Travelling With Stepchildren (Lessons Learnt)

[Zap Rowsdower]

Hello all,

 

In April we (my wife, my stepson and i) travelled with MSC on the Virtuosa out of Southampton. Had an amazing time and while I was nervous about cruising with MSC for the first time, Any concerns were quickly swept away by the great ship and amazing staff. We did however hit a pretty big bump before we boarded at the terminal.

 

As we were walking towards the check in desks, we were stopped by a member of the port staff who asked if we were both the legal guardians of our son. As a step parent doesn't qualify, we were promptly told we needed to complete a legal form,which also had to be signed by my stepson's dad / my wife's ex husband and supplied along with a piece of photo ID for him. And this all had to be done before we would be allowed to board the ship! Cue a lot of panicked phonecalls and messages, thankfully he answered and had to crudely fill in and sign the form by means of "drawing" on a photo of the form by WhatsApp. This was followed by a lot of to and fro-ing before at last we were allowed to get our cruise cards and board for our amazing trip.

 

When asked about this the staff said it was a requirement in the small print on the MSC website and a new thing they were rolling out, but we had no warning or heads up at any time in the check in process before arriving at the terminal,and the MSC staff didnt know much about it either. Just wanted to make anyone with stepchildren aware that they may need to have all this in advance of heading on a cruise!

 

Sorry for the long post!

 

 

[Dgshooter]

What would have happened if you had just said yes?

 

[oceans.calling]

We took both our minor grands and needed a notarized letter from each parent (divorced) with a copy of their government issued ID giving us guardianship. I had asked when booking what we needed to do and was given this info. I did find it under “Traveling with minors” on their website.  
 

To be on the safe side, we brought copies of their birth certificates because their parents surnames was different. 

[wolft927]

Its hit or miss if they ask, wife and I traveled with my stepdaughter (16) and her friend (17) on NCL last April. We had all the paperwork completed and notorized, and was never asked for it by the terminal staff. But always better to have it then not. 

[GPPhilly]

This is very common when traveling anywhere out of the country by one parent.  

[Homosassa]

You do not indicate in which country you are citizens.

 

The MSC USA website contains the following clear language in the Terms and Conditions which one agrees to when booking.

 

As the language is generic enough to cover any country, it is probably easily available to anyone who researches the cruise line's requirements before booking. 

 

 

"6. PASSPORT, VISAS AND MINORS Passengers must hold fully valid passports for the whole duration of the Cruise Package with a passport expiration date at least 6 months after the return date. Certain countries, including the USA and Russia, require machine-readable and digital photo passports. It is the sole responsibility of the Passenger to determine what visas, health certificates or other travel documents may be required for their specific itinerary, to obtain such required travel documents prior to commencing travel, and to present them upon embarkation onboard Carrier’s vessel. Passengers lacking required travel documents may be denied boarding and shall be entitled to no refund or compensation of any kind as a result of such denied boarding. Passenger agrees to indemnify and reimburse Carrier for any fine or other costs incurred by Carrier as a result of Passenger’s failure to have all required travel documentation or noncompliance with applicable regulations and Passenger authorizes Carrier to charge such amounts to Passenger’s stateroom account and/or credit card. Passengers are strongly advised to check all legal requirements for traveling abroad and at the various ports including the requirements relating to visas, immigration, customs and health. Passengers under the age of 21 (on voyages that include a port in the USA) or 18 (on voyages that do not include a port in the USA) must travel accompanied by their parents or a legal guardian. If one of the traveling minor’s parents is not cruising, then a signed authorization letter made in accordance with the laws of the country where the minor resides from the absent parent authorizing the minor to travel must be provided at the time of Booking. If the minor is traveling with Passengers that are not his/her parents or legal guardians, then a document signed by the parents or legal guardian authorizing the minor to travel with a chaperone or other designated individual must be provided at the time of Booking, in accordance with Company policies."

[Mark_T]

There is similar language in the UK T&C...

 

"5.3 Passengers under 18 years of age (or 21 years of age for US Passengers or Passengers embarking from a US port) must travel accompanied by their parents or a legal guardian. If one of the traveling minor’s parents is not cruising, a signed authorization letter – made in accordance with the laws of the country where the minor resides - from the absent parent authorizing the minor to travel has to be provided at the moment of booking."

 

It is a standard requirement for any international travel out of the UK with a minor if only one parent is travelling, but it is something people are frequently unaware of.....

 

[carlmm]

Yes, stepchildren, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends of your children, you name it: When ever a minor travels without one or both of the parents, you need to have the paper work in order.

[broberts]

https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/convention-text-childrens-version#:~:text=The United Nations Convention on,and the responsibilities of governments.

 

This convention protects children from illicit transportation (11 & 35). Requiring notarized travel permissions protects cruise lines from prosecutions and lawsuits.

[ksmommy5]

I have never had this in all our years travelling on cruises with my child. How does this work for sole support parents? They expect me to track down this individual whom I haven't spoken to nor even know where he lives in about 10 years to ask him permission to take my son on a cruise? They don't even ask me at the border for the custody paperwork....

[Two Wheels Only]

9 minutes ago, ksmommy5 said:

I have never had this in all our years travelling on cruises with my child. How does this work for sole support parents? They expect me to track down this individual whom I haven't spoken to nor even know where he lives in about 10 years to ask him permission to take my son on a cruise? They don't even ask me at the border for the custody paperwork....

 

You might fall under the following....

 

If one parent has sole custody of the child, a copy of the custody document can take the place of the other parent's letter.

[ksmommy5]

3 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

You might fall under the following....

 

If one parent has sole custody of the child, a copy of the custody document can take the place of the other parent's letter.

Where did you find this? Ive searched everywhere on the site. ty! 

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

33 minutes ago, ksmommy5 said:

I have never had this in all our years travelling on cruises with my child. How does this work for sole support parents? They expect me to track down this individual whom I haven't spoken to nor even know where he lives in about 10 years to ask him permission to take my son on a cruise? They don't even ask me at the border for the custody paperwork....

 

I see you're from Toronto so if you're talking about the Niagara land borders, they most certainly asked me on my first trip post separation into Canada from the USA as US citizens.  I was so caught off guard as I hadn't considered it.  We were both okay with wherever the other wanted to take the kids. I was pulled out of the line of cars at the Rainbow Bridge and directed to an administration building and each of my 3  children were interviewed separately as to the purpose and length of the trip before they were satisfied that I wasn't planning a kidnapping across borders. The kids were upset, naturally.   I never made that mistake again and never ever traveled, even across a state line,  without a notarized permission letter from my ex or from parents of any minor  friends that I was taking along.

 

This was about 20 years ago and, if anything, things have only become more strict. I'm surprised that the OP was caught off guard and that you have not been asked, but, it sounds like you have sole legal custody by status quo and you should speak to a lawyer about formalizing a sole custody order to avoid being questioned or to present to border agents, cruiselines and airlines that require it.

Edited August 4, 2023 by Steeler Nation At Sea

[Two Wheels Only]

13 minutes ago, ksmommy5 said:

Where did you find this? Ive searched everywhere on the site. ty! 

 

MSC requires guests to comply with government travel requirements so I went to ...

 

https://www.usa.gov/travel-documents-children

 

...which should satisfy MSC's requirements. That's why I put "might" as I'm not 100% sure that MSC won't give you a problem in the future.

[ksmommy5]

1 minute ago, Steeler Nation At Sea said:

 

I see you're from Toronto so if you're talking about the Niagara land borders, they most certainly asked me on my first trip post separation into Canada from the USA as US citizens.  I was so caught off guard as I hadn't considered it.  We were both okay with wherever the other wanted to take the kids. We were pulled out of the line of cars at the Rainbow Bridge and directed to an administration building and each of my 3  children were interviewed separately as to the purpose and length of the trip before they were satisfied that I wasn't planning a kidnapping across borders. The kids were upset, naturally.   I never made that mistake again and never ever traveled, even across a state line,  without a notarized permission letter from my ex or from parents of any minor  friends that I was taking along.

 

This was about 20 years ago and, if anything, things have only become more strict. I'm surprised that the OP was caught off guard and that you have not been asked, but, it sounds like you have sole legal custody by status quo and you should speak to a lawyer about formalizing it to avoid being questioned or to present to border agents, cruiselines and airlines that require it.

Im sorry that happened to you. We travel about 3x a year across land and air to take cruises and visit our vacation property in the US, and while I carry the custody papers on me every time, I have only been asked when he was a toddler (he is now 12). Our passports have the same surname. I understand being asked to show proof at border crossings but find it weird to be asked on cruise especially on our Canadian passports where they can assume Ive already been asked to provide the proof upon entering the country. I guess we have just been lucky. I did just called MSC and they told me that custody paperwork is sufficient and the affadavit is specially for when the child is not travelling with a custodial parent. We've been cursing for 8 years and have never been asked upon embarkation so I just found this piece of information very weird. 

[ksmommy5]

8 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

MSC requires guests to comply with government travel requirements so I went to ...

 

https://www.usa.gov/travel-documents-children

 

...which should satisfy MSC's requirements. That's why I put "might" as I'm not 100% sure that MSC won't give you a problem in the future.

Thank you. Yeah I travel with custody docs when crossing the border just found it very weird that a cruise line would also ask for this as well. 

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

2 minutes ago, ksmommy5 said:

Im sorry that happened to you. We travel about 3x a year across land and air to take cruises and visit our vacation property in the US, and while I carry the custody papers on me every time, I have only been asked when he was a toddler (he is now 12). Our passports have the same surname. I understand being asked to show proof at border crossings but find it weird to be asked on cruise especially on our Canadian passports where they can assume Ive already been asked to provide the proof upon entering the country. I guess we have just been lucky. I did just called MSC and they told me that custody paperwork is sufficient and the affadavit is specially for when the child is not travelling with a custodial parent. We've been cursing for 8 years and have never been asked upon embarkation so I just found this piece of information very weird. 

 

Mine were about 8, 11 and 12 at the time.  To be fair, I'm glad the Canadian officials were looking out for the children's welfare and doing their best to prevent parental abductions. Also, taught me a lesson that I needed to know.  Had we been turned back, it would not have been the end of the world either as I'm fairly near the border. My ex and I never did a formalized custody agreement or I might have thought about taking it with me.