Can I leave my car seat with luggage at port?

[pinkxray]

We are renting a car for our cruise in Nov. We plan on dropping it off at Alamo before the cruise instead of paying for the car and parking all week. We won’t need the car seat until we leave the ship again and pick up a car.
Can I drop it off at the terminal when we drop off the luggage or will I need to lug it around until our room is ready? I can put it in a travel bag if that helps.

 

[Marc D]

If you can put a luggage tag on it, the porters will take it. However, checked luggage gets thrown around quite a bit between drop-off and stateroom delivery. The travel bag will not really protect it from taking a beating.

 

[Rob1872]

Put a luggage tag on it and you will be able to drop it off with your other luggage.

 

[TortoiseTaughtUs]

Would it work to add car seats to your rentals?

 

[Rob1872]

Would it work to add car seats to your rentals?

Last time I needed a car seat with a rental, it was an exhorbinant amount to rent the car seat from the car rental company. Since the airline wasn't charging an extra luggage fee to bring the car seat, it was worth the hassle to haul it with us. (As I remember, it would have been cheaper to go to Walmart and buy a new one than to rent one for the duration of our vacation.)

 

[jenmsmith]

Alamo charges $10 a day for a car seat. If you only need it two days, it would be worth the $20 to me to not mess with it on the cruise. Of course, if you have a longer pre or post cruise stay, that changes the calculus.

 

[FigmentSpark]

PrincessShmoo has a photo of the luggage and the beating it takes behind the scenes. As a car seat is a safety item that can be damaged (and need replacing afterward), I don't think I'd take that chance. That said, people do that all the time. Your kid, your risk. Maybe if you had a box?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

PrincessShmoo has a photo of the luggage and the beating it takes behind the scenes.

And, here's the luggage tossed in the bins they use to actually transport from shoreside onboard:

 

[pinkxray]

View attachment 472364

And, here's the luggage tossed in the bins they use to actually transport from shoreside onboard:
View attachment 472366

LOL. Maybe I’ll just rent from Alamo.
Just trying to run all of my numbers of renting 2 one ways vs parking at the port. $ vs convience.
Thanks for the pics!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Actually, we found that weekly rates were really competitve for renting, vs just having the van for 2 days. We needed a rental on either end of our cruise, got a great rental rate and paid the parking fee. It was so nice to have that convenience.

 

[KimmyBlair]

I’ve always been terrified of renting car seats because you have no idea if they have been in a car crash before, or are checked regularly to see if they are expired. Are you bringing a High Back Booster or a Convertible? If so we had a wheeled base that we could attach the car seat too that we use to have when my kids were smaller. We would use it as kind of a stroller through the airport or even at our last day in the parks at Disney. Now that my kids are older we have a Graco booster that can be kind of folded up and put in a bag when we travel. I got it really cheap at Target a few years ago.

 

[LAX]

PrincessShmoo has a photo of the luggage and the beating it takes behind the scenes. As a car seat is a safety item that can be damaged (and need replacing afterward), I don't think I'd take that chance. That said, people do that all the time. Your kid, your risk. Maybe if you had a box?

As someone else already mentioned, it's not like you are getting a brand new one when renting from the car rental companies. Besides, those tend to be of lower quality that may not even provide much "safety" in a real accident. It's a risk either way, but I much prefer lugging my higher quality car seat & trust that most porters are sensible enough not to slam it around like regular luggage. It's certainly not as heavy or bulky to move around.

LAX

 

[hnthomps]

How old are your kids? can you bring inflatable boosters or the tiny mifold seat or RideSafe Vest instead? Our kids are 6&8, so we'll travel with mifold boosters this time, but in the past we've used the vest because it is so much easier to travel with. Both these options are belt positioners, not child-lifters, but comply with safety laws and actual safety needs.
Renting from the car rental place is a bit iffy as well -- those seats often aren't handled well either, and have been installed by people who don't know what they are doing, so sometimes belts and harnesses are threaded incorrectly.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

As someone else already mentioned, it's not like you are getting a brand new one when renting from the car rental companies. Besides, those tend to be of lower quality that may not even provide much "safety" in a real accident. It's a risk either way, but I much prefer lugging my higher quality car seat & trust that most porters are sensible enough not to slam it around like regular luggage. It's certainly not as heavy or bulky to move around.

LAX

I wouldn’t count on porters being sensible enough. If they don’t have kids or just don’t Know that car seats have to be replaced if they are in an impact, they may think it is fine to toss around. Plus the fact that they have to move thousands of bags and may not give a darn.

 

[lklgoodman]

I wouldn’t count on porters being sensible enough. If they don’t have kids or just don’t Know that car seats have to be replaced if they are in an impact, they may think it is fine to toss around. Plus the fact that they have to move thousands of bags and may not give a darn.

Not only that, but you could get a porter who is careful with the seat, and then it ends up at the bottom of the luggage heap once moved onto the ship.

 

[Chemist]

I’m the Mom whose 7 year old is in a full car seat still.

we travel a LOT and I never really worry about damage from it being checked. If you think about the actual damage it is designed to withstand, being in a pile of luggage is NOTHING.

We do use car seat bags to keep it clean(er) and the straps from snagging on things.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I never really worry about damage from it being checked. If you think about the actual damage it is designed to withstand, being in a pile of luggage is NOTHING.

Unless, of course, the car seat winds up laying on it's side (or upside down) with three or four 50+ pound suitcases on top. Not to mention that those bags were thrown on top, not just placed.

 

[bumbershoot]

If you think about the actual damage it is designed to withstand, being in a pile of luggage is NOTHING.

And once it withstands that force, you have to replace it.

Even just being thrown around behind the scenes at an airport is replacement-worthy. Let alone thrown around and ending up at the bottom of that pile.