Minors leaving ship at ports

We had a situation that could have been a disaster. I was on the Liberty this past week. We had a wonderful time but I thought I would share this with others just so people are aware that minor children can get off the boat while in port anywhere without a parent or guardian. I never really gave it much thought because my children have such fear that I could never imagine them getting off the boat without us. Unfortunately, that was not the case this past cruise when I brought a friend of my son along with us. No, my son did not leave the ship... He came and told me that his friend left the boat in Bonaire and it was 8:30pm. Needless to say I went to look for him, found him and we were back on ship before the boat left port at 10pm.

I know ultimately I am responsible for the minors I bring on ship. I just never would have imagined that Carnival would allow a minor to leave the ship without an adult..... If this scares you as it does me here is what you need to do...

Go to the guest services desk and ask them to put a block on your minor children that they are not allowed to leave the ship without an adult from any cabin of your party. Guest services will then call down to security and put a block on the minors account for leaving the ship without an adult. When your child then goes to leave a loud beep will be heard and they will look for the responsible adult.

Thank goodness all worked out for us but it easily could have ended up being a very serious situation. I was just very surprised that a 16 year old ( who is very young looking) could just walk off the boat by himself.:eek:

Or, take their ship's card...they CANNOT leave without it!

How scary. This would be a good idea for all children. Even little kids.

That way if they are in Camp Carnival and you are lounging up on deck. You won't have to worry about the what ifs..if someone tries to take them off. I know you have to sign them in and out of the Camp, but this is just a double security matter. It would make you feel even more secure.

I thought they need their card to be at o2 and circle c, or to get in and out of the room.??

On Disney minors are not allowed to get off the boat unless their guardian fills out a special form. Some love it, some hate it! I feel as though Carnival should make that policy more known because I think parents would take advantage of it.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I will put a block on the cards for DS and DS-Friend.

Wow, I had no idea this was allowed :eek:

Our boys are almost 13 and almost 16, they have always gotten off the ship with us, mainly because they want to go on the excursions as well, but this is good to know, thank you!

This is a vacation. The crew are not glorified babysitters. Maybe a kid needed to come back and gets the parents photo id.

As long as they have the sign and sail card they can leave the ship

How scary. This would be a good idea for all children. Even little kids.

 

That way if they are in Camp Carnival and you are lounging up on deck. You won't have to worry about the what ifs..if someone tries to take them off. I know you have to sign them in and out of the Camp, but this is just a double security matter. It would make you feel even more secure.

2=5 and 6-8 are not leaving the area with just anyone. You can not go into the room. Only the people on their sign out sheet can pick up a kid and a ohoti I'd and sign and sail card is needed to get the kid out.

2=5 and 6-8 are not leaving the area with just anyone. You can not go into the room. Only the people on their sign out sheet can pick up a kid and a ohoti I'd and sign and sail card is needed to get the kid out.

I know and that is fantastic. I am saying it is great to have a lock on the account too. To make sure they can only leave the ship with the adult from their stateroom. They may already have that fail-safe in place. It has been a while since we cruised with kids, so I can't remember.

My kids are of age now, but if they weren't, I'd definitely have them blocked from leaving. Even the best behaved may be tempted to leave.

Where did he go by himself? That's crazy. Thanks for sharing. I never would have thought to have this conversation at guest services. From now on I will just to be 100% sure. I can't imagine but you just never know what kids are thinking.

I doubt I would ever bring somebody else's kid on a cruise. Just no. My own are enough to deal with.

Not leaving without us...point!

I am glad to hear that everything turned out ok!

We were just on the Miracle and we ran into this problem as well, normally my children come with us when we leave but this cruise I allowed my son (16 and usually very mature and intelligent) to stay on board as we joined my parents to go check out a few shops. Well, that night I was visiting with my son and he tells me that he and a friend he met on board decided to just get off the ship and look around the dock area.... :eek: I was not impressed! (though I was proud of him for telling me when if he hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have known)

I am not blaming Carnival because I am responsible for my child but I was very surprised that there was not system in place for minors about getting off the ship without an adult :(

I had a very serious and long talk with my son and he realized that it wasn't a smart thing to do when I told him what would have happened without a passport or money or without our knowledge that he wasn't even on board! Definitely something worth talking about with your teens before cruising!!!

This is a vacation. The crew are not glorified babysitters. Maybe a kid needed to come back and gets the parents photo id.

 

As long as they have the sign and sail card they can leave the ship

Oh, that's right, the crew are not babysitters. However, even Chuck E Cheese has a very good plan in place that prevents children from leaving the facility alone, and also from leaving with a stranger who didn't bring them. They have matching armbands for the kids and adults that prevent this. They are checked coming and going. That essentially makes the employees of Chuck E Cheese glorified babysitters as you put it. Too bad the staff of a cruise ship is above that.

Wow... Glad the situation turned out ok and you were able to find him and get back on board in time...:eek:

But a great heads up for those traveling with minors... ;) Thanks!

Oh, that's right, the crew are not babysitters. However, even Chuck E Cheese has a very good plan in place that prevents children from leaving the facility alone, and also from leaving with a stranger who didn't bring them. They have matching armbands for the kids and adults that prevent this. They are checked coming and going. That essentially makes the employees of Chuck E Cheese glorified babysitters as you put it. Too bad the staff of a cruise ship is above that.

chuck e cheese deals with hundreds of people. Cruise ship crew deals with thousands. I would think its easier to do that job at chuck e cheese then on a ship.

At 16 I would think a kid would know he could not wander off the ship alone.

I would think it would be different if say a 8 year old tried to venture off

I'm not a parent, but thanks for letting , others know. however, having said that, how was carnival to know, the boy wasn't with the adults in front of or behind him? Its not carnivals responsibility to watch the kids (as others have stated). That would have been scary situation, I agree, but just saying, security may have thought, he was with others getting off the ship. I'm glad everything turned out ok

Thank you for sharing your story and it's good information to have should we ever bring a friend with my youngest son. Not being my own, I would certainly block him.

But, having said that, I just can't see either of my kids, almost 11 and 17 trying to leave without us. First, that's a rule, and if they broke it, they know they would spend the rest of the cruise in their cabin and likely never cruise again til adulthood. Second, they are both cautious by nature. They are headed out on their 10th cruise in a few weeks and know that is it not wise to get off the ship without their passport in any non-us port, and at least without a picture ID in US. That is because, one time the card readers went down as we were trying to reboard in St. Thomas. We had not taken any id and had to go through a hassle to get back on. And mom and dad keep all passports and IDs in their room safe. Finally, they have stood on our balcony and watch people running down the pier as the ship pulls away..so they know you can get left. :eek:

Again, though, thanks for the information!:)

Oh, that's right, the crew are not babysitters. However, even Chuck E Cheese has a very good plan in place that prevents children from leaving the facility alone, and also from leaving with a stranger who didn't bring them. They have matching armbands for the kids and adults that prevent this. They are checked coming and going. That essentially makes the employees of Chuck E Cheese glorified babysitters as you put it. Too bad the staff of a cruise ship is above that.

Chuck E Cheese is actually the only place I know that does that. No one is checking kids coming and going from any other place I can think of with lots of kids separated from their parents -- bounce places, arcades, the Y, amusement parks, pools, etc. Honestly, the Chuck E. Cheese system feels a bit extreme to me.

When there's a long line of people leaving the cruise ship, the vast majority want an efficient and speedy process above all else. It would be easy not to notice that one child is unaccompanied. And when it's a teenager, some families permit their teens to go off the ship without a parent. A sixteen or seventeen-year-old is not far from adulthood and some are more responsible and independent than others. Most young kids would not have the nerve to actually leave the ship without their parents. It makes sense to have a system in place for parents to request a block on their children's cards if they are concerned. I agree that it would be better to make that option more widely known, but perhaps they'd prefer it never occur to parents their children might get off the ship without them?

Chuck E Cheese is actually the only place I know that does that. No one is checking kids coming and going from any other place I can think of with lots of kids separated from their parents -- bounce places, arcades, the Y, amusement parks, pools, etc. Honestly, the Chuck E. Cheese system feels a bit extreme to me.

Actually, In my experience Chuck E Cheese's system is useless. When my children were little, my daughter started having a meltdown at Chuck E Cheese and a friend's husband helped me leave and get the kids to the car. This grown man did not have a matching wrist band to my two year old daughter who was kicking and screaming in his arms as he left- can't imagine a more obvious breech of security! He was helping me, but had he been a stranger steeling my daughter he could have literally walked out with her throwing a tantrum.

I understand the poster's point about chucky cheese. I think it's a good system for that type of setting. However it wouldn't work on a cruise ship. Too many people and at port folks are coming and going. Most of us have never stopped to consider a minor getting off alone with an accompanying adults. And in fact, most kids would not do this. However I appreciate the OP bringing it up as I would definitely for sure make sure I have the conversation with guest services just in case one of my kids has temporary insanity and decides to leave without us. They are still young enough that 99% of the time, if we're in port they are with us. But you just never ever know.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Frankly this had never occurred to me and I admit that I just assumed that under 18 would not be allowed off the ship without an adult.

Chuck E Cheese also doesn't require that a 16 yo leave with an adult. A 16 can come and go as they please. Which is the age of the OP friend. So the Chuck E Cheese reference doesn't hold any water.

Also it's not even fool proof. My son had a bday party there once. A friend asked us to bring his son home. He went to the front and got a sticker to give us with his son's #. When we left the young kid working looked at all our #s but didn't pay attention. We began walking out with no mention of his # not matching ours. I stepped back and asked him if he needed to see the other #. He was like "oh yeah". So please don't rely on that safety measure.

As soon as I got to the car I called and made them aware of what happend then told the boys mom to also call. No safe at all.

To the OP did the teen say why he left the ship and What type of punishment he incur?