Traveling with daughter and grand daughter-no father authorization

[clbl99]

Dad is out of the picture. Haven't heard from him in a long while.

 

Daughter has BC but dad's name is on it.

 

Any suggestions? I really don't want to get there and have them say no, she can't board. We are on MSC Magnifica.

[alserrod]

Have they enough documentation to leave the country?

 

[granger]

2 hours ago, clbl99 said:

Dad is out of the picture. Haven't heard from him in a long while.

 

Daughter has BC but dad's name is on it.

 

Any suggestions? I really don't want to get there and have them say no, she can't board. We are on MSC Magnifica.

My daughter had to have a notarized letter from divorced Father to allow her to take their daughter on a cruise.

[ken_ll]

clbl99. I will give my comments, your situation is similar to mine, the father is not in picture.  I have to make two assumptions first, one you live in the US and secondly the MSC Magniica will sail Miami return.

 

We - DW, myself, SD, and grand-daughter have done two cruises with the BC  (with fathers’ name on BC) for the infant.  The rest of us have passports.  Last year we travelled on Princess, New York to Quebec City which we could as we are Canadian residents and in November on the MSC Seascape, Miami return.  On both occasions, the contract staff doing check-ins were baffled with the BC.

 

Read up on the Western Hemispheres Travel Initiatives (WHTI).  Canadian and United States resident Children under 16 can travel with a BC.  In it you will see restrictions, i.e. closed loop cruise, like Miami return.  Each time I did the talking letting the check-in staff know that I already confirmed it with the cruise line and reference WHTI.  The staff go off with the BC and 5-10 minutes later come back and say ok, then we boarded.

 

On return to Miami, the only downside and probably because we were not US residents was from the immigration officer who grumpy/aggressive asking where the father of the infant was and I indicated that he was back in xxxxxx.  He was in jail and I had the documentation for that if needed.

 

(For some cruise lines, e.g. Princess, you need more than one adult to travel with child using BC in the event the primary adult gets sick/injured and is no longer on ship.)

 

This is longer than planned, hope it helps.

[clbl99]

52 minutes ago, granger said:

My daughter had to have a notarized letter from divorced Father to allow her to take their daughter on a cruise.

The father is MIA and they were never married.

[clbl99]

46 minutes ago, ken_ll said:

clbl99. I will give my comments, your situation is similar to mine, the father is not in picture.  I have to make two assumptions first, one you live in the US and secondly the MSC Magniica will sail Miami return.

 

We - DW, myself, SD, and grand-daughter have done two cruises with the BC  (with fathers’ name on BC) for the infant.  The rest of us have passports.  Last year we travelled on Princess, New York to Quebec City which we could as we are Canadian residents and in November on the MSC Seascape, Miami return.  On both occasions, the contract staff doing check-ins were baffled with the BC.

 

Read up on the Western Hemispheres Travel Initiatives (WHTI).  Canadian and United States resident Children under 16 can travel with a BC.  In it you will see restrictions, i.e. closed loop cruise, like Miami return.  Each time I did the talking letting the check-in staff know that I already confirmed it with the cruise line and reference WHTI.  The staff go off with the BC and 5-10 minutes later come back and say ok, then we boarded.

 

On return to Miami, the only downside and probably because we were not US residents was from the immigration officer who grumpy/aggressive asking where the father of the infant was and I indicated that he was back in xxxxxx.  He was in jail and I had the documentation for that if needed.

 

(For some cruise lines, e.g. Princess, you need more than one adult to travel with child using BC in the event the primary adult gets sick/injured and is no longer on ship.)

 

This is longer than planned, hope it helps.

I am not worried about her not having a passport. The fact that the father is MIA and I don't have permission from him. We are US citizens and it is a closed cruise .

 

I think I will go with this- 🙂  " Each time I did the talking letting the check-in staff know that I already confirmed it with the cruise line and reference WHTI.  The staff go off with the BC and 5-10 minutes later come back and say ok, then we boarded"

 

Thank you.

[mscdivina2016]

20 hours ago, clbl99 said:

Dad is out of the picture. Haven't heard from him in a long while.

 

Daughter has BC but dad's name is on it.

 

Any suggestions? I really don't want to get there and have them say no, she can't board. We are on MSC Magnifica.

Who's last name does the GD have?

 We had a minor issue at POM with our GD with the father not sailing. We needed a letter of consent signed and notarized.

 We were not able to board without it. Luckily in our case the father dropped her off and just had to zip over to the bank to get the document notarized.

[Até]

From the MSC US Terms & Conditions Section 6:

 

Passengers under the age of 21 (on voyages that include a port in the USA) or 18 (on voyages that do not include a port in the USA) must travel accompanied by their parents or a legal guardian. If one of the traveling minor’s parents is not cruising, then a signed authorization letter, from the absent parent authorizing the minor to travel, made in accordance with the laws of the country where the minor resides, must be provided at the time of Booking.

 

Booking Terms and Conditions 240520.pdf

[clbl99]

31 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Who's last name does the GD have?

 We had a minor issue at POM with our GD with the father not sailing. We needed a letter of consent signed and notarized.

 We were not able to board without it. Luckily in our case the father dropped her off and just had to zip over to the bank to get the document notarized.

Her fathers and we haven't heard from him in months. That is the issue, we can not find him to sign a form.

[clbl99]

25 minutes ago, Até said:

From the MSC US Terms & Conditions Section 6:

 

Passengers under the age of 21 (on voyages that include a port in the USA) or 18 (on voyages that do not include a port in the USA) must travel accompanied by their parents or a legal guardian. If one of the traveling minor’s parents is not cruising, then a signed authorization letter, from the absent parent authorizing the minor to travel, made in accordance with the laws of the country where the minor resides, must be provided at the time of Booking.

 

Booking Terms and Conditions 240520.pdf 385.61 kB · 1 download

As i have said-we can not locate the father.

 

[MonsterJoe]

We did have a notarized letter from the father last year for my step-son, who has a different last name than the rest of us. They did not ask for it. cursory Googling and places like Reddi*...show lots of similar experiences.

[Até]

Obtaining a passport is going to require the father's signature anyway.  I'm not sure of the grand daughter's age but getting full legal custody is probably a good idea regardless of what MSC wants.

[mscdivina2016]

2 hours ago, clbl99 said:

Her fathers and we haven't heard from him in months. That is the issue, we can not find him to sign a form.

I would be Leary of taking her on a cruise then. You conceivably could be denied and lose all the money.

 

 Another option would be to talk to an attorney and get their input on your options.

 

 

[Essiesmom]

1 hour ago, mscdivina2016 said:

I would be Leary of taking her on a cruise then. You conceivably could be denied and lose all the money.

 

 Another option would be to talk to an attorney and get their input on your options.

 

 

And start the ball rolling on full custody.  EM

[jennmaybe]

I’m sorry, but this is not a chance I would take.  I fully empathize with the situation, but until legal action has been taken, you could definitely have issues with this.

 

Good luck! 💖

[purpleally]

Talk to a lawyer about changing her name and removing deadbeat from birth certificate