booking shore excursions for 3 year old

[KSH120]

Does anyone have experience with whether or not a 3 year old (or younger) is considered a "lap child" on shore excursions? Or, do they get a seat even though they're charged an "infant" price of zero?

 

I booked 2 excursions for our July cruise yesterday, and the online system did not charge for my 3 year old, but it does list her as going on the excursions. The reason I care so much is that these were under a "kids tour free" promotion, where we get the price of the child tickets back as OBC, so I want to make sure she has an actual seat on the bus, just like our 6 year old who will also be free. (I also don't want to sit for hours on a bus with her on my lap and seated next to some poor, unlucky soul who gets the last available seat next to the lady with her 3 year old squirming in her lap!)

 

I guess another way to ask the question is that if "infants" are considered "lap children", has anyone had experience buying a toddler a ticket anyway? How would this be done? - Online it only lets you pick the people and it assigns a price according to their age.

 

I attempted to call and ask about this, but I'm not confident at all that the representative knew the answer he gave. I'm starting to see the value of asking questions here rather than calling!

[CruisinQueen2013]

I don't know if they technically get a reserved "seat" on the bus or not but in my experience, those running the shore excursions aren't that detailed. They know the number of people booked but beyond that, I think the details are inconsistent. I've had some tour operators have a full list with ages and everything but most seem to just have names and stateroom numbers. Every time we've actually had a bus (not all excursions need that), there have been several extra seats. We did have our 2.5 year old on our lap but there was a was space if we wouldn't have. I don't think they differentiate between "lap" children and non.

[KSH120]

Thanks for your input. That puts my mind at ease a bit. Do you remember if you got a physical ticket for your 2.5 year old? (or maybe nobody gets them at all?) My only cruise-related experience with shore excursions was on Carnival, and they didn't even have a record her going - they just sold us tickets for the 3 of us that required them. Then, they made a big deal about counting people on the bus and telling me she had to be on my lap. It seemed more similar to a plane trip. On other land-based tours we've had free toddlers/babies with tickets and without, and it really seems to vary whether they consider them an actual participant. So, I was wondering if Royal Caribbean has an official policy or not.

[Robinhill]

Does anyone have experience with whether or not a 3 year old (or younger) is considered a "lap child" on shore excursions? Or, do they get a seat even though they're charged an "infant" price of zero?

 

I booked 2 excursions for our July cruise yesterday, and the online system did not charge for my 3 year old, but it does list her as going on the excursions. The reason I care so much is that these were under a "kids tour free" promotion, where we get the price of the child tickets back as OBC, so I want to make sure she has an actual seat on the bus, just like our 6 year old who will also be free. (I also don't want to sit for hours on a bus with her on my lap and seated next to some poor, unlucky soul who gets the last available seat next to the lady with her 3 year old squirming in her lap!)

 

I guess another way to ask the question is that if "infants" are considered "lap children", has anyone had experience buying a toddler a ticket anyway? How would this be done? - Online it only lets you pick the people and it assigns a price according to their age.

 

I attempted to call and ask about this, but I'm not confident at all that the representative knew the answer he gave. I'm starting to see the value of asking questions here rather than calling!

 

they can have their own seat and their excursion is free when you book and pay for yours. I just took my 3 year old grandson last year to Sting Ray City in cococay Bahamas and to disneyworld while we were in Port Canaveral and it was free for him. He had his own seat on the bus to disney and his own seat on the boat and the van taking us to the boat for Stingray City

[CruisinQueen2013]

We did receive a ticket for her. I don't know if they have a policy per se because I think some vendors do things differently but we took her on 2 excursions and she got a ticket both times, was free both times and there were extra seats on both buses.

[cruiselvr04]

I did some research on this on RCL website for our 3 year old grandson. Somewhere in the fine print it says that children who are free are considered lap children. So I think if they sell out every seat on an excursion the child may be on your lap. However it's rare that every seat on a bus is filled. You will probably be fine but they have the right to fill the child's seat. Just go and expect the best.

 

 

I think I found it under a FAQ section.

Edited May 3, 2016 by cruiselvr04

[3B's]

Did you have any child restraint, car seat, for excursions?

[cruiselvr04]

Old thread but I'll reply because I think it's important safety wise.

 

Do also see the family boards for more information .

 

If your excursion is on a large bus there are no seat belts and no car seats needed or can be used.

If you are are using a van or mini bus or cab they may or may not have seat belts. Since we feel it's always safety first even on vacation we researched our excursions. We found a tour in Jamaica for instance that had seatbelts in the van and took a lightweight but safe Costco car seat as well as in grand Caymen. We waited for a taxi in Cozumel who had seat belts so we could put the car seat in and secure it.

 

We saw a bad accident in Jamaica on the way back to the ship and we're glad we had taken the extra steps to keep the littles safe. And for instance the taxi drivers can be scary in places. Is it a hassle? Yes! But we wouldn't drive them around unsecured in the states so why would we do it on vacation?

 

You will get other opinions but this is ours. And to adults out there on excursions...if there are seatbelts use them! Accidents happen everywhere.