Excursions with 3 year old

[smithius]

I know that if we rent a car we can rent a car seat but does anyone know if you can rent a car seat when booking excursions through the ship? (Star Princess if that helps). Trying to decide if we need to bring our own since we don't need to fly anywhere.

[kitkat343]

Most ship excursions are held on buses, which would not require a car seat.

 

But with a toddler, you might want to consider booking private tours. We've been on three cruises, and they only excursion that was a disaster was a Princess tour we booked in Panama since the Panama Canal authorities refuse to let anyone disembark in Gatun Lake without signing up for a ship tour. We chose a shorter tour to accommodate our son's nap schedule, but the ship didn't tell us that at the day before the excursion they would drop us off at the port at the end of the tour and we'd need to wait 2 hours at the port to reboard the ship with a crying, overtired toddler.

 

The Princess wildlife cruise in Panama was a disaster for my son, who quickly got bored since the ship didn't see any wildlife (we knew this wasn't a great choice for a toddler, but there wasn't an option through princess to just see the canal - you had to choose another activity in addition to the canal visit). Normally, we book private tours and can return to the ship or leave an activity sooner if necessary, but we were stuck on this tour and it was the only bad excursion my son has experienced on three cruises. Given the fact that private tours are generally cheaper than ship tours, we have been very happy with our alternative plans.

[cb at sea]

Ships excursions use buses...no seatbelts..no carseats. A 3 year old will be bored on most excursions...just a warning.

 

Get a guidebook...find out what would interest you AND your child in each place...and then do it on your own. Few things require excursions.

[Lerin]

My 3-year-old has been on several excursions and enjoyed them just fine. OP you know what your kid likes or doesn't.

 

A Carseat however is not necessary as excursions use busses, boats, trains, and pretty much all modes of transportation except cars.