OT-cruising and car seats with 2 toddlers

[Picabo]

Has anyone been on a cruise with 2 toddlers? And if so, does this mean I MUST bring 2 car seats????

We plan to fly into Miami the night before our cruise and were planning to take a taxi to the port. However I now found out you cannot take a taxi without a car seat. So that leaves us the option of either going BACK to the airport to take the bus tranfer by Carnival or taking a private shuttle company that provides car seats.

But my bigger issue/question is what to do at the ports of call. Without car seats does this mean we cannot go in a taxi to a local shopping area or to a beach, or on shore excurisons?? (Going to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios)

This is our first cruise with kids so I'm totally confused now and hate the idea of lugging along TWO car seats and then wondering what to do with them all week in the cabin!

Thank you!

 

[InkspressYourself]

I didn't know you had to have a carseat for taxi rides. We've never had one and never been asked for one. I wonder what they do if you fly down there without one.

I'll watch this thread so I can see other people's answers.


My oldest dd has ridden in taxis in mexico and other caribbean countries without a carseat and no one questioned us, but that was 7 or 8 years ago.

I hope you have a big room on your cruise, because you will have a hard time finding a place to stash 2 carseats.

 

[InkspressYourself]

I wish I'd told you to have fun in my first post. I've been to all of those ports on a cruise and had a great time. My dd was almost 3 at the time.

I love the beaches in Cozumel

 

[Aneille]

When we cruised last October the kids went without carseats while in Mexico. We rode in taxi's and had no problem. We were travelling with family and had 3 toddlers, a 5 and 6 year old with us.

We used Happy Limo and rented car seats/boosters while in the States so we wouldn't have to deal with them.

Although its unsafe, I didn't find it feasible to carry carseats around with you while in port. The cabins on the ship are also not large.


Have Fun!

 

[Picabo]

I didn't know you had to have a carseat for taxi rides. We've never had one and never been asked for one. I wonder what they do if you fly down there without one.

I'll watch this thread so I can see other people's answers.


My oldest dd has ridden in taxis in mexico and other caribbean countries without a carseat and no one questioned us, but that was 7 or 8 years ago.

I hope you have a big room on your cruise, because you will have a hard time finding a place to stash 2 carseats.

Well I was on another "cruising" message board and everyone there pretty much flamed me for the idea of not having my kids in a car seat in foreign countries. Made me feel like I was a crappy mom for considering it. Not sure what the "law" is in those places however I'd have to question if the taxis even had seat belts to attach car seats.

But in regards to Miami - many said that when the taxi driver pulled up and saw a preschool age child they would flip out and say they can't ride but when they showed them that they had a car seat, of course they allowed them to ride. Apparently the drivers get huge fines if caught with a child not in a car seat. So now I have no clue what to do. maybe just pertend I didn't hear that and go without one anyhow? haha Our hotel is only about 5-10 min from the port anyhow.

 

[stephie1012]

would you let your kids ride in no carseats at home?! Seriously just bc your on vacation doesnt mean you wont get in a car wreck. This is a good option for a kid 35lbs and up. http://www.safetrafficsystem.com/ If my Child was under that i would most ded be putting them in a carseat.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Bottom line is the law of physics doesn't change based on the country you're in. An accident is an accident, no matter where you are.

 

[Erica09M]

Ditto Stephie1012 & Bren's Mom!

 

[all4fun]

I am a huge car safety advocate and if it were me in this situation, I would choose excursion through the cruise line that offered tour buses. Tour buses are a lot safer for unrestrained children than taxis are. I would beware of those open air taxis that a lot of these places have. We were in St. Thomas last winter and rode in one of those from one side of the island to the other. I can't tell you how many times I thought we were going to have a head on collision with another driver driving down hilly, windy roads. Scary! It certainly wasn't ideal. I know that doing the touristy thing through the cruise line is often not as flexible as getting off the boat and doing your own thing, but when you have small children sometimes you have to make a few sacrifices to keep them safe. JMHO.

As far as the transfer from the hotel to the port, does the hotel you are staying at offer a shuttle? Our cruise last winter was out of Port Canaveral so I can't help you with hotel recommendations but our hotel had a shuttle bus that held probably about 30-40 people and there were no seat belts so no need for a car seat on that either. I felt that was relatively safe for ds given the size of the vehicle and the fact we were only a couple of miles from the port. I would not have felt nearly as comfortable w/out him in an appropriate restraint in a regular taxi.

Someone mentioned the Ride Safer Travel Vest. I actually have one of those and would recommend it however it does require a top tether when used for children under age 6 or when using it w/out a lap & shoulder belt. Tethers may not be available in many cars in the places the OP is going to, so I don't know how much use it would be in ports. Plus even the small may be too big for a 2yr old. It is wonderful for traveling though because it only weighs about 3lbs and can be stuffed easily into a bag.
hth

 

[snoopy5386]

these are also good travel seats:
http://www.safeguardseat.com/go/index.htm

As far as using cruise excursion transportation - this was our experience a few years ago:
St. Maarten - beautiful, new, airconditioned charter buses
St. Thomas - bench seats bolted to the back of a pickup truck, totally open.
You never know what you are going to get on an island.
Hence why we are not going on any excursions for our upcoming cruise with our 3 yo.

 

[cuppycake]

Of COURSE you'll need to bring carseats with you if you're taking a taxi. I'm not sure it would only be the taxi drivers in trouble in FL if they catch you without them. PLEASE do NOT put your children in harms way because "you don't feel like lugging around two car seats".

Will the children not be in car seats on the plane?

Depending on the cruise line, you can store the car seat under the bed, or in the tall closet where you hang your clothes. It really is no big deal at all.

As for car seats in other countries....I'm with the other posters...when we had toddlers, we chose NOT to take excursions that would require us to use a taxi. However, if you check out cruisecritic, I'm sure you will find many folks who can verify that you can easily find taxi's with seatbelts where you will be going. If for some reason the one you choose doesn't have them, wave them along and the one behind it most likely will have them.

Could you live with yourself if something happened to one of your children? Like another poster said, don't think that just because you're on vacation that something horrible couldn't happen. I'm sure you wouldn't allow them out of a carseat at home. Sorry, but this is a hot spot for me. I KNOW it's not convenient, but that is your BABY