Booking a cruise with an unrelated teenager
Planning to bring a friend's child or a teenager who isn't your legal dependent on a cruise? You'll need more than just their parents' verbal permission. Cruise lines have strict requirements to prevent child abduction.
TravelHost's Come Cruise With Me Editor in Chief Daniel Kline and his travel agent partner, Postcard Travel Planning's Dennis Post, recently explained exactly what paperwork you need and what precautions to take when bringing someone else's teenager on a cruise in the video below.
A full transcript follows.
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Correct paperwork can mean the difference between a vacation and a crime.
Transcript:
Dan Kline: Hey there, cruisers. Dan and Dennis, your travel hosts. Dennis, I've got a situation that most people don't have to deal with. So I am on Utopia of the Seas next week, and I am bringing a friend of the family, a teenager who is not my child. We don't have the same last name. We don't live in the same house.
What do I need to do before the cruise so the cruise line doesn't think I'm kidnapping him? Though, kidnapping someone and taking them on a closed loop would not be beneficial, because you'll kidnap them and arrive right back where you were. But what do I have to do?
Dennis Post: So most of the cruise lines have a form to fill out.
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You've got to get it notarized by the family. Get them to sign it authorizing, and then notarized to make sure it's a little bit more valid. We have one at Postcard Travel Planning, if they don't have one, but a form.
Kline: The other thing I recommend, because I actually took Andy and his brother Matthew last year on a cruise.
They actually didn't look at any of the forms. Make sure the parents are available when you're boarding and when you're getting off.
Post: That's a good point.
Kline: Especially if they live nearby, because God forbid there's any sort of controversy if they can leave work and come down. I don't expect that to happen. You know, they might take the kids aside and make sure they're okay, but that's not likely. Literally they didn't even look at our form last time.
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Post: That's interesting.
But you need to have that notarized form. If not, you're kidnapping.
Post: Yeah. You're not going.
Kline: That can be an absolute problem. I am Dan, he is Dennis, come cruise with us soon.
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Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me's Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.
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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 4:03 AM.