Documents +excursion = complicated???

[Rjh8842]

One of my nieces will be staying in my parents room. I know we need to have documentation because she is in a different stateroom. However on the day we are in cozumel it gets a little comicated. We were thinking of each adult taking a child and doing an excursion with them. Since my youngest niece is staying in the room with my parents i thought she should switch up for the excursion. Meaning grandparents take a different child. My concern is this would mean that the child going with grandparents on excursion as well as my youngest niece will be leaving the ship with an adult that is not in their room. Do we need to fill out another document to do this? How does this work? If i have to we can just split the children by what room they are in but that means they wont interact with the rest of the family as much. To clarify my sister will be on the cruise just in anothet stateroom. And if we do have to fill out a document for the excursion will it be my sister that fills it out or my parents that she will have had to sign my niece over to for the duration of the cruise?

[njmomof2]

They do not care which adult takes a child off the ship. As long as a minor is accompanied by an adult they can leave the ship.

 

You can set up your accounts so that you have whomever you want to pay for on the same card. You can take whichever minor you want to an activity as long as waivers have been signed.

 

There really is nothing else to be done.

 

I'm not sure I understand your comment about the kids not interacting with the family. You can plan whatever excursions you want and as long as the minor has an adult with them, they can go.

 

ETA: If your sister (the mother of the children) is on the cruise, then everything is fine. I'd just have everyone check in together if possible, then have the kids get the keys to the rooms in which they are staying.

Edited September 7, 2016 by njmomof2

[foxgoodrich]

I'm not sure I completely understand the situation and your question, but here's what I got:

*family group is cruising together

*kids are staying in rooms with relatives, not parents

*parents are in other rooms but coming on cruise

*kids will go with various relatives, other than parents, on excursions

 

My experience in the past is that we've left the ship with grandkids and we've simply presented the sea passes to be scanned and walked off the ship. We had no documents, though our bookings were linked with kids/grandkids' bookings. But if you have concerns about leaving the ship, why not just assemble the entire group and leave the ship together in Cozumel? Or go to Guest Services prior to the Cozumel stop and find out if some kind of documentation is required. I'm sure you can get the information and take care of it aboard before you arrive in port.

 

If a release must be signed for an excursion, the parent or the person with legal custody of the child on the cruise, will need to sign.

 

Perhaps there are others with more experience/information here on CC who can advise you. You could also call your travel agent or Royal's customer service to ask your questions.

Judy

[gagirl7143]

Do not worry, just ping off and enjoy!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[irishgal432]

I know we need to have documentation because she is in a different stateroom.

If her parents are coming on the cruise, no documentation is necessary for boarding or excursion unless she has to sign a waiver for the excursion.

[Rjh8842]

The cruise rep told me that we had to have a noterized letter because my niece's room is not next to her mother's room. I would think that the cruise line would have some type of system in place so that no child could leave the ship without the person that is legally responsible for them on the cruise. Otherwise what is stopping a stranger from taking a child. I would think that because our reservations are connected that we would not need boarding documents. But that is not the case according to the cruise rep. And we are going on excursions at different times so we will not be leaving the ship as a family.

[Desert Cruizers]

Since the parents are going with the children and if all of your are boarding the ship at the same time, then no documentation needed, however I would bring Birth Certificates along. It appears the children are not rooming with their parents, yet the parents should request a key for their rooms to check in on them. Set up meeting times & locations during the cruise.

 

In regards to the Tours or just leaving the ship to walk around, no child is allowed to leave the ship without an adult. As previously mentioned if an excursions requires a waver for a child, then the supervising adult should sign and carry that. When returning back to Port a check point is set up to check Sea Pass Cards upon entering the area. We bring on tours or when going into port, our DL & sometimes our Pass Ports.

[Little Buddy's Mom]

Since the parents are going with the children and if all of your are boarding the ship at the same time, then no documentation needed, however I would bring Birth Certificates along. It appears the children are not rooming with their parents, yet the parents should request a key for their rooms to check in on them. Set up meeting times & locations during the cruise.

 

In regards to the Tours or just leaving the ship to walk around, no child is allowed to leave the ship without an adult. As previously mentioned if an excursions requires a waver for a child, then the supervising adult should sign and carry that. When returning back to Port a check point is set up to check Sea Pass Cards upon entering the area. We bring on tours or when going into port, our DL & sometimes our Pass Ports.

 

 

Did you read the original post? :rolleyes: One child is staying with grandparents so why would the parents need a key to that cabin?

 

Also, there was no discussion about any child leaving the ship alone.

[BNL62]

We had the same set up on a cruise earlier this year. We had my sister's children spread across 3 cabins (6 children total).

 

My cabin was 2 doors down from my sister with my parents in between us. We did not have any additional document and my sister's cabin wasn't next door but we had no issue.

 

We also left the ship each day with different kids and only had their sea pass card and a birth certificate. Again, we didn't have any issues getting back on the ship.

 

In fact, even boarding was easy. We had the niece and nephew staying in our cabin with us but no signed document from their parents. The agent did ask where their parents were and we pointed a few lanes down and that was it. My parents also had no problems checking in with the two kids rooming with them. Thinking back it is a little concerning just how easy it was to take someone else's children on the ship!

[Desert Cruizers]

I am aware no child would be leaving the ship alone, but did misread about the child staying with an adult. One of my nieces will be staying in my parents room and only read a different room, my error.

[cb at sea]

You don't need ANYTHING for someone to stay in a different cabin...or, to get off the ship!

[foxgoodrich]

The cruise rep told me that we had to have a noterized letter because my niece's room is not next to her mother's room. I would think that the cruise line would have some type of system in place so that no child could leave the ship without the person that is legally responsible for them on the cruise. Otherwise what is stopping a stranger from taking a child. I would think that because our reservations are connected that we would not need boarding documents. But that is not the case according to the cruise rep. And we are going on excursions at different times so we will not be leaving the ship as a family.

 

Okay, what the cruise rep is talking about has to do with the rules for cabin assignments, and RC's requirement that minors in cabins without an adult be within a certain proximity to the cabin of the parent or guardian. Since your niece is not staying within the required proximity to her mom's cabin, I guess your cruise rep thinks they need to document parental permission to stay in Grandma's cabin, even though your niece is not in a cabin with other minors but rather with adults. It will not affect leaving the ship. (And I bet nobody at check-in will even ask to see the notarized document since you will all be boarding together.;)) This policy affects bookings and names assigned to cabins (info required for the official manifest), but it does not affect leaving the ship once you board.

 

You will not need any notarized documents to leave the ship. Each person (child or adult) will need to have his/her sea pass card and identification, which for a child could be a birth certificate, state picture ID card, or passport. (When coming back aboard the ship, in certain ports they ask to see ID in addition to sea passes.)

 

We've walked off with our grandkids (their parents were not with us and they were not staying in our cabin) and we needed no documentation to leave the ship. We all had our sea passes scanned and left the ship. We've always had the grandkids' IDs with us, but never have been asked to show them to reboard the ship on the Caribbean cruises we've done with the kids.

Judy

Edited September 7, 2016 by foxgoodrich

[foxgoodrich]

I would think that the cruise line would have some type of system in place so that no child could leave the ship without the person that is legally responsible for them on the cruise. Otherwise what is stopping a stranger from taking a child.

The answer is PARENT/GUARDIAN SUPERVISION. We must take seriously our responsibility for the safety of the children in our care. Period. Always. Even on a cruise.

A cruise ship does not have legal responsibility to supervise anybody's kids, unless they are enrolled in and participating in the kids' program.

 

What is stopping a stranger from taking a child from the public library? Or a playground at the park? Or a shopping mall? Or a hotel lobby? THE PARENT OR GUARDIAN.

Not the librarian, not the parks department, not the mall employees, not the hotel desk clerk - it's the responsible adult who is in charge of the child who must protect the child from stranger danger.

Its a 24/7/365 responsibility. It doesn't stop when we board a cruise ship.

 

Thinking back it is a little concerning just how easy it was to take someone else's children on the ship!

Or the public library...or the park...or the shopping mall...or a hotel lobby, etc. The sad fact is that some children are susceptible to being enticed by strangers. And the bad guys know exactly how to spot those kids. Although a cruise ship may seem to be a perfectly safe place, it's no different than any other place with thousands of people. The law of averages says that among a group of several thousand people, there will be some bad guys. And the cruise line is only responsible for kids when they are physically in the kids' program.

 

Bottom Line: It's up to the parent/guardian to safeguard the children in their care from strangers who might want to walk off the ship with them.

 

(And unfortunately there are some parents I've seen who really should put a much higher priority on supervising their kids on the cruise than on getting their money's worth from their drink packages.:rolleyes:)

Judy