Child Documentation Question

[Sunkissed Mommy]

I should know the answer to this question but I am second guessing myself. I've been so busy lately I didn't think about it. Now that it is getting close to my cruise I'm in a panic.

 

I will be traveling on a 3-day cruise on Enchantment with my mom and my son, who is 14 months old, this Friday. DH is staying home because it's our annual mother's day trip.

 

My son has a passport. I have a passport. We have the same last name. His father and I are married, he's my husband.

 

Do I need to bring a notarized letter allowing me to travel with my son without my husband present? Royal said no, but I don't trust anything their reps say because they get it wrong all the time.

 

When I was 16 my mom needed a letter to take me on a cruise, but my parents were divorced so it was a different scenario.

Edited May 14, 2014 by smileyperry

[SueW]

I would take the statement just so there is no confusion. You never know when they might ask for it, even though they say they won't

 

Sue

[gerif]

Since it's apparently not a big deal to get one, why not just do it and feel perfectly safe. Sometimes they ask, sometimes they don't but better to be safe than sorry.

[setsail]

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/travelDocumentation.do

[njmomof2]

I agree. Before I was divorced, I travelled with the boys and my mom without my then husband. The boys and I had the same last name, they had passports. But I got the letter anyway.

 

Always better to be safe than sorry.

 

The one thing that people forget about the passport is that while you need consent of both parents to obtain the passport for kids, that was valid AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME. Things change. Since my boys got their current passports, their father and I divorced. Now, he'd not dare to tell them they can't go on a cruise with me but if he wanted to make trouble, and I didn't have the letter, he could claim that I didn't have permission to take them out of the country. Who wants to deal with that at a cruise terminal?

 

Draft a letter, have your DH sign it in front of a notary and have them notarize it. Then, stick it in your documents folder and you'll probably never be asked for it. But you have it just in case.

[fischymom]

Can't say that it would be the same but I have traveled twice with our DS (he only had birth certificate and I had a passport) when hubby could not make the cruise. No one ever questioned us at all. I never thought about bringing a letter from hubby stating ok to travel with him.

[dwjoe]

Here is what Royal's web site has to say:

 

Should the last names of the parent and minor child traveling with them differ, the parent is required to present the child’s valid passport and visa (if required) and the child’s birth certificate (original, a notarized copy or a certified copy). The name of the parent(s) and the child must be linked through legal documentation. Adults who are not the parent or Legal Guardian of any minor child traveling with them are required to present the child’s valid passport and visa or the child’s birth certificate (original, a notarized copy or a certified copy) and an original notarized letter signed by at least one of the child’s parents. The notarized letter from the child’s parent must authorize the traveling adult to take the child on the specific cruise, must authorize guardian to sign legal documentation/waivers for participation in any activities requiring them (i.e. Rock Climbing, Flowrider, Bungee Trampoline, Inline Skating, or Ice Skating) and must authorize the traveling adult to supervise the child and permit any medical treatment that must be administered to the child. If a non-parent adult is a Legal Guardian, the adult must present a certified certificate of Guardianship with respect to the child.

 

However, whenever I travel alone with the children out of the country, I always bring a notarized letter from my wife authorizing the travel.

[IHateSnow!]

I should know the answer to this question but I am second guessing myself. I've been so busy lately I didn't think about it. Now that it is getting close to my cruise I'm in a panic.

 

I will be traveling on a 3-day cruise on Enchantment with my mom and my son, who is 14 months old, this Friday. DH is staying home because it's our annual mother's day trip.

 

My son has a passport. I have a passport. We have the same last name. His father and I are married, he's my husband.

 

Do I need to bring a notarized letter allowing me to travel with my son without my husband present? Royal said no, but I don't trust anything their reps say because they get it wrong all the time.

 

When I was 16 my mom needed a letter to take me on a cruise, but my parents were divorced so it was a different scenario.

 

 

99% chance they will not ask for it - but they can, and I've been in situations where I have been asked for it. All the letter needs to say is "I, xxxx, give my wife xxxx, permision to take our child xxxx on the royal caribbean ship xxx sailing on xx,xx 2014 through xx, xx 2014.

 

signed and notorized.

 

Better safe than sorry.