The Med Thread - All Sailings - Mediterranean

[misseulalie]

Could you imagine dragging a car seat around Rome? Boy, would the locals laugh!!!! "Look at the stupid Americans!!!" (sorry, not to but sometimes we are known as stupid Americans overseas..that's why it's great to be able to speak the language, you know when your being talked about!!!)

We all got by without carseats when we were little and we all survived, I'm not too concerned...

 

[woody73]

. . . On another topic, I have a 4 year old and do not plan to bring a carseat. No one uses them in Europe . . .

No one??? I better tell our friends in Europe to stop using carseats.

Woody

 

[MrsJobba1]

Hi all

just wondered if anyone had anyideas about this ...

It might seem daft but Dh and myself are treating the rome day as an extra sea day. I have back problems and really could not cope sitting for a couple of hours in either a bus or car and then theres all the walking.

I reckon most will be off the ship and it would be a great time to chill. However I wondered if we went for a stroll off the ship is there any shops/ cafes that are close to the port???

Thanks for your help

 

[Kissimmee]

that's why it's great to be able to speak the language

I married the right wife then.. Italian,Spanish,Portuguese,French and English..

Only problem is that she can talk about me in 4 languages and I'll never know..

 

[MrsJobba1]

I have been taking spanish classes - just so i know the basics ie how to say "I need to go to the port!"

I also learned French at school. I just need a bit of Italian and I'll be set

 

[Skallywag]

having been to Rome several times we too are planning on a stay onboard day.

 

[misseulalie]

No one??? I better tell our friends in Europe to stop using carseats.

Woody

Well that's kinda mean....

My point was that dragging a car seat and expecting to use them in taxis and buses around Europe is not practical, and in most cases there aren't even seat belts in the taxis.
It's not like it is here in the US.

 

[Kissimmee]

There are many ways to go from Orlando. We choose a less expensive route which I am now sorry that I did. Probably the best is a more expensive route using USAir. Our fare when booked four months ago was about $1250 per person. We are going on British Air from Orlando. The return trip is really poor. Flight does not leave Barcelona until late at night and there is an 11 hour layover at Gatwick prior to return to Orlando.

As I posted in an earlier message, it would be nice to meet other families from the FL area thus we can network.

Good luck,
Smillingjack

Lake Nona Area and we are up for a meeting as well maybe a joint All Med Cruisers day at WDW? Or a BBQ at my Farm about 15 min from airport.

 

[profdsny]

Well that's kinda mean....

My point was that dragging a car seat and expecting to use them in taxis and buses around Europe is not practical, and in most cases there aren't even seat belts in the taxis.
It's not like it is here in the US.

So, no kids get hurt in car crashes in Europe? I really think you need to think about this again.

 

[Kissimmee]

Has Disney pulled a Goofy on the 10 night cruises.

For many of us Rome will be one of the cruise highlights. I have been looking at some of the things we want to see and many seem to be closed on Mondays. Some one please tell me I'm wrong about this ...

 

[woody73]

Has Disney pulled a Goofy on the 10 night cruises.

For many of us Rome will be one of the cruise highlights. I have been looking at some of the things we want to see and many seem to be closed on Mondays. Some one please tell me I'm wrong about this ...

We spent a week in Rome last March. On Monday, many museums were closed (National, Capitoline, Borghese Gallery), as was Castel Sant Angelo. The Colosseum, Forum, and Vatican Museum were open.

Woody

 

[misseulalie]

So, no kids get hurt in car crashes in Europe? I really think you need to think about this again.

First, have I ever said kids don't get hurt in car crashes? Don't put words in my mouth...

Second, how many Europeans taxis and buses have you been in have seat belts? none that I have been in. We have travelled extensively to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, and Prague and none of the city buses or taxis have seat belts nor do they appreciate the time it would take to "install" the car seat. Their job is to cram as many people and get you to your destination as fast as possible.

Private hire cars, and personal cars I'm sure have seat belts, and I guess use car seats.

 

[milestogo]

Well, I did some research on the car seat issue. It turns out that Italy, France, Spain and UK have similar car seat rules to the US. For 4 and up a booster seat seems to be acceptable (they call it a raising seat.) The booster allows the child to have the shoulder strap (when available) placed in a safe place across their chest. Children under 12 must ride in the back seat of cars. Many regions are enforcing seat belt laws and car seat laws because of the amount of traffic accident deaths.

We only have one child and waited until we were old enough to not have any more, so we don't want to injure or lose her to something that was a little inconvient. So, even though we don't want to lug one more thing around, we're going to bring the small graco booster seat - unless someone else has another idea - I'd love to know what else is available??? In California, we have pretty strict laws about car seats so we are still in the big car seat currently. On the buses we can leave it onboard while touring.

We don't use a stroller very often anymore, but thought it would be a good idea to find a collapsable or folding umbrella stroller that we could attach the booster seat to it if needed while traveling. Does anyone have a stroller they would recommend to fit a just turned 4 year old?
Something that has worked great for us at Disneyland is to attach 2 or more large caribiner clamps onto the handles and hang anything off of them. Keeping in mind the weight of your child so you don't tip your child backwards!

As far as the airplanes are concerned, my SIL is a flight attendant and they tell everyone that your child should be tall enough to have the backs of their knees reach the end of the seat for the seat belt to be a good fit. Otherwise use a car seat because it is the safest for air pockets.

When we arrive in Florida, we have to get back and forth from the port and WDW and the Florida law is that over 4 uses a booster seat as well.

So, that is the information I've found... We know too many people who have lost their children to accidents, so we'll view the booster seat as important as our passports. If anyone has ideas, do let all of us know.

 

[justhat]

Milestogo, I don't want my children injured either, but it's pretty much a guarantee that if you do DCL excursions you'll be transported on large buses, which will not have seatbelts. And if they do, they'll be lap belts only, so a booster seat wouldn't be of any use. On the plane you could use a regular carseat, but not a booster so you'd have to check it (or stow it under the seat) for the flight.

 

[OurDogCisco]

Well, we are only doing DCL excursions and I don't plan to bring our booster seat. I'd love to but realistically you can't use them on planes and most buses don't have seatbelts. If we were doing private car tours then, I'd definitely bring it. When we have done cruises in Caribbean there weren't any seatbelts at all in Grand Cayman or Cozumel. In fact in Cozumel we came to a seat belt check point and the driver just quickly stretched the seat belt across his shoulder/lap and they waved him on. I found it weird since none of the passengers had their seatbelts on.

Anyways, it sounds like you feel concerned enough that you don't want to travel without it. I'd bring it and take only private tours where you know you can use a seatbelt.

As far as a stroller if you read on additional comments on each excursion it tells you whether the tour is stroller accessible. I don't think we'll be bringing ours because most of the tours said that you'd have to fold it for part of the tour. So this will be our 1st strollerless trip. My dd will be 6 years old at the time of the trip but she is very petite. At 5 1/2 years old she only 40 lbs.

Good Luck...

 

[DenverVal]

So, that is the information I've found... We know too many people who have lost their children to accidents, so we'll view the booster seat as important as our passports. If anyone has ideas, do let all of us know.

You might consider SafeFit, which is a padded triangular device that fits over the lap and shoulder belt and allows you to change the position of the shoulder strap so that it is in the proper position across your child's shoulder. It slips on over the existing belt in seconds and only weighs a few ounces. We used these for our kids until they were tall enough that the belt was properly positioned without it.

http://www.safefit.com/2005/ontheroad.html

 

[milestogo]

All excellent suggestions and points... Thanks. I wonder if you can just check a small booster seat? It's so small that we may just pack it an empty bag that we want to keep open for take home goodies. We're in a private car in Florida and several other places, so I guess we're stuck! I wondered if the big buses would have seat belts on the excursions. Thanks for the input Moms and Dads.

 

[milestogo]

You might consider SafeFit, which is a padded triangular device that fits over the lap and shoulder belt and allows you to change the position of the shoulder strap so that it is in the proper position across your child's shoulder. It slips on over the existing belt in seconds and only weighs a few ounces. We used these for our kids until they were tall enough that the belt was properly positioned without it.

http://www.safefit.com/2005/ontheroad.html

We love this idea!!!! Thanks very much!!!!

 

[OurDogCisco]

Thanks. I wonder if you can just check a small booster seat? It's so small that we may just pack it an empty bag that we want to keep open for take home goodies.

We use a duffel bag as well. Then, if our suitcases need more room we just back some more clothes in the duffel bag. That's is normally how we transport our booster seat. Everyone is allowed 2 pieces of luggage normally. So you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[BigBlueMan]

What's been determined as the time that we can fly out of Barcelona on our final day?