Paperwork to cruise with a child

[jperry2011]

This will be my girlfriend and her 8 year old son's first cruise in January very excited for them.. 

We got them both passports. She has physical custody of him and joint legal custody. Different last names. 

So other than a passport and birth certificate does she need to bring any paperwork or notarized documents to bring him on a cruise to the Bahamas with us? 

[1025cruise]

If possible, a notarized statement from the child's father giving permission for her to take him out of the country would be ideal. Now, you might not be asked for it, but I believe in better safe than sorry.

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, jperry2011 said:

This will be my girlfriend and her 8 year old son's first cruise in January very excited for them.. 

We got them both passports. She has physical custody of him and joint legal custody. Different last names. 

So other than a passport and birth certificate does she need to bring any paperwork or notarized documents to bring him on a cruise to the Bahamas with us? 

If the child has a passport there is no need for the birth certificate. A signed letter from the dad granting permission to travel is a good thing to have as well as the court documents outlining custody. We brought the court docs with us when we took our step granddaughter on a cruise but her mom has full custody (and we didn't need to show it to anyone but had it just in case).

[jperry2011]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

If the child has a passport there is no need for the birth certificate. A signed letter from the dad granting permission to travel is a good thing to have as well as the court documents outlining custody. We brought the court docs with us when we took our step granddaughter on a cruise but her mom has full custody (and we didn't need to show it to anyone but had it just in case).

Do you think the signed letter needs to be notarized or not? I don't think it'll be an issue to get one signed but notarized could be hard to get in a few weeks with work schedules and the holidays.

[staceyglow]

3 minutes ago, jperry2011 said:

Do you think the signed letter needs to be notarized or not? I don't think it'll be an issue to get one signed but notarized could be hard to get in a few weeks with work schedules and the holidays.

All banks have a notary, as well as currency exchanges.  If the non-custodial parent works in a decent-sized office, there is a good chance that they have someone there who is a notary (ask in the accounting department).  

 

A few weeks is plenty of time to get something notarized.

[jperry2011]

21 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

A few weeks is plenty of time to get something notarized.

That's a fairly bold statement considering you know nothing about this specific situation.

Not everyone works in an office building or works anywhere near their home and we only have a couple weeks now.

The passport applications asked the dates and places where we would be traveling too which we put the dates for this cruise and destination. 

I assumed that was all that would be needed to go since the father signed off on that application in front of a notary and is fully aware of the cruise.

 

 

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, jperry2011 said:

Do you think the signed letter needs to be notarized or not? I don't think it'll be an issue to get one signed but notarized could be hard to get in a few weeks with work schedules and the holidays.

A lot of people prefer to have it notarized, but I don't think that it matters. 

[stobe1]

My fianceé and I have taken both my daughter and her daughter on several cruises and land based vacations to Mexico over the past several years going back to when we were merely dating and my ex has taken my daughter both on a cruise and out to Europe and have never had any letter from either of our exes nor have we ever been asked for one. 

 

I wouldn't worry about it.

Edited December 20, 2022 by stobe1

[john91498]

why would you need anything from the ex? some of you folks way over complicate things 🤣

[staceyglow]

2 hours ago, jperry2011 said:

That's a fairly bold statement considering you know nothing about this specific situation.

Not everyone works in an office building or works anywhere near their home and we only have a couple weeks now.

The passport applications asked the dates and places where we would be traveling too which we put the dates for this cruise and destination. 

I assumed that was all that would be needed to go since the father signed off on that application in front of a notary and is fully aware of the cruise.

 

 

I didn't mean to imply anything.  Most people live within a very short distance of a bank, and many don't know that you can get a document notarized there.  I was just trying to be helpful.  

 

If it is at all practical, I would recommend getting the note notarized.  It's one of those things that you don't need it until you need it.

Edited December 20, 2022 by staceyglow

[kona_wahine]

I’ll tell you my experience taking my GD to Alaska this past summer, different last names. She just cruised with a birth certificate. Her mom, my daughter, has custody. She gave me a notarized letter. No one asked to see it. I was glad to have it in case of emergency, but I over stressed it. No one cared. 

[Gin-soaked bar-room queen]

2 hours ago, john91498 said:

why would you need anything from the ex? some of you folks way over complicate things 🤣

Blame it on Carnival. Straight from their website. 

Traveling with Minors
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. If there is no second parent with legal claims to the minor (due to sole custody, deceased, etc.) other relevant paperwork, such as a court decision, death certificate, birth certificate naming only one parent, would be useful to bring in place of a signed letter. This will expedite processing by the Department of Homeland Security.

[1025cruise]

3 hours ago, john91498 said:

why would you need anything from the ex? some of you folks way over complicate things 🤣

Because those pesky people at US Immigration and Customs don't want to deal with child trafficing.

[Elaine5715]

3 hours ago, john91498 said:

why would you need anything from the ex? some of you folks way over complicate things 🤣

Because a vindictive ex can make your life very unpleasant if you don't take precautions

[john91498]

it's a good thing I don't have a vindictive ex, but then again my daughter has my last name, so no problems...

[sparks1093]

14 hours ago, stobe1 said:

My fianceé and I have taken both my daughter and her daughter on several cruises and land based vacations to Mexico over the past several years going back to when we were merely dating and my ex has taken my daughter both on a cruise and out to Europe and have never had any letter from either of our exes nor have we ever been asked for one. 

 

I wouldn't worry about it.

I wouldn't worry about it either, but I would bring it.

[sparks1093]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned- it is likely that the child will be asked at some point who he or she is traveling with and the person asking the question doesn't want to hear the answer from anyone other than the child. You may want to discuss this with the child ahead of time so they are ready for it. My step granddaughter passed the test readily but a shy child might have difficulty answering a stranger.

[sparks1093]

9 hours ago, john91498 said:

it's a good thing I don't have a vindictive ex, but then again my daughter has my last name, so no problems...

When we sailed with our step granddaughter I did get a bit nervous. Mom's ex had been all for her going on the trip with us when we booked it, but changed his tune once the cruise got closer and tried to tell mom not to let her go. Fortunately we had a copy of the court order giving mom full legal custody but I still worried about him calling TSA or something claiming that we were taking his daughter against his will. He did contact the court and a couple of other things but of course since mom had full legal custody it didn't amount to much, but I was still glad that we had the copy of the court order. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

6 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned- it is likely that the child will be asked at some point who he or she is traveling with and the person asking the question doesn't want to hear the answer from anyone other than the child. You may want to discuss this with the child ahead of time so they are ready for it. My step granddaughter passed the test readily but a shy child might have difficulty answering a stranger.

 

@sparks1093, hello my friend, and happy holidays!.  This is great advice.  While checking in cruise passengers, I have asked children who are not traveling with their parents general questions about who they are traveling with.  We also have asked kids traveling with just birth certificates (and too young to need photo ID) if they can tell us their date of birth.  This would be elementary school / middle school age kids, not the real little kids.  It just takes a minute and it isn't particularly intrusive.  If there was any true concerns, a supervisor would be called. 

[staceyglow]

6 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned- it is likely that the child will be asked at some point who he or she is traveling with and the person asking the question doesn't want to hear the answer from anyone other than the child. You may want to discuss this with the child ahead of time so they are ready for it. My step granddaughter passed the test readily but a shy child might have difficulty answering a stranger.

Great point! I remember being in the airport with my son when he was a grade-schooler and TSA looked at his boarding pass and asked his name. He goes by a nickname that doesn't match the legal name on his boarding pass. Fortunately, he responded with his legal name. We were lucky because we had not talked about it ahead of time. 

[serene56]

the only letter I get notorized is the one I use for making medical decisions.    I have traveled with a letter since 2010 as the grand kids travel with me each year      We get the letter for allowing me to take them out of the country.    Only once was i asked for a letter and they make us step aside while they questioned the 5 year old on who we were

 

[sparks1093]

36 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

@sparks1093, hello my friend, and happy holidays!.  This is great advice.  While checking in cruise passengers, I have asked children who are not traveling with their parents general questions about who they are traveling with.  We also have asked kids traveling with just birth certificates (and too young to need photo ID) if they can tell us their date of birth.  This would be elementary school / middle school age kids, not the real little kids.  It just takes a minute and it isn't particularly intrusive.  If there was any true concerns, a supervisor would be called. 

Same to you! Thanks for the info, it is always appreciated to hear first hand how things work. 🙂 

[ChutChut]

On 12/20/2022 at 2:42 PM, john91498 said:

why would you need anything from the ex? some of you folks way over complicate things 🤣

It's right there on Carnival's website. They might not ask for it - but then again - they might - so I would have what Carnival requires.