Documents For Travelling With Minor

[DBDB9116]

Has anyone recently cruised with a minor? I am travelling with my 17 1/2 year old . Her father is not coming. I have a notarized letter giving me permission to take her out of the country.
Has anyone been asked for this type of letter on their cruise? How picky are they?
Thanks in advance!

Donna

[derf5585]

all children must have a notarized letter(s) of consent to travel signed by the non traveling parent(s) or legal guardian(s)
from
http://www.princess.com/legal/passage.html

USS Chilton APA-38 1966-1968
USS Guam LPH-9 1968-1970
Pacific Princess Oct 21 2001 Bermuda
Golden Princess Dec 7 2002 "Eastern Caribbean"
Coral Princess Dec 9 2003 "Panama Canal"

Carnival Miracle 17 Oct 2004

NOT UPDATED again 25 Feb www.geocities.com/fsbsdel (http://www.geocities.com/fsbsdel)

[ahracer]

As long as you have the letter plus a passport or birth certificate for her you should be ok.

Scott

[DBDB9116]

Thanks Scott!
I went on a cruise last year to Mexico and wasn't asked for the letter so I was curious if they actually asked for it on all cruise lines.
Donna http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[CaptData]

Sometimes you will be sometimes not, but if you go through Canadian Customs you are more likly to be asked.

Hopfully a Hawiian Cruise

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Navigator of the Seas Western Crib 08/03
Dawn Princess - Eastern Carb
Dawn Princess Panamal Canal

[sue d. miller]

Don't take the chance and be asked for it, and not have it. Hate for you to miss the ship.

Sue
7 days on Star Princess 10/24

[DBDB9116]

Thanks to everyone!
As I posted earlier, I do have a letter from her father simply stating that I have his permission to take her out of the country. He signed it and it was notarized. I think that should be adequate. I wouldn't want to take a chance and not bring it, so I'll make sure it's with my tickets.
Thanks,
Donna

[sue d. miller]

The letter and her birth certificateand you are good to go. Have a wonderful cruise. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Sue
7 days on Star Princess 10/24

[trimer]

We just returned from the Southern Carribean on the Dawn Princess. There was myself, husband, our 16 year old daughter and her 16 year old girlfriend. My dughter had a passport and no trouble. For the friend we had her birth certificate, and a notarized letter from her mother for traveling out of the country and one for medical consent. We also had to take her mom's copy of the divorce decree proving that her father had no parental rights. Princess looked at the stuff before boarding the ship. I say "Looked", because they really glanced over it and only "read" the first letter. There were no other requests to see the documents. All of the airlines just looked at their drivers licenses with boarding passes.

[DBDB9116]

Thanks Trimer,

The letter I have I got from my ex last year to go on a cruise then. He lives in one state, I live 3000 miles the other way, so getting this letter is a pain. He really doesn't care if I take her, just a pain to go through the process for a 17 1/2 year old I raised alone for 11 years!
I didn't know how much info they expected the letter to say and when I called Princess, they "thought" what I had was okay.
I was kind of curious as to how many people were in the same situation and what type of problems (if any) they had.
Again, Thanks for your help.

Donna http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[ahracer]

If you have sole custody of the children you do not need a letter but you need the divorce/custody papers showing you are the custodian.

The airlines would only care if it was an international flight.

Also I always make sure the letter states when and where we are going.

Scott

[PeabodyNVL]

People seem to think it's the cruiseline's requirment when it is an immigration requirement of both the US and possibly the countries being traveled to. Any person traveling out of the country with a minor child, whether by airplane, ship or automobile is supposed have this documentation. These laws were partly put into affect to prevent one parent from absconding with a child and going to a foreign country. Let's not even talk about child abduction (not by a parent) when the child isn't old enough to speak.

Here is a good site for a template of a form that should be sufficient: Authorization for Minor to Travel (http://www.all-travel.com/form_minor.html)

Pea

5/9 Golden Princess  http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=191970&cdt=2004;5;9;23;0;00&timezone=GMT-0400
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[marimbasol]

My friends and I just sailed on the Diamond on 4/10. One of my friends took her child, of whom she is the ONLY person listed on the birth certificate. Even with the birth certificate listing only her name they gave her a hard time saying that she needed a notarized note from the father. They gave her the run-around and stresses both her and the child because they were not sure if they would be allowed to travel. So...my advice to you is to take more documnets than they say you need. Just to cover yourself.

[cruiseaway]

What would you do if you were the only parent because the child had been conceived using artificial insemination by an unknown donor?
Just a thought.

[sue d. miller]

Get a note from the doctor? http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Sue
7 days on Star Princess 10/24

[sue d. miller]

I would assume there is a lot of paper work that would come with this type of procedure. Also an attachment to the birth certificate.

Sue
7 days on Star Princess 10/24

[DBDB9116]

I apologize if I was sarcastic about needing the letter. I understand the comcerns that one would have about child abduction.
I hope no one thought I was being insensitive.
My frustration comes from being a single parent who has raised their child for 11+ years with little to no contact from the Father.
I have requested her Dad to write another current letter with more on it to eliminate any problems. Hopefully he will do it. If not I will use the one I got originally and hope for the best.

Donna

[ahracer]

Donna,

Two of my kids live in Canada so I can understand your frustration since I have to deal with it frequently.

But those are the current immigration rules so we are stuck dealing with it. As mentioned by Pea these aren't Princess's rules.

Look on the bright side once your on the cruise all of the hassle will have been worth it.

Scott

[sue d. miller]

It is understandable, Donna. There are thousands of moms and dads out there that have the same problem. Many that could have contact, won't ask for anything. Maybe you could get papers from school, doctor, church, that would verify you are raising your daughter alone. I wish you well.

Sue
7 days on Star Princess 10/24

[want2cruisenow]

marimbasol: Your friend must of come across personnel who seriously did not know what they were doing. If the father's name is blank on the birth certificate, then that means there IS NO LEGAL FATHER and therefore nobody to seek permission from. Easy solution, though, next time tell her to get any male person she knows to sign a notarized statement. Since there is no name on the birth certificate, there's no way to prove whether the person signing the letter is the real father or not.

[marimbasol]

want2cruisenow: exactly! They finally came up to her and told her she COULD come on about 45 minutes before boarding. Mind you, the boat was late so we didn't get to board until 3 hours (3pm) after the original boarding time. And we'd been at the terminal since about 8:30 that mroning. If there is no legal father who could you get permission from. She was in the process of trying to get a form from the hospital but that really sucked! However, the cruise ended up being wonderfullll! Loved it!

[marimbasol]

Another thought: What if you'd had a drunken one night stand across the county or something?

[PeabodyNVL]

Donna - there are so many single parents in this country and it can be such a pain to get the necessary paperwork from absent parents. My dad never left the country with us when we were younger, except to go to Canada and back then, it was a pretty open border. My mother died when we were all very young, so I was raised by a single parent and know how hard it can be.

I don't think you came across as sarcastic at all...more like frustrated, which is understandable! http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Pea

5/9 Golden Princess  http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=191970&cdt=2004;5;9;23;0;00&timezone=GMT-0400
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[Cruisindad]

Here's a different wrinkle we're facing. My stepdaughter's Dad is deceased, and my wife is required to provide a "certified copy of the death certificate for the deceased parent".
Meanwhile, I'm providing the notarized permission from my daughter's Mom.
I suppose we could pretend we are both the biological parents for both girls, except our manifest reads like this:

Passenger #1: Mr. John Doe
Passenger #2: Mrs. Jane Doe
Passenger #3: Miss Amy Doe
Passenger #4: Miss Suzy Smith

Might be hard to explain why we gave our biological daughter a different last name!

Tim and Joann

[want2cruisenow]

marimbasol: I'm glad everything worked out well and you all had a good time in spite of the trouble. If it were me, it would of taken me at least half the cruise just to calm down enough to have a good time! I can't think of anything worse then being left standing on the pier as the ship pulled away!

[DBDB9116]

Glad I didn't sound sarcastic. I wouldn't have wanted it to come across like that.

Donna http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[DBDB9116]

Okay Good News! I bit the bullet and called my ex to ask if he would sign another letter (and notarize)for me that was a bit more specific and he agreed! YEAH!
This time I've made sure to list the cruise line, ship, date, and destination. I think that should be enough. Thanks to all who listened to my whining.
Donna http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[PeabodyNVL]

Donna -

Glad you were able to work it out! http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

Pea

5/9 Golden Princess  http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=191970&cdt=2004;5;9;23;0;00&timezone=GMT-0400
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[sue d. miller]

Not whining, Donna. Glad we could help in any way. Have a great cruise. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Sue
7 days on Star Princess 10/24