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We've had many cruises with RCI, but always "all adult" so I've never paid much attention to the children's program. This August our neice and her 2 girls will be with us, ages 4 and 7 on the Mariner of the Seas. I know the kids will be very interested as they are very outgoing children who like to participate in activities. Could someone provide some quick details that I can fill her in on. I'm looking for info on the ages of each group, hours of operation, types of things they do, the paging system in the event a parent is needed, tipping, etc. I tried to find something specific to print out on the RCI website, but was unsuccessful.

 

Second question, my neice is bringing the kids this trip, but not hubby. I know when she travels to Mexico or Canada without him, she needs permission papers. Does she need them on a cruise too?

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I can do better than that, I can show you the AO compass for that age group. This was on Freedom in May, but the activities are pretty much fleetwide...they change a little based on itinerary but they will get the idea...

 

http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Royal%20Caribean%20AO%20Compass/

 

Yes, have your niece get a notarized consent form from her husband. I travel without my hubby too and I always bring consent with me. RCCL and Carnival recomend it.

 

LETTER OF CONSENT TO TRAVEL

 

I ___________________________________________________provide my consent for

NAME OF PARENT

 

my child(ren) ____________________________________________ to travel with

NAME OF CHILD(REN)

 

________________________________ to ____________________________ from

NAME(S) OF ADULT TRAVEL COMPANION(S) COUNTRY/COUNTRIES

 

________________________________ to ____________________________ .

DATE DATE

 

(List specific travel information in the space below such as airline, flight number, cruise line and ship or tour operator.)

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

 

Signed_____________________________________________________________

PARENT'S NAME

 

Telephone/Contact:__________________________________________________

Address:

___________________________________________________________________

 

___________________________________________________________________

 

___________________________________________________________________

 

Signature of Notary:__________________________________________________

 

Notary's Printed Name: ____________________________________________

 

Notary Seal:

 

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Are you serious?? If you travel with your kids and not your husband you still bring consent? I would never even think to do that.

We're talking husbands/biological fathers, right? Not step-fathers with different last names.

 

So if I ever travel with my daughter and not my husband/her father, I would still need consent papers?

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I've never taken a consent form to travel with my son and he is always on the cruise with me, minus hubby.

 

Husband had to sign for him to get a passport, so if the kids have a passport, you shouldn't need anything else in the way of consent.

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Are you serious?? If you travel with your kids and not your husband you still bring consent? I would never even think to do that.

 

We're talking husbands/biological fathers, right? Not step-fathers with different last names.

 

So if I ever travel with my daughter and not my husband/her father, I would still need consent papers?

 

Yes, it is recomended because of custody issues. Yes, your child can have a passport right now with your husband's consent but that passport is valid for years. And if you and your husband separate between now and then, you could take your child out of the country without his permission and then stay there.

 

So I carry the notarized consent...required for stops in Mexico but recomended for other ports as well.

 

Yes, biological fathers. Yes, same last name. There have been many threads about it around here and especially on the Carnival board. Some have been asked to show it, some haven't.

 

Also, I am going with a group of friends on a Bahaman cruise in August, TWO of the moms dropped out because they didn't think the exes (who they are not formally divorced from) would sign the consent papers. The TA told them they would necessarily *need* it but they should have it. :rolleyes:

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Interesting. How would any cruise line know whether the child actually HAS a father or not? I'm serious...what about single moms where a father may never be present? What about adoptive, single mothers who adopted on their own? (I have lots of friends who have done this.)

 

I will be traveling with my five-year-old daughter on Monday...my husband is not accompanying us on this trip. I'm am more than curious about this, as I'm sure you can imagine.

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Interesting. How would any cruise line know whether the child actually HAS a father or not? I'm serious...what about single moms where a father may never be present? What about adoptive, single mothers who adopted on their own? (I have lots of friends who have done this.)

 

I will be traveling with my five-year-old daughter on Monday...my husband is not accompanying us on this trip. I'm am more than curious about this, as I'm sure you can imagine.

 

Curiosity got the better of me, so I called RCCL. I'm glad that I did. I was told that, yes, I should definitely bring a Letter of Consent from my husband. I did inquire more about children who may be adopted by a single parent (again....just out of pure curiosity), and I was told that in those cases, the single parent would want to bring adoption documentation to show proof of sole "parenthood."

 

So....I'm off to draft a Letter of Consent from my husband to have notarized! I will use the draft from the post above...thank you! And..just as a side fact, my daughter is adopted from China, so you can bet that I will be bringing some adoption documentation with me just in case we're questioned (she doesn't look like me, so we tend to draw attention at times.)

 

This was a great thread, and I appreciate all of the new information that I learned.

 

Regina

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Curiosity got the better of me, so I called RCCL. I'm glad that I did. I was told that, yes, I should definitely bring a Letter of Consent from my husband. I did inquire more about children who may be adopted by a single parent (again....just out of pure curiosity), and I was told that in those cases, the single parent would want to bring adoption documentation to show proof of sole "parenthood."

 

So....I'm off to draft a Letter of Consent from my husband to have notarized! I will use the draft from the post above...thank you! And..just as a side fact, my daughter is adopted from China, so you can bet that I will be bringing some adoption documentation with me just in case we're questioned (she doesn't look like me, so we tend to draw attention at times.)

 

This was a great thread, and I appreciate all of the new information that I learned.

 

Regina

 

I am glad you did see this and called. And like they said, yes there are different circumstances for each child and different papers that may be needed in addition to the consent form.

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Interesting. How would any cruise line know whether the child actually HAS a father or not? I'm serious...what about single moms where a father may never be present? What about adoptive, single mothers who adopted on their own? (I have lots of friends who have done this.)

 

I will be traveling with my five-year-old daughter on Monday...my husband is not accompanying us on this trip. I'm am more than curious about this, as I'm sure you can imagine.

 

I was recently behind a father and daughter in line at the airport - the airline employee inquired whether they were traveling with out the mother, and the father indicated that the mother was dead and produced paperwork that included the mother's death certificate. They were a row behind me on the plane and the daughter was about my daughter's age so we swapped seats so the kids could chat/watch a DVD together -- I asked him (as delicately as I could) whether this was a common occurence, and he indicated that in his case (a single father and a family practice lawyer) - he was asked for documentation ALL the time - if traveling, when picking up DD from some events, etc. He said it really didn't bother him and that they kept all the documentaion together and with him pretty much all the time. He said he belonged to a single parent's organization in the Milwaukee area - he said most women had fewer inquiries, but most everyone had at least one story and that he encouraged everyone he knew to "be prepared" because even if you are "ok" 95% of the time, not having the right paperwork WILL ruin that 5% of the time.

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Interesting. How would any cruise line know whether the child actually HAS a father or not? I'm serious...what about single moms where a father may never be present?

 

Or what about if the mother & child get off the ship at the port but the father stays onboard? Interesting...but I guess better safe than sorry!

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I can do better than that, I can show you the AO compass for that age group. This was on Freedom in May, but the activities are pretty much fleetwide...they change a little based on itinerary but they will get the idea...

 

http://s204.photobucket.com/albums/bb196/cruisinmama06/Royal%20Caribean%20AO%20Compass/

 

CruisinMama06

 

You Rock!! You are consistently one of the most helpful posters on the boards. Thanks so much for posting the AO compasses. We leave for the Freedom in 3 weeks and my boys (3 & 7) will be in the aquanots and explorers groups. It is great to be able to remind them of how much fun they are in for!!

 

Thanks again!!

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I'm a single mother and this comes up all the time on my Single Mother's by Choice board. It's different for every situation. My daugter's passport was authorized only by me, but it doesn't say that anywhere, so I'm planning on taking her birth certificate with me which is blank where the father's name would be.

I had no problems on the Disney cruise a couple of years ago.

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I am a single mother who travels with my 2 kids. I have always taken a consent form, just in case. I have never needed it yet. (keep my fingers crossed.) My ex has the kids now in Europe, I will see if he was asked for the letter. He didn't ask me for one, but since I was asking for one from him, I guess he just decided to get one too. (Or he was going to wait to the very last minute to ask me for one!)

 

I have gone on the web and searched for Letter of Consent and have gotten many variations. I just do my own letter/document that spells out:

1) Person giving permission and to whom

2) kids/birthdates involved

3) Dates and location they are travelling

4) End it with the name/address of the person giving permission.

 

I then get it notarized

 

I would take whatever documents were necessary regarding death, adoption, no father listed etc. All it will take is one highly publicized child abduction for cruise lines and airlines to start seriously checking.

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We go on our first ever cruise on Aug 26th (Mariner of the seas)

 

We have our 3 boys aged 5, 6 and 15 with us. Can anyone help with some questions?

 

Will they let the 5 year old join the 6-8's group? They are very close and would not go if they were seperated.

 

I notice from the compass that They are open all day on port days. Do they allow you to leave the ship whilst they look after your children? If so do may people do this or are not many children there on port days?

 

Thanks

 

Nikki. x

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  • 2 weeks later...
We go on our first ever cruise on Aug 26th (Mariner of the seas)

 

We have our 3 boys aged 5, 6 and 15 with us. Can anyone help with some questions?

 

Will they let the 5 year old join the 6-8's group? They are very close and would not go if they were seperated.

 

I notice from the compass that They are open all day on port days. Do they allow you to leave the ship whilst they look after your children? If so do may people do this or are not many children there on port days?

 

Thanks

 

Nikki. x

 

Ooops sorry. No they usually won't let the 5 year old join the 6-8 year old group...not usually. They make an exception every once in a while...like if the 5 year old is weeks away from turning 6. You can ask the counselor on the first day and see what they say.

 

Port days - Leaving the children on board is a controversial and personal choice. :) You *CAN* leave the child onboard but the question should be *should you*....only you can answer that. There are many threads about it, I will refer you to one of the calmer ones on the Family Board. ;)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=583138

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