Proper documentation for child??

[Cruzin-K]

If she gets on the ship with her child without the father's permission I will be appalled and will probably say something to the authorities the next time I'm at whatever port she's sailing from. Those rules are in place for good reasons. Do you have any idea how many children are kidnapped by one parent, taken to a foreign country and never seen by the other parent again? :mad: It happens probably more often than you think. The case in Brazil just happened to make the news.

 

It's only been in recent years, because of all these kidnappings, that these rules were put in place. When my ex's children visited him in Italy they had to have written permission from their mother before they could go. Luckily both parents get along well enough and the kids are old enough now to express to both parents what it is they want but if their Mom hadn't wanted them to go, they would not have gone.

 

Honestly, if you don't have the letter I hope they deny boarding.

[cdngrl]

Understand the implications here. I will assume you are leaving the US. If you do not have legal authorizations of other custodial persons to travel, not only could you be barred from leaving the US, when entering another country, if they choose to ask, you could be detained under the Hague Convention (1998 I think). I'm not saying this will happen, but it is a possibility. Taking a child out of country without custodial permission is a federal criminal offense.

my daughter loves to cruise, my son in law does not. i take my daughter and grandkids. we always get a notarized letter from her hubby that he knows and allows the children to go. she has only been asked for it once and it was at customs in vancouver after the trip when we were almost home! i'm not sure what would have happened if she didn't have the document, but i'm glad we did. you never know when you're going to need it or who needs to see it.

 

i hope the op and family have a good holiday. i realize his intentions are good, however...a part of me also hopes documents are checked to prevent a child abduction by a parent. either way this is not a good scenario when it has such an easy fix. i type out a letter and they take it to a notary who just has to witness and stamp it (who hasn't even charged them).

[Pam in CA]

I wish the OP luck as they are going to need it. It sounds like they have the hospital birth certificate, not the notarized birth certificate. The former cannot be used; it must be a notarized certificate. FYI, not all notaries use a raised seal but do use a special stamp that has their name and notary #. The OP is now aware of what could happen so I hope he's not disappointed if they are denied boarding with the child. If they used a TA, shame on the TA for not making sure the OP knows about these very serious requirements. If they didn't use a TA, then they assume all responsibility. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

[mtaylor04]

I am interested to see how this turns out.

 

When we booked our cruise for next June - one of the 1st things Princess said to me was to make sure we had a notorized statement from my stepson's mother. Once we transferred to a TA, she actually sent me a link with sample letters and brought it up as well. Between Princess and my TA we were told it was critical to being allowed on the ship.

[Rhitson88]

Well, everything went fine. We were the first people to check. Well 2nd so that may have helped us a bit when they looked back and saw how big the line was. Great cruise. Will be posting a review soon. There has been a lesson learned here let me assure you of that. It is a good procedure to have in place and I realize I am very lucky that I slipped throught he cracks so to say. Thank you everyone.

[Loonbeam]

Very glad it worked out. After this discussion, the agency I deal with is now recommending a new guideline of a general permission letter, re-done every two years, in case of emergency trips. Right now, they are trying to help a customer who is stuck in the UK because they lost the letter and British Airways won't let them board, even though they had it when flying them out. Been stuck for 2 days now until FedEx can get them a new letter.

 

 

Well, everything went fine. We were the first people to check. Well 2nd so that may have helped us a bit when they looked back and saw how big the line was. Great cruise. Will be posting a review soon. There has been a lesson learned here let me assure you of that. It is a good procedure to have in place and I realize I am very lucky that I slipped throught he cracks so to say. Thank you everyone.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes, glad it worked out.

[cdngrl]

Well, everything went fine. We were the first people to check. Well 2nd so that may have helped us a bit when they looked back and saw how big the line was. Great cruise. Will be posting a review soon. There has been a lesson learned here let me assure you of that. It is a good procedure to have in place and I realize I am very lucky that I slipped throught he cracks so to say. Thank you everyone.

i agree, i think you are very lucky. i'm glad your family had a good vacation, and doubly glad you will be prepared next time. those last couple of days should be full of excitement and anticipation, not worry.

[mytime53]

I'm so glad things worked out for you. On our first trip to Mexico, we were traveling with a friend, his teenage daughter, and her friend. His daughter had spent the summer traveling Europe on her own, and never had a problem. But because she was now with a parent, the airline was refusing to let her check in without a notarized note from the mother (who because of work was following us down a day later). Fortunately, for some reason we were checking in early, and the other teenage girl was close enough to home that (we all lived over an hour from the airport, so our friend, at that point, couldn't do anything about it) they went back, got a note from the mother, somehow found a notary (must have been a personal friend that late at night), and made it to the airport barely in time for us to all leave. Otherwise, that family was going to have to stay behind--traveling the next day with the mother wasn't an option, because all flights were booked solid.

When our son and DIL flew with us out of the country 2 years ago, we made sure they had a letter for our son's stepson. Even though you have to get the absent parent's permission for a child to get a passport, we weren't clear on whether that was enough, and didn't want to risk ruining their trip.

[Nana G]

So glad this worked out well and your family enjoyed the cruise. We always have a letter signed by both parents, as we are grandparents, and have yet to be asked to show it. I sometimes think about not getting it done for another cruise and after this scare, I will keep it up. Can't understand why we have never been asked for this. Maybe because our grandaughter has the same last name, or a passport? Whatever, I feel it is a great rule to follow.

[emmtee]

You were very lucky. Last year, my whole family (parents, siblings, nieces, nephews) took a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Caribbean sailing from Baltimore. My sister had a 12-yr-old (age at the time of the cruise) daughter from her first marriage. Her husband had a 15-yr-old son from his first marriage. My parents' travel agent screwed up and thought a letter from my sister's ex would be sufficient. Since a birth certificate and both parents' signatures were required to obtain my niece's newly issued passport, my sister thought the same.

 

When we all arrived at the cruise terminal, they wouldn't let my niece board because the letter wasn't notarized. My sister called her ex and had him re-print the letter, get it notarized, and fax it to the port. Even though they had an original copy and a faxed notarized copy of the same letter, they wouldn't allow her to board. (Apparently they were unaware that a seal is not required on a document notarized in AZ - only a stamp.)

 

So my sister and niece stayed behind in Baltimore for 2 nights (without any luggage, as it had already been taken aboard, and RC refused to bring it back off the ship) waiting for the orignal notarized letter to arrive by FedEx.

 

My sister and niece had to fly to Puerto Rico and meet us there. The thing that really irks me is that there wasn't any issue with my BIL's son traveling without permission from his mother. He's older than my niece, so it should have been clear that my sister is not his mother.

 

(This still irritates me to no end. I don't think any of us will ever travel RC again.) :mad: