Car seats

[Simba One]

We are bringing the grandchildren in Jan on a cruise and we never thought about car seats. If you fly Down, do you bring them and where do you keep them during the cruise? 4 yr old and 1 yr old. We are flying to Ft lauderdale and boarding in Miami, last time we took Uber but we didn’t have kids with us.

 

[Dug720]

If you have them with you, you have to store them in your stateroom. No other place to put them.

 

[Simba One]

I’m assuming we will have to bring them. We have two rooms and son and family will be in the other room. Yes never really gave it any thought.

 

[hcox31]

When we flew down with a car seat aged child we kept it at home. We used DCL transport because we didn’t need a car seat on there.

 

[dcassetta]

The beds are relatively high, so your car seat may very well fit under the bed. People also store them in the shower and in the closet. Depending on the transportation you're taking from Fort Lauderdale, you may want car seats. Although, you can also order an Uber that comes with it, and a number of car services provide them also.

 

[Bethany10]

I've heard of an inflatable car seat that is meant for travel, that might work for the 4 year old. The 1 year old however will need the big seat still.

Please, please please don't give your family grief about bringing them on the plane (and in no way am I implying that you are in your post) but as someone who CONSTANTLY fought extended family about carseats and was told over and over that I was being too protective it's a hot button for me. Let me see if I can find the inflatable one.

Link: http://www.disneycruisemomblog.com/use-car-seats-cruise/

 

[DietCokeMommy]

We went on a cruise in February with our 4 year old and 1 year old and we did not bring car seats. We hate lugging them on planes and knew there would be limited space for them. Instead we used a Cares harness on the plane for the 1 year old and just the regular seat belt for the 4 year old. For car parts of the trip we booked either booked car services or rental cars that had them. We did just fine and had no reason to need our own.

 

[hamm1207]

We've cruise a few times with our little one (2.5 years old). Each time, we've stored her car seat on the desk in the stateroom. We just placed it on the far side of the desk, up against the wall. It was out of the way enough there that it didn't cause us any problems. We just put a yellow luggage tag on it and dropped it with the rest of our luggage. You'll hear differing opinions about whether or not to do do this--yes, they treat it just like the airport folks do--tossing it around and it may even be on the bottom of a stack of luggage. 3 cruises with the car seat, and it's still in one piece. If the 4 year old is in a booster seat, have you looked into the Mifold Grab-n-Go Booster? Also, you can buy a strap that attaches to your suitcase to lug the car seat through the airport--the kiddo can even ride in the car seat while it's attached.

 

[Starwind]

A Mifold might be an option for the 4 year old... http://www.mifold.com/

 

[UNDDisney]

We have sailed out of Miami with an 8 month old. Was a lap child on plane, so did not bring a car seat for airplane purposes. Then we used transportation from airport to port that provided an infant car seat.

However, if 1 year old has a seat on the plane and parents want to bring a car seat for the plane, then just store it in your room during the cruise.

Have fun!

 

[Minniemouse07]

My sister worked for a cruise line when my daughter was a toddler, so we cruised fairly often when she was still in a car seat. In every instance, we used a car seat on the plane and during transport to/from the airport. It was easy to strap the seat to a foldable luggage cart or you can get a Traveling Toddler for very little $$ that straps it to a rolling carry on. We always took the seat on board ourselves as part of our "carry on" luggage to avoid it getting damaged w/ the checked luggage.

The car seats fit easily in the bottom of the closet, no matter which ship we were sailing.

FWIW, the laws of physics are not suspended when you go on vacation. If your child doesn't fit in a seat belt and needs a car seat at home, they will need one on vacation too.

IF the 4yo can ride in a low back booster (it isn't generally recommended until 5 or 6yo), I can highly recommend the Bubble Bum. It fits properly in more vehicles than the mifold and is just as convenient.

 

[khighgirl]

We just took our 4-year old to Mexico and Disneyland and used the "Saferid4kids" seat. It was a huge blessing!

 

[lorenni]

We have the safe ride 4 kids and the mi-fold and we like both. Switched to the mi-fold when DS was 6.

You’ll want a full car seat for the 1 year old - yours or the car rental company’s.

 

[MelSpees]

If you want to use a car seat on the plane it needs to be FAA approved. I don't think this has changed in recent years. If it has someone can straighten us out.

 

[Minniemouse07]

If you want to use a car seat on the plane it needs to be FAA approved. I don't think this has changed in recent years. If it has someone can straighten us out.

Most harnessed seats are FAA approved, there are very few that are not.

A belt positioning booster seat (low or high back) is not approved because it requires a shoulder belt and airplanes only have lap belts. You can, however, use a combination seat (has a harness that can be removed after a certain height/weight and then used as a booster) with the harness.

Note that if you plan on using your child's car seat on the plane (which I heartily recommend), planes don't have lower anchors so I would practice installing the seat w/ a seat belt before you leave!