Car Rental with Toddler - BUYER BEWARE

[Drock20J]

My wife and I decided to take our daughter on a self-guided tour around Cozumel.

 

We pre-booked the car from Alamo and requested a car seat for my toddler daughter. When we got there we were greeted and started the transaction to getting the Jeep that we wanted. We got the car seat and were told, due to law, we had to install it ourselves. I was fine with that, I am used to putting these in anyways.

 

The first car seat that we got did not have the straps to attach it to the car. The next and only other car seat lacked the straps to strap my daughter into the seat. I was told that in Mexico it is not a law to have a car seat. This did not fly with us and we decided to refund the entire purchase and find another solution.

 

Just wanted to let everyone know, if this a choice for you, they will not be able to truly accommodate you.

[JohninDC]

Thnaks for the feedback.  Hopefully you found something else enjoyable to do during your visit to Cozumel.

 

Your experience is why I always suggest that cruisers bring their own car/booster seats - that's the only way to ensure that they are properly sized and well maintained.

[c-leg5]

Thanks for feed back.

We generally provide our own seat although we have hired a private driver with a car seat once. 

We prefer not to do self-drive, especially on a cruise ship day. 
 

Hopefully you found a fun alternative - we have done a day pass to Park Royal a couple of times when we didn’t want transport hassles.

[Tapi]

After our son’s first cruise (where we brought a car seat, but taxis didn’t even have seatbelts and/or anchors) we just ditched the car seats altogether for future vacations and learned to plan activities that didn’t require them. This decision simplified our cruise activities as well as our packing significantly. Less junk to haul. 
 

it doesn’t surprise me to read about cars in Cozumel. That’s where we had our first “taste” of more relaxed car seat rules. Over the years, we’ve learned that it’s not Cozumel, but most places that we’ve visited outside the USA. 

[fishing4me2]

Just leave the kid at home. Problem solved. If he/she is that young that you need a car seat. He/she wouldn't remember the trip anyways.

[Tapi]

6 hours ago, fishing4me2 said:

He/she wouldn't remember the trip anyways.

But the parents will, and that’s what the trip will be about. 😀