Liberty of the seas with toddlers

[mickenzie]

I will be traveling liberty of the seas in January with a 2 and 4 year old. We are planning on doing a couple shore excursions. I'm trying to figure out if I will need to bring car seats and my stroller off the ship each time. I'm not sure the logistics of toting that much stuff around. Also would love advice what others did with strollers. I'm worried about leaving out stroller while we do activities but I can't imagine carrying our children and all of our belongings everywhere we go.

 

 

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[cb at sea]

What KIND of excursions? That will determine if you need car seats and strollers! If you're doing stuff thru the ship, they use buses, so no car seats are needed. Unless there is some sort of walking tour, I wouldn't bother with strollers...but that will really be determined by what you're doing!

 

Just so you know, if you do bring the stroller, it can stay on the bus while you're off doing stuff...it will be fine.

[mickenzie]

We are thinking of taking a private tour to dunns river falls in Jamaica which I believe is about a 20 minute drive. The other stops I'm not entirely sure. We might just get off the boat and find something but then most likely we will end up taking a taxi.

 

 

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[njkruzer]

When we were with our son and his family including our 2 yo granddaughter (2 cruises) they took her stroller everywhere ashore. I don't think they did any excursions with her so the car seat lived in the cabin. Needed it for cabs in the US. Don't know if they are required in the various ports. Enjoy. Our granddaughter had a wonderful time on both cruises.

[kontraxed]

Just get one of those inexpensive folding collapsing strollers. They work fine and if they disappear, you're only out $20 or so.

[Grandma Dazzles]

We are thinking of taking a private tour to dunns river falls in Jamaica which I believe is about a 20 minute drive. The other stops I'm not entirely sure. We might just get off the boat and find something but then most likely we will end up taking a taxi.

 

 

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Taxis in Jamaica and many other Caribbean ports of call do not require car seats; however, that's your choice as a parent from a safety point of view.

 

Security of your stroller is up to you, unless you take a tour excursion bus where people often leave things on board. Drivers usually stay with bus, or lock it if they are not close by.

 

Personally wouldn't take such young children to Dunns River falls - what are you planning on doing there?

[TLMNAZ]

Our oldest has cruised since he was about 2. We used gogobabyz right up until the last cruise with our youngest. We have an older one but it easily connected/disconnected to our Britax car seat and it put the car seat on roller blade wheels that also popped on and off simply for taxis, airport scanners, and dinner (see below). We have always used it for airports etc for getting around terminals. The carseat stored fine in the closet and we used it as a stroller in ports. Both kids would fall asleep right before dinner, so we would wheel them down, pop off the wheels and lift it onto the dining room chair and they would sleep who we ate.

This upcoming cruise our youngest is no longer in a 5point, so we bought both a Mifold and a Pockit for those needs. :). Happy sailing!

 

 

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[Annabanana1234]

Taxis in Jamaica and many other Caribbean ports of call do not require car seats; however, that's your choice as a parent from a safety point of view.

 

 

 

Security of your stroller is up to you, unless you take a tour excursion bus where people often leave things on board. Drivers usually stay with bus, or lock it if they are not close by.

 

 

 

Personally wouldn't take such young children to Dunns River falls - what are you planning on doing there?

 

 

 

I agree with this post, I wouldn't take my kids to Dunns River Falls at 2 & 4. Look at some YouTube videos of the excursion and you will see the terrain isn't the best for little ones.

 

 

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[cruiselvr04]

Dunns falls is tricky to get up with older kids. No way to carry little ones. The youngest we have taken was 6. He had a great time but needed to be lifted and helped a lot and hung on to.

 

Please research carefully so you can have the best and safest time with the little ones. We did excursions with a 1 and 3 year old but planned them carefully.

 

Cozumel a beach would be great, several even have pools. We did an all inclusive in Jamaica with a kiddie area and took them out to the stingrays in the Caymens. We brought our own life vests for this for the littles. They had a great time everywhere. We took a stroller to the beach and all inclusive. For most ports it's a long walk on the pier.

 

We took car seats in each port. We used private excursions and paid a little extra for vans with seat belts but so worth it. We insisted on a cab with seat belts in Cozumel and although it was a hassle the kids were as safe as possible.

 

Get out there and have a good time but do it safely.

[AtticusandArella]

Those are my kids age as well. We will be on liberty of the sea in December. Last year, the baby was only 1 so we did take the stroller ( Disney Cruise). It was only 4 nights cruise so we only used it in Bahamas port. I'm planning to take the umbrella stroller for 2 year old just in case.

[mickenzie]

Thanks for all the advice. I have done dunns river falls but I was young so I don't remember it a lot. We will have two sets of grandparents with us so we were hoping we could all do the excursion but the little ones would just walk along the steps and watch or play at the bottom by the beach while we took turns climbing. Is that reasonable?

 

 

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[cj_one2000]

I'm doing a live review with my toddler right now. We sail tomorrow and we have a different itinerary but there may be helpful things for you. Follow my posts here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2421815

[mickenzie]

I'm doing a live review with my toddler right now. We sail tomorrow and we have a different itinerary but there may be helpful things for you. Follow my posts here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2421815

 

 

Yes I've been following it! Thank you. I hope you guys have a great time and I will be eager to hear you tips. With two little ones I want to be prepared

 

 

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[Grandma Dazzles]

Thanks for all the advice. I have done dunns river falls but I was young so I don't remember it a lot. We will have two sets of grandparents with us so we were hoping we could all do the excursion but the little ones would just walk along the steps and watch or play at the bottom by the beach while we took turns climbing. Is that reasonable?

 

 

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I would discuss with the grandparents! Depends how agile they are and their ability to possibly have to carry the kids. Haven't been there for a few years, but I seem to remember the steps being uneven, crowded and still a climb. See if you can find a video on Google and hopefully people can give you an honest opinion.

 

If you decide to go you will all need water shoes. I have been told by friends who were there recently that it was super crowded. They were happy to have done as a shore excursion as they didn't have to wait in line for entry tickets, etc. probably depends on how many ships in port.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Grandma Dazzles