Passport CARD instead of passport book

According to travel.state.gov website, a passport card could be used for "entering the United States at land border crossings and sea ports-of-entry from Canada..." but I wanted to ask people's personal experiences with this.

Has anyone here sailed on a closed loop out of Seattle using their passport card instead of a passport book? And if you stopped in Victoria, B.C, were there any issues?

TIA!

According to travel.state.gov website, a passport card could be used for "entering the United States at land border crossings and sea ports-of-entry from Canada..." but I wanted to ask people's personal experiences with this.

Has anyone here sailed on a closed loop out of Seattle using their passport card instead of a passport book? And if you stopped in Victoria, B.C, were there any issues?

TIA!

We did this trip almost 6 years ago on the HAL Oosterdam and, for some reason, we didn't have to show our passport in Victoria at all.. The only thing we needed were the usual - ship card & ID. Our ship was late docking and we didn't have but a few hours there, but I doubt that was the reason.

Kathy

We use our Washington State Enhanced drivers license to cross the border at Fraser in the Yukon, no problem they just looked at it and moved on to the next person. In all of our trips to to Victoria on a cruise ship we have never been ask for or showed any ID at customs. We have showed the guard at the gate our cruise card to get back on the pier. So to answer your question, yes a Passport card would be fine.

If you are going to apply for one of them, get the full passport. It will do everything the future might hold for you, for 10 years.

Our friends sailed on a cruise with us using WHTI compliant cards similar to a passport card. They were just fine using those.

For a closed loop it's more than enough - driving license/birth cert is all you need. If you already have one, great, use it to save dealing with an important piece of paper.

If you're considering applying for one though, I'm with Alwaysfrantic - the additional value from a 'real' passport book seems well worth the extra $. The one real benefit of passport over alternative ID on a closed loop is the ability to fly home in unexpected circumstances - which you can't do with a passport card.

Is it likely that you'll need to fly home? Of course not. But if I'm remembering the price differential correctly, it's only $8 extra a year over the lifetime of the passport. Only if you're certain you'll never fly anywhere except domestic in the next decade, but that you would want to do one-way cruises, does a passport card seem to be the winner of the 'which kind of ID should I get?' question.

We have both the passport book and card ready the for adults and kids. We used the passport book last year and it was very bulky plus nerve-racking to carry it around all day when on the excursions. Sounds like we'll be okay just using the passport card this time. Hooray!

Thanks for everyone's input on this! Really appreciate it!

We have both the passport book and card ready the for adults and kids. We used the passport book last year and it was very bulky plus nerve-racking to carry it around all day when on the excursions. Sounds like we'll be okay just using the passport card this time. Hooray!

 

Thanks for everyone's input on this! Really appreciate it!

WHY would you carry your passport book with you on excursions? We've always left them in our safe. I do take photos of the info pages with my phone. I thought about just getting the cards when we have to renew this year, but we're thinking of doing an Alaska trip with a flight home from Vancouver -- as I read it, we would need the book for that.

I have never taken my passport ashore on an excursion either. (I know one private one in Skagway crosses into Canada and you do need it). Other than that, DL and ship key card only.

WHY would you carry your passport book with you on excursions? We've always left them in our safe. I do take photos of the info pages with my phone. I thought about just getting the cards when we have to renew this year, but we're thinking of doing an Alaska trip with a flight home from Vancouver -- as I read it, we would need the book for that.

Because a photo of your passport will not be accepted if you need to cross the boarder. If you miss the ship for some reason and need to fly to catch up, a picture of your passport will do you no good. Yes, it help in obtaining a new passport but it will not get you on a plane or across the border.

One issue with only having the passport card is it is only for "ground" transportation across the US border with Canada, Mexico, etc.

For our Alaskan cruise last year, we had passport books for all. If someone became badly injured, they could be flown back to the US without having to involve the US consulate and other special measures.

I'm renewing my passport today and it doesn't cost much more to just add the card.

Because a photo of your passport will not be accepted if you need to cross the boarder. If you miss the ship for some reason and need to fly to catch up, a picture of your passport will do you no good. Yes, it help in obtaining a new passport but it will not get you on a plane or across the border.

I've downloaded the Mobile Passport App onto my iPhone and scanned our passports into it. It's officially authorized by the US Customs and will help breeze through customs. At the present time, it's only being used at 21 US airports and the cruise port at Ft Lauderdale. Hopefully it will evolve into a replacement for the book or at least be honored at more points of entry.

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I would say a passport book is safer, in case you get de-boarded or miss the boat and have to fly between countries. But that's kind of like worst-case-scenario. :)

I've downloaded the Mobile Passport App onto my iPhone and scanned our passports into it. It's officially authorized by the US Customs and will help breeze through customs. At the present time, it's only being used at 21 US airports and the cruise port at Ft Lauderdale. Hopefully it will evolve into a replacement for the book or at least be honored at more points of entry.

 

 

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Very interesting. Thank you for posting this. For anyone else interested in this, I found the website for the app here.

My cousin had a heart attack in Anchorage years ago. After treatment, he had to fly home from there. Just something to think about..

But...If you have to fly home from Alaska, you are in the USA, and if you fly to Seattle or another US airport, you would not need a passport. Only if they fly you to a Canadian city would you need the passport. EM

My cousin had a heart attack in Anchorage years ago. After treatment, he had to fly home from there. Just something to think about..

This would be an issue if they were in the Caribbean or Europe, but not in Anchorage and yes - you never know when you need to be flown home.

Very interesting. Thank you for posting this. For anyone else interested in this, I found the website for the app here.

You are welcome. Even though I'm not currently traveling to any of these airports, our scanned passports in this app may help in the unlikely event that I would lose our passports. We always travel with color copies but this could provide additional backup. I would think the airports/cruise ports accepting this increase significantly before long, at least I hope so. Kathy

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But...If you have to fly home from Alaska, you are in the USA, and if you fly to Seattle or another US airport, you would not need a passport. Only if they fly you to a Canadian city would you need the passport. EM

Yes, but if it happened in Vancouver or Victoria...............