Embarkation Paperwork Question - first family cruise

[JamieRenae]

Hello all,

My husband and I are taking our 5 kiddos on a cruise (with other family) on Nov 11 (Carnival Triumph out of NOLA to Cozumel). Out of our 5 kids, 4 of them are biologically his and 1 is biologically mine. The other parents are not involved in their lives so obtaining passports was a no go (without mounds of paperwork and court orders).

In my husband's custody decree it advises that he is the custodial parent of the 4 kids and she has the non custodial typical rights (which she does not even care to have).

 

On to my more specific question. His name is listed on 3 of the 4 kids birth certificates. In order to get his name on her certificate we have to get a court order and we are worried this will not occur in a quick enough time frame for the trip.

 

If we have all of the birth certificates paired with the custodial parent decree - will this be enough for travel?? I spoke with Carnival a few weeks ago regarding the lack of passports and/or consent to travel letter, they advised it would be okay, but I am still worried as we don't want to travel 17 hours to NOLA with all of the family and hit a snag with one of the kids fine details.

 

Please help put my mind at ease :eek:

[Ocean Dancer]

You may want to contact an attorney and tell him what you stated here. This is not a legal message board.

 

Good luck.:D

[loxley]

All you will need are the birth certificates. And picture ID for anyone 16 or older.

 

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[Ocean Dancer]

If one parent is taking the child to Mexico, they need notarized permission from the other parent.

 

Complicating this is the father's name is not on the BC.

 

Again this is NOT a legal message board.

[simmingdenise]

Not a lawyer but maybe you could go to the judge and have him issue a court order with specific permission for the travel.

[SadieN]

Could go to your local airport and talk to the CBP Officer.

 

 

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[jdoc2010]

Also refer to the carnival FAQs

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2544/~/minor-guest-policy

 

Traveling with a Minor

When traveling with a minor where one parent or both parents or legal guardians are not cruising, we strongly recommend bringing an original signed letter from the absent parent(s) or legal guardians authorizing the minor to travel with you. This will expedite processing by the Department of Homeland Security.

I just got back from a cruise (10/21) and I was travelling with both of my minor kids and had a notarized letter from their dad stating he is aware of the out of country travelling.

I had split my kids up in a different cabin with their grandma, and my son was stopped at the port check in desk because his grandma was not his legal guardian (the last names do not match). I was right next to them at a check in desk and provided the documents to show I was his parent. I also presented the notarized letter, but she just glossed it over and handed it back to me.

[JamieRenae]

Also refer to the carnival FAQs

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2544/~/minor-guest-policy

 

Traveling with a Minor

When traveling with a minor where one parent or both parents or legal guardians are not cruising, we strongly recommend bringing an original signed letter from the absent parent(s) or legal guardians authorizing the minor to travel with you. This will expedite processing by the Department of Homeland Security.

I just got back from a cruise (10/21) and I was travelling with both of my minor kids and had a notarized letter from their dad stating he is aware of the out of country travelling.

I had split my kids up in a different cabin with their grandma, and my son was stopped at the port check in desk because his grandma was not his legal guardian (the last names do not match). I was right next to them at a check in desk and provided the documents to show I was his parent. I also presented the notarized letter, but she just glossed it over and handed it back to me.

 

 

Thank you! We are in adjoined staterooms as there are 8 of us total. One child going with us is a friend of our daughter's and her parents are signing all letters and having them notarized so we should be good to go there.

 

We just split us up in the rooms with my husband on one and I am on the other and Desaray (the 1 kiddo that does not have dads name on her BC) happens to be on mine but we will all be travelling together the entire time.

 

We couldn't the bio mom to return calls or cooperate for passports applications, she won't do anything that provides us any benefit. She hasn't seen her kids in over 2 years. We have a decree saying he is the primary custodial parent of all 4 kids and the name on her BC is Desaray Meyers-Cochran which is a combination of mom and dad's last names prior to being married (same for their oldest). I am working my tail off on getting a revised establish paternity court order from an attorney to get a replacement BC with his name on it but hoping it moves quickly enough. Regarding the letter authorizing travel I really don't know what to do with that as she is unresponsive. Maybe we can get the attorney to assist in generating a court order authorization to travel document also.

 

One last question.... does anyone know the procedures of physically disembarking in Cozumel? Do they check all of your documents when leaving the ship, getting back onto the ship?

[JamieRenae]

Not a lawyer but maybe you could go to the judge and have him issue a court order with specific permission for the travel.

 

Yeah, I am beyond frustrated because we tried the bio mom approach for months and when she did respond it was brief and she'd hold it over us, maybe I will get around to signing it next year some time. UGH.

 

The attorney who handled my husbands divorce/custody issues is no longer working for the office and they are making him go on a waiting list to 'revise' on wording establishing paternity to place him on the BC. They have the same last name and he is on each of the others. Office of Vital Records will change it right away once its ordered, if we can find another attorney willing to assist quickly I will also provide all of out efforts to reach out to mom and maybe they can help get us authorization to travel also.

[sw33twif3]

I will be on the same cruise as you. I can tell you that Cozumel just checks ship IDs and picture IDs. Same in Progresso.

But Homeland Security is a bit stricter. Try to get the parental letter.

[JamieRenae]

I will be on the same cruise as you. I can tell you that Cozumel just checks ship IDs and picture IDs. Same in Progresso.

But Homeland Security is a bit stricter. Try to get the parental letter.

 

 

Oh fun, the kids are so looking forward to their first cruise, I would just hate for it to be a negative experience for them.

 

So for minors, do they just check the ship ID card or do they have you provide the birth certificates at the time?

 

As for homeland security, is this something we go through upon entering the ship in NOLA, or something we do in at ports to/from?

 

Thanks!

[Herfnerd]

I will be on the same cruise as you. I can tell you that Cozumel just checks ship IDs and picture IDs. Same in Progresso.

But Homeland Security is a bit stricter. Try to get the parental letter.

 

 

The problem won't be getting on the ship at the various ports of call, its going to be initially getting on the ship in NOLA. If they request certain documents and you can't provide, that's going to be an issue.....

[Herbaltees]

You only need the BC. I took my nephew on a cruise without his parents.

 

 

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[denrusk]

This has been a hot topic for years. I can tell you from first hand experience that we have never been asked for a letter. We have cruised with my stepson for 10 years from several different ports and never been asked for it. We have cruised with 3 of his friends on multiple cruises, all minors, and never been asked for it. I will say we have always gotten it just to be safe, just never needed it. The document carnival issues says it is recommended. They would have a tough time denying you boarding on that statement and the fact that you will be bringing the documents you listed. You will not come into contact with any government official until you are in another country. We have been to Cozumel no fewer than 20 times and never had an issue. We also had a foreign exchange student from Finland go with us one year and had no issues.

 

 

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[JamieRenae]

Thanks for the responses everyone, I called to the NOLA port of call and a very nice gal gave me the cell # of one of the gals that handles all of the details like that with the port, she advised the only issue we may hit is on the way home if they find it suspicious we have that many kids (haha) and don't have a letter of travel, etc so the more legal paperwork we have the easier it will be, and the possibility of having additional questioning isn't guaranteed.

 

I think I feel okay now. :/ I just want a happy sunshine-y vacation :)

[Trishlo73]

Yeap, BC and photo id if over 16. We have taken my stepsons on two cruises in last two years and have only ever brought the BC, no letter from their mother or custody papers. Never had any problems. We are going again in two weeks.

 

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[JamieRenae]

This has been a hot topic for years. I can tell you from first hand experience that we have never been asked for a letter. We have cruised with my stepson for 10 years from several different ports and never been asked for it. We have cruised with 3 of his friends on multiple cruises, all minors, and never been asked for it. I will say we have always gotten it just to be safe, just never needed it. The document carnival issues says it is recommended. They would have a tough time denying you boarding on that statement and the fact that you will be bringing the documents you listed. You will not come into contact with any government official until you are in another country. We have been to Cozumel no fewer than 20 times and never had an issue. We also had a foreign exchange student from Finland go with us one year and had no issues.

 

 

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Thank you! That is the same thing the gal from NOLA Terminal stated. Hopefully they don't think we are trafficking kids, lord knows I certainly appreciate all the extra scrutiny they take with that, super important!!

[JamieRenae]

Yeap, BC and photo id if over 16. We have taken my stepsons on two cruises in last two years and have only ever brought the BC, no letter from their mother or custody papers. Never had any problems. We are going again in two weeks.

 

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Good to hear! I really hope they love it on the ship and want to take many many more with us!!

[PH29]

My husband and I cruised out of New Orleans, blended family of 4 children, 2 his, 2 mine. We were never asked for any paper work. We did however have passports for the entire family.

 

 

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[denrusk]

Thank you! That is the same thing the gal from NOLA Terminal stated. Hopefully they don't think we are trafficking kids, lord knows I certainly appreciate all the extra scrutiny they take with that, super important!!

 

 

 

Your welcome, have a great cruise. Keep in mind that your situation may seem odd to some but I can assure you it is not! The check in staff at the port see this stuff hundreds of times every day. If they were denying boarding, you would here the horror stories all of the time.

 

 

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[maryred]

Just to CYA, you should bring any paperwork that you can get that either states the father has sole custody of the children, the right to travel without informing the bio-mom, that the bio-mom has had her parental authority severed, or proof of parental abandonment.

It's not up to the cruise line, it is up to the Customs Border Patrol, the State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security as to what paperwork they will require to allow you back into the USA. If a cruise line feels that you have inadequate paperwork to prevent any member of your booking being detained they will not let that person board. If you try to argue the point once at check-in the cruise line will turn the matter over to a government official for final determination, which at the very least could delay boarding, but if verification takes a while it could cause your party to miss the ship.

So as in any case with the Federal Government it's better to have too much paperwork than to not have enough. In fact your questions should be directed to professionals that are from either of these 3 government agencies because what a mere passengers or port authority check-in clerk experienced even yesterday may not be what is allowed next week (especially with this current administration).

[evandbob]

I took a minor nephew on a few cruises, never had a problem with getting on and off the ship in ports or initial embarkation. Carnival in Miami and FLL didn't ask for any paperwork at all. However, I was questioned rather closely by Customs and Border Patrol at the end of one of these cruises. I had notarized letters from his Mom granting permission to travel as well as to make any medical decisions in an emergency. CBP cited sex trafficking and pedophilia as the reason for the extra scrutiny.

 

I also took my nephew to the Bahamas, Cancun and Playa Del Carmen for land vacations. Bahamas barely looked at the permission letters but Mexican Customs studied them intently entering and leaving that country. Same concerns about minor sexual abuse as well as abduction.

[Choose Hope]

My friend and I took a mish-mash of kids on a Carnival cruise to Mexico ... my five minor sons who had my first husband's last name (deceased), one minor friend of my sons, my minor son who had my second husband's last name (also deceased), my adult step-daughter (age 18) and my minor step-daughter both with my second husband's last name, and my adult niece (age 25) with a completely different last name.

 

I was prepared with notarized letters, death certificates and other documentation. No one ever asked me for anything but the birth certificates. Maybe they thought no one would be crazy enough to travel with such a wild bunch other than a mom.