Specific question about parental consent.

[SJChaput]

I agree but as in the link posted earlier even CBP says recommended. Without the note you can be delayed. As stated below:

 

If a child (under the age of 18) is traveling with only one parent or someone who is not a parent or legal guardian, what paperwork should the adult have to indicate permission or legal authority to have that child in their care?

 

Due to the increasing incidents of child abductions in disputed custody cases and as possible victims of child pornography, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) strongly recommends that unless the child is accompanied by both parents, the adult have a note from the child's other parent (or, in the case of a child traveling with grandparents, uncles or aunts, sisters or brothers, friends, or in groups*, a note signed by both parents) stating "I acknowledge that my wife/husband/etc. is traveling out of the country with my son/daughter/group. He/She/They has/have my permission to do so." See our Q&A parental consent.

 

* School groups, teen tours, vacation groups.

 

CBP also suggests that this note be notarized.

 

While CBP may not ask to see this documentation, if we do ask, and you do not have it, you may be detained until the circumstances of the child traveling without both parents can be fully assessed. If there is no second parent with legal claims to the child (deceased, sole custody, etc.) any other relevant paperwork, such as a court decision, birth certificate naming only one parent, death certificate, etc., would be useful.

 

I also get the feeling that that's more geared toward international travel like flying to Prague. Cruises don't even require a passport so they're obviously seen as different than normal international travel as its "closed loop"

 

It doesn't differentiate in that so I can't be sure. But nobody says its REQUIRED and I can't see a family of five who all have the proper ID, have the same last name and are all obviously related looking having a problem that would deny boarding.

 

Recommended means recommended not REQUIRED. Denying someone boarding without it sems seriously required to me.

[acbat1]

They also RECOMMEND a passport but one is not NEEDED.

 

If this all important letter was REQUIRED, it would be REQUIRED, but it is not.

 

I am still wondering why people are being asked for this letter when they come back as the USA has no requirements or even suggestion for the letter, that would be Mexico. And they only require it if Mexico is your destination, not just a day stop.

 

This was my point when I was asked by the agent. If I was going to kidnap my kids it would seem you all should have asked when I was leaving the country not when I'm bringing them back. It was like they were asking me if I had permission from my husband to bring my kids back to him LOL!

[evandbob]

Have not read whole thread, but CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) trumps any cruise line policy. If THEY want the letter and you don't have it, you will be detained from boarding until all facts of the matter are ascertained regardless if Carnival says OK or not. Your chances of missing the ship at that point greatly increase.

 

As well as upon the return to the home port at the end of the cruise. I have been asked by US Customs to show the notarized permission letter when I was traveling with a minor nephew.

[serene56]

Notice how it says when minors under 18 are not traveling with a RELATIVE (doesn't mention legal guardian / parent) they RECOMMEND having the form simply to help expedite the process and don't mention NOTARIZATION at all... Except in the case of debarking in Mexico (Which I take to mean terminating the cruise there)... Note that elsewhere in this same FAQ Carnival differentiates between legal guardian and relative.

..

 

I was asked for a letter when leaving the ship. The Custom officer asked for it then took the 5 year old grand daughter a few feet ahead and asked her questions-- who i was and what my name was.

[SJChaput]

I was asked for a letter when leaving the ship. The Custom officer asked for it then took the 5 year old grand daughter a few feet ahead and asked her questions-- who i was and what my name was.

 

Interesting... Possibly the fact that she was so young is a factor. In this situation they're two crabby teens!

[SJChaput]

As well as upon the return to the home port at the end of the cruise. I have been asked by US Customs to show the notarized permission letter when I was traveling with a minor nephew.

 

I'm curious... Do you share a last name?

[jbhcw]

Taking two grandsons on a cruise in two weeks without parents...They have passports...and forms Carnival provided have been signed and notarized by both parents....Even though it is just a 4 day Bahamas cruise...we will still be out of the country....there is no way I would even attempt to travel with them without all the proper documentation....why chance it:confused:

[loxley]

This was my point when I was asked by the agent. If I was going to kidnap my kids it would seem you all should have asked when I was leaving the country not when I'm bringing them back. It was like they were asking me if I had permission from my husband to bring my kids back to him LOL!

 

Check this thread out. Interesting read.

 

http://forums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1018749&highlight=galveston+passport+issued

[Sue Do-Over]

The teenagers are old enough to be questioned -- "How do you know the adult you are traveling with?"

 

The whole notarized/court paperwork is, at its foundation, to prevent trafficing of humans and kidnapping -- including a parent taking their own child out of the country to keep the child from the other parent -- no matter who has legal custody.

 

A teenager who says "This is my grandma, and we live with her" probably goes a long, long way to making things smooth.

 

That said, a teenager's word isn't enough. You'll need to have their birth certificates, their own school ID or drivers licences, and anything in writing (from a court) that establishes Grandma as their guardian.

[Sue Do-Over]

When my kids were 4 and 5, we went to Canada on the ferry across Puget Sound. On arrival, Canada customs asked them in a very friendly way "Who are these people?" "Mommy and Daddy!" "Do you live with them all the time?" "YES, in KENTUCKY!" "What brings you to Canada today?" "We are here to have fun and eat hot dogs and see the whales!"

 

She laughed and stamped their passports. As parents, we thought she did a great job of establishing that they weren't traveling against their will, that they knew us, and that they weren't keeping any secrets.