Cruising with kids that aren't mine

[ALSPAUGHDOLL]

We have taken some bonus kids with us on vacation the last couple of years.   We had planned a beach trip to Florida this summer with the crew but are quickly learning that prices for everything are through the roof.   We are now looking at taking the kids on a cruise.   We would have a total of 6 boys ages 14-16.   My question is what documentation do we need to cruise with kids that aren't ours?   I know the birth certificate/Id's that are needed but what about authorization from their parents.   One kids parents are also divorced, does that need something from both parents?   Bonus points if you have a document that you have used in the past.  I am now beyond excited with the thought of not having to cook for 8 people on vacation and all the fun the boys will have (while still being respectful of the other passengers) 

[MardiGras10022021]

i was divorced from jeff, took 3 minor kids, got a noterized from the bank from jeff. bought passports for them. no issues at all. had standards in place for them or they would in their cabin all day.

 

[famof4togo]

That sounds like a blast and power to you!  LOL...You would need a medical/travel release from the parents for sure (free printable online)...I am happily married but traveling without my spouse and Carnival even suggested I carry an authorization from hubby just in case.

[ginnibobb]

This is from the FAQ's on Carnivals website:

 

Traveling with Minors

When traveling with a minor where one parent or both parents or legal guardians are not cruising, we strongly recommend bringing an original signed letter from the absent parent(s) or legal guardians authorizing the minor to travel with you. If there is no second parent with legal claims to the minor (due to sole custody, deceased, etc.) other relevant paperwork, such as a court decision, death certificate, birth certificate naming only one parent, would be useful to bring in place of a signed letter. This will expedite processing by the Department of Homeland Security. 

 

Edited March 9, 2022 by ginnibobb

[Bgcruising]

The letter is very much for your protection.  

[she_the_cougar]

53 minutes ago, ginnibobb said:

This is from the FAQ's on Carnivals website:

 

Traveling with Minors

When traveling with a minor where one parent or both parents or legal guardians are not cruising, we strongly recommend bringing an original signed letter from the absent parent(s) or legal guardians authorizing the minor to travel with you. If there is no second parent with legal claims to the minor (due to sole custody, deceased, etc.) other relevant paperwork, such as a court decision, death certificate, birth certificate naming only one parent, would be useful to bring in place of a signed letter. This will expedite processing by the Department of Homeland Security. 

 

I'm doing exactly this very soon with my Girl Scout troop! The parents of my Girl Scouts have given me notarized Permission to Travel letters and notarized Power of Attorney forms that specifically allow me to travel with and make medical decisions for their named children for the time we'll be gone. If there were divorced and/or non-custodial parents involved, I'd be bringing that additional paperwork that ginnibobb noted, as well.

[evandbob]

When I cruised with a minor aged nephew, I always had notarized letters from his Mom giving me permission to take him on the cruise and international travel.  Also a notarized letter authorizing me to be his medical proxy in an emergency.

 

U.S. Immigration is more interested in seeing the documentation when you return from the cruise than Carnival is when arriving at the ship, so don't mislay it after boarding

[1025cruise]

I would insist the kids have a passport.

[Lane Hog]

We've traveled within the US with nieces, nephews, school friends, and always had a notarized letter of permission giving us emergency power for urgent healthcare decisions.  Also be sure to bring a copy of their health insurance details (assuming they have it via parents or guardians).
 

[sparks1093]

11 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

I would insist the kids have a passport.

That makes two of us.

 

We just returned from a cruise with our step granddaughter and we had a letter from mom giving us permission to take her and permission to get her treated medically. We also had a copy of the custody order showing that mom has sole legal custody. We never had to show it, but were glad we had it. The only time it came up was when we were checking in at the terminal. The agent asked her who she was traveling with (hint- they want the answer from the child, not from you so stay out of it). She said "My oma and my opa" and that was the end of the issue. 

 

DW heard of one family that had two kids along that were mom's best friend's kids (or something like that). They were asked at the terminal who they were traveling with (they were older kids) and they said they didn't know. It kind of went downhill from there as I understand it but they were allowed to board eventually. Just make sure the kids know who they are traveling with and let them know that when they are asked about it to leave the wiseacre comments alone.

[fbe2228]

We took our minor niece with us on a Caribbean cruise.  This is the letter that we had signed and notarized by both parents.

 

We had her passport and a copy of her birth certificate with us.  We used her passport to get on the ship and when we went through Immigration upon our return.  Nobody asked for anything else.  We did, however take a copy of passport, birth certificate and the two letters with us off the ship in port just in case.  It was probably overkill, but we wanted to be prepared for any emergency.  Hope this helps!!

 

 

CONSENT FOR MINOR CHILDREN TO TRAVEL 

Date: __________ 

 

We, ____________________________& ____________________________, authorize our minor child, _________________________________________, 
to travel with __________________ _________________________ out of the United States on the cruise ship Carnival ___________________________ on ________________ visiting (but not limited to) _________________________ _____________________________and ______________________________.  Expected date of return: _______________________. 

 

In addition, I authorize consent to, ____________________________, for any necessary routine or emergency treatment during aforementioned trip.   

 

Signed: ________________________________________ 

Signed:    ________________________________________ 

Address: ________________________________________ 

________________________________________ 

Phone: ________________________________________ 

 

Sworn to and signed before me, a Notary Public, 

this _________ day of ____________________  

______________________________________ 

Notary Public Signature and Seal 

 

 

 

 

[ALSPAUGHDOLL]

On 3/11/2022 at 7:39 AM, fbe2228 said:

We took our minor niece with us on a Caribbean cruise.  This is the letter that we had signed and notarized by both parents.

 

We had her passport and a copy of her birth certificate with us.  We used her passport to get on the ship and when we went through Immigration upon our return.  Nobody asked for anything else.  We did, however take a copy of passport, birth certificate and the two letters with us off the ship in port just in case.  It was probably overkill, but we wanted to be prepared for any emergency.  Hope this helps!!

 

 

CONSENT FOR MINOR CHILDREN TO TRAVEL 

Date: __________ 

 

We, ____________________________& ____________________________, authorize our minor child, _________________________________________, 
to travel with __________________ _________________________ out of the United States on the cruise ship Carnival ___________________________ on ________________ visiting (but not limited to) _________________________ _____________________________and ______________________________.  Expected date of return: _______________________. 

 

In addition, I authorize consent to, ____________________________, for any necessary routine or emergency treatment during aforementioned trip.   

 

Signed: ________________________________________ 

Signed:    ________________________________________ 

Address: ________________________________________ 

________________________________________ 

Phone: ________________________________________ 

 

Sworn to and signed before me, a Notary Public, 

this _________ day of ____________________  

______________________________________ 

Notary Public Signature and Seal 

 

 

 

 

Thank you!! This was exactly what I was looking for.   I don't anticipate any issues but no one ever does.  I want to be prepared.   I can't wait for this trip!!

[she_the_cougar]

I just got back on Saturday from a cruise with my Girl Scout troop! All the kids who had one parent with them had their passport and a notarized letter from the non-traveling parent giving them permission to travel. All the kids who had no parents with them had their passport, a notarized letter from both parents giving them permission to travel, and a notarized Limited Power of Attorney giving me, as the trip leader, explicit permission to travel with them in the United States and Mexico and to make medical decisions for them.

 

The kids were asked to show their passports at check-in and at Customs at the end of the trip, but only one kid was asked to show additional paperwork. Her mother actually happened to be one of our trip chaperones, so I called the mom over from where she was helping another stateroom of kids check in, and she showed her passport to the Carnival agent who'd asked for additional documentation. That agent did not ask for the notarized letter from her non-traveling parent, or any additional paperwork showing their relationship, etc. 

 

The chaperones all went to and from the ship at port with varying amounts of kids, and all any of us ever had to show were our Sail and Sign cards. 

 

We had a marvelous time, and I hope you do, too!

[famof4togo]

2 minutes ago, she_the_cougar said:

I just got back on Saturday from a cruise with my Girl Scout troop! All the kids who had one parent with them had their passport and a notarized letter from the non-traveling parent giving them permission to travel. All the kids who had no parents with them had their passport, a notarized letter from both parents giving them permission to travel, and a notarized Limited Power of Attorney giving me, as the trip leader, explicit permission to travel with them in the United States and Mexico and to make medical decisions for them.

 

The kids were asked to show their passports at check-in and at Customs at the end of the trip, but only one kid was asked to show additional paperwork. Her mother actually happened to be one of our trip chaperones, so I called the mom over from where she was helping another stateroom of kids check in, and she showed her passport to the Carnival agent who'd asked for additional documentation. That agent did not ask for the notarized letter from her non-traveling parent, or any additional paperwork showing their relationship, etc. 

 

The chaperones all went to and from the ship at port with varying amounts of kids, and all any of us ever had to show were our Sail and Sign cards. 

 

We had a marvelous time, and I hope you do, too!

Glad you guys had a good time!!!  I hope the girls made some memories they will never forget...and didn't get into too much trouble with the boys LOL

[ALSPAUGHDOLL]

22 hours ago, she_the_cougar said:

I just got back on Saturday from a cruise with my Girl Scout troop! All the kids who had one parent with them had their passport and a notarized letter from the non-traveling parent giving them permission to travel. All the kids who had no parents with them had their passport, a notarized letter from both parents giving them permission to travel, and a notarized Limited Power of Attorney giving me, as the trip leader, explicit permission to travel with them in the United States and Mexico and to make medical decisions for them.

 

The kids were asked to show their passports at check-in and at Customs at the end of the trip, but only one kid was asked to show additional paperwork. Her mother actually happened to be one of our trip chaperones, so I called the mom over from where she was helping another stateroom of kids check in, and she showed her passport to the Carnival agent who'd asked for additional documentation. That agent did not ask for the notarized letter from her non-traveling parent, or any additional paperwork showing their relationship, etc. 

 

The chaperones all went to and from the ship at port with varying amounts of kids, and all any of us ever had to show were our Sail and Sign cards. 

 

We had a marvelous time, and I hope you do, too!

Funny, I just read your whole thread and wondered if you had sailed yet!   I wonder why the one kid was singled out.  I do plan on having the parents notarize the POA and all that stuff.  Did you provide a form for the parents to complete and notarize? 

[she_the_cougar]

3 hours ago, ALSPAUGHDOLL said:

Funny, I just read your whole thread and wondered if you had sailed yet!   I wonder why the one kid was singled out.  I do plan on having the parents notarize the POA and all that stuff.  Did you provide a form for the parents to complete and notarize? 

To be perfectly honest, I think she was singled out because she's Black and I'm white. There were other POC in our group, kids and adults, but they were standing in another agent's line to check into different staterooms. The agent checking my group in also had a lot of trouble with the fact that the kids were booked into separate staterooms than the adults. She told us that wasn't allowed, then immediately said she'd get her manager, and the manager showed her how to check us in. But you better believe that in the time it took for her to get the manager, I'd already Googled and pulled up Carnival's policy on Traveling with Minors and was ready to show her that our cabin arrangement fit their guidelines! 

 

I did not provide the form, but I will next time. Everyone showed up with forms with similar language, but my co-leader did have to head one mom off who had planned to just type something up on her phone. At the time, it felt like one more thing I did not want to have to research myself, but now that I've seen what the language generally looks like, it won't be hard to pull up an example copy to give parents for the next trip.

[ALSPAUGHDOLL]

15 hours ago, she_the_cougar said:

To be perfectly honest, I think she was singled out because she's Black and I'm white. There were other POC in our group, kids and adults, but they were standing in another agent's line to check into different staterooms. The agent checking my group in also had a lot of trouble with the fact that the kids were booked into separate staterooms than the adults. She told us that wasn't allowed, then immediately said she'd get her manager, and the manager showed her how to check us in. But you better believe that in the time it took for her to get the manager, I'd already Googled and pulled up Carnival's policy on Traveling with Minors and was ready to show her that our cabin arrangement fit their guidelines! 

 

I did not provide the form, but I will next time. Everyone showed up with forms with similar language, but my co-leader did have to head one mom off who had planned to just type something up on her phone. At the time, it felt like one more thing I did not want to have to research myself, but now that I've seen what the language generally looks like, it won't be hard to pull up an example copy to give parents for the next trip.

What an amazing opportunity for your girl scouts.  I can't even imagine how excited they were leading up to this cruise.    I have informed the parents that I will be sending a form out for them to complete and notarize prior to our sailing.   I am not too worried, yet want to ensure I have my ducks in a row.  We booked 2 rooms and my husband and I are split although we plan on visiting guest service to switch out keys so we are in the same room.  We have the younger 2 boys in our room with us and the 16 year old's next door.   I can't wait.