Taking grandchild on cruise

We are taking our grandson on a cruise in May, he lives with us as his mother has a long trm medical condition which prevents her looking after him. We have a solicitors letter which grants us joint parental responsibility with his mother. Is this enough to take him on a cruise ..4 day Ventura to Belgium and Guernsey? Any advice appreciated ty

Is it legal and documents information you are seeking or general children on a cruise information or both? Knowing age of child will help.

Regards John

John,

He is nearly 9 and has lived with us for 5 years, just concerned if there is anything other than the parental responsibility we need to take with us? This gives us full responsibility of him so should be enough to take him out ok UK???

My daughter (12) lives with her mother but we have been cruising together for ten years as holidays, just the two of us. My daughter changed her name back to ex-wife's maiden surname so I was advised by UK Border Force to carry her birth certificate naming me as father. I think what they needed was the connection between child and person travelling with them. I also carry her previous expired passport. American cruise lines have extra rules and so do cruises starting or finishing in the US, I have assumed this is not applicable to your cruise ex-UK.

I am thinking if you have legal responsibility documentation on you things should be fine. Another issue is medically can you consent to his being treated as a patient by a doctor giving drugs and I am thinking yes you can. Insurance is another problem, if you have a family cover policy does it extent two generations or have you got it confirmed he is covered?

I assume he has his own passport with at least six months validity remaining at end of cruise.

It will be prudent to contact P&O at Southampton to go through it. I have assumed you are Southampton round trip and not fly cruising.

Regards John

From the P&O website.....

The British authorities do not require confirmation from parents that their children can travel with their grandparents or other relatives and friends.

However, other countries especially the USA may ask for confirmation from the parents that the children are authorised to travel without them. It is suggested that the travel escort travels with a letter confirming this - signed by both parents (if available) and witnessed and stamped by a person in a position of authority - e.g. GP, Solicitor, cleric or head teacher.

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/before-you-sail/Child_Travel

I would still take the letter just in case.

Brian

Edit:

Although you have posted in the P&O section, I have just noticed you are travelling on Princess. The above may therefore not relevant and I cannot find any similar information on the Princess website.

From the P&O website.....

 

 

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/before-you-sail/Child_Travel

 

I would still take the letter just in case.

 

Brian

 

Edit:

Although you have posted in the P&O section, I have just noticed you are travelling on Princess. The above may therefore not relevant and I cannot find any similar information on the Princess website.

Brian

Regarding your edit.

What makes you think this lady is travelling on Princess?

Her previous cruises were Grand Princess and Crown Princess however in her text she states VENTURA 4 days Belgium and Guernsey. I am thinking the Caribbean Princess is a coincidental cruise. Hopefully lady will clarify.

Kind Regards

John

Brian

 

Regarding your edit.

 

What makes you think this lady is travelling on Princess?

 

Her previous cruises were Grand Princess and Crown Princess however in her text she states VENTURA 4 days Belgium and Guernsey.

 

Kind Regards

 

John

John

What makes you think the OP is female......?:D

The OP is showing a "clock" for sailing on Caribbean Princess in May, so probably an easy assumption, especially as the text could have been misread as "A 4 day adventure to Belgium and Guernsey" (which I confess I did!)

Cheers! MM

Correct Brian,

Might well not be. The term us tends to imply a "couple".

Not actually possible to definitely know. Apologies to anyone that may be offended by my assumption.

Regards John

2x4 day trips to Belgium and Guernsey in May on the Ventura :)

2nd-6th May and 24th-28th May

2x4 day trips to Belgium and Guernsey in May on the Ventura :)

 

2nd-6th May and 24th-28th May

It will be 24 May Linda. I just looked up my own 4 day Ventura trip and that's when I am going. Bogof1 is on our Roll Call.

Regards John

Brian

 

Regarding your edit.

 

What makes you think this lady is travelling on Princess?

 

Her previous cruises were Grand Princess and Crown Princess however in her text she states VENTURA 4 days Belgium and Guernsey. I am thinking the Caribbean Princess is a coincidental cruise. Hopefully lady will clarify.

 

Kind Regards

 

John

Because I looked back and saw the ticker for Caribbean Princess and did not read the text again.

Brian

Lol Yes I am female. yes I am sailing on the Carribean Princess in June.....that is my husbands and mine 2 yearly break from grandson. We promised him we wouldn't go on another cruise until he had bin on one too hence a quick cruise in half term. Haven't worked out how to add new trip on I Pad lol

Hi Bogof1

See you on board then! I am on the Roll Call!

Regards John

��why cant folk answer the initial / basic question - rather than go off on some personal crusade ����

In the technical sense Princess Cruise Line ask for a Notarised Letter for each cruise. I had one done for a cruise round trip ex-New York. They did not ask to see it. I think ex-UK the regulations are less stringent or less severely enforced. The most stringent are children who hold a US passport travelling to Europe or mother country as many see it. This requirement seems to be part of US law - Child with US passport leaving USA without both or one of the parents. The travellers will have sailed and returned by now.

Regards John

Thanks for that, John.

Though very experienced cruisers, our next cruise in October is a first in two senses: First cruise on P&O and, first time taking our Granddaughter with us ( her parents are remaining home).

Struggling to find a definitive answer regarding documentation, other than her UK Passport, that we may require to take.

From what I have gleaned over various google searches - the requirement is very strict on US cruise lines - with notarized forms required. So, we cancelled an initial thought of (our normal) Celebrity cruise and opted for P&O, where (supposedly), one only needs a letter from her Mum!

Subsequently, P&O, very obliquely and less than helpfully, just point one towards the UK Gov website and are not definitive or clear in what exactly they, as a Company, require.

Surely there must be some basic template format that would satisfy P&O / UK & EU border needs???

The last cruise just me with my daughter (14) we sailed Navigator of the Seas ex-Southampton round trip. The lady booking us in asked "Is this your natural daughter?" - I replied "Yes, she has a different surname due to reverting to her mother's maiden name". That was it.

Things to remember is that the "check in" staff at Southampton are similar to ground staff at airports, they are employed by a different company than the cruise line. So these agency workers treat each cruise line in a similar manner but presumably follow the cruise line's instructions. I think it helpful if children can communicate i.e. old enough to be candid. In general my opinion is that the cruise line wish to establish that (i) you are actually a family member of the child, (ii) the parents have consented to the child going on a cruise with you. In general therefore documentation such as a letter of consent signed by both parents, photocopies of parents passports and verifiable phone contact details of the parents plus birth certificate are all helpful connecting you appropriately. I would not offer these at check in unless asked.

I have only ever been challenged by UK Border Force the once, this was at Heathrow. Strangely we flew from Heathrow to Hong Kong, sailed from there to Yokohama and flew back to Heathrow. At Heathrow on our return due to how the queues were going we were last and two separate Border Force personnel became available so I said to her you go to that one and I'll go to this one to speed up the process. Apparently this was suspicious and we were taken aside and had to sit and wait. I explained that she was my natural daughter and the surname discrepancy was due to daughter reverting to mother's maiden name. Border Force contacted passport office and it was established that daughter's previous passport from 2 to 7 years old had my surname and it would be wise for me to carry her Birth Certificate which could be checked against new passport but had all other data in agreement.

Regards John