Excursions/travel-car seat

We are taking our son on his first cruise in October on the Gem up to Canada and parts of New England. He will almost be 1 yo at the time (bday 3 weeks later).

When it comes to things to do in port, be it a pre-booked excursion or hopping in a cab at the port, what do you guys do when it comes to car seats? After 13+ cruises, we realize that most transportation is either on a bus or min-van, usually packed with other people.

Are car seats available? Did you bring your own on the cruise and lug it around at every port? We are already packing so much that we were planning on being dropped off so not taking the car seat. And if you do bring it...can you use it on the buses/vans that are usually used for excursions?

Thanks

if you scroll just a little bit, you will find at least 2-3 recent threads about car seats at destination ports. You can also do a subforum search. :)

In short - no, car seats will not be available in ports. You will be lucky (in a lot of places) if you get a taxi with functioning seat belts. So, whether you want to risk your child's life or not by not using your own car seat is up to you.

For a 1 yo I'd look into a Cosco Scenera NEXT $40, rear facing, of course.

You can't use car seats on buses...so you might want to go that route. In a passenger car/van, you will need them...it's the law.

if you scroll just a little bit, you will find at least 2-3 recent threads about car seats at destination ports. You can also do a subforum search. :)

In short - no, car seats will not be available in ports. You will be lucky (in a lot of places) if you get a taxi with functioning seat belts. So, whether you want to risk your child's life or not by not using your own car seat is up to you.

For a 1 yo I'd look into a Cosco Scenera NEXT $40, rear facing, of course.

I think there will be functioning seatbelts in New England and Canada. OP, check out tours that use buses.

Thanks all...seems like the bottom line is we will either A) need to bring a car seat or B) only go to places we can walk to. Neither a great option, but I guess what's one more thing to pack right lol

Just to clarify though...maybe I wrote it confusing/maybe it was read wrong...was never asking, nor would we ever, if we could bring our son on a trip without a car seat. Was asking if the excursion transportation (either booked thru NCL or the private companies you find at each pier) would have them available so we didn't have to bring our own. AND if we did bother bringing our own...are they possible to use on these type of mini-vans/vehicles that are usually used for excursions. The ones that have 20 seats and they make sure each one is filled up so often times you are sitting squished with strangers.

We have done a NE/Canada twice, Boston to Montreal. One of our all time favorites as there is so much to do. We easily rented cars in a couple of ports (Charlottetown PEI and Syndey, NS) and many times car seats are an optional add on for a charge with the big rental car companies. We have also done bus tours (Bar Harbor, Sydney, Halifax) so no need there. Some ports are walkable too Quebec City and Bar Harbor and Charlottetown.

We are doing Caribbean this next Spring and will take a light travel car seat. Even with that some Caribbean ports can be spotty for taxis with seat belts. We will just roll with it and stay flexible. NE and Canada car taxis will be modern and safe. (y)

I sent think you are limited to just walking. Any big bus it is legal to not use a car seat (rational- most don't even have seat belts for adults, and a bus is so big it is much less likely to get in an accident)

Even if you have switched him already, does he still fit in your infant car seat that clicks in and out of the stroller? Those can be installed in any seat belt, and would be easy to carry around as it would clip into a stroller? At 1 my twins still fit, but some kids have exceeded the height limit already.

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