CRT713

Most of the taxi drivers are very accomodating. US tourists seem to carry a lot of stuff, so they are used to it. We've been cruising with our children since the oldest was 7 months, and we've never carried a booster seat with us. If you want to, though, I think you'll find most taxis will have lap/shoulder belts at least in the outboard positions.

 

In Freeport, I highly recommend skipping the cruise-ship excursions. Book the Viva Wydham through resort for a day.com (remove all the spaces). We did that in November. It was NOT crowded, the beach was nice, and lunch and drinks were included.

Thanks for your input! It is good to know that most taxi drivers there are very accommodating.

As for the Viva Wyndham, thanks for the input! I was considering the Grand Lucayan but hadn't considered the Wyndham. I am going to look into. I called the Grand Lucayan and they only charge $20 for a day pass but you can't book them in advance through the resort (they told me you buy them from the guard shack) and they do sell out. All the online vendors selling them in advance that I have seen want $89 a person and that does not include transportation. That is a real rip off at more than double the actual cost. I would gladly pay a little more than what the resort is charging to secure a day pass in advance but more than 4 times the actual cost is a rip off. I will check out the Viva Wyndham though. Thanks for the tip!

We’ve been to Nassau five times, always has full seat belts. We are a family of seven, and use the minivans.

Do you arrange the mini vans in advance or do you just get one at the cruise port? If you arrange in advance, please let me know the contact info of who you use. I would rather have prearranged private transportation waiting for us at the cruise terminal than getting whatever is there waiting. It will be myself, my husband, my mom and both my in laws traveling on the cruise with us so we could certainly fill up a mini van with just our party.

If your child doesn't fit appropriately in a booster, it's more dangerous to use them then to go without. If it positions the belts in a dangerous location on his body, he could be more severely injured than if he were completely without a seat belt. I would not advise using a booster for a 4 year old, at all. But in another country where their driving laws and vehicle requirements are different from what you are used to, it's more likely to be unsafe.

*sigh* This is why I mentioned my child's height in my original post..... It is also why I asked if taxis in the Bahamas have seat belts in the back seat with BOTH a lap AND a shoulder strap.... Trust me, I have done my research on this...

Per Texas DPS, for a child to safely ride in a booster seat they must be AT LEAST 40 lbs and 4 years of age.

https://www.dps.texas.gov/director_staff/public_information/carseat.htm

We will be in Freeport on April 24th. My son will turn 4 on May 24th, so exactly 1 month later. With that being said though, he is very large for his age and he does meet the weight requirement for a booster seat since he currently weighs 44 lbs (as of 2 months ago) already and the minimum weight to safely ride in booster seat is 40 lbs. He is also already 45 inches tall. I doubt he has lost weight or shrunk in height since he was last measured and weighed at his doctor's office 2 months ago.

My son has been off the chart for height since he was 3 months old and in the 95th+ percentile for weight since 3 months of age. For comparison the average 4 year old boy has a weight range of 33.3-39.1 lbs and a height range of 39.2 - 41.5 inches. My son is 3 years, 10 months (and will be exactly 3 years, 11 months the day we are in the Bahamas) and he is already 44 lbs and was 45 inches tall when I took him to his doctor's office 2 months ago. He is already the size of the average 6 year old boy already.

The average weight range of 5 year old boys is 37.5 - 44.7 pounds. The average height range of 5 year old boy is 41.7 - 44.2 inches. The average weight range for 6 year old boys is 41.9 - 50.6 pounds and the average height range for 6 year old boys is 44.2 - 46.9 inches. My son was 44 lbs and 45 inches tall 2 months ago so, as you can see, at 3 years, 10 months of age he is the size of a small 6 year old boy. He isn't fat or abnormal either. He is just very tall and his weight is proportional to his height. My husband is over 6 ft and height also runs on my side. (Where I got height/weight info averages from: https://www.babycenter.com/0_your-childs-size-and-growth-timeline_10357633.bc )

He is big enough that he can safely ride in a booster seat AS LONG AS there is both a lap AND a shoulder strap, which is why I asked if taxis in the Bahamas have seat belts in the back seat with BOTH a lap AND a shoulder strap... If we come across a taxi that does not have the appropriate seat belt that will allow him to safely ride in a booster seat then I just won't get in the taxi. If no taxis have seat belts in the back seat with both a lap and a shoulder belt then I would arrange another form of transportation in advance, which is why I posted this question.

And for the record I would never put my son in a booster seat under normal circumstances at this age. He was rear facing until he maxed out the rear facing height/weight limit (43 inches/40 lbs) on his convertible 5 point harness car seat so he rear faced well past the age of 2. Our car seat is a Clek Foonf and it weighs 33 lbs by itself so it's not really practical to drag around in taxis in the Bahamas. We have drug it around the world on planes though. I have always bought my son his own plane seat, even when he was under 2 and could have flown for free in my lap, and I always take his car seat and strap him in on planes. We are driving to the cruise port though since it's an hour from our house.

And yes, his infant seat and his current convertible 5 point harness seat at both FAA approved. Otherwise I would never even considered taking either on a plane. Even though his current seat is massive and so is he (for his age) I still drag it on planes and put it in his seat and I make him stay strapped in it unless he has to use the rest room. We also use his current convertible 5 point harness seat in rental cars in Europe and Asia and we did the same with his infant seat. His current 5 point harness convertible seat is just not practical for taxis, which is why we never take taxis in Europe or Asia. We either rent a car and drive ourselves when traveling abroad or we use trains. And for airport transfers I arrange a car in advance and let them know that I will be strapping my son's car seat in so that they should expect the trip to take extra time since they will have to wait on me to properly secure the seat.

This is our first cruise with him so we are not use to only being in a city for 8 hours, which makes renting a rental car impractical. Considering his personal stats, he is safer in a booster seat in the 20-30 minute taxi ride each way in Freeport, as long as the seat belt in the taxi has both a lap and shoulder strap, than not being in a booster seat. I would never strap him in a booster seat using only a lap belt though.

For the parents that didn't book a shore excursion on the cruise ship that involved a bus and you used a taxi instead, did you bring a booster seat for your toddler/preschool aged kids?

We are planning on skipping the overpriced shore excursions that the cruise ship offers and just take a taxi where we want to go (that's a topic for another thread, I have tons of questions about what beach to go to in Freeport.) My son is turning 4 in May and we will be in Freeport and Nassau for a day each at the end of April. My son is very tall for his age (45 inches already) so I was thinking about buying him a backless 4 lb booster seat so he can safely ride in a taxi while we are in ports in the Bahamas. Since the backless booster is so light it won't be a hassle carrying it around for the day. It will only work if he has access to a seat belt with a lap AND should strap though. Do you remember if taxis in Freeport and Nassau have seat belts with a shoulder strap in addition to lap belts in the back seats? I guess it will vary by car but it seems most later model vehicles, at least in the US, have seat belts in the back seat with both a should and lap belt.

Also, how accommodating are the taxi drivers in Freeport with letting you put your stroller in their trunk?

We are independent travelers and we usually travel in Europe or Asia on our own. We either rent a car and drive ourselves around there (and we take my son's 5 point harness convertible car seat with us) or we take trains. We have never put our son in taxis in Europe of Asia without his car seat. This will be our first cruise with him so I am just trying to figure out transportation while in port.

Just keep in mind it is VERY slow. My DS had to buy the FULL plan this past spring break so he could research an assignment that was to be completed over break (what kind of Professor does this!?!?). He said he would never spend the money for it again - even though it allowed him to communicate with his GF. Based on his experience, I am thinking you will spend a lot of your vacation waiting on internet.

 

As for Key West, you are docket at the pier and will have whatever internet/cell you would have on land.

Thanks for your input!

Yes, our cell phones will work in Key West. And we are using our Skyroam portable wifi device while in the Bahamas. It's only $8 a day for unlimited wifi and you can connect up to 5 devices at once to it. I have used it all over Asia and Europe and it's fast and amazing. It works off of cell towers though so you have to be near a cell tower to use it. Otherwise I would just use it on the ship too.

The Value Plan does allow for pretty much all access with few exceptions where the Social does not. I’ve had both. As far as Premium having faster speeds it seems like when a ton of people are using the internet on the ship, that makes them practically identical. I upgraded onboard from Value to Premium, noticed zero difference and got a refund. I wasn’t the only one and others have also reported on here as well. While in theory and maybe when the majority of people onboard are sleeping the Premium is faster, as far as other times they are the same. At least that’s been my experience.

Thank you for you input! This is the kind of info I was looking for! Personal experience with the service. Thanks so much.

There is a thread from last year where a guy did speed tests for all the plans and the best he ever got was barely 4g LTE speed so be prepared for that. As far as access, I read that they block porn and gambling sites but I forget where I read it so I it might not even be for here - I do remember googling stuff with the middle plan and I don't remember not getting access to anything I was looking for but if something was blocked I might have just chalked it up to lousy connection. I'll see if I can find that thread and make sure of the speeds.

 

Edit to add~I couldn't find the exact speedtest post I was thinking of but I found a post by coevan where he did the speedtest and the best he ever got was barely 2megs down. Now this was over a year ago but I doubt they have improved the network infrastructure much since then.

Hi. Thanks so much for your input! This is exactly the type of input I was hoping to get on this thread. I won't be trying to access porn or gambling sites and that's for sure. =D As long as I can get on my company website, do any work related research I need to do (and it's all commercial real estate and finance based) and also research various things about the Bahamas I will be good. Thanks again for your input!

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1152/~/carnivals-wi-fi-service-and-hub-app

 

 

What plans are offered?

 

We have upgraded our communications technology to the latest, state of the art systems and guests now have access to much faster speeds at an affordable price! Our ships feature awesome internet plans.

Social Wi-Fi Plan

Access the most popular social websites and applications including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, SnapChat and the most popular airline sites. Does not include access to most websites and email. Does not support access to video and music streaming (such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora), iMessage or Skype. Cellular-network-dependent Wi-Fi calling and Facetime services are also not supported. Prices are based on cruise-long plans and are subject to change without prior notice: Pre-Cruise price: $4.00 USD per day | Onboard price: $5.00 USD per day | Onboard price for 24 hour plan: not applicable.

 

Value Wi-Fi Plan

Access popular social websites, email and applications including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, SnapChat and the most popular airline sites as well as news, entertainment (not including streaming sites), sports, weather, banking and finance. Post pictures of your trip and make your friends jealous. Faster speeds than the Social Plan. Does not support Skype or video and music streaming (such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora). Cellular-network-dependent Wi-Fi calling and Facetime services are also not supported. Prices are based on cruise-long plans and are subject to change without prior notice: Pre-Cruise price: $10.25 USD per day | Onboard price: $12.00 USD per day | Onboard price for 24 hour plan: $16.00 USD.

 

Premium Wi-Fi Plan

Our Premium Wi-Fi plan provides you access to all sites under the Social and Value Plans at the fastest possible connection on board (3 times faster than the Value Plan). Our Premium Plan also supports Skype calling where coverage allows. Does not support video and music streaming (such as Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora). Cellular-network-dependent Wi-Fi calling and Facetime services are also not supported. Prices are based on cruise-long plans and are subject to change without prior notice: Pre-Cruise price: $14.88 USD per day | Onboard price: $17.70 USD per day | Onboard price for 24 hour plan: $25.00 USD.

 

Guests can upgrade from one plan to another and can use multiple devices per plan, including their smart phone, laptop or shipboard Internet cafe but only one device can be used at a time.

I read this on the Carnival website before I posted my question. It's pretty ambiguous the way it's written. With the way it's written it seems like only certain websites (news, entertainment (not including streaming sites), sports, weather, banking and finance) are accessible in addition to the social media sites that you can access with the cheapest plan and that buying the most expensive plan only gets you a slightly faster speed of the same websites that the mid grade plan offers. I am curious if you can access any website on google just as long as it's not porn or something like Netflix. I would also like to know if a page has a video on it will the text of the page load but not the video? Or if there is a video on the page will the page just not load at all?

I was hoping that someone who has actually bought and used the wifi plans onboard a Carnival ship could tell me their experience which is why I posted here. Since there are so many people who are members here that have been on tons of cruises.

This question (regarding wifi) may have been asked already but I didn't do a search so not sure. This is my first post ever on this site. Some background. We are avid globe trotters but we typically avoid cruises since we are very independent travelers and we don't like the idea of being trapped on a boat for days at a time and we also don't like the idea of having just 8 hours in a city. We like to spend at least several days/nights in a place to really get a feel for it. We take the big international trip (usually Europe or Asia) every year at the end of August/September so we were looking for something easy and kind of mindless for our usual spring trip this year since both my husband and I have been so busy with work and we just wanted something easy that we didn't have to put a lot of thought into. We live within 50 miles of a cruise ship terminal so he suggested we go on a cruise. I was kind of meh at first but the more I thought about it the more appealing it became since it is easy. So, my husband, our 3 year old and myself are booked for an April 2018 cruise to the Bahamas. I have been on exactly one cruise in my life but it was 12 years ago and I don't even think that onboard wifi was an option back then.

My question is this. What websites can I access if I purchase the mid-level ship wifi plan? I am an entrepreneur so not being able to check email and perform other internet searches of random sites while we float at sea for four days is pretty important to me. Kudos to people who have the luxury of unplugging when they travel but I don't have that luxury, and I like it that way. The Carnival site says that you can access email if you buy the mid-level plan as well as news and financial sites but I would like to know if the entire web, minus video streaming, is available with that package.

Being able to do google searches and pull up random sites while I lie in bed at night is also important to me since we will not be doing any ship sanctioned shore excursions. If we can trek across Europe and Asia with no tour guide we can certainly handle Key West and Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas on our own, and for a lot less than what the ship is charging for excursions. I want to be able to research all of these ports on demand as we are floating. Even when we go to Europe or Asia for a month I don't plan my trip out in advance (other than where we are flying in and out of) and this will be no different, so that is why I would like to be able to access sites all across the net from my cabin.

Also, has anyone ever done the 7 day Galveston/Key West/Freeport/Nassau cruise before? How close to the shore do you stay once you get to Key West? I ask because we always travel with a Skyroam device (a portable global hotspot) that works off of cell towers for $8 a day that you can connect up to 5 devices to at once. We will be using that while on land (with the exception of Key West since we can use our cell phones there without roaming) but if I can get a cell signal on that I can use it on the boat too. It just depends on how close we are to shore. For what I have read, if you are within a mile of shore the Skyroam will work. That means it won't work on the leg from Galveston to Key West and then the leg from Nassau to Galveston but it might work when we get into the Bahamas, depending on how close the ship stays to shore. From what I read you are not able to make Skype or Facebook messenger calls via the ship wifi even if you buy the most expensive package but I can make Skype and Facebook messenger calls if I can get a connection on Skyroam. I won't pay to use a satellite phone on board the boat unless it's an emergency but being able to make business calls (for free) via Skype and also call my oldest child who lives in Europe (we talk daily) via Facebook messenger would be nice. Anyone know how close the ship stays to land when it's on the Key West/Freeport/Nassau portion of the cruise?