Cruising with Minors

[puhkuh11]

My mother and I will be cruising with my nieces (her granddaughters) as a graduation celebration in June on the Celebrity Beyond. At the time of the cruise, one will be 18 and the other 17, so they each are sharing a room with one of us since they are under 21.  Being that we are not their guardians, is there any other paperwork/documentation we should have besides passports? Will there be any issue with both of them getting on/off the ship with just me if my mom decides to stay onboard in port?

Edited March 3 by puhkuh11

[GeezerCouple]

11 minutes ago, puhkuh11 said:

My mother and I will be cruising with my nieces (her granddaughters) as a graduation celebration in June on the Celebrity Beyond. At the time of the cruise, one will be 18 and the other 17, so they each are sharing a room with one of us since they are under 21.  Being that we are not their guardians, is there any other paperwork/documentation we should have besides passports? Will there be any issue with both of them getting on/off the ship with just me if my mom decides to stay onboard in port?

 

Yes, and good to be planning ahead, rather than at the last moment,

 

There are a couple of things to keep in mind, and places to check.

First, keep in mind one of the reasons that some of the permissions and precautions will be necessary.  These are to try to avoid problems with children being trafficked or with a non-custodial parent taking a child out of the country, where the custodial parent may not be able to recover the child.  (That's why "one parent's signature" is not necessarily sufficient.)

 

The cruise line will probably have a form to be filled out and signed by both parents (probably notarized, but that depends) that gives permission for you to be taking them out of the country.

 

Do NOT forget to get written permission to make medical decisions for them "just in case".

ETA:  Double check about medical insurance!  If they don't have coverage for out of the country, then consider travel insurance.

 

The US State Department will also have guidelines, and we'd always at least include all that they recommend, even if the cruiseline does not.

And YES... Passports! 🙂 

 

You may or may not be required to show these documents when boarding, but you should definitely have them with you rather than risk being turned away.

 

Did you happen to be able to get interior-connecting cabins?  If so, then if you and the girls wished, you could still have them share one cabin, keeping the connecting door open.  (This is especially useful with younger children.)

 

And then enjoy your celebration cruise with the nieces/grands!

 

GC

Edited March 3 by GeezerCouple

[puhkuh11]

We did manage to get connecting rooms, so we'll let them bunk together. Thanks for the other info.  I've downloaded the required documentation from the cruise website.

Edited March 3 by puhkuh11