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Traveling with 3 year olds


kelkel2
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We’ve never traveled with our twins anywhere where we haven’t taken our car. What do others do as far as car seats? We really don’t want to take them as our only land traveling will be from the airport to the hotel, to the cruise port and from the port to the airport at the end of the cruise. What do other parents do in this situation? We’ll be cruising out of Miami. 

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I’m finding a lot of all over the place answers. If anyone has experience in a shuttle from either FLL or MIA to a Miami hotel, and from said hotel to Port of Miami, I’d be interested in hearing your experiences. I want my children to be safe, but I’m also aware that car seats are not required in mass transit busses, trains etc. I may just end up buying travel boosters to have just in case, but we are not at all interested in traveling with 2 toddlers, luggage, and 2 car seats. Only to use the seats to and from the airport. There has to be an easier way! 

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We did shuttle service with 3 kids (aged 1, 3 and 6) from MIA to hotel and cruise port back in November last year. We stayed at an airport hotel, I think it was called EVEN, so they provided free shuttles from the airport like many do. Then they had a shuttle service from the hotel to the port as well, I think it was 15 $ each, but the kids were free, so great value. Since we had an extra day at the hotel before cruising we booked the shuttle for a drive to the shopping mall as well. 

 

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On 1/24/2020 at 9:30 AM, ahughes517 said:

When we traveled from Orlando to Port Canaveral with our then-3yo,  rented a car seat from the car rental company. They aren’t the best quality, but they work. Have a great cruise!

please do not rent car seats. You do not know their history: they could have been in an accident and never replaced, or they could have been puked/pooped/peed on and improperly cleaned, thereby compromising seat's safety.

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21 hours ago, kelkel2 said:

If anyone has experience in a shuttle from either FLL or MIA to a Miami hotel, and from said hotel to Port of Miami, I’d be interested in hearing your experiences.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

perhaps, you should check out Florida Ports of Departure subforum - it should definitely have the information on shuttles.

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I'd say your best bet would be to arrange shuttle transport between the airport and the hotel, and the hotel and port. 

 

All of this travel is within the US, so all carseat laws still apply. You would not be able to travel with your 3 yr olds in a booster, as boosters are not legal until they are 5 I think? or at least they outgrow forward facing carseats for height or weight.

 

Personally, I have only one toddler, but I do travel with his carseat, because, as you said, I am more worried about his safety than I am the bulk of carrying his carseat. I make the choice to travel with him, so I plan accordingly. My recommendation would be to get a Cosco Scenera Next or Evenflo Tribute for a cheap, light, but safe and easy travel seat. 

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On 1/27/2020 at 1:27 PM, sha259 said:

All of this travel is within the US, so all carseat laws still apply. You would not be able to travel with your 3 yr olds in a booster, as boosters are not legal until they are 5 I think? or at least they outgrow forward facing carseats for height or weight.

in most cases it's not illegal, but it's ill advised, because 3 year olds do not have the maturity or impulse control to sit in a booster properly. When you put the kid in a booster, you put their lives into their own little hands. And they have to be mature enough to always sit in the booster properly (and, of course, meet the min height and weight limits).

 

That said, my kid used a no back booster for cruise travel when he was almost 4. He was the size of an average 5 year old and exceeded the minimum requirements of said booster. It was for a 2 mile taxi ride, and I sat in the back with him and made sure he sat properly the entire time. At home he was harnessed until 6 years and 7 months. We also didn't (and still don't) use a no back booster for rides longer than 50 minutes, because he falls asleep and falls out of the booster. We brought his harnessed car seat with us when he was 5 and we had to drive a rental car for 3 hours.

 

Side note: You cannot use a booster on the plane or in a vehicle with the lap belts only.

 

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