Notarized letter required when bringing underage friends!

[robinm918]

Hello,

 

We had a near disaster last week when trying to board our Southern Caribbean cruise on AOS. My 16 year old son brought two friends on the cruise, both 17. This is not the first time we have allowed him to bring friends, nor did we ever have a problem. We had their passports and letters from both sets of parents authorizing us to act on their behalf in the event of an emergency.

 

When we got to check-in, the rep told us we needed notarized letters or they would not be allowed to board !! Needless to say, this caused us great concern. It was a Sunday afternoon and one set of parents were on vacation at Atlantis, the others were home in CT. I tried to explain that the odds of finding a notary on a Sunday and getting letters signed and notarized in a timely fashion would be very difficult.

 

I won't go into specifics, but I was able to find a notary and get two letters signed and notarized very quickly. Did I pull a few strings? Yes, but who cares. The letters were faxed to the ship, they gave them a quick glance and that was it.

 

And yes, this is clearly noted in the cruise documents, but who reads them in fine detail?

 

So, if you are bringing unaccompanied minors on a cruise, have a notarized letter ready !! You may not need it, but why take the chance. Good luck.

 

Frank and Robin

[alicam]

Yes...a good thing to know...we had our niece with us last month on a Celebrity cruise, but they never even asked about anything...I thought it was strange, but we had a notarized letter just in case...you definitely don't want to take a chance...lucky it worked in your favour

[Stevesan]

Hello,

 

We had a near disaster last week when trying to board our Southern Caribbean cruise on AOS. My 16 year old son brought two friends on the cruise, both 17. This is not the first time we have allowed him to bring friends, nor did we ever have a problem. We had their passports and letters from both sets of parents authorizing us to act on their behalf in the event of an emergency.

 

When we got to check-in, the rep told us we needed notarized letters or they would not be allowed to board !! Needless to say, this caused us great concern. It was a Sunday afternoon and one set of parents were on vacation at Atlantis, the others were home in CT. I tried to explain that the odds of finding a notary on a Sunday and getting letters signed and notarized in a timely fashion would be very difficult.

 

I won't go into specifics, but I was able to find a notary and get two letters signed and notarized very quickly. Did I pull a few strings? Yes, but who cares. The letters were faxed to the ship, they gave them a quick glance and that was it.

 

And yes, this is clearly noted in the cruise documents, but who reads them in fine detail?

 

So, if you are bringing unaccompanied minors on a cruise, have a notarized letter ready !! You may not need it, but why take the chance. Good luck.

 

Frank and Robin

 

And don't forget a Medical Authorization letter as well!!!