Travel to/from European cruises with car seat aged little ones- advice?

[coloradocutie]

For anyone who has done any of the European itineraries, with children still requiring car seats, what did you do in regards to car seats? We usually travel with (DH would say "painfully lug around") our own car seats for the two little ones (3,7). However, I understand it is illegal to use US carseats in England, and that the cars are different as the seat belts do not have auto lock-off. What did you do? We would be needing them between the airport, Dover, the hotel and maybe a day trip to Windsor. Not using car seats is not an option for our personal preference. Not excited about renting car seats. I don't mind bringing my mammoth car seats- with lock off clips if need be. Alternatively, the safety vest is an interesting alternative.

Also, where in a Magic stateroom can we store 2 car seats? Closet? Under bed? In the shower- When not in use?

Would love to know what anyone did- or any thoughts about car seats in general in England!
Thanks so much in advance!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Let me back up. Are you sure you want to be driving yourselves while in England? It's not a walk in the park, to be on the other side of the car and the other side of the road, I assure you. I've done it in Ireland and DH did it in England and Ireland, but it was hair-raising. Add in very VERY different road signs and stripes on the road, and...I'd rather pay for someone to take me. Better yet, just get on a tour bus.

For the 7 year old, the Bubble Bum booster was actually MADE in England, so that should work for the 7 year old.

I'll let others answer for the 3 year old's needs.

 

[ctnurse]

You can use your US carseat in the UK since you are traveling. It is when you are a resident it becomes illegal to use a US carseat. We live in Germany and have to use an EU carseat. The only exception is if you are military and living overseas. You can use the locking clip for the seatbelt.

We used a car service to pick us up and the airport and then used another one again from Dover back to London. You shouldn't have any trouble installing the car seat in a car, but there is no way that either DH or I would drive in the UK.

Once on the Magic we stored the carseat in the closet. There was plenty of room and her carseat is pretty big. I am not sure if you can get two carseat in the closet. There is also an area, maybe on deck 6, where you can store strollers and wheelchairs, and maybe carseats? I am not sure about that because we didn't use it, but maybe that would also be an option.

What airline are you flying? Some of the foreign carriers have crazy carseat rules. It shouldn't be a problem if you have a nonstop flight that is originating in the US flying directly into London. I thought I would mention it since I learned that the hard way the first time we flew from Germany to Egypt.


We will be bring her carseat for the next two long haul flight this winter, but we are looking into the CARES for our Barcelona trip this summer since DD will be 3.

We travel quite a bit with our two kids ages 11 and 2 and have many long haul flights under our belts. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[adamki]

I'm with your husband, it would be painful to lug around car seats. I would look at alternate transportation options that don't involve using a car seat:

There is no reason to drive to Windsor. the Windsor and Eaton Riverside and Central stations are as close as you would get a car to the castle. We got to Riverside direct from Waterloo, trains to Central require a transfer in Slough (IIRC).

For the airpot to hotel transfers, you could also use trains, but you would have to deal with luggage. Perhaps a van service would be able to supply seats for those trips? The Hilton Paddington is in the train station and would be the easiest hotel, logistically, from the Heathrow Express train (it is not in the most ideal tourist location, in my opinion).

The newer London Taxis (TX4?) do have a child harness, but they are more like using a booster, so I'm not sure if you would be comfortable putting the 3 year-old in the harness and having the 7 year-old use a regular seat belt.

I agree with bumbershoot's recommendation of the BubbleBum. We used one for years and it worked great (not as comfortable as his regular booster for our Son, but it got him in the correct position). We also had a CARES restraint, it was nice, but a humongous pain to get installed on some airline seats; in some cases, it is not possible to install the CARES system without occluding the tray for the passenger behind you and in other cases, you can't get it installed at all (some of the business class seats with the shell around them fall into this category).

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Have you seen the blow-up booster seats? Target has them, so that may be an option.

When we went to England last year, I found a car rental company that threw ours in for free and when we hired a driver in Paris, I was sure they provided one, too, which was also free.

 

[coloradocutie]

Thanks everyone!

Let me back up. Are you sure you want to be driving yourselves while in England? It's not a walk in the park, to be on the other side of the car and the other side of the road, I assure you. I've done it in Ireland and DH did it in England and Ireland, but it was hair-raising. Add in very VERY different road signs and stripes on the road, and...I'd rather pay for someone to take me. Better yet, just get on a tour bus.

For the 7 year old, the Bubble Bum booster was actually MADE in England, so that should work for the 7 year old.

I'll let others answer for the 3 year old's needs.

Words of wisdom completely! No, we are not going to try to drive ourselves... we will leave that to a car service, most definitely We are not staying directly in London, so we will need a car service, and thus car seats, to get us to the port/airport/train stations if we take those. I LOVE the bubble bum idea for the 7 year old. Awesome idea that I had forgot about. I just can't figure out what to do now with little 3 year old. We are used to lugging two carseats, so the bubble bum at least gets us down to one...

We are flying British Airways. I don't think that they allow car seats for little ones on the plane over 3. CARES is a great recommendation! Agree- sometimes a hassle, but a good alternative in the case of no car seat.

You can use your US carseat in the UK since you are traveling. It is when you are a resident it becomes illegal to use a US carseat. We live in Germany and have to use an EU carseat. The only exception is if you are military and living overseas. You can use the locking clip for the seatbelt.


We will be bring her carseat for the next two long haul flight this winter, but we are looking into the CARES for our Barcelona trip this summer since DD will be 3.

We travel quite a bit with our two kids ages 11 and 2 and have many long haul flights under our belts. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Do I need a lockoff clip for the seat belt with a US carseat if I use it in England? Have you had that problem in the past? Thanks for the advice!