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Using airport shuttle NO CAR SEAT???


CruisinCutsie
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We've decided to not take my 22mo old DS's car seat on our 9-21-13 cruise.

 

If the hotel shuttle is a mini bus, I know it won't be a problem, but if it's a "van" will we be denied a transfer to our hotel?

 

Anyone else in the same boat? :D (lol) Any suggestions? This is our only concern, as we have booked a shuttle service (with car seats) to the port.

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In Florida it is illegal to drive with an unrestrained child in any type of vehicle except a heavy duty urban transit bus or motorcoach.

 

Yes, you could (and hopefully will!) be denied boarding.

 

The hotel shuttle will either be a van or minibus, no hotels use buses that are large enough to not require a properly restrained child. Won't you need the car seat for them to sit in on the plane? The lap belt is not enough to restrain a two year old.

Edited by ducklite
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In Florida it is illegal to drive with an unrestrained child in any type of vehicle except a heavy duty urban transit bus or motorcoach.

 

Yes, you could (and hopefully will!) be denied boarding. (well, thank you!)

 

The hotel shuttle will either be a van or minibus, no hotels use buses that are large enough to not require a properly restrained child. Won't you need the car seat for them to sit in on the plane? The lap belt is not enough to restrain a two year old.

 

NO, we will not be using one on the plane! DS is traveling as a "lap infant". I know I'm not the only parent who has had to deal with this. And I know there are scads of board debates on the car seat/no car seat issue. Obviously some people think EVERYONE takes their kids seats! I'd like to see a family with 4+ kids managing all the seats HAHA, or even better a single parent with multiple kids...yeah right!

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When DD was under 2 she flew with me several times as a lap child. I did not take a car seat--had arrangements (family or friends, etc.) at our destination.

 

Because the hotel van probably won't be an option, maybe arrange for the car service to the hotel too. Also, there seem to be several baby gear rental places in south FL that deliver equipment to you. A car service would probably be easier. Another option would be to rent a car (w/carseat), return it to the airport the morning of the cruise & take a cruise line bus to the ship. This option would allow you to go to the grocery store/Target for snacks, drinks, diapers, etc.

 

We will be sailing with DD (2 years old) in May. Since we live in Central Florida, we will be driving to Ft Lauderdale. Even though she will be in her car seat all the way to the port, we don't plan on taking it on the ship. Of our 3 ports, we might get off at 2 and we will either be walking around or taking a water taxi--no car travel so we don't see any need to take it.

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I called the hotel that we are staying at prior to our upcoming cruise and asked about the car seat because I too did not want to bring mine. They told me that the shuttles do not accommodate car seats, so I would not be able to use it anyways, and most people just hold their child on their laps. Also I have a shuttle picking us up at the cruise port and bringing us to airport and they said the same thing. Just call your hotel and ask. Hope this helps.

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NO, we will not be using one on the plane! DS is traveling as a "lap infant". I know I'm not the only parent who has had to deal with this. And I know there are scads of board debates on the car seat/no car seat issue. Obviously some people think EVERYONE takes their kids seats! I'd like to see a family with 4+ kids managing all the seats HAHA, or even better a single parent with multiple kids...yeah right!

 

My friends have twins, they have no problem managing them and the seats onto the plane and into rental cars, even when just one parent is flying with them. Easy? No, but they value the safety of their children over their own convenience and wallet.

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I called the hotel that we are staying at prior to our upcoming cruise and asked about the car seat because I too did not want to bring mine. They told me that the shuttles do not accommodate car seats, so I would not be able to use it anyways, and most people just hold their child on their laps. Also I have a shuttle picking us up at the cruise port and bringing us to airport and they said the same thing. Just call your hotel and ask. Hope this helps.

 

That's not the case. It's illegal to sell anything that isn't Altoona tested as a heavy duty transit bus or motor coach in the state of Florida without seat belts. I know that for an absolute fact. The hotel doesn't know what they are talking about and if they are transporting children in that shuttle not in car seats, they are in violation of state law and the operator is subject to fines and points and parents are subject to being charged with neglect.

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Geez... some people are just know it all's... she was simply asking for suggestions or past experiences, not someone to bash her parenting

 

Thank you! By the way, I saw your little cutie this morning when reviewing the boards. What an angel :)

 

Yeah, I'm not even gonna respond to my parenting being bashed...bleh! Bottom line, I was just hoping that someone else had used an airport shuttle and could provide advice on a similar situation :confused:.

 

I doubt EVERY family books a private shuttle from airport-hotel-port-airport, or rents a car, or has family in the area...etc. I'd love to see a family with 4+ kids trekking thru the airport with 4+ car seats. Forget TWINS! I'll check in with the hotels we're looking at.

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Hello,

 

We will also be traveling without our 3 year olds carseat. It looks like you might be out of Ft. Lauderdale as we will be. We are using http://www.southfloridashuttles.com for all of our transport. They will provide a car seat for no extra charge in the vehicle.

 

Last time we went out of FLL on a cruise we rented a car and did all that, but it was a pain in the butt waiting for my husband to return the car, go get the car, etc.

 

I'm hoping this plan will be much easier! I see no reason to lug a huge car seat when you will not be using it regularly and can figure out other reliable/safe ways to transport your children. You do not need a car seat on the airplane. I'm pretty sure my son would hate that.

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You know what?

 

I'm a creep. When my kids were of "car seat" age, we neglected taking the car seat with us on the Disney Cruise. I figured in my head...

We're taking a bus from the plane to the ship... they don't use car seats on the bus!

Bam... got on the bus, no car seats... but it's a bus, right? What do people do with toddlers in the city on public transportation, amirite?

 

But then, we were in Cozumel... We wanted to go to Chanukaab and see dolphins on our own (we booked online since the ship excursion didn't allow kids under a certain age). Had to take a cab... in Mexico... with a toddler and no car seat.

 

We did it... I had it in my head-

Well... when I was a toddler, my parents drove around in a gigantic Buick with Bench seats and my sisters and I used to slide around in the front seat sitting between mom and dad every time the car turned... it can't be THAT bad.

 

Didn't have a problem.

 

---------------------------------------------------------

 

 

The only problem we ever had with transportation with no car seat... was a runaway horse and buggy ride in San Juan... but it's a horse and buggy ride. Who needs a car seat, right?

 

day369.jpg

day380.jpg

 

1993. It was near the end of the tour, we were going downhill back towards the area where the tour started. The buggy was picking up speed and it was a little bumpy, the roads in Old San Juan are all cobblestone.

 

So we're sitting in the buggy... and all of the sudden, we hear a BANG!

What's that?

BANG!BANG!!!!

I see wood chips fly over my wife's shoulder... The horse is kicking the buggy!

Then I notice that the buggy is drifting to the left... and we're heading towards a parking garage... The driver is leaning heavily to the right as not to get smacked off the buggy by the parking garage.

 

We start barreling down the street now, drifting right, and I'm leaning left as the buggy starts taking out the mirrors on the cars parked on the right side of the road. We get to a street crossing, and the horse is heading to a cafe.

day379.jpg

Fortunately, the planter stopped the horse before we crashed into the cafe. And thinking about it, 10 years later... I wish I paid more attention to what other people were doing... like... were the people at the cafe scrambling to get out of the horse's way?

 

I don't know.

 

Makes for a good memories, though.

Edited by Mack2
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Like I mentioned earlier, I've never flown with DD's car seat and I probably never will. Even though she can't fly in my lap any longer, I wouldn't use a car seat--I might use a CARES harness, but not her car seat. On her past trips we were fortunate to have family/friends at all but 1 destination. At that one destination we got a carseat with our rental car---gasp. We would do the same thing in the future too--let the bashing begin.

 

I also don't see us ever taking a car seat on a cruise. Like I mentioned earlier we usually don't get off be ship or stay in walking distance to it.

 

To the OP, I travel weekly for work and have seen many children on hotel shuttles--none of them ever in car seats. Since I live in FL I haven't taken those shuttles here.

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Like I mentioned earlier, I've never flown with DD's car seat and I probably never will. Even though she can't fly in my lap any longer, I wouldn't use a car seat--I might use a CARES harness, but not her car seat. On her past trips we were fortunate to have family/friends at all but 1 destination. At that one destination we got a carseat with our rental car---gasp. We would do the same thing in the future too--let the bashing begin.

 

I also don't see us ever taking a car seat on a cruise. Like I mentioned earlier we usually don't get off be ship or stay in walking distance to it.

 

To the OP, I travel weekly for work and have seen many children on hotel shuttles--none of them ever in car seats. Since I live in FL I haven't taken those shuttles here.

 

:D Thanks for the reassurance!

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Let them know you're traveling with a child without car seat and that you require the bus. We did it in Tampa and they were like "oh no car seat, we have a bus for that!" and it was no big deal.

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Let them know you're traveling with a child without car seat and that you require the bus. We did it in Tampa and they were like "oh no car seat, we have a bus for that!" and it was no big deal.

 

What hotel in Tampa has a heavy duty bus or motorcoach? If one does, why not share that info so it would be useful for others.

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:D Thanks for the reassurance!

 

It's against the law, regardless of what someone on the Internet says.

 

It's perplexing why people will do things with their children while they are on vacation that they wouldn't dream of doing while at home.

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, or even better a single parent with multiple kids...yeah right!

 

That's me! One seat on my back in a backpack carseat bag, the other rolling in a wheeled bag while I push the double stroller, which has the carry-on hanging on it.

 

Though, I will say, my girls are now 8 and this summer we take our first trip with NO carseats and I couldn't be happier!

 

Best,

Mia

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What a topic. Sometimes I get into arguments with my parents, who raised 5 kids. I get NO sympathy from them for raising 2. Yeah, but how many car seats did THEY have to install? :rolleyes:

 

I am all for safety, but am flexible enough to realize we don't live in a black and white world. I have flown in a plane with an infant or toddler lap child. I have ridden in a shuttle with a toddler on my lap. And every day, I put my kids on school busses that have NO seat belts.

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My friends have twins, they have no problem managing them and the seats onto the plane and into rental cars, even when just one parent is flying with them. Easy? No, but they value the safety of their children over their own convenience and wallet.

 

 

In the extremely unlikely event that the plane crashes, I'm sure the carseat will keep them safe. Or, they could just stay home and be totally safe, unless they value having a vacation over their own child's safety! :D

 

We have flown with infants in lap. We did bring a carseat in checked luggage because we were renting a car. We would not have if we were taking shuttles and public transportation. Who installs the carseat in the airport parking shuttle -- I've never seen one with seatbelts. Hotel shuttles are a wide range from mini-van to bus. Some hotels with vans that have seatbelts might require carseats because they're worried about the law and liability, so I would check with the particular hotel.

 

With our first child, we bought a plane ticket and installed his carseat, which he did not sit in the entire flight. On the way home, we gave up his seat so a woman would not be bumped from the flight and got two free tickets anywhere in the country. Poor ds survived.

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NO, we will not be using one on the plane! DS is traveling as a "lap infant". I know I'm not the only parent who has had to deal with this. And I know there are scads of board debates on the car seat/no car seat issue. Obviously some people think EVERYONE takes their kids seats! I'd like to see a family with 4+ kids managing all the seats HAHA, or even better a single parent with multiple kids...yeah right!

 

Im not going to criticise your personal choices but your comment is rediculous. My husband and I have flown with 7 children. 5 of whom were in big carseats or boosters at the time. We felt okay with the booster aged kids using the airplane belt alone. We did need them all for a rental van ( like the ones the hotels use) so we brought them. The particular trip Im thinking about was a flight to Hawaii and a cruise from there. My kids were aged 13,11,9,8,5,3,2. Reason for the boosters is that we have very petite kids.

 

We have done lots of traveling with multiple kids in carseats and I dont recall anyone ever staring or laughing :confused:

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In the extremely unlikely event that the plane crashes, I'm sure the carseat will keep them safe. Or, they could just stay home and be totally safe, unless they value having a vacation over their own child's safety! :D

 

We have flown with infants in lap. We did bring a carseat in checked luggage because we were renting a car. We would not have if we were taking shuttles and public transportation. Who installs the carseat in the airport parking shuttle -- I've never seen one with seatbelts. Hotel shuttles are a wide range from mini-van to bus. Some hotels with vans that have seatbelts might require carseats because they're worried about the law and liability, so I would check with the particular hotel.

 

With our first child, we bought a plane ticket and installed his carseat, which he did not sit in the entire flight. On the way home, we gave up his seat so a woman would not be bumped from the flight and got two free tickets anywhere in the country. Poor ds survived.

 

It's not the crash you need to worry about, it's the turbulence. During bad turbulence your little bundle of joy becomes a missile that could break someone else's neck. Frankly I don't really care about your kid, but I sure do upset thinking that someone's unrestrained kid could injure me in a plane because the parents were selfish.

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Does anyone know if motorcoaches in Alaska allow for car seats?

 

If they don't have seat belts, you can't use the car seat. Some motorcoaches have them, but they are not required.

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If you have already decided "not to take it" then why come here for any "reassurance".

 

We can't guarantee that your child is safe. But you are not inconvenienced. Is that reassuring?

 

And yes - I travel alone with my children since my hubby cant always go so per your "it would be laughable for a single woman with multiple children" comment - for YEARS - I lugged two car seats, a stroller, the luggage and backpacks.

 

My children are the most important thing in the world to me and I would lug twice that amount if it meant keeping them safe.

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If they don't have seat belts, you can't use the car seat. Some motorcoaches have them, but they are not required.

 

Thanks. Not sure what to do... We aren't flying, therefore we wont have a car seat with us. We will only be doing Cruise ship excursions, all on motor coaches.

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