Documents for children

[curtsfan]

We are sailing with our son, his wife & kids on the Mariner of the Seas in April.  The kids are 9 & 12 yrs old.  They have passports & will be traveling with their parents.  Will they also need to bring birth certificates as well for the kids.

[fpcruiser]

no

 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, curtsfan said:

We are sailing with our son, his wife & kids on the Mariner of the Seas in April.  The kids are 9 & 12 yrs old.  They have passports & will be traveling with their parents.  Will they also need to bring birth certificates as well for the kids.

Passports  OR  Birth certificates are required for guests 15 and under on a closed loop cruise departing from the US.  Not both

Edited February 24 by Ourusualbeach

[curtsfan]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Passports  OR  Birth certificates are required for guests 15 and under on a closed loop cruise departing from the US.  Not both

Thank you for the info.  

[Sianli]

What if only one parent is sailing?

[Qextor]

38 minutes ago, Sianli said:

What if only one parent is sailing?

This is when a passport is required, not just the better option.  A letter from the other parent stating the kid is good to travel without them is helpful too.

[crazyank]

10 hours ago, Qextor said:

A letter from the other parent stating the kid is good to travel without them is helpful too.

A notarized letter is required,

[Ourusualbeach]

15 hours ago, Qextor said:

This is when a passport is required, not just the better option.  A letter from the other parent stating the kid is good to travel without them is helpful too.

 

5 hours ago, crazyank said:

A notarized letter is required,

A passport is not required.

 

As long as the last name of the child is the same as the parent then you do not need a notarized letter.

 

A notarized letter is only required if you are not the legal guardian.

 

[Ferry_Watcher]

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

A passport is not required.

 

As long as the last name of the child is the same as the parent then you do not need a notarized letter.

 

A notarized letter is only required if you are not the legal guardian.

 

As someone who checks-in cruise passengers, these statements are pretty much the guidelines we follow for closed loop cruises.

 

Sometimes, a cruise line decides to clamp down, and every 'i' has to be dotted, and every 'T' has to be crossed, and we just have to follow the stricter guidelines.  Last season, Royal decided to clamp down on what was needed for minors boarding a Royal cruise ship.  No change for minors sailing with their parents (w/the same last name), but a minor traveling with anyone else had to have additional paperwork.  Passports were not required for our closed loop cruises, but signed parental consent forms were.  I believe everyone affected throughout the season got to sail (no denials), but some folks had to wait hours for approval, especially early in the new policy roll-out.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

As someone who checks-in cruise passengers, these statements are pretty much the guidelines we follow for closed loop cruises.

 

Sometimes, a cruise line decides to clamp down, and every 'i' has to be dotted, and every 'T' has to be crossed, and we just have to follow the stricter guidelines.  Last season, Royal decided to clamp down on what was needed for minors boarding a Royal cruise ship.  No change for minors sailing with their parents (w/the same last name), but a minor traveling with anyone else had to have additional paperwork.  Passports were not required for our closed loop cruises, but signed parental consent forms were.  I believe everyone affected throughout the season got to sail (no denials), but some folks had to wait hours for approval, especially early in the new policy roll-out.

It was previous posts by you based on your first hand knowledge of actually working at the port that gave me that insight to post what I did to address some incorrect information that had been posted.  Thanks for your posts!

[Ferry_Watcher]

4 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It was previous posts by you based on your first hand knowledge of actually working at the port that gave me that insight to post what I did to address some incorrect information that had been posted.  Thanks for your posts!

 

I appreciated your clear concise statements.  It was easy to chime in and say, 'yes, this is pretty much how we do it'.  Thanks!