Cruising with grandchildren on the Independence of the Sea

[itsanita]

We are thinking about taking 2 of our grandchildren...boys ages 5 and 7 on a 4-5 day cruise on the Independence. this will be their first cruise.

 

I have a few questions. Will we need some type of paperwork from their parents to bring them on board? Or just the regular filled out paperwork that can be down on line and their passports?

We have paperwork giving us permission to have them treated if illness/injury already.

 

Any ideas and suggestions would be welcome. I'm a bit nervous. I will check out this forum as well.

 

Thanks

[peaofsweetness]

Just the regular. You won't be the first to take your grandchildren on your own. Have a great time.

 

 

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[kitkat343]

Don't worry - cruising is a perfect way to travel with kids that age. Whenever you get tired, you can bring them to the kids club and they'll have a great time. My son has loved 3 all cruises he's taken. He loves to explore things, so he has really enjoyed city traveling and museums. Depending upon what you are doing for excursions, you might want to book independently with vendors you find on the cruise critic destination forum or trip advisor. We did not want to be stuck on a cruise tour bus with a lot of passengers and a cranky 3 year old. On our private tours, we were able to stop and feed our son whenever he needed a break and we skipped the lesser rooms in museums and just saw the highlights. We researched ahead of time exactly what we wanted to see in museums and was able to do those things first before our son got bored or needed to move on. Thanks to the private tours, our son was able to see all of the major highlights and museums in St. Petersburg at 3.5. The only bad tour we had on 3 cruises was the ship tour we had to take in the Panama Canal since the government wouldn't let us off the Coral Princess unless we were with a ship tour. My son got bored halfway through a wildlife cruise and we were stuck and made the other poor passengers unhappy (well there wasn't any wildlife so I don't know that they were all that happy either, but my son whining didn't help).

 

On the first breakfast, bring a big bag to the buffet and get lots of yoghurt, cereal in boxes and fruit for the room. That way you'll always have snacks on hand immediately if your grandkids are hungry. You can't bring fruit off the ship, but the sealed cereal and yoghurt containers can go with you. Whenever my son got fussy or I needed to keep him awake in the car so he'd sleep a full nap on the ship, I let him pick a cereal and he was happy again.

 

Also, have the parents pack whatever medication the children might need since it will be hard to buy on the ship or in ports.

[itsanita]

Great information, thank you so much for the time you took to reply.

[6rugrats]

Just the regular. You won't be the first to take your grandchildren on your own. Have a great time.

 

 

 

Not true. You will need a notarized "Permission to Travel" letter signed by both parents. It's possible you will never be asked for it, but if you are and you don't have it, you could be denied boarding.

[cb at sea]

Yes...definitely get a permission letter from the parents!!

[williamsk]

Also make sure permission to make medical decisions is included in your legal paperwork.

[negn]

Definately will need permission slip. On NCL need a notarized signed by both parents and copies of their drivers licenses

Dont' forget things like childrens Tylenol, something for motion sickness... just in case

[Kerry's Girls]

Just the regular. You won't be the first to take your grandchildren on your own. Have a great time.

 

 

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What horrible mis-information. This could result in showing up for the cruise and being denied boarding - which is not covered by trip insurance because the insured has the responsibility to obtain all required documentation. So you have disappointed kids and huge loss of money.

 

Even a PARENT is required to bring documentation that they are allowed to travel alone with their child - let alone grandparents. You may not be asked for it, but plenty of us have been. You need notarized permission from each parent. Then, in addition to passports, you need to bring birth certificates showing the names of the parents, since the passports don't.

 

Have a great time - lucky grandkids!

[6rugrats]

What horrible mis-information. This could result in showing up for the cruise and being denied boarding - which is not covered by trip insurance because the insured has the responsibility to obtain all required documentation. So you have disappointed kids and huge loss of money.

 

Even a PARENT is required to bring documentation that they are allowed to travel alone with their child - let alone grandparents. You may not be asked for it' date=' but plenty of us have been. You need [u']notarized[/u] permission from each parent. Then, in addition to passports, you need to bring birth certificates showing the names of the parents, since the passports don't.

 

Have a great time - lucky grandkids!

Yes, you need to always check entry requirements of the countries you're visiting. I took my DD to South Africa this summer and we needed her passport, her certified birth certificate, her dad's death certificate, and his driver's license, which I thought was crazy. But, before we could board that flight, the airline asked for and looked at all this documentation.

[itsanita]

Thanks everyone for all the info. I will f/u with all of this.

[Kerry's Girls]

Yes, you need to always check entry requirements of the countries you're visiting. I took my DD to South Africa this summer and we needed her passport, her certified birth certificate, her dad's death certificate, and his driver's license, which I thought was crazy. But, before we could board that flight, the airline asked for and looked at all this documentation.

 

SO true - you can't trust what reps (airline, cruise, etc.) tell you on the phone. We saw moms in both Cape Town and Johannesburg being turned away at the airport because they didn't have the required documentation proving they were allowed to travel alone with their kids. One unfortunate family had been allowed to board their flight and then rejected at immigration on landing, so had to wait to board a flight back home, missing their holiday. I know South Africa is especially strict, but I actually appreciate when immigration is doing their best to avoid non-custodial parent/grandparent kidnapping. Always best to have more than enough paperwork.

 

All the best,

Mia