Amalie rentals- child seats and breakdowns?

[PatrickMcc]

We have always rented on St John from St John car rental but my daughter may bring her 3 children- the oldest would be almost five and the twins almost two. . Two questions- does anyone know if Amalie rents child seats and have you seen them- i.e. do they look safe and modern? If they do, that would eliminate the need to travel with three car seats since they meet you at the airport. What is their policy if you have a breakdown on St John? I know that some of the St Thomas rental agencies require you to at least get to Cruz Bay on your own and others may say you are on your own. Has anyone heard or read about anyone who had a breakdown on St John with an Amalie car? I am interested in Amalie because of the great reviews they get on the talk forums. I will ask them of course but I fear I will get a" no problem" answer and prefer to hear about personal experiences. Thanks.

[GotToGetAway]

1. I inquired with Amalie about car seats 2 years ago and was told by Madgelena that they didn't rent them. I inquired again for our trip this past spring and 3 months ahead she said the booster seats were all booked. So, it appears that they did get them. But, not sure what the current ownership is doing about car seats, you would really need to contact them directly.
2. Someone who used Amalie recently since the change of ownership reported that they now have a someone available on St. John for emergencies. Hopefully that person will respond with more detailed info, or you can search this forum or TA for that recent review (last 2 months probably).
3. I can say that renting from Amalie with young kids is a wonderful experience. It is MUCH easier to have them in car seats at the airport rather than using a van/taxi/driver without car seats. My kids usually take a nap in their seats on the way to the ferry after a long morning on the airplane.

Good luck, and please report back on your findings.

[kbxx]

We rented from Amalie on our last trip to STJ in July. We also usually rented only on STJ prior to this. They are wonderful. I don't know about the children seats but we rented the 2dr Jeep and the second row seats had been removed from the vehicle. Also, the Jeep we received was a 2013 with only 4000 miles on it. The villa we stayed at was high up in Coral Bay and it was pretty hilly getting up there but the Jeep had no issues and we had no issues with breaking down.

All the papers are at home but I believe they gave to us a list of places to contact or go to on STJ if the vehicle was to breakdown. When I get home, I'll dig it out and look.

[PatrickMcc]

Thanks gottogteaway and kbxx. i'd appreciate any additional info you can give me kbxx.

[Diggita]

We are heading down to STJ with two little ones in 2 weeks. We are renting from Amalie Car Rental. They have a booster seat available for our 4 year old but were given the recommendation to contact Caribbean Nanny Service at www.caribbeannannyservice.com . We are renting an infant car seat from them for the week. They will deliver the car seat to Amalie Car Rental so it will be in the car when we pick it up on arrival.

[PA Girl]

None of the following applies to Amalie, just my experience renting a carseat in the VIs -

We always took our own seat and the one time we didn't, we rented a seat that was $50 for the week. Unfortunately, it was too small for my son, dirty and actually broken. I specially reserved a high back booster. What we were given was a convertible seat with the 5 point harness straps removed. The plastic base was cracked in two spots. The response was "sorry" no alternatives were available and no refund.

I remember reading similar tales of parents being assured of carseat availability for an infant or toddler, only to arrive to find a booster for a 4 yo.

I could have brought a new, cheap/basic seat from home for less than it cost to rent the junky seat, which is what I have done the past three trips. When we turned the jeep in, we asked the company if they wanted to seat and every time they gladly accepted it.

[EagleRayLover]

You could contact Island baby and see if they would arrange for car seats to be with Amalie. Recently someone broke down over here who had Amalieabd it was all taken care if within a day. I would also like to tell you if you all need a night out sans kids, I would be happy to hang with the kiddos thru Kids Night In Babysitting Service. Just PM me if interested!

[PatrickMcc]

Thanks for the baby sitting offer Eagle ray lover- I will pass the offer on to my daughter our trip would not be before next winter-and we have used Island Baby for other rentals but I hadn't thought of them for car seats or asking for delivery to Amalie.Thanks Diggata for the Caribbean Nanny Service- I hadn't heard of them.

[GotToGetAway]

I found the link to the thread stating that Amalie had people on STJ:
It's post #9 by LynnieGirl65
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1 ... lands.html

I know it's a pain, but you can always check the car seats and pick them up at baggage claim at STT if Amalie doesn't have car seats available.
I have also used Discount and rented car seats through them and had a fine experience. First one is free, each other was $25.

[Teresa_Rae]

Here’s my 2 cents from a mom of a 3 year old and 3 month old who is passionate about car seat safety.

I’d bring seats from home, and I’d bring them on the plane with you for the kids to sit in during the flight. It’s the safest way for them to fly, and it also insures that they’ll have safe seats on vacation. Note that not all car seats are approved for airline use.

When renting a seat, you never know what it’s been through. Even a minor accident can compromise the integrity of the seat (in some states insurance companies are legally required to replace a seat that has been in a car accident...and pretty much all car seat companies state that seats involved in accidents must be replaced). And the problem with checking seats is that they get roughed up by baggage handlers and can get hairline cracks that compromise the seat’s safety. I have witnessed some ridiculously rough baggage handling on STT more than once.

I know it’s a pain, but I think it’s the best option by far.