Woman gives birth to baby boy on board Queen Mary 2

[Runners]

http://nypost.com/2016/01/18/woman-gives-birth-to-baby-boy-on-board-queen-mary-2/

[cruiseluvva]

Wow! Exciting, but potentially worrying. I assumed that like on an aircraft, there would be an upper limit of gestation, beyond which women would not be able to travel.

[cruiseluvva]

In fact there is a limit of 24 weeks gestation by the end if the cruise, so how did she slip through the net?

[Jim Avery]

Not sure how someone due in 3 weeks got approved either but, lucky kid. According to the story they have deemed him American. With German parent (s) he should end up with dual citizenship, right?

[Keith1010]

The cruise line does have to rely on the honesty of those who sail the line when it comes to this issue. And it is not always so obvious how far along one might be.

 

Keith

[MawganTr]

I'm surprised she was allowed to travel...not easy to hide a bump,at nearly 9months. Congrats, obviously and wishing them good health.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Austcruiser84]

No doubt the rough weather and heavy seas provoked the child from the womb. It was a rocky final 24 hours into NY!

[brigittetom]

So the hope was that the baby would be born in Canada? She would never pass the screening at the airport to get home. Even if she looked less pregnant....the airlines would require certification from her physician. :confused:

[MommaBear55]

I hope they charge the baby full fare, taxes and gratuities! I wonder how they reconcile the manifest? I have very little patience with people who jeopardizectheir child's health by traveling past the posted dates of gestation for travel.

[Austcruiser84]

I hope they charge the baby full fare, taxes and gratuities! I wonder how they reconcile the manifest? I have very little patience with people who jeopardizectheir child's health by traveling past the posted dates of gestation for travel.

 

Before throwing rotten fruit at the people in the stocks, I think it is important to note that we don't have all the details. Many cruise lines say no pregnant travellers after the start of the 7th month. Now it is entirely possible this baby was premature and the woman was on the cusp of the no travel rule.

[Winchester Ranger]

Incredible stupidity really, and there's definitely at least one mattress to avoid on board.

[Salacia]

Before throwing rotten fruit at the people in the stocks, I think it is important to note that we don't have all the details. Many cruise lines say no pregnant travellers after the start of the 7th month. Now it is entirely possible this baby was premature and the woman was on the cusp of the no travel rule.

 

Throwing rotten fruit? No, I don't think so; I believe comments were made based on the news report quoted. Had the baby been born prematurely, isn't it likely that the report would have mentioned that newsworthy fact?

I don't know what other cruise lines rules are regarding pregnant passengers, but what is germane here is the rules set forth in Cunard Passage Contract.

I wonder if travel insurance will cover medical expenses when the conditions of the Passage Contract were violated. But the main thing is that mother and child are healthy and doing well - very good news indeed! Cheers, -S.

[Ray66]

According to the report, the baby was born three weeks prematurely. Therefore the woman was 8 months pregnant.

 

The baby was supposed to be due in three weeks, but just couldn't wait, he said

 

From Cunard's FAQs:

 

Can I travel when I am pregnant?

 

Yes, depending on how far into your pregnancy you are. Please advise us at time of booking or as soon as you are aware that you are expecting a baby.

 

Passengers who are pregnant may travel as long as they do not enter their 24th week of pregnancy by the final day of their cruise and their doctor has agreed both mother and baby are fit to travel.

 

Proof of EDD and Fitness to travel will be required by the medical department prior to travel.

 

https://ask.cunard.com/help/cunard/before-you-sail/travel_pregnant

[chengkp75]

Not sure how someone due in 3 weeks got approved either but, lucky kid. According to the story they have deemed him American. With German parent (s) he should end up with dual citizenship, right?

 

Well, its only the uncle who claims the US citizenship. Since the child was born on a ship, he was born on Bermudan territory.

[BlueRiband]

Happily mother and baby are doing well. Even when childbirth goes well, the parents will now have to deal with:

1) visiting their country's consulate to get a passport for baby - who has no documentation of his or her existence

2) they'll have to arrange to fly back since baby is too young to sail. Do they now sue Cunard because they loose their fare? (I can see an American lawyer grabbing on to this - that Cunard should not have "allowed" her to sail.)

3) they have no "baby stuff" and have to purchase it.

 

This is at least the fourth shipboard birth we've read of on these boards since a woman sued RCI after being denied boarding because her pregnancy was too advanced. Sooner or later a baby isn't going to make it.

Edited January 19, 2016 by BlueRiband

[Austcruiser84]

Throwing rotten fruit? No, I don't think so; I believe comments were made based on the news report quoted. Had the baby been born prematurely, isn't it likely that the report would have mentioned that newsworthy fact?

 

Yes and therein lies the problem: the comments were based on a news report. As for the modern media missing newsworthy facts, do I really need to say anything? :)

[Jim Avery]

Well, its only the uncle who claims the US citizenship. Since the child was born on a ship, he was born on Bermudan territory.

 

I have no clue, just relating what was mentioned in the article. Seems all you have to do these days is just think about being American and poof! you are one. But if the kid is American by decree, German by parents, and Bermudian by shipboard presence, it might do him well as a young adult in a singles bar to mention his Triple Citizenship!!!:eek::D:D

[balf]

. Do they now sue Cunard because they loose their fare? (I can see an American lawyer grabbing on to this - that Cunard should not have "allowed" her to sail.)

it.

 

 

If she gave false information on her booking more likely Cunard could sue her, but they're unlikely to. This is free publicity and Cunard comes out smelling of roses.

 

David.

[Salacia]

Well, its only the uncle who claims the US citizenship. Since the child was born on a ship, he was born on Bermudan territory.

 

But if the ship was within USA Territorial waters, would the baby not also be a citizen of the USA if he was born when the ship was within 12 nautical miles of the US? The NY Post story said the baby was born on Saturday night. QM2 docked around 6a.m. Sunday. But how likely was it that the ship was within 12 nautical miles of the USA on Saturday night? (That would have meant that the casino was closed, and that doesn't often happen before midnight.) Of course, in the interest of passenger safety, the captain might have hugged the shore line just in case of an emergency. Either way, well done to the Captain and crew. Cheers, -S

[chengkp75]

But if the ship was within USA Territorial waters, would the baby not also be a citizen of the USA if he was born when the ship was within 12 nautical miles of the US? The NY Post story said the baby was born on Saturday night. QM2 docked around 6a.m. Sunday. But how likely was it that the ship was within 12 nautical miles of the USA on Saturday night? (That would have meant that the casino was closed, and that doesn't often happen before midnight.) Of course, in the interest of passenger safety, the captain might have hugged the shore line just in case of an emergency. Either way, well done to the Captain and crew. Cheers, -S

 

In the area where the QM2 was coming from, around the end of Long Island and down the south shore, there are traffic separation schemes, which would preclude "hugging the shore". Also, given Cunard's poor record in the area between Boston and NYC (QE2 ran aground there), they would avoid that at all costs, and since a helicopter flies at a hundred miles an hour, at least, whether the ship was 12 miles or 60 miles out would make little difference.

 

To the best of my knowledge, no, just the presence of territorial waters would not grant citizenship.

[steamboats]

According to a German newspaper the father was not onboard. The father is a pretty well known movie producer in Germany. Mother (not married) and her brother will stay in NYC for a couple of more days also to check out whether the boy has gained the US citizenship. The couple has a daughter together (and obviously the mother has another daughter from another father). According to that newspaper the boy was two weeks premature.

 

steamboats

[balf]

In the area where the QM2 was coming from, around the end of Long Island and down the south shore, there are traffic separation schemes, which would preclude "hugging the shore". Also, given Cunard's poor record in the area between Boston and NYC (QE2 ran aground there), they would avoid that at all costs, and since a helicopter flies at a hundred miles an hour, at least, whether the ship was 12 miles or 60 miles out would make little difference.

 

 

 

To the best of my knowledge, no, just the presence of territorial waters would not grant citizenship.

 

(CT:CON-576; 05-05-2015)

Consular Affairs

U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 7

a. Persons born on ships located within U.S. internal waters (except as provided in section 1113 d above) are considered to have been born in the United States. Such persons will acquire U.S. citizenship at birth if they are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Internal waters include the ports, harbors, bays, and other enclosed areas of the sea along the U.S. coast. As noted above, a child born on a foreign merchant ship or privately owned vessel in U.S. internal waters is considered as having been born subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. (See U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark.)

 

So it seems likely that it does.

 

David.

[brigittetom]

According to a German newspaper the father was not onboard. The father is a pretty well known movie producer in Germany. Mother (not married) and her brother will stay in NYC for a couple of more days also to check out whether the boy has gained the US citizenship. The couple has a daughter together (and obviously the mother has another daughter from another father). According to that newspaper the boy was two weeks premature.

 

steamboats

 

 

Does it state anywhere why this woman was sailing across the Atlantic with a baby due in two weeks? The whole story sounds odd and they should be counting their blessings that there were not complications that Cunard would have been ill equipped to handle.

[steamboats]

Does it state anywhere why this woman was sailing across the Atlantic with a baby due in two weeks?

 

No, unfortunately not! The newspaper focused on the father but did not even mention that getting onboard after 24 weeks pregnant is not allowed.

 

steamboats

[Wendy-Europe]

Reading who the babys father is (I do not reveal a secret.... germans biggest tabloid wrote about it)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0065376/

 

and I could believe they asked Cunard and they got special permission for the mother or - if they didn´t ask: they got VIP-boarding. In Germany it was pretty cold when the cruise started - think about down jackets, maybe a pashmina hanging - and who wants to ask a VIP-guest if she is pregnant or fat or chose an unfavourable dress?