taking an underage friend of my son's

croozecrazy · #1 (**permalink**) February 20th, 2005, 02:54 PM

Can anyone tell me what documentation I will need for my son's best friend. He will be 16 when we sail on the Rhapsody of the Seas in Sept. 2005.

Thanks for the help.

bigsky · #2 (**permalink**) February 20th, 2005, 04:47 PM

We're doing the same thing. We're taking his birth certificate and a letter from his parents stating that we have permission to take him.

#3 (**permalink**) February 20th, 2005, 05:06 PM

Does it matter if his parents are divorced? Do I need to get a letter from both parents or will just one do?

bigsky · #4 (**permalink**) February 20th, 2005, 08:00 PM

Technically, I'm not sure. But I don't think it would hurt to get both. Just in case you have to have both. If you make a phone call and they say one is fine and you get there and require two, what a mess! Better safe than sorry.

#5 (**permalink**) February 20th, 2005, 08:28 PM

I would also get a permission slip for the doctor just in case [pray not]that something happens.

MomOnTheGo · #6 (**permalink**) February 20th, 2005, 09:47 PM

I would also make sure that you get a medical release form from the parent that is the legal guardian or the responsible parent "just in case" there was an accident.

ANY time we go on trips, we leave a form that has been signed by both myself and husband that gives the person(s) that is caring for our children the authority to do whatever kinds of medical treatment necessary. It also has all of our insurance information on the form. Name of company, policy number, name & ph # of their physician, etc.

I did have a friend go on a trip to Mexico and she did NOT have both parents signed permission and they were turned away. They had to get the fathers written permission to take the child out of the country. It delayed them by three days! They were flying, though.

So better safe than sorry.

croozecrazy · #7 (**permalink**) February 21st, 2005, 07:47 AM

Thank you very much for the info. I am going now to start searching the net for a good legal form and make copies of it and give to the parents. Which I've got alot of time to do since we are not leaving until Sept. 18.

Darcy · #8 (**permalink**) February 21st, 2005, 09:10 AM

Also, make sure you get the parents' signatures notarized. I was told this was necessary for taking minor children out of the US.

rollerdonna · #9 (**permalink**) March 5th, 2005, 10:53 PM

We did this once with my son's friend. We had his passport, and a letter from both his parents giving us permission to take him out of the country, and any medical authority. I also made sure I had a letter of permission from my own son's father (we're divorced) to take him out of the country. Like the others said, better safe than sorry.

donna

Daneen · #10 (**permalink**) March 6th, 2005, 02:08 PM

Darcy is right, make sure you have the permission letter notorized. We found this out when our documents arrived (two hours before we left the house) and we read all the fine print. We had to make a mad dash into town 25 minutes away to have the letter notorized. After all of the hassle, they never even asked for it when we were boarding. I still would rather have had the hassle, than to have my daughters friend turned away at the last minute. Like everyone says, better safe than sorry. (This was on Royal Caribbean). Like you said you have time, so I would get the medical permission and the permission letter and anything else you can think of notorized. Another thing for people to be aware of is that Royal Caribbean lets young adults over the age of 18 drink wine and beer while on the cruise, we were caught of guard by this as we had my 18 year old nephew with us and had to authorize if he could drink beer/wine. I knew my sister wouldn't mind, but if it is not a relative and you are not sure.......Happy Sailing