What carseat to take on cruise?--ANGIE

U

Unregistered

Guest
Can someone please give me some advice on what a safe car seat option is for my upcoming cruise. My son is 12 months and 20 lbs- our cruise is in 2 months. We currently have a really nice Britax seat but it is so big and bulky, I cannot imagine taking it off the boat and trying to install it every time we take a cab on an island. I know there are several seat restraint options out there ( joey seat & Cosco Tote 'n Go are the ones I know of), but the reviews seem mixed. I am not sure if negative reviews are due to parents annoyance with how they fit the child or if it is truly a safety issue. Any safety advice or helpful suggestions would be appreciated.
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Re: ANGIE

Those that you mentioned are truly safety issues. First, they're impossible to get tight. Second, they fit no kids well. Third, your child needs to be rear facing, and none of those do that.

How about a Cosco Scenera? It's $45, much lighter and smaller than a Britax, installs pretty quickly.

Or better yet, is it possible to skip the taxis all together? Even with a lightweight seat you'd still need to carry it around between taxi uses.

Or you could use an infant seat. Do you have one that you don't use anymore, or have a friend with a bigger one? They can be used baseless in some instances and can go in a stroller and then install in a car easily. That's probably your best bet.

Wendy
 

Mommy090804

New member
Re: ANGIE

How exciting! Where are you cruising to? What type of transportation are you taking to port? We have cruised a few times, and I agree, transporting the kids on excursions is no easy task.

You may want to consider a smaller carseat than the Britax such as a Scenera that you could use specifically for travel, but its usefulness will really vary depending on what your ground transportation is at your destination, and what type of excursions you have planned.

In the past we have avoided bringing carseats on our cruise by arranging only coach transportation. It requires advance planning, and is sometimes more trouble than if you could have just "taken a taxi".

Let us know which cruise you have booked (ie destinations), and maybe we can offer suggestions on transporting your little one...
 

Maedze

New member
Re: ANGIE

Depending on his height, I would see if you have a friend from whom you could borrow the SafeSeat 1/Snugride 32/Snugride 35 (all essentially the same seat with different names and slighly different weight limits).

It's a large infant carrier that fits most kids to 18-24 months. Unless your son is off-the-charts tall or has an unusually large torso, it should fit him beautifully.

With the added bonus of being lightweight, easy to install and having a handle for carrying, it would probably be the easiest solution :)

Wendy is right, however, he MUST be rear facing, and if you have him forward facing in his current convertible you need to turn him back around.

There ARE vests for older kids but the two seats you mentioned are dangerous and useless, even if he were old enough for them.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Re: ANGIE

Sorry I am the one who posted the cruise car seat question- I failed to mention my son is very tall....at 11 months he was almost 31", so he cant fit in any of the infant seats that I know of.....any more ideas?
 

Maedze

New member
Re: ANGIE

Sorry I am the one who posted the cruise car seat question- I failed to mention my son is very tall....at 11 months he was almost 31", so he cant fit in any of the infant seats that I know of.....any more ideas?

At 31" he will actually probably fit just fine in the infant carrier I mentioned. He'll only have outgrown the small buckets.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Re: ANGIE

It also depends on his torso length more than anything. What size shirts and pants is he in now? If he's got a short torso he'll fit just fine. If he's long he may be close.

Wendy
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Re: ANGIE

I have to by 18 month pants already and he just turned 1 afew days ago...so hes pretty long. 12 month pants are just a little too short, 18 month pants are just a little long
 

murphydog77

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Re: ANGIE

How exciting! Where are you cruising to? What type of transportation are you taking to port? We have cruised a few times, and I agree, transporting the kids on excursions is no easy task.

You may want to consider a smaller carseat than the Britax such as a Scenera that you could use specifically for travel, but its usefulness will really vary depending on what your ground transportation is at your destination, and what type of excursions you have planned.

In the past we have avoided bringing carseats on our cruise by arranging only coach transportation. It requires advance planning, and is sometimes more trouble than if you could have just "taken a taxi".

Let us know which cruise you have booked (ie destinations), and maybe we can offer suggestions on transporting your little one...

Have you cruised before? We went to the Caribbean in October and found that on the islands and excursions we went on, the transportation was unique. There were taxis, but the excursions we went on provided their own transportation that were either busses or a hybrid truck/van with seats welded to the chassis :eek:.

So, it would help us to know where you're going since there are a few of us who have done this before and we can tailor our responses to your situation better.
 

skiersnowboarder3

Senior Community Member
Where are you going? When I went on a cruise to Key West and Nassau, all of the excursions were within walking distance. The only time we were in a vehicle was the shuttle to and from the airport.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
We are going to St. Thomas, Grand Turk, and St. Martin. I am guessing we will do shopping and beach time...I would love to go on a snorkling excursion but not sure how practical that is. I am sure we are going to need a cab in St.Thomas...possibly St. Martin and Grand Turk ( I dont want to go to Margaritaville). Thanks for any advice you can give me.
 

leighi123

Active member
On our cruise this past december I brought the Radian, my main reason besides being able to carry it easily is that it took up less space in the cabin (which wasnt as small as I though it was going to be).
Turned out that I didnt need it once, b/c at every island we were able to get on board a large bus, and all had seatbelts! (so I guess I could have installed the seat, but b/c busses are pretty safe, and we were going slooooowly on small roads, I just bucked ds in). A few places were in walking distance, and in Hati, there was only a small tram and no other cars anyway.

When planning your excursions, remember that you will have to put the carseat somewhere once you get to wherever you are going, some have lockers (which would fit a folded Radian, but probably not other seats), but most places you would just have to lug it around.
 

Mommy090804

New member
We are going to St. Thomas, Grand Turk, and St. Martin. I am guessing we will do shopping and beach time...I would love to go on a snorkling excursion but not sure how practical that is. I am sure we are going to need a cab in St.Thomas...possibly St. Martin and Grand Turk ( I dont want to go to Margaritaville). Thanks for any advice you can give me.

Thanks for your reply and sorry I missed it.

Yes, it will likely require some advance planning. You will probably have to decide what excursions you are going to do before you go. I agree with PPs, it just isn't convenient to travel by taxi and lug a carseat around. What will you do with the carseat while you are shopping? A large infant seat and stroller would be an option as mentioned. If you are taking a taxi to the beach, then it wouldn't be too bad if you had to bring a Scenera and keep it with you at the beach. It would probably be easier than pushing a stroller through the sand! Just some logistics to think about...

As I noted before, we would only go on excursions that would involve bus transportation or walking. In Grand Turk we were only off the ship for 3-4 hours and stuck around the Cruise Center beach (didn't go to Margaritaville either). There are some nice beaches on Grand Turk, but I honestly didn't want to bother with transportation. However, from what I read on the cruise forums, it was probably doable. There is a small "train" (on the road) that will take you into town.

Believe it or not, you might be able to swing a snorkelling excursion. I wouldn't do it with my kids now (3&5), but when DD was under two it worked for us. She ended up falling asleep on the boat on our way out, and DH and I just took turns snorkelling. :thumbsup:

There are a few great cruise forums, which I am sure that you have checked out already. Anyway, that will help you determine which excursions you might be able to do beforehand, and what type of transportation is involved.

Honestly, it you are driving to the port or having someone tranport you there, I would probably try to avoid bringing the carseat. However, if you require the carseat on the plane (which is another topic), then you'll have to bring one on the cruise ship. We used the CAReS harnesses on the plane when we flew to Miami last spring.

HTH and please let us know if you have any more questions. :)
 

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