Travelling with kids and carseats

[cruizinnanapop]

Hello there!  We are not first time cruisers, but taking our entire family on a cruise in Feb. Eight adults and seven grandchildren.  There are two kiddos that are still required full carseats, ages 18 months and 2 1/2 yrs.   Then there are two that are in boosters.  We are driving to Cocoa Beach the day before, then being shuttled to the port.  Carseats these days are HUGE!!  No joke...they are enormous...do the parents put them in the shuttle to the port and then are they checked with the porters like luggage? What about excursions??  I can't imagine getting on and off the ship carrying these enormous seats...I have to admit, I'm a little stressed thinking about this!  Any advise from experienced "family cruisers" is appreciated!!

 

Nervous Nana

[Essiesmom]

Scroll down this page and you will see at least three threads about carseats.  There are many more on other pages.  What you do with them in port depends on the port and what you plan to do there.  EM

[Heyitsege]

Hi! We have brought carseats on cruises and check them with the porters. I would suggest to have them in carseat bags like the ones used when checking them in at airports. For the shuttle, if it's a short ride within city streets, we usually would just have the little ones on our laps. If it's a long ride or goes on the freeway, we would install the carseats on the shuttle. The excursion situation is a little more tricky, since you don't really want to be carrying all the car seats. I believe when my youngest was 14 months, we brought his carseat on the excursion bus. I hope this helped and that you have a great cruise. 

Edited November 19, 2019 by Heyitsege

[bamelin]

Personally I'm taking shuttles everywhere so not bringing the car seat.  You can lap seat your child if in a bus or big shuttle in Florida.  If using a cab or car then you will legally need the car seat.

 

On the cruise itself we plan on sticking by the ports.

 

 

[BballinQT24]

I completely get your stress about the car seat travel, it adds so much extra hassle! We will be bringing two car seats on our upcoming cruise and will find transportation to use them with in Florida. As for the ports, we are sticking to things where we won’t need to drive.

 

In St Thomas we booked an excursion that has a boat leaving from where the ship docks and goes to a beach and back with no driving involved. Other places we just plan to stay near the port or places we can take a boat to because I don’t want to deal with the hassle of car seats and what to do with them at the ports. It’s not ideal and limits what we will be able to do, but that is just what comes along with this phase of life having young children. 

[BballinQT24]

On 11/19/2019 at 3:59 PM, bamelin said:

Personally I'm taking shuttles everywhere so not bringing the car seat.  You can lap seat your child if in a bus or big shuttle in Florida.  If using a cab or car then you will legally need the car seat.

 

On the cruise itself we plan on sticking by the ports.

 

 

 

I would not recommend lap seating a child even in a shuttle bus. Even if the law doesn’t require a car seat, a child should be in one if they are of the age and size limits. It is short sighted and irresponsible to risk a child’s life because it’s more convenient.

 

 

[cruizinnanapop]

2 hours ago, BballinQT24 said:

I completely get your stress about the car seat travel, it adds so much extra hassle! We will be bringing two car seats on our upcoming cruise and will find transportation to use them with in Florida. As for the ports, we are sticking to things where we won’t need to drive.

 

In St Thomas we booked an excursion that has a boat leaving from where the ship docks and goes to a beach and back with no driving involved. Other places we just plan to stay near the port or places we can take a boat to because I don’t want to deal with the hassle of car seats and what to do with them at the ports. It’s not ideal and limits what we will be able to do, but that is just what comes along with this phase of life having young children. 

That about sums up what I have been thinking...we've always had amazing cruises and usually not ready to get off the ship when it's over, but that's prob because we have NEVER cruised with kids!!  LOL  This will be a "different" cruise...we are gifting it to our family, it won't be as much "partying" and late night scene but still I know it will be fun. Thanks for the input!

[akeasley]

On 11/23/2019 at 11:51 AM, BballinQT24 said:

 

I would not recommend lap seating a child even in a shuttle bus. Even if the law doesn’t require a car seat, a child should be in one if they are of the age and size limits. It is short sighted and irresponsible to risk a child’s life because it’s more convenient.

 

 

 

It's a parents decision on how they want to travel with their children. 

[BballinQT24]

5 hours ago, akeasley said:

 

It's a parents decision on how they want to travel with their children. 

Yes, it is a parents decision on how to travel with their children. And making the decision to risk a child’s life because it’s more convenient is selfish and irresponsible. 
 

It is absurd to me that with so many transportation and child seat options to choose from these days somebody would still choose to forego their child’s safety because it’s easier for them. 

[mjkacmom]

13 hours ago, BballinQT24 said:

Yes, it is a parents decision on how to travel with their children. And making the decision to risk a child’s life because it’s more convenient is selfish and irresponsible. 
 

It is absurd to me that with so many transportation and child seat options to choose from these days somebody would still choose to forego their child’s safety because it’s easier for them. 

Children travel on buses without car seats and seat belts all of the time, just like adults. Our school buses don’t have seat belts, our city buses don’t have seat belts. These vehicles are built differently than vehicles with seat belts.