I can't be the only person dumb enough....

[lebakke]

Just wondering what the ages for under age guests are? We are cruising in December with my daughter (20) and her boyfriend who will be one month shy of 21 at the time of the cruise.  Will we have to have one of these notarized letters from his parents too? 

 

[brillohead]

43 minutes ago, lebakke said:

Just wondering what the ages for under age guests are? We are cruising in December with my daughter (20) and her boyfriend who will be one month shy of 21 at the time of the cruise.  Will we have to have one of these notarized letters from his parents too? 

 

Not at all -- they are legal adults. 

 

They just won't be able to drink alcohol if the cruise is originating out of North America. 

But they can sign their own waivers and everything, because they are adults. 

[Merion_Mom]

4 hours ago, TexasPirate said:

 

 

 

I think we have covered all the bases but if you see any gaps I am very open to hearing them.

 

 

 

Just in case this wasn't already on your radar...…………"Never go into another passenger's cabin".

[TexasPirate]

10 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Just in case this wasn't already on your radar...…………"Never go into another passenger's cabin".

 

That is rule #1... actually not true.. It's rule #2... not even other kids cabins.  Cabins are not for hanging out in.... my girls have known that rule since their first tweenager cruise.....  We don't hang out in hallways, stair cases, or any other not hangout appropriate places.  In fact for those who may be wondering... lol... I would love to get away from the internet stuff but quite frankly it's the best way for my kids to be able to get ahold of me asap and I can get a hold of them.  I want my girls to grow and have independence but that takes time to cultivate.  You can't just take them out in public and say..."off you go, have fun storming the castle!"  So my girls know that have to keep me informed of their movements on the ship.  And they know they need a destination... not just roaming.

 

So for my girls our on board dialog goes like this....

DD text: Dad we are going to the kids club.

Dad text: ok. let me know when you get there.

DD text: we are here.

DD text: Leaving kids club to go up to windjammer for food.

Dad text: ok, wash your hands and clean up after yourself!

DD text: we are at windjammers.

 

And so on through out the day...

I should always be able to find them by the last place they told be they had arrived at.  I have check over the years... I used to check regularly less so on the last cruise but I have never, not once, looked for my girls and not found them where expected.

 

Rule #1 by the way is... always stay together...Always!!  If they don't want to have to hang out with dad all day they better be hanging out with each other!

 

 

 

[TexasPirate]

Here goes TexasPirate off on a tangent.... just ignore me and scroll on... I was reading over my last post and thought to myself, "there was one time that I thought my youngest wasn't where she was supposed to be but it wasn't her fault!"

 

On our very first cruise Disney Dream 2012 Bahamas Double Dip she would have been 8 years old.  She absolutely loved the kids club on the Disney ships.  Every chance she got she wanted to go to the kids club.  It was so foreign for me to go on a "family vacation" and have my kids go off and do stuff in the kids clubs.  We would go check on her from time to time to see if she wanted to do something else but she almost always wanted to stay and do the kids activities.  She had so much fun.... Anyway, I went down to the kids club to check on her one time and the girl working the counter said,

 

"she's not here." Just as plain matter of fact as she could be about it.  

 

Me: "She's 8 years old... she doesn't have self sign out privileges, what do you mean she's not here!"  

 

"Maybe your wife came and got her." was the reply.

 

Me: "No, my wife and I are together and I just left her to come check on my daughter!"

 

From there is was a blur of me getting beyond angry.  I'm just a plain pirate... not a violent pirate but I was getting pretty upset pretty quickly... Luckily, I started scanning the room for her blonde curly hair and spotted her playing at a one of the kids stations before I had a chance to get too upset. 

 

I pointed out to the now very confused girl at the counter that I could see my daughter in the room, and now I needed to talk to someone in charge.  It turns out that the little monitoring bracelet that they put my daughter wrist had broken. So they put a new one on my daughter but failed to update the system.  Long story short there was basket of candy and an apology letter in our stateroom that night.  All I can say is that the girl behind the counter is probably lucky that Mrs Pirate hadn't been the one looking for her baby girl.

 

 

 

[WestfieldTraveler]

Just make sure the onboard account is set up correctly - I think $500 is the default limit so you probably want to change that.

 

And have her phone set up for wifi calling (airplane mode, connect to wifi, correct phone settings) if supported by the carrier, so any calls or texts will not be charged at the on-board rate. Depending on what you do at ports, you may want to have her enable international roaming if they will not be with you all the time (like on an excursion). And of course make sure the know they have to be on the ship at least an hour before it sails, along with setting watches for the ship's time.

 

And remember to have a good time!

[WestfieldTraveler]

Just make sure the onboard account is set up correctly - I think $500 is the default limit so you probably want to change that.

 

And have her phone set up for wifi calling (airplane mode, connect to wifi, correct phone settings) if supported by the carrier, so any calls or texts will not be charged at the on-board rate. Depending on what you do at ports, you may want to have her enable international roaming if they will not be with you all the time (like on an excursion). And of course make sure the know they have to be on the ship at least an hour before it sails, along with setting watches for the ship's time.

 

And remember to have a good time!

[Merion_Mom]

9 hours ago, TexasPirate said:

 

That is rule #1... actually not true.. It's rule #2... not even other kids cabins.  Cabins are not for hanging out in.... my girls have known that rule since their first tweenager cruise.....  We don't hang out in hallways, stair cases, or any other not hangout appropriate places.  In fact for those who may be wondering... lol... I would love to get away from the internet stuff but quite frankly it's the best way for my kids to be able to get ahold of me asap and I can get a hold of them.  I want my girls to grow and have independence but that takes time to cultivate.  You can't just take them out in public and say..."off you go, have fun storming the castle!"  So my girls know that have to keep me informed of their movements on the ship.  And they know they need a destination... not just roaming.

 

So for my girls our on board dialog goes like this....

DD text: Dad we are going to the kids club.

Dad text: ok. let me know when you get there.

DD text: we are here.

DD text: Leaving kids club to go up to windjammer for food.

Dad text: ok, wash your hands and clean up after yourself!

DD text: we are at windjammers.

 

And so on through out the day...

I should always be able to find them by the last place they told be they had arrived at.  I have check over the years... I used to check regularly less so on the last cruise but I have never, not once, looked for my girls and not found them where expected.

 

Rule #1 by the way is... always stay together...Always!!  If they don't want to have to hang out with dad all day they better be hanging out with each other!

 

 

 

 

 

You are an awesome parent!  🙂  

[PrincessBelle39]

On 7/22/2019 at 11:05 PM, ash2bear said:

Just did this in June.  We used a letter similar to what's been posted.  No one asked to see it... 😏

 

We also travelled with another child in July.  We had the letter and no one asked to see it.  I wasn't questioned at all when i signed waivers.

[Joseph2017China]

18 hours ago, lebakke said:

Just wondering what the ages for under age guests are? We are cruising in December with my daughter (20) and her boyfriend who will be one month shy of 21 at the time of the cruise.  Will we have to have one of these notarized letters from his parents too? 

 

No, you don't, they are adults. This requirement is for kids only.  That would be like you needing a letter from your parents, allowing you to go. LOL

[Joseph2017China]

Please don't listen to those that say you don't need it.  It is a requirement, whether or not a person asks for it.  Not only should you have the letter, you should have 3 copies of it.  It is very possible, the cruise line will keep a copy.  You might need it at immigration when returning.  You might need it for medical treatment.  You might need it for a bunch of other reasons......notice I said, you might need it....which means if they ask, and you don't have it and you are detained (very unlikely) you might be charged with kidnapping (very unlikely), unless you can prove you did not. 

 

So yes, all you need is the letter, have multiple copies, and enjoy.