Daddy/Daugther Trip - Documentation Required???

[OrlandoDisneyFan]

On a whim, and taking advantage of the Florida Residents Rates, I booked a 3 night cruise for myself and my 7 year old daugher. Mom/wife will be staying home with our 2 year old son...they will join us on our next cruise....hopefully sometime next year.

DD and I will be traveling with passports. Do I need a notorized letter from Mom or anything since I will be a solo parent taking my daughter out of the country?

 

[Finally08]

I can't imagine you would...I have cruised with my dd without my dh and it was never even brought up.

 

[AStamm]

On a whim, and taking advantage of the Florida Residents Rates, I booked a 3 night cruise for myself and my 7 year old daugher. Mom/wife will be staying home with our 2 year old son...they will join us on our next cruise....hopefully sometime next year.

DD and I will be traveling with passports. Do I need a notorized letter from Mom or anything since I will be a solo parent taking my daughter out of the country?

I was given a bit of a hard time about not having a notorized letter from DH when DS and I went on the DCL Alaskan cruise this summer. Certainly wouldn't hurt to be on the safe side.

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

from what I understood you have to. It is to keep angry parents from taking kids out of the country

 

[MyHappiestPlace]

I took a cruise on Holland America in March of 2010 with my three youngest daughters. We left from FL and returned to FL. 10 day cruise to various Caribbean islands. I did not need a passport for any of the girls (all under 16) and did not have any other paperwork other than birth certificates. I also conferred w/ my attorney who advised me that as long as the ship departs and returns to a US port I did not need a passport or written authorization from the other parent.

 

[LilyWDW]

On a whim, and taking advantage of the Florida Residents Rates, I booked a 3 night cruise for myself and my 7 year old daugher. Mom/wife will be staying home with our 2 year old son...they will join us on our next cruise....hopefully sometime next year.

DD and I will be traveling with passports. Do I need a notorized letter from Mom or anything since I will be a solo parent taking my daughter out of the country?

You may or may not be asked about it, but I would have it. It's worth the time just to be sure things go smoothly and, if there are any questions, quickly. It would be horrible to not have proof and then being held from boarding due to it. I would take it for peace of mind.

 

[disney david]

Here the info you need right from cbp i would have a letter they even have a simple templet of what to say. Even though they do not require it they just suggest it if they ask and you don't have it they might keep you for further questioning so to save your self a head ache at least have her write a letter.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/268/kw/travel/related/1

 

[glammadiva]

Please get one to be on the safe side. My boss is an attorney and both he and his wife always have one with them when they travel separately with any of their 5 kids!!!!

 

[OrlandoDisneyFan]

Thanks Everyone...and thanks disney david for the link to cbp...that clinches it for me and I will have the letter and have it notorized. Better safe than sorry.

Thanks again everyone...

 

[Finally08]

...so how do they know that you even have a living spouse who could have a say so? Would a widow need to travel with a death certificate? I know that sounds morbid...but what else could you do? I know of many single moms who couldn't even tell you where the kids dad is....what do they do?

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Here is the link to the Disney Cruise Line Forum, this is where you may find what you are looking for.... that is the forum where the Cruise questions would really be answered.. who knows, they may already have a question like that on there already

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=9

 

[OrlandoDisneyFan]

OOPS...I thought I was posting that in the Cruise Forum, but I guess I did not. Mods, please move if you need to. Thanks.

 

[MAD4EEYORE]

...so how do they know that you even have a living spouse who could have a say so? Would a widow need to travel with a death certificate? I know that sounds morbid...but what else could you do? I know of many single moms who couldn't even tell you where the kids dad is....what do they do?

If a spouse is deceased you would need a death certificate. If you are divorced and have sole custody you would have to show the court paperwork. If you can't locate the Dad/Mom you would need to go to court and get permission to travel out of the country. All of this is due to the 9/11 changes and the child kidnapping laws.


I have gone on 7 cruises and sometimes I'm asked for the document and sometimes i'm not. I always make sure I have it. I would hate to invest alot of money on a cruise/trip and not be able to go. It's not covered under trip insurance.

 

[MAD4EEYORE]

Thanks Everyone...and thanks disney david for the link to cbp...that clinches it for me and I will have the letter and have it notorized. Better safe than sorry.

Thanks again everyone...

Yes better safe than sorry. Make sure to either have 2 copies or have the agent at the cruise port make a copy of your letter. Make sure you get the notorized one back for when you return from your cruise. I have been asked for a letter leaving on a cruise and returning from a cruise.

I hope you and your DD have a fantastic time on your cruise!

 

[Finally08]

If a spouse is deceased you would need a death certificate. If you are divorced and have sole custody you would have to show the court paperwork. If you can't locate the Dad/Mom you would need to go to court and get permission to travel out of the country. All of this is due to the 9/11 changes and the child kidnapping laws.

Holy cow to the bolded. I can't imagine the nightmare that creates for some parents (not to mention the expense). There are too many kids who only have one parent in their life...and who knows where the other one is. Now that I think about it, the first time we cruised I had my ds with me, and he is from my first marriage...so I guess I've broken the rules both times I cruised.

 

[LilyWDW]

Holy cow to the bolded. I can't imagine the nightmare that creates for some parents (not to mention the expense). There are too many kids who only have one parent in their life...and who knows where the other one is. Now that I think about it, the first time we cruised I had my ds with me, and he is from my first marriage...so I guess I've broken the rules both times I cruised.

I get that it can be a pain, but I also get why they do it. Think about it... how do they know that the adult has permission to travel with the child? How do they know what is going on in that family's life? How do they know that the adult isn't just trying to get the kid out of the US? They can't know... and sadly, instances have happened where one parent fled the country with a child without the other parent's consent. So something had to be put into place to attempt to reduce the chances of it happening.

Do you get asked for documentation every time? No... but you CAN. It is better to be prepared with it then possibly be denied boarding.

 

[katrina1122]

We last sailed pre-passport requirement, but we saw a Dad/daughter denied boarding on RCCL because he didn't have a notarized document from the mom that it was ok to take the girl. They were speaking mainly spanish so I didn't hear the whole conversation (we were having our own check-in issues at the time), but I think it had something to do with the girls address on her id didn't' match the dad's or something and they couldn't get a hold of the mother to confirm it was ok. As someone said, they were claiming it was to avoid the ability for parents to take kids out of the country.

It's not hard to get something notarized, I'd just get it, if you don't need it, no big deal.

 

[hops&dreams]

I've never even THOUGHT about single parent traveling documentation. in Feb, DH will be travelling for business and meeting us in Orlando for our WDW vacation. I will be flying alone with DD. (domestic flight) Should I have a notarized letter from DH that says I have his permission to travel with her? There are many Notaries at my work, so it's not a big deal, but what on earth do I say in the letter? "I'm (kiddo's name)'s dad and I authorize her mother to get on a plane with her." ???

(I obviously would be writing this for DH, he would read and sign it, then have the notary sign and stamp it as witness.

Great subject, OP - I've never thought about it before!

 

[pbrim]

I've never even THOUGHT about single parent traveling documentation. in Feb, DH will be travelling for business and meeting us in Orlando for our WDW vacation. I will be flying alone with DD. (domestic flight) Should I have a notarized letter from DH that says I have his permission to travel with her?

You only need this documentation if you are planning on leaving the country. A cruise to Alaska counts because you are passing through Canada.

As long as you remain in the country, if there is a dispute, it can be hashed out in the courts. Also, we have long prided ourselves on the idea of freedom to travel within the country without having to produce internal passports (although some states are trying to change that). But when you take an American citizen child outside the reach of American court system, the government wants to be sure you have the legal right to do so.

 

[bumbershoot]

Holy cow to the bolded. I can't imagine the nightmare that creates for some parents (not to mention the expense). There are too many kids who only have one parent in their life...and who knows where the other one is. Now that I think about it, the first time we cruised I had my ds with me, and he is from my first marriage...so I guess I've broken the rules both times I cruised.

Someone in that situation has already gotten the documents needed to get the child's passport to begin with. There's a whole flowchart on the passport site for single parents. At the end of it, if you can't get anything from the parent at all, you're going to court to get sole parenting documentation anyway, so just take that.


Hubby and son still have not gone on a plane just the two of them, but I've long thought I would write something up, even domestically. Strangers just can't see the similarities between them, and he's been accused to his face of stealing DS (while standing outside a women's dressing room, holding my coat, my purse, infant, diaper bag, and sling) and while at our former apartment complex playground with toddler DS he heard a woman calling the police because there was a man who "didn't match any of the children". Hashing it out in the courts is great...but I'd rather not let it get there to begin with.