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Booster Seat for Taxis in Freeport and Nassau When Traveling w/a Preschooler?


CRT713
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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.

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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.

 

 

 

Check out the MiFold or Bubble Bum for good portable booster seat options. The MiFold will probably work some even with just a lap belt.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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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.

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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.

 

I did not get in a taxi in the Bahamas because the driving is wild there. I was able to walk everywhere in Nassau and in Freeport did an excursion. Best of luck.

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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.

Edited by CRT713
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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.

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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!

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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.

There have always been plenty of them lined up at the port.

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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.

 

Depending on what you are doing in Nassau I would probably advise bringing a stroller and walking.

 

When we were in Freeport the roads and vehicles seemed very similar to ours (except they drive on the other side of the road;) . Our tour guide did mention they have bad drivers there too, but we never felt unsafe and traffic was nothing like Western Caribbean ports we visited a few years ago.

 

I suspect you will be fine with a booster. My kids are older, but I think based on your son's height/weigh you might be able to get by with a basic booster seat, and not a high back belt positioning.

 

Do what makes you comfortable and I hope you have a great trip:cool:

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