Open air busses and kids

[Jennifer823]

Anybody bring their children on one of those open air busses in the Caribbean? (The pick-up trucks with seats type.) They probably don't have seatbelts, right? We are going to bring our 11 month old out in a baby carrier (the strap-on type) in St. Thomas. Would she be able to go with us on a tour?

 

Thanks for the input.

[Eskwire]

We did last year. We had our 4 year old and 9 month old at the time. We did the "hold and pray" thing. Obviously prayed enough:D , but in hindsight, I would have not booked on this method of transport. It felt unsafe to me. It was very bumpy and yes no seatbelts. This year I'm not booking anything in advance and am waiting until I get there and and speak with the tour director myself to find out EXACTLY the type of transport before I book. Good luck!

[Arubalisa]

:D We did this type of thing in Tortola. Dd lost "a" flip flop...so if you see someone there wearing only "one" yellow flip flop, you'll know where they got it from. :D

[jimswims]

My kids are 12 and 8. This past summer we were on the NCL Spirit and used the open air buses in St. Thomas and Tortola. Our drivers (in both ports) insisted that only adults could sit on the end seats. All kids needed to sit in the middle. I saw most younger kids (under 2) held by an adult.

[CruisinFinsUp]

Sit the little one on your lap, you sit in the middle and brace your feet on the rails, and try to hold on. Especially on St. Thomas where the roads are narrow, they drive WAY fast and the hills up and down feel like mountains.

 

Its scary. You may prefer to use the ports boards to look for and arrange a private tour with a private taxi using a car / van with doors, windows, air conditioning and seatbelts. It may cost more, or the same, but with a baby in a bucket seat, it might be easier. We did the open air van thing when dd was 20 months old, and it was kinda crazy.