Toddlers and Car Seats in the Caribbean

[CanuckTraveller]

I am kind of surprised Disney has not thought of how to make money on this issue. I'd much rather rent appropriate child safety gear for taxis, or pay for a driver that is prepared with appropraite child safety seats, then have to lug the seats with us. Maybe it is a liability issue.

Those of you who take the car seats with you on the cruise, do you check in with luggage or carry on to the ship?

Liability is huge. I volunteer with a group that installs car seats and we literally pay thousands of dollars a year (in Canada!) for liability insurance. All volunteers have a 2 day training course with 3 hour refreshers every year, on top of attending a set number of clinics and installing so many seats a year. Plus three people, including an instructor, verify each seat is installed correctly. I have no idea how the car rental companies do it, but there are so many things that can go wrong, it is unfathomable. My biggest concern is that people are trying to install an unfamiliar seat in an unfamiliar vehicle. Heck, I've installed well over 200 seats and I don't feel comfortable with this situation, so I can't imagine how an average parent could get the installation right.
I'm a car seat junkie (you've probably noticed that by now ) so we carry our seats with us at all times. The concern is that a seat is considered damaged if it is dropped from waist height. Since we travel with a $300 car seat, I don't let it leave my sight! We have devised a way to attach a strap to it without damaging the seat, so that DH can carry it on his back. There are now lots of nifty straps that attach seats to rolling carry ons, or that attach to a frame to form a stroller. That being said, the porters seem to treat baggage much more gently than airline staff, so I'm probably being overly cautious. We've gotten into a routine where (on NCL) we drop the car seat off at the on-board luggage drop, go have lunch, sign up for the kids club, return to get the seat and go to our cabin. It stores easily on the floor of the closet, but again we've never been on DCL. We aren't bringing car seats on the Dream, since we won't be using any transportation, so I never researched options, but I'm sure there are some.
Please believe me when I say there are ways of using car seats if you want to in port. I get so sick of people claiming X or Y port has "no seatbelts", yet I have personally found them and used them successfully. You just need to do your research, ask and be patient.

 

[SeeJennyCruise]

I had not considered renting a vehicle. I guess that is a way we can be sure to have seatbelts, or we can just wait for the taxi that has seatbelts. We are being picked up by our boat captain for our snorkel trip. We rode with him before, so I think we are good on that one. Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions and information. I really appreicate it.

 

[violetmonarch]

I am not sure if I am glad to have come across this thread or not, lOl. I want what's safe for my kids, even tho I think we will be missing out on some once in a lifetime experiences.
As I was planning all the things we wanted out of the whole experience, it seemed fine at first, but recently I have felt this strong paranoia set in. Unfortunately, I am feeling freaked out about even leaving my kids in the kids clubs. I am hoping that thru the insight of people like you all here, perhaps knowledge can help me overcome these feelings...or if maybe confirm them? Help!

 

[tvguy]

I am kind of surprised Disney has not thought of how to make money on this issue. I'd much rather rent appropriate child safety gear for taxis, or pay for a driver that is prepared with appropraite child safety seats, then have to lug the seats with us. Maybe it is a liability issue.

Those of you who take the car seats with you on the cruise, do you check in with luggage or carry on to the ship?

You have to realize a lot of taxis in the Caribbean are nothing more than a pickup with bench seats bolted in the back. No seat belts. And the one passenger van I rode in had the seatbelts removed. I suspect given the traffic and slow speed traffic moves at, they haven't had an issue with child being injuried without safety seats.

Car seats and seat belts are just not a part of the culture. Kind of falls into the same category as smoking. My cruise to Alaska in June, there were folks on board from Eastern Europe who respected the smoking restrictions, but the guy told me, any such restrictions at home would be considered outrageous.

 

[Woodmnky]

I am not sure if I am glad to have come across this thread or not, lOl. I want what's safe for my kids, even tho I think we will be missing out on some once in a lifetime experiences.
As I was planning all the things we wanted out of the whole experience, it seemed fine at first, but recently I have felt this strong paranoia set in. Unfortunately, I am feeling freaked out about even leaving my kids in the kids clubs. I am hoping that thru the insight of people like you all here, perhaps knowledge can help me overcome these feelings...or if maybe confirm them? Help!

Trust your parental instinct, you are nervous for a very good reason. There is a reason why child vehicular restraints are required in the US & Canada. These reasons don't change when on vacation. We chose Disney specifically because there was enough to do on the ship that we wouldn't be bored if we chose not to do shore excursions. No day at the beach is worth the life of my child and that is the risk that I would be taking if I chose to go on a shore excursion without my child properly restrained. BTW - We were able to find seatbelt equipped taxis with no problem in Grand Cayman.

As for the kid's clubs. Visit them, judge you and your child's comfort level, and check in often if it makes you feel better. I know that it can be very daunting leaving your child with an unknown care provider, so judge the situation once you get there.

 

[klepton]

Obviously a lot of differing opinions on this topic. When we first our DD on a cruise a few years ago, she was 5, and I labored over the planning around her. We are a car seat family. DD is now a few months shy of 8 and still in a 5-point harness.

When we cruise with DD, I plan all transportation out in advance. This means pre-arranged taxis with confirmed seat belts. There have been tours that we've had to miss out on because the guide didn't have seat-belts. We've also had to spend more money pre-arranging cabs than they cost in port. But it's important to us. We've also taken a lot of flack from family because we're so insistent on a car seat, so I congratulate your support of DIL's wishes on this subject.

Something I'll throw out for the 4 yo DGS:

http://safetrafficsystem.com/ver4/

We picked up one of these for DD and it's been a life-saver for travelling. Works with any 3 point seat belt. I can't stress enough how much easier it was travelling with this vs. a full car seat. Still need seat belts but much easier to carry around. We use it all the time at home too... if DD will be riding in someone else's car or something.

 

[violetmonarch]

Thank you all for that information, and yes it is daunting. I am planning all this by myself and since I haven't done this before....well I just am trying to get everything planned. I hate to miss out on the stingray excursion but I am really concerned now.
How do I call and rent a taxi that has seat belts? My TA never mentioned that to me.

 

[aaklang]

We did not bring our car seats when we cruised last month. Son is 5 and 48 lbs, daughter was almost 2 and only about 22 lbs. It was a very hard decision, but ultimately we did not think that we'd be able to use them on our tours even if we had them.

We took a bus from the airport to the ship and we took a van on our tour in Grand Cayman. Neither had seat belts and there wouldn't have been a way to secure a car seat.

We never rode in a taxi or private car.

 

[violetmonarch]

We did not bring our car seats when we cruised last month. Son is 5 and 48 lbs, daughter was almost 2 and only about 22 lbs. It was a very hard decision, but ultimately we did not think that we'd be able to use them on our tours even if we had them.

We took a bus from the airport to the ship and we took a van on our tour in Grand Cayman. Neither had seat belts and there wouldn't have been a way to secure a car seat.

We never rode in a taxi or private car.

So, since you were in Grand Cayman, did you book thru Disney for the excursion or tour? Also, did you feel safe on the van? My DS is 4 y/o, so I am curious.

 

[TinksMomma]

In Grand Cayman we let DD (16 months) sit on our lap. In the other ports....we didn't do anything. Costa Maya we did an adult excursion and Cozumel we just got off and walked around a bit.

I wasn't comfortable just grabbing a taxi, much less one where I couldn't restrain her, so we didn't really go anywhere else.

 

[CanuckTraveller]

Thank you all for that information, and yes it is daunting. I am planning all this by myself and since I haven't done this before....well I just am trying to get everything planned. I hate to miss out on the stingray excursion but I am really concerned now.
How do I call and rent a taxi that has seat belts? My TA never mentioned that to me.

Many TAs have no idea about using child restraints in the Caribbean, that's why boards like this one are so great for sharing information!
Where are you doing this excursion? I found most of my information on the cruise critic ports of call forums, and there are many good experiences to be shared on their family boards as well. Trip advisor reviews of independent tour companies can be helpful too.

 

[violetmonarch]

Where are you doing this excursion? I found most of my information on the cruise critic ports of call forums, and there are many good experiences to be shared on their family boards as well. Trip advisor reviews of independent tour companies can be helpful too.

We are going to GC and Cozumel. I had planned on doing the island tour at GC, and the Rays at Cozumel.

 

[klepton]

Thank you all for that information, and yes it is daunting. I am planning all this by myself and since I haven't done this before....well I just am trying to get everything planned. I hate to miss out on the stingray excursion but I am really concerned now.
How do I call and rent a taxi that has seat belts? My TA never mentioned that to me.

In my case, I googled and/or wrote the official tourism bureau for information. In some cases I was rightly assured that there would be plenty of taxis with proper seat belts at the port. You usually just need to look/ask for a cab with seat belts, and you'll be pointed in the right direction. In some places, like St. Thomas, nearly all the cabs are the open air trucks with rows of seats in the back. There, I had contacted a private taxi company and pre-arranged a cab to take us to/from the beach. On other islands where we were booking an island tour, I just made sure the tour operator would have seat belts in their car.

If you are booking the sting ray excursion through an outside vendor (not through DCL) then you can ask them the best way to make sure you have seat belt transportation. In many cases, they will arrange it. I've even had tour guides show up with car seats already installed in their cars/buses.

Hope you get it all figured out!

 

[jillgunter]

I personally would not want to lug around a car seat. I would try to just do some stuff within walking distance of the ship. At 2 and 4, excursions tend to be to much anyway. My DD was 4 when we went on our first cruise and she acted up so bad on excursions since she got so tired. We just got back from the Fantasy a week ago Saturday, she still had a melt down on one of our excursions and she is 6. Some excursions uses the big tour buses like what Disney transports you in at the parks and to the ship. I will say Grand Caymen uses small 12 people or so buses. I would not use a taxi in Cozumel. We had to go in one for our tour(I had not known this), and it was fine. He drove very safely, not like previous years. But it may have been because he was taking us to and from the Dolphin excursion. The ones that go into town I have been scared in with no kids! Hope you find something that works well, and have a great trip.

Costa Maya has a pool and some shopping right off the ship, so I would let them splash around and do some shopping. Its only 4 hours for that port.