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The Royal Caribbean minor consent form is a parental travel permission letter. Parents sign it so another adult can sail with their child and make decisions on board. Families use it when a child sails without one or both parents.
This page explains when the form is used, what the accompanying adult can do with it, and what US travel guidance says about consent letters. It then walks through each part of the form with screenshots and a filled-in sample.
A Royal Caribbean minor consent form is a signed letter in which a child’s parents or legal guardian let a named adult take the child on one specific cruise. It names the child, the ship, the sailing dates, and the adult who travels in the parents’ place.
Searchers know it by several names: the Royal Caribbean parental consent form, the child travel consent form, the consent for minor form, or the minor authorization form. All of them describe the same document. It has lines for the parents, each child, the cruise, the accompanying adult, the return date, the signatures, and the parents’ contact details.
Parents fill out a Royal Caribbean minor consent form when their child sails without one or both of them, so the adult on board can show that the parents agreed to the trip. These are the usual cases:
Royal Caribbean sets its own boarding document rules for young guests and for minors who sail without a parent, and they can ask for more than the general US travel advice on this page. Read the guest documents FAQ on Royal Caribbean’s website for your sailing before you fill in the form, and check three things there: whether the signed original letter is needed at check-in, what a parent whose last name differs from the child’s is asked to bring, and what papers a guardian appointed by a judge is asked to show.
When a child travels with only one custodial parent, the consent letter should come from the other parent, according to USA.gov, Travel documents for children. The parent who stays home signs it, and the traveling parent carries it.
The same form works for this case. In the first step, the parent who stays home enters their name. In the fourth step, the traveling parent is named as the accompanying adult.
A parent with sole custody of the child they are traveling with should carry a copy of the custody document, USA.gov, Travel documents for children says. Pack it with the child’s passport or birth certificate and the cruise documents.
If your last name differs from your child’s, read the cruise line’s guest documents FAQ for what it asks you to bring to show you are the parent, and pack the child’s birth certificate, which names the parents.
The accompanying adult is the person named on the form who travels with the child in place of the parents and makes everyday and urgent decisions for the child during the cruise. The form lists the powers the parents hand over:
Read the printed text of the form before you sign, so you know what you hand over. The form ties these powers to the cruise dates you write in.
According to USA.gov, Travel documents for children, a child who travels abroad alone or with only one parent or legal guardian may need a letter of consent, because ports of entry in many countries have measures to prevent international child abduction.
| Who the child travels with | Who signs the consent letter | Source |
|---|---|---|
| One custodial parent | The other parent | USA.gov, Travel documents for children |
| A guardian | Both parents | USA.gov, Travel documents for children |
| No one (the child travels alone) | Both parents | USA.gov, Travel documents for children |
| A parent with sole custody | That parent carries a copy of the custody document | USA.gov, Travel documents for children |
The guardian row is USA.gov’s general advice, and it does not say whether it means a guardian appointed by a judge. If you are one, read the cruise line’s guest documents FAQ for the papers it asks to see, and carry the order that appointed you.
USA.gov, Travel documents for children, says it is preferred that the letter of consent is in English and notarized.
The letter should say, per USA.gov, Travel documents for children: “I acknowledge that my child is traveling outside the country with [the name of the adult] with my permission.”
For children who are US citizens and travel by land or sea to Canada or Mexico, USA.gov, Travel documents for children lists the child’s US passport, or an original or certified copy of the birth certificate, under age 16; at age 16 or over, it lists a US passport or a Trusted Traveler Program card. Depending on the country, the child may also need a visa and other travel documents, USA.gov, Travel documents for children notes, so check each port of call before the trip.
To fill out the Royal Caribbean minor consent form, gather the booking and the ID details of each child and of the accompanying adult, then complete the form from the date line down to the contact section. Work through the nine steps below in order and check each line before you move on. Every step shows the part of the form you are filling in, so you can match your own copy to the screenshot as you go.
Gather a few details before you start, so you can fill in the whole form in one sitting. Most of them come from your cruise booking and from each child’s travel documents.
Enter the current date in the upper right corner of the form. Then enter your full name on the second line. If both parents are handing responsibility to a third person, each parent enters a name.
Fill in the child’s personal information. Write the full name of each child, the date of birth, and the passport or birth certificate number. Copy the numbers straight from the ID so that no digit is wrong.
Fill in the name of the ship your child is booked on, the departure date, and the reservation code from your booking confirmation.
Write the accompanying adult’s full name and passport details on the next two lines. Spell the name exactly as it appears in that person’s passport.
Next, enter the end date of the cruise and the date the child returns together with the accompanying adult.
Read the text to know what powers and rights you transfer to the accompanying adult for the duration of the cruise.
The form must be signed by the parent or legal representative of the child and the accompanying adult. Sign with a pen, using the same name you entered at the top of the form. Read the ninth step before you sign, because the signing may take place there.
Enter your address and phone number, so the accompanying adult and the ship’s staff can reach you in an emergency during the cruise.
Take the form to a notary public and sign it there, since USA.gov, Travel documents for children says it is preferred that a letter of consent is in English and notarized. Royal Caribbean’s own boarding rules can ask for more than this general advice, such as the signed original at check-in, so read its guest documents FAQ before you sail and give the original to the accompanying adult.
When you finish, read the whole form once more and check these points:
This sample shows how the entries can look when the form is complete. Compare it with your own copy as you work through the steps. All names, dates, and numbers are made up.
| Where | What you enter | Sample entry |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Date and parent | 03/15/2027, Anna Baker, 123 Main Street, Springfield |
| Step 2 | Child | Ben Baker, born 05/20/2015, passport number X1234567 |
| Step 3 | Cruise | Sample Voyager, departing 04/10/2027, reservation code ABC123 |
| Step 4 | Accompanying adult | Carol Baker, passport number Y7654321 |
| Step 5 | End of the cruise | Cruise ends and the child returns on 04/17/2027 |
The most common mistakes on a Royal Caribbean minor consent form are a name spelled differently from the passport, blank booking details, and a missing parent phone number, and one careful read before signing catches each of them.
A few small habits keep the form clean and make the trip smoother for the child and the accompanying adult.
Parents and guardians often ask the same few questions about this cruise consent form.
Yes, it describes the same kind of permission: parents letting another adult sail with their child. Royal Caribbean Group is the name of the company behind Royal Caribbean International, so the form title may carry either name.
Parents sign in ink with the name they wrote at the top, in front of a notary public, since USA.gov, Travel documents for children says it is preferred that a letter of consent is in English and notarized. Royal Caribbean’s own boarding rules can ask for more than this general advice, so read its guest documents FAQ for your sailing before you sign.
Yes, you can fill it in on a computer before you print or print it and write in clear block letters. Either way, the signatures go on the printed copy.
The accompanying adult is the person who travels with your child in place of the parents, often a grandparent, relative, or family friend. Check the cruise line’s age rules for that person before you write their name in the fourth step.
Step 2 has the lines for each child’s name, date of birth, and passport or birth certificate number. List every child who sails with the same accompanying adult on that cruise.
Read each line once more and use the checklist above. Then keep a signed copy with your travel papers and give the accompanying adult the signed form before the cruise.
General information, not legal or tax advice.
