Leaving teens onboard while parents are in port - form required for alternative guardian?

[cmph]

For those of you with experience leaving your teens onboard while you are in port - is there a form to establish a non-parent adult guardian/supervisor for the minor teen? And if yes - is it only something you can do once onboard? I would love to see an actual online form, but I guess that doesn't exist. The customer service rep gave me a non-answer - "You can refer to the crew members once onboard to determine if any forms need to be filled out." I think it's odd if there are forms that vary ship-to-ship, but maybe they do? 

 

For context, we're talking about a 14yo and 18yo. The FAQ (https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/can-my-childteen-under-17-years-old-stay-onboard-unattended-without-supervision-while-i-go-ashor) defines a minor as under 17, so the 18yo would qualify as an adult who is capable of providing adult supervision. We are doing all of our excursions as a family, but I'm thinking ahead to scenarios in which the kids are tired and want to go back to the stateroom while we parents walk around in port-adjacent areas for a little longer.  We are fine-tuning our port plans and do not want to break any rules, so I'll craft the final plans accordingly.

 

TIA to anyone who has experience to share! 

[Travelling2Some]

Several of our kids were nightbirds in their late teens and would just sleep in while the rest of us went ashore.  We always considered that one of the great pluses of cruising.  Everyone can do their own thing, no need to be "joined at the hip" so to speak.  There were no rules on this that we were ever aware of.

[KeithJenner]

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Edited April 24, 2023 by KeithJenner

[KeithJenner]

I think this may be relatively new, perhaps due to kids club changes.

 

Our son is 17, and we have been leaving him onboard whilst we leave the ship for a few years. We only used to do so when we were staying relatively near the ship.

 

When he was kids club age we would leave him there, and the staff would be fully aware of where we were, as you tell them your location when dropping him off.

 

Since he has been too old for Splash Academy we have just left him in the room at these times, and we certainly did some research before just leaving him and this is the first time that I have seen this wording. We never made a secret of the fact that he was on the ship alone, and have mentioned this to staff members without it ever being raised as an issue.

 

Last year my wife and I went on an NCL tour in Santorini by ourselves, so the evidence was there that we had left him

aboard by himself.

 

I originally wrote that it is fine to just go ashore, but maybe something has changed.

 

Regarding a form, I suspect that there isn’t one. If they do show an interest then just the fact that there is an adult with them is likely to be enough. NCL often do so things differently from ship to ship though, so I would do as suggested and enquire onboard. It is very possible that some ships have a form, some don’t and some

dont care at all. That isn’t odd for NCL.

Edited April 24, 2023 by KeithJenner

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

It has been NCL's policy for many years that children under 17 cannot be left on the ship without supervision.  It is never enforced or even questioned unless there is an incident. 

[1025cruise]

The 18 year old is an adult, no one will care about him/her.

[KeithJenner]

25 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

The 18 year old is an adult, no one will care about him/her.

I believe that the OP was asking whether there is a form required to be completed in order to leave the 14 year old in the charge of the 18 year old. There is no question that the 18 year old can be left.

[wolft927]

So, We just got back from the Joy, travelled with my wife, daughter and her friend ( 16 and 17). when we booked we were instructed to complete a form giving my wife and I approval to take her friend on the cruise. We completed the form had the parents sign it also had to get copies of there DL's. At check in at the Terminal, we were asked for nothing! Leaving a 16 or 17 year old onboard without parents or guardians may be against the rules but like other shave said never enforced. But i will say they will not be able to get off the ship without parent or guardians. We were in Harvest Cay, Kids slept in and they texted us saying that they were getting off and meeting us at the entrance to Harvest cay. Next text was that security would not alow them off without one of us. So staying onboard, most likely not a problem, getting off without parent will be 

[mjkacmom]

41 minutes ago, wolft927 said:

So, We just got back from the Joy, travelled with my wife, daughter and her friend ( 16 and 17). when we booked we were instructed to complete a form giving my wife and I approval to take her friend on the cruise. We completed the form had the parents sign it also had to get copies of there DL's. At check in at the Terminal, we were asked for nothing! Leaving a 16 or 17 year old onboard without parents or guardians may be against the rules but like other shave said never enforced. But i will say they will not be able to get off the ship without parent or guardians. We were in Harvest Cay, Kids slept in and they texted us saying that they were getting off and meeting us at the entrance to Harvest cay. Next text was that security would not alow them off without one of us. So staying onboard, most likely not a problem, getting off without parent will be 

Or might be, I’ve had kids under 18 get off the ship without us.

[wolft927]

12 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

Or might be, I’ve had kids under 18 get off the ship without us.

I guess it happens, but I can only tell you from my experience 2 weeks ago from the Joy

[Travelling2Some]

Our 3 teen daughters used to get off and go shopping together for an hour or so in the immediate port areas.  There was no issue but that was about 20 years ago so it may have changed.  Given that everyone has cell phones these days it would be much easier to contact parents now than it used to be but I think things in general were more relaxed in the "olden days" before everyone started suing each other at the drop of a hat.

[Cruising Lynne]

4 hours ago, wolft927 said:

So, We just got back from the Joy, travelled with my wife, daughter and her friend ( 16 and 17). when we booked we were instructed to complete a form giving my wife and I approval to take her friend on the cruise. We completed the form had the parents sign it also had to get copies of there DL's. At check in at the Terminal, we were asked for nothing! Leaving a 16 or 17 year old onboard without parents or guardians may be against the rules but like other shave said never enforced. But i will say they will not be able to get off the ship without parent or guardians. We were in Harvest Cay, Kids slept in and they texted us saying that they were getting off and meeting us at the entrance to Harvest cay. Next text was that security would not alow them off without one of us. So staying onboard, most likely not a problem, getting off without parent will be 

Last year on Getaway we were in the elevator with some teens that were very upset that they could not get off the ship without a parent. They were with one older teen (18 or 19), but that teen was not one of their parents or a guardian so they could not get off together.

[cmph]

5 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

I believe that the OP was asking whether there is a form required to be completed in order to leave the 14 year old in the charge of the 18 year old. There is no question that the 18 year old can be left.

Yes, exactly. 🙂

 

The whole way NCL words this is a little odd, IMO. If "under 17" counts as a minor, rather than "under 18" or "17 and under", then that means a 17yo is considered an adult. However, that "under 17" part was stressed to me by the rep, when I asked for clarification of what the guardian age requirement is. I thought it was a valid question, seeing as you cannot book a 14yo into a room without someone 21 and up. I guess what qualifies as an "adult" varies according to the reason for asking lol. 

 

[cmph]

Thank you to all who responded, as it verifies I haven't missed any vital info buried in a laundry list of FAQs. 

 

We'll keep the potential hiccup of getting off the ship in mind. Has anyone ever had an issue with the opposite - minor teens getting back ON board in a port without their parents? It's not the end of the world if we have to walk them back, but it's obviously easier to avoid the hassle. 

[Travelling2Some]

I can't imagine why them getting back ON the ship would be a problem as long as they had their ship card and their face matches the computer.  We had a big family and I liked being able to keep track of who was on board or gone.  (Moms like to know when to worry, lol.)  It also occurs to me that the variety of experience might be a reflection of individual appearance.  Many 16 year olds look just like people in their 20's.  Perhaps the "younger looking" teens get more scrutiny.  I'm guessing their age comes up on the computer but maybe the staff is not always paying absolute attention if they look to be an adult.

[jimsig]

3 hours ago, cmph said:

Thank you to all who responded, as it verifies I haven't missed any vital info buried in a laundry list of FAQs. 

 

We'll keep the potential hiccup of getting off the ship in mind. Has anyone ever had an issue with the opposite - minor teens getting back ON board in a port without their parents? It's not the end of the world if we have to walk them back, but it's obviously easier to avoid the hassle. 

This past week on the Epic I wanted to take a pic of my daughter on our balcony while we were in port.  I had her tap in first and then asked if it was ok if she was on board herself as she was 13.  The security officer said she could always get on the ship alone and it was just exiting the ship she needed a parent/guardian etc. with her.