Carseats or not?

[lydka]

We are going on the Norwegian Jewel in a few weeks and are trying to determine whether to take our car seats. I cannot imagine taking them but we do want to do things while we are in port. What do you do when in this situation? Do you take them on the buses/taxi and don't strap them in? We have 15 month old twins with big rear facing carseats. I don't think the two carseats would even fit in our cabin, plus there is so much hassle taking them and installing them...

[siebelqueen]

I'm not sure what ports you are going to. We did a New England/Canada cruise with our son when he was about 8 months old. We opted not to take the car seat with us. Most places we went had trollies or buses to get around. We just sat the baby on our laps while riding. There was one port where we took a taxi. We explained to the taxi driver that we needed a car seat before leaving the port. The dispatcher said "no problem", and a car seat magically appeared.

 

If you are planning on booking excursions, I would call NCL to find out how they handle transportation for babies. Perhaps they have car seats available in port.

 

HTH!

[asylum575]

Before the Safety patrol starts with the "What kind of parent are you?"/

 

If you are taking the Jewel out of Miami, plan on a using Supershuttle or similar. Miami taxis WILL NOT take you without the carseats.

 

Carseats are required in just about all states. Whether you can find a taxi to take you withour the carseats. That's between you and the driver.

 

What is your itinerary? I have found alot of taxis in these ports don't even have seatbelts, not to mention the LATCH system.

 

I am cruising out of Tampa in a couple of weeks. I've arranged a shuttle service for all three legs of my Fl part of the trip. TPA to hotel. Hotel to port. Port to TPA. We will be staying local in Costa Maya and may take a shuttle or large vehicle to Paradise beach in Cozumel. We'll play it by ear. We have no problem just walking around the town. It's alot of fun.

 

Cruising with kids can be tough. We plan alot of onboard activities to do together. I think cruising can be a great family vacation.

[MNmomof4]

I think it's more than just a "safety patrol" issue. Would you consider putting your child in a vehicle at home without a car seat? What is the difference when you travel? We always bring car seats or we opt to walk with the double stroller. Buses and water taxis are the only other options. I have called the cruise lines about their transportation and they couldnt tell me if it would be a bus or minivan type vehicle. We travel with 2 car seats and fit them either under the beds or in the closets. I also pick a ship that has lots of activities in case we just decide to walk around the port and head back to the ship to enjoy a nearly deserted water area. Enjoy your cruise!

[A&Jfamily]

It is really personal choice and what you think you will be doing. And, the all important question - if heaven forbid, there was an accident, would you be second guessing yourself all your life.

 

All of the tours that we have taken my youngest on have been buses or trolleys, except the cab ride to/from Chankanaab Park in Cozumel. I knew there was no guarantee that we would get a cab with working seatbelts, so I just didn't both. As it turns out, the car did, so we just strapped him in the middle seat - he was 3 at the time. I made the decision before we went and knew that I would be fine with my decision, should some injury occur.

 

We did take his booster seat with us when we flew to Orlando; we had to rent a car to Port C, and I knew by law we had to have it and I refused to pay the rental company $25 each way for one! We are going to Canada on a cruise in June, and I will take it then too as we 1) are driving to the port and 2) renting a car in Saint John for the day.

 

Hope that helps.

[MyMoses]

We are driving to the port and plan on leaving our carseat in the car. I'm sure I will get flamed by the safety police too, but I know that carseats won't even be useful in Mexico where we're going. I think we'll be lucky to find a cab that even has seatbelts. We don't plan on doing many things in cabs, but we do have one excursion booked where we will have to take a cab. DD will ride on our lap. The rest of the time, we'll either walk or take the public bus.

 

I guess it really depends on where you're going. If heading to Canada, then you would probably want it along as I'm sure they are required there as well. If headed to the Caribbean/Mexico, I wouldn't bother. I'm not trying to minimize the importance of carseats, however the majority of children around the world do not use them. We also did not use them as kids either. There are plenty of dangerous things that can happen anywhere/anytime. Hopefully, you won't get into an accident, but would you not swim at all because you or your child might drown? Would you choose to not leave the ship because you might be robbed or kidnapped? There are risks in everything we do.

[Kerry's Girls]

Before each of my cruises with my twins, I go to the ports of call board and find out the best things to do that won't require car seats (i.e., we walk to a resort, take a ship excursion that is by bus or an excursion that is by boat from the pier.). If there is something we want to do that requires a car ride, we bring the car seats (though hopefully you can buy/borrow the lightest/smallest seats possible.

 

When we take the car seats, I find that either hiring our own guide or renting a car makes it easiest so that we can keep the seats in the car while we explore. Storage in the cabin hasn't been an issue - sticking them at the bottom of the closet works fine.

 

Best,

Mia