Let's talk car seat storage room - Cruising Dream

[Furffy]

You are all going to be sick of me with all my questions...so I will apologize in advance.

 

Cruising Dream this summer. We will have our 6, 5, and 2.5 kids with us. We will be doing Disney World for several days after the cruise, so I would like to bring my own car seats...is there enough room to store 3 Britax Frontier car seats (for those not familiar with that car seat...it is big. Can 5 point harness to 85 lbs and booster to 120 lbs) in our cabin on the cruise? We will have the "connecting" rooms (sorry, not up on the cruise line lingo, so I know that is not the official term)...so I was toying with the idea of storing them all in the 2nd room's bathroom as we will not have to use it. Would they maybe fit in the bathtub area?

 

Thanks in advance.

[PopFla]

That's probably "do-able", but it might be worth it to give DCL a call and see if there is a way that the seats could be stored at the terminal or somewhere onboard the ship, and you could pick them up when you disembark rather than taking up room in your staterooms. You might find that it's pretty nice having that second bathroom available.

[WeLoveDisneyAlways]

Are you renting a car? Because one of the great things about Disney is you dont need carseats. You can take the motor coach from airport to cruise then to hotel while at hotel the have city buses to all Disney destinations. With 3 kids I think I'd want to leave the seats at home with 1 child I wouldn't want to lug one seat around

[SakeDad]

That's probably "do-able", but it might be worth it to give DCL a call and see if there is a way that the seats could be stored at the terminal or somewhere onboard the ship, and you could pick them up when you disembark rather than taking up room in your staterooms. You might find that it's pretty nice having that second bathroom available.

 

I had this question come up for a friend and DCL says there is nowhere to store the seats. You would have to keep them in your cabin, or consider having the rental car sit in the port parking lot or maybe a nearby hotel lot while you cruise.

[Host Mick]

Consider using the car seats provided by the rental car company. No storage problems.

[Mrs. Chernabog]

As a fellow mom of three, I'm thinking/worried about the logistics. Will is just be you two and the three children? Will you have a stroller? Other carryons? I'm trying to figure out how you would carry the three car seats, push the baby in a stroller, juggle other stuff all while making sure the other two don't run off?

[Bugasbaby]

This is a great question....I am bringing our car seat as well...LO will have his own seat on the plane (he will be 18 months)...I was hoping that we could place it with our luggage and have it brought to our cabin. I know you have three LOs I am just hoping to fit it under the bed or in a corner some where.

[Mrs. Chernabog]

This is a great question....I am bringing our car seat as well...LO will have his own seat on the plane (he will be 18 months)...I was hoping that we could place it with our luggage and have it brought to our cabin. I know you have three LOs I am just hoping to fit it under the bed or in a corner some where.

 

I would be afraid to check the car seat. What if it is at the bottom of the luggage bin and then has 100's of pounds of luggage thrown on top of it?

[Bugasbaby]

Didn't think of that...worse case...DH will bring it to our Cabin once we get on board...I know it's a hassle to have on the ship, but will be worth it in the long run.:o

[DBCH911]

There's a lot of storage space in the rooms on the Dream. It's a do-able thing for you. You have 2 closets, under the bed, and in the coffee table. Maybe you could spread them out between the two rooms.

[Mrs. Chernabog]

Didn't think of that...worse case...DH will bring it to our Cabin once we get on board...I know it's a hassle to have on the ship, but will be worth it in the long run.:o

 

I think for you with one child and two adults, you will have plenty of hands to juggle everything.

[Seraphine]

Bugasbaby:

 

Get a carseat bag - something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Jeep-Car-Seat-Travel-Bag/dp/B001CWVYMI/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1301669534&sr=1-2

 

And then just check it with your regular luggage. We usually store spare nappies/diapers in the bag, on the seat. Ours has done 1000's of miles and been great!

[Seraphine]

You are all going to be sick of me with all my questions...so I will apologize in advance.

 

Cruising Dream this summer. We will have our 6, 5, and 2.5 kids with us. We will be doing Disney World for several days after the cruise, so I would like to bring my own car seats...is there enough room to store 3 Britax Frontier car seats (for those not familiar with that car seat...it is big. Can 5 point harness to 85 lbs and booster to 120 lbs) in our cabin on the cruise? We will have the "connecting" rooms (sorry, not up on the cruise line lingo, so I know that is not the official term)...so I was toying with the idea of storing them all in the 2nd room's bathroom as we will not have to use it. Would they maybe fit in the bathtub area?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi OP,

 

While I'm not sure of all the rules for carseat usage in the US, but can your two oldest kids use booster seats? You could fit your youngest's car seat plus two boosters in a carseat bag (my above post) easily, and even in you used a booster that had a back on it, they tend to be able to break into two more easily storable pieces).

 

When we took our 5 year old to New Jersey last winter, people on this forum directed me that 5 year olds were permitted to use backless boosters (I did check the rules for NY/NJ online). Is this an option for your family?

 

I know the difficulties of travelling with multiple car seats - oh the joys! Good luck to you on your holiday planning!

[ducklite]

You won't be able to use the car seats on the plane for the two older kids--their legs will stick out way too far intos the seat in front of them.

 

Keep in mind on the plane that car seats MUST (per FAA regs) go into the window seat, so book your seats accordingly.

 

I'd just plan on using Disney coach service (cruise line buses to and from the port and Magical Express from Disney to the airport) and leave the car seats at home. Even with a lot of storage, I don't see there being enough for those very large car seats and the rest of your luggage.

[jac1976]

I have a Frontier 85 for my DD, so am familiar with the size. If you do want to bring them on the boat, I think storing them in the bathtub/shower when its not in use is the best way to go. It sounds silly, but the seats are big, and I'm positive they won't fit under the bed. One or two might be able to go into the closet, but I'm not sure about the depth of it.

[tamsocal]

You are all going to be sick of me with all my questions...so I will apologize in advance.

 

Cruising Dream this summer. We will have our 6, 5, and 2.5 kids with us. We will be doing Disney World for several days after the cruise, so I would like to bring my own car seats...is there enough room to store 3 Britax Frontier car seats (for those not familiar with that car seat...it is big. Can 5 point harness to 85 lbs and booster to 120 lbs) in our cabin on the cruise? We will have the "connecting" rooms (sorry, not up on the cruise line lingo, so I know that is not the official term)...so I was toying with the idea of storing them all in the 2nd room's bathroom as we will not have to use it. Would they maybe fit in the bathtub area?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

We vacation 3-4 times a year and we almost always bring our carseats with us (3 yr twins & 7yr old). Have cruised 10+ times & only with youg children & have always made storing the carseats work. We have had anything from one inside cabin to a penthouse. When delaing with one cabin we made sure we only brought luggage that could store one inside each other & could also slide under the beds. We stacked the car seats in the far corner of the closet and still was able to hang clothes above the car seats.

We have gotten better about packing but we don't travel too light-

have had room for a double stroller as well and as many as 3 car seats in the cabin at one time.

We have never been on a disney cruise (1st one next month) but if the closet space is similar to that of HAL/CCL or princess you should be fine and your idea about the bathtub seems perfectly fine if there is not room in the closet

 

we have disney transfers & could opt for leaving the carseats at home next month but we have 5.5 hrs of flying one way & 14+ hrs flying on our return so would not even think about leaving the carseats behind- the kids fly well with the carseats and it is nice to have them securely strapped in during sleeptimes on the plane

 

we have Britax Marathon & will say that I took that one once on a flight & will never again- it is too heavy to lug around & not alot of space on the plane. We have different model carseats for travel that we can tote around in a carseat backpack carrier--

[Bugasbaby]

Seraphine - thanks for the link...we got one over the week-end! It has a shoulder strap so it should be easy for carrying on the ship.

[Seraphine]

Bugsababy :D

[Crusin' Baby Mama]

Since you said you have the 2nd bathroom open, storage shouldn't be a problem on board. I don't blame you for wanting to bring your own carseats. I wouldn't trust a rental car company to not use a carseat that has been in an accident (that's just my opinion). You should be able to fit them on a plane, it will be a tight fit- but when i took my DD's Boulevard on there, it sits up higher and on more of an angle putting her legs right into the back of the seat but width might be a problem.

 

On the airplane- you carseat cannot block the exit of another passenger, with that said, if you have 2 carseats next to each other it should be fine- you can call & ask. Last time i flew with my girls i was able to put YDD near window RF in Graco snugride, ODD in middle in Britax Blvd. (with gogokidz stroller attached) and me on the aisle seat. I managed the 2 of them with 2 carry on's and a snap & go stroller (gate-checked) for the Graco.

 

This is the response I got from my boards:

"To my knowledge, you may put two car seats next to each other as long as they don't block anyone's exit. However, I don't know how well two Frontiers will fit next to each other. The car seats seem so wide, I don't know it if will work.

Because there are three kids in car seats, and those three car seats are Frontiers, I would try to find some sort of work-around.

How old are the kids? Is one of them old enough and mature enough to use a booster at their destination? Could one of them use a Ride Safer Travel Vest or Scenera in the car at their destination and a CARES harness on the plane? I don't think one narrower car seat is going to help much because it will be crowded by a Frontier. Two narrower car seats might work though. I don't know the current models well enough to give a suggestion based on width.

I would go to the Car Seat Questions board. Ask if anyone has used a Frontier on a plane and their experiences doing so. I haven't heard any accounts that I can remember. In a separate post, ask for the width of a Maestro. Two Maestros (for about $80 each) might fit next to each other well on an airplane. If two of the kids are still small enough to fit in Sceneras, I would buy two of them to use on the trip. They are narrow enough to fit next to each other with the armrest down, and cheaper than Maestros. Another idea is to buy one Ride Safer Travel Vest for use in the vehicle at their destination and to rent a CARES harness for the plane. The child in the CARES harness can sit on the aisle or in the middle.

For the seating arrangement, tell them to sit in consecutive rows with one child and parent in front of the other two children. That way if the kids kick the seat in front, only one of those seats will be occupied by a stranger. We usually sit in this arrangement, and it works well for us. Plus, my DS likes to make faces at DD sitting behind him over the top of his seat."

[Crusin' Baby Mama]

One other thing you could do (if you can find the info somewhere) is see how wide the plane seats are & measure the width of your frontier's. with the armrests up you might be fine width wise :)

 

 

maybe try this site http://www.seatguru.com/

 

HTH!!

 

and good luck :)

[tamsocal]

our experience with flying is that we can position the carseats anywhere in the row as long as the passenger towards the window is traveling with us- we can;t have aisle & then middle seat with a car seat with a stranger at the window "blocked in". We have though put our 6 year old at the window, car seat in middle & adult at aisle.

can't address your carseats but we have had 2 Cosco Scenara carseats side by side at window & middle with plenty of space and adult at aisle.

Have also had for a 2seats on one side & one seat on other side of aisle and have done carseat x2 on one side & adult on the other side.

 

Happy Travels!

[ducklite]

For those that advocate putting an older/taller kid into a car seat on a plane with their knees into the back of the seat in front of them--what will you do when that passenger decides to recline?

[Crusin' Baby Mama]

I have never had a problem with the passengers in front of my kids. The safest place for a child to be on an airplane is in their safety restraint system (even FAA states so http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/ ) and my child's safety will always take priority to another person's comfort. I always take this paperwork for backup if needed & someone does have an issue with it.

[WeLoveDisneyAlways]

Another thing for a child to be in in an airplane is a "cares" child restraint it's the only FAA aproved child restraint other then an FAA carseat. I used one when my daughter was younger it folds up into the size of a ziploc bag no carseats for us ever on our vacations

[Mrs. Chernabog]

This is why you don't want to check your car seats:

 

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2703179