Kings Wharf to Horseshoe Bay with 1 Year Old

[MMGo785]

Hi,

 

First post, but I've been lurking for a while 🙂

 

We'll be bringing our 16 month old on the Anthem for her first cruise in a few weeks. The ship will be in Bermuda for two days, so we're thinking of taking a ferry to the Aquarium/Zoo one day, and going to the baby beach at Horseshoe Bay the other day. 

 

It seems like options for Horseshoe Bay transport are taxi, # 7 bus or beach minibus shuttle. Has anyone taken the minibus shuttle with a child or infant? Would a toddler or baby be safe sitting on an adult's lap or in a baby carrier? I've been trying to find pictures of the shuttles, with the thought that if they're just smaller versions of a public bus, a toddler/infant would be OK being carried. I don't think I would feel comfortable without a car seat if the shuttle was the size of a minivan, however.

 

We have a Cosco Scenera car seat that we could bring along, but we were hoping to avoid it (I found a car service with infant seats that we can use to/from the ship for departure and our return home). We also bought a car seat lock clip, just in case we do bring the car seat.

 

The other option is the #7 bus, but I heard that we would have to get up/down a hill to get to the beach, which wouldn't be ideal with a baby and all of our gear. There will be 3 adults, as my mom is joining us, so maybe we could do it? Has anyone taken the #7 bus to Horseshoe with an infant or toddler? Is that our best option?

[1025cruise]

How do you plan to get to the aquarium from Hamilton/St. Georges? The ferry doesn't go direct there. You will still need a taxi or a bus.

 

I think the mini buses are like 15 passenger vans, but I'm not sure.

[Essiesmom]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  You might try asking this on the Ports of Call board for Bermuda, which is here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/118-bermuda/

[jludvigs]

I’m also trying to figure this out. We’ll be going on Anthem when our daughter is 14 months. Honestly, the mini buses don’t look like they’d be safe for them and I don’t think you can install the car seat. I was considering bringing the Cosco seat and taking a taxi, but then I don’t know what to do with it on the beach. 

Hopefully someone will have some ideas. 

But please let us know how it goes for you guys! 

[MMGo785]

On 4/12/2019 at 7:28 PM, 1025cruise said:

How do you plan to get to the aquarium from Hamilton/St. Georges? The ferry doesn't go direct there. You will still need a taxi or a bus.

 

I think the mini buses are like 15 passenger vans, but I'm not sure.

 

I was planning on a ferry+bus combo for the aquarium. I have no issue taking the public bus at all, I was just concerned about the hill at the Horseshoe public bus stop more than anything. I can't tell how doable it would be for our group based off of other posts, since it's so different for everyone.

 

15 passengers sounds OK. Maybe I'll have to decide once there though. Thank you!

 

 

On 4/12/2019 at 7:30 PM, Essiesmom said:

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  You might try asking this on the Ports of Call board for Bermuda, which is here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/118-bermuda/

 

Thanks! Appreciate it. I'll ask on the Bermuda board as well.

 

 

On 4/12/2019 at 9:52 PM, jludvigs said:

I’m also trying to figure this out. We’ll be going on Anthem when our daughter is 14 months. Honestly, the mini buses don’t look like they’d be safe for them and I don’t think you can install the car seat. I was considering bringing the Cosco seat and taking a taxi, but then I don’t know what to do with it on the beach. 

Hopefully someone will have some ideas. 

But please let us know how it goes for you guys! 

 

I'll definitely return to this thread after we go, and let you know. I've searched around both on CC and TripAdvisor and still can't decide. I imagine it will just be one of those parental judgement calls made at the moment. Since we'll have 3 adults, we might just end up doing the public bus for sanity's/safety's sake. It might not be as difficult as I think it is. The car seat at the beach just doesn't sound fun. And I can picture sand falling out of it for months afterward. I think we're going to nix the taxi option.

 

I'm also going to check on the Bermuda port-of-call board, as Essiesmom suggested. Good luck to you!

[jq22]

Did anyone go or think of a solution? Our trip is in June and mine will be 10 months. Right now planning on bringing the carseat and taking a cab to the beach, but would love to hear other ideas or experiences. 

[MMGo785]

15 hours ago, jq22 said:

Did anyone go or think of a solution? Our trip is in June and mine will be 10 months. Right now planning on bringing the carseat and taking a cab to the beach, but would love to hear other ideas or experiences. 

 

I'm on my way there within the next few days. We've decided to bring the carseat and take a cab. Apparently the bus system isn't as reliable as it used to be, and I'd rather not risk a long wait with a baby, and then still have to go up the hill. The shuttle bus is a no for us, as most seem like large vans that wouldn't be able to accommodate a car seat (though there isn't a standard size). We'll have to deal with a sandy carseat at the beach,  but it's the fastest and safest option. We figure the privacy and peace of mind will be worth it. I'll report back, when we return.

[MMGo785]

We've returned! Had a blast, despite a few temper tantrums!

 

For those of you curious, we ended up taking a taxi to Horseshoe, and bringing our Cosco Scenera car seat. Honestly, we were probably the only ones. There were tons of babies, toddlers, and young children in the Baby Beach section, but no car seats to be seen. There were strollers everywhere on the beach, so my guess is that most people used the minibus shuttles or rode in the taxis without car seats. From the reactions of our taxi drivers, that's probably the norm. Our first driver was concerned about the car seat leaving marks on the back seat, and the other asked us without any snark "What's the purpose of the car seat? You don't just hold the babies in your arms back home?" When we explained about possible accidents, the response was "We never had those seats in old times, and everyone turned out OK." I definitely don't fault the taxi drivers. Even in NYC where I live, car seats aren't required in yellow city taxis, though they are in private cars. I imagine people could get questions like that at any port.

 

We used a car seat gate check bag that was pretty cheap from Amazon to keep sand out of the seat, and it worked great. No sand anywhere! We didn't need belt clips at all in the taxis we used, though we had them with us.

 

Also, my husband had to remove the car seat from the gate check bag both coming off and getting back onto the ship (Anthem). His backpack even got searched leaving the ship, while I walked straight out with the baby in the carrier. This would have been annoying with just one adult, so something to keep in mind.

 

All in all, we would do the same thing again, especially with a 1 year old. It was worth it to us for a comfortable, safe, private ride.The Scenera was super light for my husband to carry, and I wore baby in a carrier any time we walked, so that I could have free hands.The taxis to/from Kings Wharf to Horseshoe were $33 each plus tip, and easy to get. There was always someone asking what type of transportation we wanted, and the cabs were right there - no wait.

 

[danixbanani]

Just chiming in to say that the hill at horseshoe from the bus stop is VERY steep.  I wouldn't want to do it with my littles either.

[KCM29]

hi everyone! We are looking at visiting the aquarium and zoo in Bermuda as well. Does anyone know if there is a way to take a taxi back when we are leaving? Are there taxis around there or is the public bus the only option?

 

I am hoping to bring a double umbrella stroller so Im willing to pay the extra cost of a taxi to avoid tired legs for our kids

[soccer5042]

On 5/13/2019 at 1:26 PM, MMGo785 said:

We've returned! Had a blast, despite a few temper tantrums!

 

For those of you curious, we ended up taking a taxi to Horseshoe, and bringing our Cosco Scenera car seat. Honestly, we were probably the only ones. There were tons of babies, toddlers, and young children in the Baby Beach section, but no car seats to be seen. There were strollers everywhere on the beach, so my guess is that most people used the minibus shuttles or rode in the taxis without car seats. From the reactions of our taxi drivers, that's probably the norm. Our first driver was concerned about the car seat leaving marks on the back seat, and the other asked us without any snark "What's the purpose of the car seat? You don't just hold the babies in your arms back home?" When we explained about possible accidents, the response was "We never had those seats in old times, and everyone turned out OK." I definitely don't fault the taxi drivers. Even in NYC where I live, car seats aren't required in yellow city taxis, though they are in private cars. I imagine people could get questions like that at any port.

 

We used a car seat gate check bag that was pretty cheap from Amazon to keep sand out of the seat, and it worked great. No sand anywhere! We didn't need belt clips at all in the taxis we used, though we had them with us.

 

Also, my husband had to remove the car seat from the gate check bag both coming off and getting back onto the ship (Anthem). His backpack even got searched leaving the ship, while I walked straight out with the baby in the carrier. This would have been annoying with just one adult, so something to keep in mind.

 

All in all, we would do the same thing again, especially with a 1 year old. It was worth it to us for a comfortable, safe, private ride.The Scenera was super light for my husband to carry, and I wore baby in a carrier any time we walked, so that I could have free hands.The taxis to/from Kings Wharf to Horseshoe were $33 each plus tip, and easy to get. There was always someone asking what type of transportation we wanted, and the cabs were right there - no wait.

 

Thank you for the update!  Very helpful as we will be heading to Bermuda with our ten month old in a few weeks.