Toddlers in port question

[Extra Kim]

We are cruising in the Med in September, we are not bringing our car seat. But on the other hand, we will use the train to the airport and the train to the hotel and a short bus ride to the port. We will not be going into any cars during the ports of call.

 

In January we are flying to Fort Lauderdale and will be needing a rental car, we are going to bring our car seat all the way from Sweden for this trip..

[LMaxwell]

Take one look at these taxis and busses and it's enough to keep you out of many of them. Safety standards are much lower, and maintenance deferred or non-existant. How many of us have seen taxis and vans with bald tires, broken windows, completely blown out struts, etc. It's just the way it is in many islands. For this reason we avoid transportation in certain ports. Don't let anyone here hoodwink you; your childs safety is paramount and good on you OP for taking the time to get more information. They can keep all their stats, when you are riding in a 20 year old micro-van in Cozumel in the oncoming traffic lane going 38 MPH to pass a taxi going 33 MPH you won't care about US CDC Statistics.

[TEGL]

We started taking our little one with us when he was 2.5yo. We have never traveled with a car seat, he has just sat in our laps.

We did rent a car once when we returned form our cruise and spent a few days post-cruise in Galveston. When we rented the car I did request a car seat. Other than that it was shuttles or buses we traveled in and he just sat with us.

[3monkeys4me]

We didn't really cruise when our kids were that little but we did travel internationally several times. Many times we were in countries that didn't typically have seatbelts in the back seat or even seatbelts at all. We mostly got around it by trying to make travel arrangements where the kids wouldn't need seatbelts (like a bus, tram or subway) or hired private transportation that did have seatbelts available. We always traveled with the carseats, since the kids used them on the` plane until they were 4-5 and the lap belts on the plane fit them properly. We did have one terrifying ride in a taxi in Manila with all 5 of us crammed into the backseat of a taxi on a raining day (my MIL was up front) when we were stranded in a non tourist area with no other options but in general we tried our best to avoid the situation. I volunteered as a child passenger safety technician for several years and we take safety very seriously in our house.

[gatour]

I take it you booked through the cruise line. You can contact private tour operators directly. They are usually less expensive and many are willing to offer "customized" tours.

 

A few years ago we did a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Equinox. I booked private tours for our group of 7 on board the ship and requested a child seat on each stop. It was wonderful to have our own private car and guide with an appropriate child seat. I think the most expensive of the stops cost about $500. We had 5 ports and the others ranged in price from $300 to $400 for all of us.

 

Last August we were in a GS on HOTS and I requested similar private tours and was mortified when they were pricing them out at over $1000 a piece. To this day I still think they were charging me more because we were in a suite. Naturally, we declined. On the Equinox we were not in a suite - we were all in Concierge OV balcony rooms (Celebrity's concierge level is a waste of money but that is another topic).

 

If money is no object I know they can have a car seat for you in your own private vehicle with guide. They have a private tour desk on board the ships so go and ask there.