Options for 17 year old leaving the ship

[chfenton]

Hello,

 

Just trying to proactively understand our options.  This will be our 3rd time to Cozumel and after our morning excursion we typically come back to the ship and then walk around the port for a bit.  My 17 year old will want to be on his own schedule.  I don't think he can leave the ship by himself until he is 18 (according to a trip advisor article I found) but trying to understand if he can return early by himself. 

 

So other possible scenarios I can foresee --

 

1) We walk off together as a family but he returns separately?

2) More likely, he and his 20 year old brother leave ship together and return together?

 

Are both/either of these ok for Royal (Allure specifically)

 

Thanks.

[moposh]

Yes, he can return by himself.  My daughter did.  She did have a bit of a problem getting past the Bermuda people because she didn't have an id, but she was able to get on the ship fine.

[Charles4515]

5 minutes ago, moposh said:

Yes, he can return by himself.  My daughter did.  She did have a bit of a problem getting past the Bermuda people because she didn't have an id, but she was able to get on the ship fine.

Of course they can return by themself but is it really a good idea to have a minor on their own in a foreign country? I would not worry much in Bermuda but many ports are not like Bermuda. Minors make mistakes...... like for example not having an ID..... 

[Charles4515]

26 minutes ago, chfenton said:

Just trying to proactively understand our options.  This will be our 3rd time to Cozumel and after our morning excursion we typically come back to the ship and then walk around the port for a bit.  My 17 year old will want to be on his own schedule.  I don't think he can leave the ship by himself until he is 18 (according to a trip advisor article I found) but trying to understand if he can return early by himself. 

 

Leaving a minor on their own in a foreign country is a bad idea. Minors don't have the judgement of adults. The laws in foreign porta are not the same as in the US. Of course they will let him return if he has his ship card but they might contact you about it if the ship policy is that you have to be 18 to leave the ship. 

[moposh]

16 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Of course they can return by themself but is it really a good idea to have a minor on their own in a foreign country? I would not worry much in Bermuda but many ports are not like Bermuda. Minors make mistakes...... like for example not having an ID..... 

Yes, you're right.  I think we were near the building to return to ship so it's not like she had to walk far.  I didn't think about the other aspect.  👍

 

I think if the 17 and 20 year olds were together and OP trusted them, it would be okay.  Depending where they were going.

[chfenton]

3 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Leaving a minor on their own in a foreign country is a bad idea. Minors don't have the judgement of adults. The laws in foreign porta are not the same as in the US. Of course they will let him return if he has his ship card but they might contact you about it if the ship policy is that you have to be 18 to leave the ship. 

It is ship policy to be 18 to leave but I am asking if it is ship policy to be 18 to return alone and sounds like no, a 17 year old may return alone.  Respectfully, I didn't ask for your opinion on "leaving" a minor on their own in a foreign country-- 1) is there really a difference between a 17 and 10 month year old and an 18 year old,  2) I'm talking about all of us sitting in senor frogs looking at the ship having lunch and then asking if he can return to the ship by himself - what 500 yards away.  

 

Thanks for the advice though

[Mum2Mercury]

1 hour ago, chfenton said:

Hello,

 

Just trying to proactively understand our options.  This will be our 3rd time to Cozumel and after our morning excursion we typically come back to the ship and then walk around the port for a bit.  My 17 year old will want to be on his own schedule.  I don't think he can leave the ship by himself until he is 18 (according to a trip advisor article I found) but trying to understand if he can return early by himself. 

 

So other possible scenarios I can foresee --

 

1) We walk off together as a family but he returns separately?

2) More likely, he and his 20 year old brother leave ship together and return together?

 

Are both/either of these ok for Royal (Allure specifically)

 

Thanks.

I don't think you'll have any ship- problem walking off the ship together, then returning as two separate groups.  

46 minutes ago, chfenton said:

It is ship policy to be 18 to leave but I am asking if it is ship policy to be 18 to return alone and sounds like no, a 17 year old may return alone.  Respectfully, I didn't ask for your opinion on "leaving" a minor on their own in a foreign country-- 1) is there really a difference between a 17 and 10 month year old and an 18 year old,  2) I'm talking about all of us sitting in senor frogs looking at the ship having lunch and then asking if he can return to the ship by himself - what 500 yards away.  

 

Thanks for the advice though

I'm kinda with the others who wonder about allowing a minor out on his own (or with his slightly-older brother).  I teach kids that age, and they can get into a whale of a lot of trouble in 500 yards -- things you'd never anticipate they'd think to do.  And scam artists are out in drove trying to tempt cruisers to do unwise things.  

[mjkacmom]

17 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I don't think you'll have any ship- problem walking off the ship together, then returning as two separate groups.  

I'm kinda with the others who wonder about allowing a minor out on his own (or with his slightly-older brother).  I teach kids that age, and they can get into a whale of a lot of trouble in 500 yards -- things you'd never anticipate they'd think to do.  And scam artists are out in drove trying to tempt cruisers to do unwise things.  

17 year olds go away to college (and I’ve had five 17 year olds and would feel comfortable with them doing this, actually, I’ve had teens head back from the senior frogs area. I think it depends on the kids (mine took public transportation to nyc starting at 14).

[chfenton]

6 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

17 year olds go away to college (and I’ve had five 17 year olds and would feel comfortable with them doing this, actually, I’ve had teens head back from the senior frogs area. I think it depends on the kids (mine took public transportation to nyc starting at 14).

I obviously am in this school of thought as well, but certainly don't judge others if its not right for their child.  He's a few months away from going a 1000 miles away for months on end, has traveled numerous times by himself on an airplane (as anyone over 15 can travel unaccompanied on a plane) ...I think he'll be alright walking back to the ship.

 

I know there has to be a line in the sand but again if this were two months from now I wouldn't be having this conversation as I'd be fully aware that he would be able to come and go on his own as an 18 year old.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, mjkacmom said:

17 year olds go away to college (and I’ve had five 17 year olds and would feel comfortable with them doing this, actually, I’ve had teens head back from the senior frogs area. I think it depends on the kids (mine took public transportation to nyc starting at 14).

I took public transportation in NYC by myself at age 12.

[SilkySal]

I hope I don't get flamed here for my answer but here it is: There seems to be lots of different opinions here. If I were you, I would ask this same question to one of the officers on board your ship, unless, of course, you don't want to hear their answer, and don't want to alert anybody of your intentions. Just sayin'. That would be the smartest and safest thing to do. At worst case, they just might suggest that an adult walk back to the ship with the minor to make sure he makes it there safely. Problem solved!

Edited March 15, 2023 by SilkySal
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[Scotty G]

My choice would be to eat at Margaritaville and allow him to return to the ship from there. It is directly in sight of the security check point onto the pier. We prefer it to Senior Frogs and it is usually less crowded.

[LobsterStalker]

On 3/15/2023 at 12:23 PM, Charles4515 said:

Of course they can return by themself but is it really a good idea to have a minor on their own in a foreign country? I would not worry much in Bermuda but many ports are not like Bermuda. Minors make mistakes...... like for example not having an ID..... 

Hmmm

...Is that really the minors mistake ?

[Rockymaya]

What is the worst that can happen.He comes back with a tattoo after spending all day with a prostitute.

[billslowsky]

1 minute ago, Rockymaya said:

What is the worst that can happen.He comes back with a tattoo after spending all day with a prostitute.

He comes back with the prostitute who has a new tattoo.

[billslowsky]

On 3/15/2023 at 11:34 AM, Charles4515 said:

Leaving a minor on their own in a foreign country is a bad idea.

In Cozumel?  What on earth could possibly go wrong?

[WestLakeGirl]

Ship would never deny him entry and leave him there.

 

On the other hand, they might want to have a few words with the parents once he’s back on board.

[brillohead]

Minors can return to the ship unaccompanied with no problem.  The only reason I can see that any eyebrows would be raised were if it was a CHILD (like a pre-pubescent age) returning to the ship alone, not a teenager.  

The 17yo possibly won't be allowed to leave with the 20yo unless you have provided them with a signed letter giving permission to leave the ship, and even then they might have to stand their ground to be allowed off the ship.  

When my son was 18yo, he brought his 16yo girlfriend with us on his graduation cruise.  The girl's mother had signed a letter (and gotten it notarized) giving guardianship of her daughter to both me and my son, specifying the dates of travel, etc.  

In Puerto Rico, we had an early port day (7am-2pm) and I wanted to sleep in and stay on board (been to PR too many times to count), but the kids wanted to go ashore.  The first time the kids tried to get off, they were stopped because the girlfriend was under age, and security didn't care that my son was 18yo.  So the kids came back to the room and got the permission slip and went back down again. 

 

They got stopped again, and my son showed them the permission slip, which had his name on it as having permission to travel out of the country with the girl (and this wasn't even technically "out of the country" as PR is a territory of the USA!).  Security kept asking where *I* was, and my son told them I was sleeping in the room and it didn't matter where I was, because the same paper that gave me permission to travel with the girl ALSO gave HIM permission to travel with the girl.  

The security personnel kept calling more and more personnel over, and my son just kept repeating that the letter showed that the girl's mother had given permission to both him and his mother to assume guardianship over the girl for the duration of the cruise, and it wasn't necessary for his mother to be there because HE was there, and he was named on the paperwork.  They eventually got far enough up the food chain that someone was finally able to comprehend the fact that the letter gave him permission to leave the ship with the girl because his being an adult plus permission from the girl's parent were all that they needed to be allowed off the ship.

On several occasions while he was underage, my son left a ship with "adults other than his parents" and nobody blinked an eye -- security would scan his card and he'd get the "minor child" alert and they'd confirm that he was with *random adult nearby* and he'd be allowed to leave.  The random adult in question was either a friend of mine (but without me present) or the parent of one of my son's on-board friends.  On one occasion, my friend was only about 10 years older than my son -- obvious not old enough to be his parent -- but because he was a "fully grown adult" instead of an "18yo boy", they got waved through with no problem.  

I can't say for sure if the security personnel gave my son such a hard time just because he was a male taking a younger female off the ship, or if they would have done the same if he'd been taking an underage male off the ship.  So if you think you're going to want your 20yo son to take your 17yo son off the ship without you present, I would plan ahead and bring a notarized letter that gives the older son guardianship over the younger son during the time of the cruise, just in case.

Incidentally, I've also returned to the ship with someone else's minor children before.  While shopping in PR a couple years before the above incident, we ran into a Danish family from the ship -- I knew the parents from the nightclub, and my son knew their kids from the teen club.  Their kids wanted to shop some more but the parents wanted to return to the ship, and I offered to supervise.  I made sure the kids had their SeaPass cards and their ID (San Juan is one of the ports that wants to see a photo ID in addition to your SeaPass in order to get back on the pier), and we went back to the ship about an hour later.  The kids went through one security line and I went through another, and nobody blinked an eye about minors getting back on the ship without an adult -- the card doesn't do a special alert beep or anything like it does when exiting the ship, it just gives the same "ding" as it does for adults.