMom]

Iwould echo what savdoc2 said: an umbrella stroller with the extra features of a reclining seat (for naps while on the go), sun shade (which allows you to use a rain cover if necessary) and a basket or mesh bag on the back is the way to go when traveling. We also wanted a five point harness to avoid any potential mishaps while negotiating stairs, etc.

 

We live near a beach, and the only stroller that works in the sand is a jogging stroller - even those that fold up easily are too bulky for travel IMHO.

 

Happy sailing!

[savdoc2]

I just wanted to add that when my BIL was in town a couple weeks ago, he often pushed the stroller - he is 6'5" and said that it was not a problem being tall. The Tuscany does have a 5 point harness too.

[alb38]

My brother and sister in law are traveling with us with their children ages one and three - do you need to take your car seats with you for transporting to excursions or traveling in taxi's? Or how is this handled?

[lisaland15]

We took our daughter on a cruise at 14 mos., and then at 16 mos.

 

The first time, we used the stroller for about an hour.

 

The second time, we didn't even bring it. We used a metal framed backpack instead. She falls asleep in it almost every time. Here a pic:

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/232323399/232327921LOmNYB

 

We used this for embarkation/debarkation:

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/212146923/240900421eeyZrF

 

The chair attaches onto your carry-on suitcase (www.rideoncarryon.com)

[VJaycee]

[quote name=alb3

8]My brother and sister in law are traveling with us with their children ages one and three - do you need to take your car seats with you for transporting to excursions or traveling in taxi's? Or how is this handled?

We had our 3 year old with us and there was not car seats on the excursions or the taxi's we brought her seat although a pain, but felt safer especially in the cabs we just figure it was this or we would have to keep near the ship and walk everwhere .I did see many kids without car seat though on the tours.

Hope this is helpful

 

PS the room steward stowed our seat somewhere else whenever he saw it in the room and it always reappeared on port days so this was great .

[cruiseazle]

Car seats cannot be used on most buses, and even on some taxis.

 

I agree that using a car seat is the safest option...but, they should do a little advance research to make sure that it can be used.

 

There is also the issue of storing the seat while on-shore.

 

Could you let us know how it turns out for them?

[merela]

you take the stroller that you normally use at home. Your baby will be comfortable and does not need further getting used to a new stroller.

 

We uses Combi's Convenience stroller (a 2000 model, but I believe the newer models are very similar). It's about 14 lbs and it has a big basket underneath the stroller. We used it all over the ship and on our excursions. Although we have backpacks, but once in a while, it's nice to stick them in the stroller basket.

 

The Combi Convenience stroller is just wide enough (or narrow enough) to manuver down the ship's corridors even when service carts are parked along side the hallway. Umbrella stroller is nice and compacted, but some do not have a shade. I like our stroller because it can recline all the way when the baby sleeps in it.

 

A 14 lb stroller is do-able when you go through airport security and ships' security, and even on and off local buses, but anything heavier I would not recommend.

 

Always have a set plan with your hubby or wife when you go through security. Someone needs to go through first, then the other would pass the baby over and put the rest of the bags/stroller/carseat/camera bag through the X-ray machine. Then the stroller goes through security check. Talk about it first so you don't get flabbergasted when you go through any security check points.

 

If you plan to do any kind of hike or sightseeing, I would recommend a backpack carrier for your baby. But unless you are already doing that at home, I wouldn't recommend it. Your back will kill you unless you are used to do backpacking. My sister and her husband are avid backpackers and hikers before they had children, so they are used to heavy backpacks. They had their 6M old in a backpack carrier when we went sightseeing in Juneau, Alaska. If you are anything like me and my husband....we prefer our babies in strollers.

 

HTH.

[alb38]

We had our 3 year old with us and there was not car seats on the excursions or the taxi's we brought her seat although a pain, but felt safer especially in the cabs we just figure it was this or we would have to keep near the ship and walk everwhere .I did see many kids without car seat though on the tours.

Hope this is helpful

 

PS the room steward stowed our seat somewhere else whenever he saw it in the room and it always reappeared on port days so this was great .

VJaycee,

As far as the car seat goes if they are doing an excursion that involves some kind of boat ride what did you do with the car seat? I am just curious and trying to get some information before we leave in early February. Any information that anybody has on this will be helpful.

 

Thanks

ALB38

[Zeta3]

We used the backpack carrier on our cruise last month and it was a lifesaver for toting around our 2 yr old DD. We did a couple of rainforest hike excursions and a stroller simply would not have worked.