Traveling with a toddler?

Pneumatic

So my wife and I have a toddler.  He'll be 16 months old at the time of the cruise.  I'm seeking the advice of the masses.

When we fly, we spring for the extra seat and put his car seat in that, but we've never tried to take a taxi or shuttle bus, and I'm also not sure how he'll handle the excursions.

Do we try to wrestle his car seat into the shuttle/tour busses, or do we just wing it and hold him in our laps?  

For the Arecibo excursion, I'm planning on bringing a stroller, but am not sure how well that will work.  The alternative is to let him walk until he gets tired, and then carry him, but he's a big boy (already bigger than most 2 year olds) and I fear that will get old quickly.  Anybody done a tour there?

Thanks for any advice you can give!

dcwlopez

I haven't traveled with a toddler recently (my baby just turned 21), but I've been on tours with them. Most shuttles and buses don't have seat belts so the car seat option doesn't work very well. It's a lot more of lap wrangling on them.

My best recommendation for a stroller is one of the tiny fold-up travel kind or an umbrella one. Some of them now will fold up into a bag or backpack that you can carry when they want to walk. 

You could also try to put him in a backpack carrier. That might be easier if he'll take to it.

Best of luck!

Oscar

*cough* Leave him in the kids' club when you go on excursions. *cough*

Chaosdreamer

Not sure if this will help with the stroller decision but most of the Arecibo reviews that I've read describe the walk from the parking lot to the observatory as a somewhat steep uphill walk.

Pneumatic

@Chaosdreamer: Thanks.. that's a good point. I had better start hitting the gym so *I* can make it up those stairs.. probably carrying him on my hip.

@dcwlopez: Thanks for the suggestion. I'm a big guy (okay.. I'm fat), and I don't think I can find a backpack carrier that will fit me and hold him.  I'll see what I can find online.

I'm probably going to go with an umbrella stroller and a shoulder strap, but may leave it on the ship for Arecibo.

LeeAnn

Regarding kid carriers - when our son was a (large) toddler, we used a Kelty pack to haul him around Yosemite and other such places.  He loved it, and we found it quite comfortable.  We were both pretty big (2X-3X), and my husband is very tall in the body, while I am short in the body.  The Kelty fit around us both just fine, and did an awesome job of adjusting to our rather different body lengths with very little fiddling. 

If you can find someplace nearby that carries them or similar packs, I really recommend trying one out to see if it fits you.  One of the things I loved about it is that you can take it off and stand it on the ground without removing a sleeping child, and it also has pockets to act as a daypack.

SapphireMind

You usually can't leave 'em in the kids club while you leave the ship, in case of emergency etc.  Just FYI 

I agree, light umbrella stroller, no carseat for buses (unable to use them) but I am enough of a safety freak to use it with a taxi.  Part of the reason buses don't have seatbelts are because physics is on their side for accidents with their greater mass.  Taxis and vans do not have that benefit and yours should still be rearfacing, so I probably would for taxis/vans.  YMMV

Pneumatic

I figured you couldn't leave them in the nursery while you went on excursions, not that I would even if I could.

Many (most?) busses actually have seatbelts, but almost nobody uses them, but I guess I'll skip the car seat for the Arecibo excursion.  I ended up getting a backpack for that one.  I got LeeAnn's recommendation too late, and ended up with Chicco one.  I can't fasten the waist belt, but I can still carry him comfortably.

We also got a cheapo umbrella stroller to getting him through the airport etc, though we might just use the backpack for that.  

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions,