Seperate Minor Travel Letters

[M&MGirl1]

Well, I just booked myself, my younger sister and my 15 year old niece on the June 25th sailing of the Triumph out of NOLA. Seems my niece won a bet off me that she couldn't get straight A's and B's all year (this is one bet I'm thrilled to have lost)!

 

My question is this, I know I need a notarized letter from her parents authorizing her to travel with me and for me to make medical decisions for her, but do both parents have to sign the SAME letter, or will a seperate letter signed by each parent suffice?

 

The reason I ask is my sister divorced my niece's father many years ago after he was physicall abusive, and, although he has joint custody, my sister'd really rather not have to be in the same room with her ex, even to get this letter signed and notarized.

 

Also, I've NEVER traveled alone with a teenager before, so any suggestions on things teenagers you've traveled with have particularly liked to do would be greatly appreciated as well!

 

Thanks a Million for the advice!

Margaret

[Colorado Kat]

The teens should love the hot-tubs and swimming pool time!

 

I would guess separate letters would be ok, but why don't you call Carnival and ask?

[M&MGirl1]

Huh.......I hadn't even though of calling Carnival - GREAT idea!!!

[Nebr.cruiser]

Separate letters are fine, at least on RCI. We took seven grandchildren on the Navigator in January and a couple of the children had separate letters from divorced parents. but, since you're sailing Carnival, call to make sure.

 

After all, sometimes parents don't even live in the same state. Good luck; hopefully you won't have problems getting him to sign. One of our kids' dad was in a rehab facility in another state; getting it all done via fax was not easy, especially because apparently his brain was fried and he kept getting the thing wrong.

 

RCI states in their requirements that the permission forms are needed from one parent, not both, but we were afraid that we'd get to the dock and find that wasn't true, so we managed to get all the forms.

 

The person who checked us in was VERY thorough at matching up kids, birth certificates and permission forms at check-in. Going through customs they also checked, but much less carefully.

[6rugrats]

Customs has nothing to do with this issue; it's immigration. Agree, two letters should make no difference. Have a great trip.

[Keith1010]

I would definitely verify the letters with the cruise line. It's just a smart thing to do.

 

In terms of the teenager I would recommend taking a few minutes as the cruise approaches to go through some rules. While a cruise is certainly a very nice environment for both the adults and the teenagers I would still go over any rules you have about what to and not do and also set specific times to meet up during each day.

 

Most importantly, have a wonderful time.

 

Keith

[M&MGirl1]

Thanks for all the great advice! I'll definitely call Carnival and make sure seperate letters are ok. Her Dad was VERY good about getting the form signed and notarized for her to get her passport when we applied for that last month, so I'm hoping he won't make a stink about this letter.

 

Having some set rules ahead of time also sounds like a fantastic idea, and not having kids of my own I probably wouldn't have though of that before it was too late!

[Nebr.cruiser]

We actually wrote up a 'Cruise Behavior Contract' with the rules we expected and had all the grandkids read and sign it. The oldest were 11, however; with teens I'd want very clear expectations spelled out.

[M&MGirl1]

We actually wrote up a 'Cruise Behavior Contract' with the rules we expected and had all the grandkids read and sign it. The oldest were 11, however; with teens I'd want very clear expectations spelled out.

 

I don't suppose you'd still have a copy of this you'd be willing to share? Given the particular teenager I'm dealing with this sounds like a VERY good idea.........much better than my sister's idea of bringing a length of rope and tying the girl to her if she misbehaves :D

 

Oh, and it seems seperate letters from each parent is just fine. Got those written up and the father is supposedly taking his in and signing it in front of a notary this weekend. ALso we got her passport in the mail yesterday, so everything seems to be coming together quite nicely (knock on wood....)!