Passport ?

[kjpabl]

My husband and I are Washington residents and will be cruising to Alaska in 2011 on the Volendam. We both have the new "enhanced driver's licenses" that allow us to drive to and from Canada. We will be driving to and from Vancouver. Will we need passports also? :confused:

[broberts]

I believe that enhanced DLs are adequate, but I'd suggest that you check here (http://www.getyouhome.gov/html/eng_map.html) and here (http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html).

[AZNative2000]

Will we need passports also? :confused:

I believe you will. We needed them to check in at Canada Place as well as on one of the excursions that ventured into the Yukon. There was one border crossing where they checked everyone's passport. Better to be safe than sorry IMHO.

[kjw869]

According to the US State Department website, a Passport Card will allow you to enter the US at "Land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry".

See here and enjoy your cruise: http://www.travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html

On the Canada Border Services Agency, it states "If you are a citizen of the United States, you do not need a passport to enter Canada. However, you should carry proof of your citizenship, such as a birth certificate, certificate of citizenship or naturalization, as well as photo identification."

See: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/security-securite/admiss-eng.html

[Krazy Kruizers]

For the future I strongly suggest that you get a passport.

If something were to happen and you had to be flown anywhere -- you need a passport.

[trouble1964]

We drove into Canada last fall from Maine and were asked for our passports, not ID. They were both brand new with the chip and we had to get out and go into the office at the border and get them checked in. I'd rather go ahead and have one than not, and get them the sooner the better because you never know when there will be a backlog. I wouldn't suggest waiting any longer than 6 months before you cruise.

[AZNative2000]

For the future I strongly suggest that you get a passport.

If something were to happen and you had to be flown anywhere -- you need a passport.

As always, KK makes an excellent point. A woman on our ship fell and broke her hip and had to be air-evacuated out of Skagway. (Don't know to where:confused:) The others in her party went too.

It does seem you have plenty of time to get the passports before the 2011 cruise if you so choose.

[Stevesan]

Never leave home without one. :D

http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds82/ds82_843.html (http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds82/ds82_843.html)

A nice feature added since I last renewed: you can fill out the application form on line then print it out. Great if you're handwriting is as bad as mine.

[cherylandtk]

For your itinerary, an EDL is an acceptable equivalent to a passport card.

And to address the emergency issue noted above, flying home from Skagway is flying home from the US, so no passport is required. Your itinerary only involves flying home from a US city....or perhaps taking an ambulance across a land border. Your EDL will be fine for both of these.

[jtl513]

Your itinerary only involves flying home from a US city....or perhaps taking an ambulance across a land border.And if you're Medevaced to Vancouver and you wish to fly home from there? :confused:

[3rdGenCunarder]

And if you're Medevaced to Vancouver and you wish to fly home from there? :confused:

I'm with the "better safe than sorry" group.

Less risk on an Alaska cruise, since your ports are all or mostly in the US. But I remember something on the news a few years ago when someone got very sick on a caribbean cruise and the ship went to the nearest port to get the passenger and family to a hospital. From there, they had to fly home. this was during the period when cruise pax didn't need passports, but airline pax did. they needed embassy or consulate help, and it was a big deal.

[cherylandtk]

And if you're Medevaced to Vancouver and you wish to fly home from there? :confused:Well, of course a passport would be needed in that case. But if you are medivaced you will no doubt need hospitalization (in Vancouver) and be unable to travel by any means for several days or weeks. During which time you could no doubt also get help from the consulate and arrange for a passport if needed. Or, being that close to the border, choose to take a vehicle across instead if you wish to get home quickly and cheaply.

Look, given any single itinerary we can all come up with the one, really odd, incredibly rare, highly unlikely chance that a passport would be necessary. But in this case, assuming one is medivaced in a foreign country, you have a lot more things to worry about than the passport. OP is on a RT Alaska cruise, the only foreign port is the start and finish. I think their odds are pretty miniscule. Let's just try to keep it all in perspective instead of splitting hairs.

[jtl513]

...and be unable to travel by any means for several days or weeks.Not necessarily.

Let's just try to keep it all in perspective instead of splitting hairs.It's just a whole lot simpler and safer to have and use a passport. Sooner or later they'll probably want one anyway.

[broberts]

Not necessarily.

It's just a whole lot simpler and safer to have and use a passport. Sooner or later they'll probably want one anyway.

I'm a big believer in passports but with this particular itinerary I have to disagree with you. It's a different story in the Caribbean. There, I agree with you, a passport makes eminent sense.

Someone being medivaced from Skagway is much more likely to end up in Anchorage as it's some 300 miles closer than Vancouver. But if the insurance company elected to fly the patient south, Seattle is only 100 miles south of Vancouver and the cost of flying within the US is much less than an international flight.

But let's suppose a patient did end up in Vancouver. There are multiple land / sea links between Seattle and Vancouver. Enough that one is not forced to fly and thus one would not have to get emergency travel documentation from the US Consulate.

While one may sooner or later require a passport the process of acquiring one is currently less than 6 weeks and they do need to be replaced every 10 years.