Cruise/Travel Carseat Help?

[amyff]

We are taking a Disney Cruise in January and I am still not able to figure out our car seat situation. We are not planning extensive excursions. We just want to hop in a taxi and drive to a nice family-friendly beach. I am nervous about reported seatbelt-less taxis in St. Thomas and St. Martin. However, I guess we will just wait until one with belts is available?

DD2 will be 18 months old and I think we are taking a Sit and Stroll for her. She will be able to use in on the plane (she has her own seat) and during transfers. Will the Sit and Stroll be comfortable and safe for her (she uses a Roundabout at home)? Perhaps I should ditch the Sit and Stroll and get a Cosco Scenera?

DD1(in a Marathon at home)will have just turned 4 years old but she is already 43 inches tall and 42 pounds (super tall at age 3). So, the Scenera is out for her. She will not use a seat on the plane as she enjoys the tray and her long legs "kick" the seat in front of her. What can I bring along for travel? We need something towncar ride from the airport to the ship (and back) and two taxi rides during the cruise?

Thanks for any suggestions!

[o_mom]

The Scenera would be nice and light, but kind of bulky to take to a beach. If DD2 is 25lbs you can get the Tote-n-Go for the taxi rides.

For DD1 I would get a booster. You could either just get a backless booster or something like a high-back TurboBooster that you can take the back off. Just leave the back at home for the trip, but you will have a high back for use once you get back. However, you need a shoulder belt for a booster, so you may have to search for a good cab.

[amyff]

Thanks for the reply...DD is only 21lbs as of today and I don't know if she will reach 25lbs by the end of January.

Do you have any suggestions for my older daugher that could use a lap belt? I think it is going to be hard enough to find seat belt in a taxi...

My husband suggested calling tour companies and setting up transportation early (even though it will be expensive).

Thanks!

[o_mom]

Unfortunately most of the lapbelt only 'travel' seats require a top tether. If there is no shoulder belt, it is slim chances there will be a top tether anchor.

[JennsBabySky]

We've now taken 5 Disney Cruises (we love them) and I've struggled with the car seat issues on almost all. We opt for the DCL transfers instead of a private car partly because of this. You can't use a car seat with DCL transfers because it is on a large bus without seat belts. Your car seat will be stored underneath the bus or taken with your luggage (this is really the easiest route, that way you won't be dealing with the carseat while you check in and explore the boat). Also with DCL transfers you tag your luggage with your ship tag before leaving home and after checking it at the airport it automatically shows up in your stateroom. I love this! And when you return you can check into many of the main commercial airlines at the port (and they take your luggage) if you have the DCL transfers. Otherwise, some towncar services provide either carseats or boosters. Personally, I started allowing my DD (now 6) to use a booster on vacation before she was allowed to use one on home.

It is up to you what to do on the excursions. I've been to many different ports and I've rarely seen a seat belt in the taxi. We've brought the Tote N' Go with us because I don't want my carseat getting rained on (tropical rain in the afternoon is almost always a given at many islands). Or we've picked beaches/hotels that are in walking distance or we've paid the higher price for the Disney excursion and used their buses. Buses without seat belts are statistically safer than a car with belts.

I can't help with those islands as we've yet to do the Eastern Itinerary (although we were once schedule for it, then a hurrican went through the area...) But in Mazatlan, we rejected at least 4 cabs before realizing that NONE of the cabs seemed to have seatbelts (even newer models, the first thing the cab drivers did was put a blanket over the seat and those belt buckles ended up underneath the rear sites).

By the way, I great site for more DCL info is disboards.com I've seen and sometimes replied to that carseat question numerous times. It is a great place to research excursions too.

Have fun,
Jennifer

[HallsofVA]

We took a Disney cruise last December (and loved it - I'm jealous to hear you're going on one soon!) DS was almost 23 months old when we went. We purchased the Scenera to use on the plane, and brought our Combi stroller to make it easier to wheel him through the airports and onboard the ship when we were loaded down with luggage. (We strapped the Scenera to the stroller (it has a car seat bar that the seat hooked over) and put DS in there when we needed to move everything around at once.) We hired a van through FLTours (there were 7 of us total and the van's the only vehicles where they would include a toddler seat - their towncars include booster seats I believe.) When we got to the port, we put the seat in with the rest of our luggage, and left it to Disney to get it to our room. We didn't use the seat again until it was time to get on the airplane home. During the cruise (we did a modified Western itinerary) the only excursions we took that required transportation used buses that didn't accomodate car seats anyway. They were also very cramped when it came to stroller space so we were glad that DS was mobile enough to walk (or be carried) where that was necessary. On Castaway Cay, we rode the Tram down, then grabbed one of the big plastic wagons and used that the rest of the day to tote DS around the beach(along with the rest of our stuff - those wagons were wonderful!) and even walked back to the boat in lieu of the tram.

Anyway, hope this helps, and have a wonderful time!!

[JennsBabySky]

>Thanks for the reply...DD is only 21lbs as of today and I
>don't know if she will reach 25lbs by the end of January.
>
>Do you have any suggestions for my older daugher that could
>use a lap belt? I think it is going to be hard enough to find
>seat belt in a taxi...
>
>My husband suggested calling tour companies and setting up
>transportation early (even though it will be expensive).
>
>Thanks!

We have a Britax Laptop (no longer made, need to find on Ebay), that can be used with either a lapbelt or shoulder belt. It doesn't offer any side impact protection and can't be used on a plane, but it is great for those niche situations.

Many tour companies use buses, so you might be back to square one for use with the car seat, although the bus without the seat belt is a safer option. Another problem that we often encounter is that we will do the DCL excursion with the bus, but then the kids get tired and want to go back early (and port days are great on the ship because there are fewer people at the pools, theatres, etc.)

[amyff]

Ok...thanks for all of the amazing comments and suggestions! I am holding a fussy baby but I wanted to ask a quick question!
What about the Ride Safer vest? Would this be a good choice for my 4 year old?

[o_mom]

It requires a top tether when used with a lap belt, so you are back to the same problem - if there is no shoulder belt you are not likely to find a top tether.

[amyff]

Ah...ok...so we will just throw a booster in a carry-on bag.
Again, thank you for all of the ideas! You are all so helpful!

[amyff]

I just checked our DisBoards! Wow...there are a TON of disney fans out there! I just never knew that Disney was such a big deal!

There is so much info...I already know what we are going to do for our excursions! Thanks so much for the suggestions!

If you have any other "Cruisin' with Kiddos" suggestions for me, I would love to take them!

[amyff]

>We took a Disney cruise last December (and loved it - I'm
>jealous to hear you're going on one soon!) DS was almost 23
>months old when we went. We purchased the Scenera to use on
>the plane, and brought our Combi stroller to make it easier to
>wheel him through the airports and onboard the ship when we
>were loaded down with luggage. (We strapped the Scenera to the
>stroller (it has a car seat bar that the seat hooked over) and
>put DS in there when we needed to move everything around at
>once.) We hired a van through FLTours (there were 7 of us
>total and the van's the only vehicles where they would include
>a toddler seat - their towncars include booster seats I
>believe.) When we got to the port, we put the seat in with
>the rest of our luggage, and left it to Disney to get it to
>our room. We didn't use the seat again until it was time to
>get on the airplane home. During the cruise (we did a
>modified Western itinerary) the only excursions we took that
>required transportation used buses that didn't accomodate car
>seats anyway. They were also very cramped when it came to
>stroller space so we were glad that DS was mobile enough to
>walk (or be carried) where that was necessary. On Castaway
>Cay, we rode the Tram down, then grabbed one of the big
>plastic wagons and used that the rest of the day to tote DS
>around the beach(along with the rest of our stuff - those
>wagons were wonderful!) and even walked back to the boat in
>lieu of the tram.
>
>Anyway, hope this helps, and have a wonderful time!!

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions! I feel much better now that I have things worked out in my head!

[HallsofVA]

I love the disboards. I found them while I was researching the cruise, and even ended up hooking up with a group that was already going on the cruise we wanted to go on, and I was able to switch my reservation to the group rates and save quite a bit of dough, and get some extra perks as well. Plus, by the time we got to the cruise, it seemed like I already knew a bunch of people, and we even arranged get togethers while on board. The information I learned even helped me secure an upgrade to a suite (which has completely spoiled us for future cruises, but that's another story!!)

Enjoy!

[amyff]

Wow! A suite on DCL? Those are hard to come by! Care to share your info? Feel free to pm me :)!

I just switched our Cat 5 room to two Cat 10 (adjoining) rooms based on the DisBoard info. I really think that it will be nice to be able to put the baby down and not have to "shushhhh" her sister as she is getting ready for bed.

I now know about Palo and more about the childcare and camps. How did your child do on the cruise?

Thanks!