Taking kids off the ship

[aanderson5]

My son is registered in my Mom's room. I think I remember something about having to fill in a form to allow us, his parents, to take him off the ship when my mom is not present. I am trying to get all our document printed but I can't seem to find a form like that. Can we just fill something out when we are on board? Thanks.

 

[jetskigrl]

Yes, you will need to fill out the form so that he can leave with you. But you can do it ahead of time. It is on the website.

Here is the FAQ (the link to the document is in the body of it):

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...-plans/faqs/kids-teens/children-leaving-ship/

 

[aanderson5]

Thank you. I was pretty sure I had seem it but for the life of me couldn't remember where.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Not questioning but is this a new thing? We didn't have to do this last time when my dd was staying in my mothers room on our last cruise.

 

[ocspartan]

Not questioning but is this a new thing? We didn't have to do this last time when my dd was staying in my mothers room on our last cruise.

No not a new thing this happened to us also when we had dd and ds booked with DGM... Actually received different answers at different times on if I as a parent needed to authorize my self...I amended up waiting until after we boarded and asked at guest services and after reviewing with security even though dad and mom are present minors can not leave the ship exclusively with them with out the adult in the same cabin... So the irony is that as the parent you have to sign a form granting yourself approval to disembark with your own kids, does not require the signature of the adult in the stateroom bc they are not legal guardians.... We had a good laugh about it at guest services, form took a minute to fill out and sign

 

[RHSTigerMom]

That borders on the absurd!

 

[mareed]

As our teens have stayed in their own cabin next to us, but are officially booked into a cabin with either Mom or Dad, we've done this in Nov. 2013 and Dec. 2014. On our recent Wonder cruise over XMAS the cruise director actually announced the need for this before the shows, where we hadn't heard them talk about it before.

Note that if you're booked into separate cabins like we are (Dad and kid in one cabin and Mom and kid in another) and you're all leaving the ship together, then there's no need for the form. It's just needed if a parent is leaving alone with the kid that's booked in the cabin with the other parent.

Note that the same form is where you can give permission for the children to leave the ship on their own also, and if you're doing that, then you don't need to sign that they can leave with another adult. We signed for DS15 to leave the ship on his own at Castaway Cay and Guest Services said that he'd need to carry the form with him when he left the ship. They made a copy of it for their records, and I'd assume that they somehow enter it electronically so it would come up when they scanned him off the ship, but who knows.

He didn't actually end up leaving on his own but we wanted to have the option in case he returned to the ship on his own and wanted to go back out. We thought about having him pretend to leave on his own though he was really with us to see if they actually did ask him for the form, but we didn't, so we never actually ever tested having him leave on his own to see if they'd ask him for the form.

 

[Octoberbride03]

That borders on the absurd!

Why would it border on the absurd? Its a simple form that details all of the adults who are allowed to leave the ship with a child if the family is in multiple staterooms. It takes 30 seconds to sign and deliver. Personally I liked the idea when we sailed in Oct.

 

[Saamh]

Why would it border on the absurd? Its a simple form that details all of the adults who are allowed to leave the ship with a child if the family is in multiple staterooms. It takes 30 seconds to sign and deliver. Personally I liked the idea when we sailed in Oct.

I think it has something to do with the computers they swipe your kttw (key cards) with. If a minor swipes their card w/o the adult with the same room number swiping first, it alerts them that there's an issue. Having the signed letter allows them to let do the override.

 

[Octoberbride03]

I think it has something to do with the computers they swipe your kttw (key cards) with. If a minor swipes their card w/o the adult with the same room number swiping first, it alerts them that there's an issue. Having the signed letter allows them to let do the override.

I understand that. I was referring to a question from another poster who apparently does not like the idea. I wondered why they didn't

 

[gigi1313]

The absurdity as I see it is the person who has to complete and sign the form is the same person who cannot leave with said minor without the form.

 

[Dug720]

The absurdity as I see it is the person who has to complete and sign the form is the same person who cannot leave with said minor without the form.

I see it as also being a safeguard against parental kidnapping. You never know what is really going on - parents could be estranged but on the same cruise for any number of reasons - most particularly for a vacation with the kids OR the non-custodial parent could in theory book a cabin on the same cruise without the custodial parents' knowledge. It's a shame we have to think about it, but the reality is it happens.

 

[jetskigrl]

The absurdity as I see it is the person who has to complete and sign the form is the same person who cannot leave with said minor without the form.

I don't think the computer would have a way to know that the adult in another room is the parent (could just be two people with the same last name) without the form. So the form is a way for the parents to let the CM's monitoring the exit doors know that the child is in a room with someone other than his/her parents. It just lets them know that all the adults listed are traveling together and are authorized to leave with the child.

That is why the parents can sign. I see this form as more informational (logistical) than safety in this case. You are informing them in advance that you are travelling in different staterooms so there will be no confusion when you try to get off the ship.

It isn't "I'm allowing the child to get off the ship with me." It is "here are the adults in our travelling party, the rooms they are in and that it is OK for the child to leave the ship with any of them."

 

[mareed]

The absurdity as I see it is the person who has to complete and sign the form is the same person who cannot leave with said minor without the form.

I'm no legal expert, but my interpretation of the form is that the person who is booked in the cabin with the minor has to sign it allowing other adults besides themself to leave the ship with the minor or for the minor to leave on their own (at specified ports).

The form starts with "Our onboard Security system prohibits children under the age of 18 from disembarking the ship unless accompanied by an adult in their same stateroom."

So in the case of the OP, I believe the Grandma would have to sign the form to allow the Parent to leave the ship with the minor.

Remember if everyone will be leaving the ship together, then this form isn't needed.

 

[samily]

I'm no legal expert, but my interpretation of the form is that the person who is booked in the cabin with the minor has to sign it allowing other adults besides themself to leave the ship with the minor or for the minor to leave on their own (at specified ports).

The form starts with "Our onboard Security system prohibits children under the age of 18 from disembarking the ship unless accompanied by an adult in their same stateroom."

So in the case of the OP, I believe the Grandma would have to sign the form to allow the Parent to leave the ship with the minor.

Remember if everyone will be leaving the ship together, then this form isn't needed.

This makes sense but is not how it worked for us. My son was booked in a cabin with my DH and when me and my son were trying to disembark for an excursion (without DH), they wouldn't let me off the ship with DS until I went to Guest Services and filled out the form. My DH wasn't there and didn't sign it, so basically I was giving myself permission to get off with my son. I thought it was a little absurd at the time. I would understand it if they needed DH to sign it, but they didn't.

I filled out the form and then went back down and they let the two of us disembark together.

 

[ocspartan]

I'm no legal expert, but my interpretation of the form is that the person who is booked in the cabin with the minor has to sign it allowing other adults besides themself to leave the ship with the minor or for the minor to leave on their own (at specified ports). The form starts with "Our onboard Security system prohibits children under the age of 18 from disembarking the ship unless accompanied by an adult in their same stateroom." So in the case of the OP, I believe the Grandma would have to sign the form to allow the Parent to leave the ship with the minor. Remember if everyone will be leaving the ship together, then this form isn't needed.

The form explicitly says parent / guardian so unless grandma has legal custody it's still a parent who needs to sign. Yes it does state the adult in the room needs to grant permission but a relative can not give permission to take a minor into a foreign country

 

[mareed]

The form explicitly says parent / guardian so unless grandma has legal custody it's still a parent who needs to sign. Yes it does state the adult in the room needs to grant permission but a relative can not give permission to take a minor into a foreign country

I'd assume that for the purpose of the cruise, DCL would consider Grandma the guardian since the child is booked in Grandma's cabin, so they're the only adult that Disney can connect to the child. But what do I know?!

Last year we sailed with my nephew without his parents along. He was booked in my Mom's (his Grandma's) cabin. His Grandma who was booked into his cabin had to sign the specific form in question allowing one of us (his Aunt and Uncle) to leave the ship with him without her (which we did end up doing because Grandma was unexpectedly sick and didn't leave with us at one port). Note that in this case we also had another form signed by his parents allowing Grandma to take him on the cruise. The OP's case would be different because the minor booked in Grandma's cabin would have the parents on-board.

 

[ocspartan]

I'd assume that for the purpose of the cruise, DCL would consider Grandma the guardian since the child is booked in Grandma's cabin, so they're the only adult that Disney can connect to the child. But what do I know?! Last year we sailed with my nephew without his parents along. He was booked in my Mom's (his Grandma's) cabin. His Grandma who was booked into his cabin had to sign the specific form in question allowing one of us (his Aunt and Uncle) to leave the ship with him without her (which we did end up doing because Grandma was unexpectedly sick and didn't leave with us at one port). Note that in this case we also had another form signed by his parents allowing Grandma to take him on the cruise. The OP's case would be different because the minor booked in Grandma's cabin would have the parents on-board.

I think it's different like in your case where the parents aren't on board bc they've already assigned proxy guardian rights for the length of the cruise to allow the adult to take them out of the country and make medical decisions, etc.... But when the parents are on board you don't need to go through those steps, like I said we asked a few times and got different answers, the definitive answer came on board after guest services needed to verify a few times that bc mom and dad were booked in cabin A and DS and DD were booked with DGM, the kids needed authorization to leave with adults in a different room, but that we were the only ones authorized to sign it. Again, if you always leave together it's a moot point bc everyone is there together....