Passport Card

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

Sorry if this has been asked before...having trouble with the search function...

 

We are looking into taking my parents on an Alaskan cruise in Sept 2013 on Princess. We are all US citizens. My husband and I have passports. With a stop in Canada, will a passport card suffice for mom and dad? They are cheaper than a passport and I don't see them travelling to anywhere but Canada in the future.

 

Thanks for your help!

[retiredldo]

This is from the government site it does say sea ports of entry

 

Pete

 

 

 

What is the passport card?

The passport card is the wallet-size travel document that can only be used to re-enter the United States at land border-crossings and sea ports-of-entry from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. The card provides a less expensive, smaller, and convenient alternative to the passport book for those who travel frequently to these destinations by land or by sea.

[cherylandtk]

A passport card will get them on the ship and across any land borders,but it will not get them on a plane between Canada and the US.

 

.

[mapleleaves]

for something this important wouldn't you be better served to contact the State Dept ? I wouldn't risk being left at the pier because of bad advice from total strangers on a travel forum.

[bearbait]

for something this important wouldn't you be better served to contact the State Dept ? I wouldn't risk being left at the pier because of bad advice from total strangers on a travel forum.

 

From the State Department:

 

The U.S. Passport Card can be used to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry and is more convenient and less expensive than a passport book. The passport card cannot be used for international travel by air.

 

http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html

[scottbee]

Sorry if this has been asked before...having trouble with the search function...

 

We are looking into taking my parents on an Alaskan cruise in Sept 2013 on Princess. We are all US citizens. My husband and I have passports. With a stop in Canada, will a passport card suffice for mom and dad? They are cheaper than a passport and I don't see them travelling to anywhere but Canada in the future.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Yes, unless you intend to fly.

 

And, if your cruise is round-trip from Seattle, you don't even need a passport card, just a govt issued (not hospital) birth cert and govt issued photo ID will work.

 

Can you give us more details? Which cruise from where to where. it all matters

[ROXIETHEHORSE]

We are just in the "thinking about it" stage, so we have not really made a final decision..it will depend upon the cruise dates for Sept 2013 which I have not seen released yet.

 

We would really like to be able to experience Glacier Bay, so it looks like our options may be a round trip from Seattle or either a Northbound or Southbound one way.

 

 

Just looking for some preliminary info...thanks!

[BIG_Steve]

Yes, unless you intend to fly.

 

And, if your cruise is round-trip from Seattle, you don't even need a passport card, just a govt issued (not hospital) birth cert and govt issued photo ID will work.

 

Can you give us more details? Which cruise from where to where. it all matters

 

Some excursions cross into Canada. They would need it to get back to the ship if they were on such an excursion.

[caribill]

Some excursions cross into Canada. They would need it to get back to the ship if they were on such an excursion.

 

That would be a land crossing which the card is valid for.

[scottbee]

We are just in the "thinking about it" stage, so we have not really made a final decision..it will depend upon the cruise dates for Sept 2013 which I have not seen released yet.

 

We would really like to be able to experience Glacier Bay, so it looks like our options may be a round trip from Seattle or either a Northbound or Southbound one way.

 

 

Just looking for some preliminary info...thanks!

 

Round trip from Seattle; you won't even need a Passport card.

One Way N or S bound, cruises start/end in Vancouver, so you'd need a full passport to fly in or out, or you'd have to fly to SEA or BLI and cross the border by land.

 

Here's the rules for entering Canada;

 

1. Govt issued proof of citizenship (such as a govt issue birth cert)
   
2. Govt issued photo ID (with accompanying paperwork if name doesn't match above)
   
3. Correct documentation to return home
   

As the USA require a US Citizen to have a passport (or passport card) to enter/return to the USA, you'd need one to enter Canada. In the case of a closed loop (return to original departure port), the USA doesn't need a passport (or card), so Canada doesn't either.

[Treven]

... if this has been asked before...having trouble with the search function.

With a stop in Canada, will a passport card suffice for mom and dad?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

I have both the passport book and the card. I use the card as my every day ID. I gave up driving several years ago so when my driver's license expired, I didn't renew it; plus the passport card is valid for 10 years (like the book), and the driver's license is good for only five.

[bottom-dragger]

As the USA require a US Citizen to have a passport (or passport card) to enter/return to the USA, you'd need one to enter Canada. .

 

no, canada, correctly, doesn't legislate what it takes you to enter fortress usa. they regulate what it takes to legally enter canada. what a us citizen needs to enter canada and what a us citizen needs to enter their own country is apples and oranges. welcome comrade.

[scottbee]

no, canada, correctly, doesn't legislate what it takes you to enter fortress usa. they regulate what it takes to legally enter canada. what a us citizen needs to enter canada and what a us citizen needs to enter their own country is apples and oranges. welcome comrade.

 

As I pointed out in a previous post; Canada requires a person entering Canada to have the correct paperwork to go home. For a US Citizen that's a passport (by air) or passport card (by land/sea); or in some rare cases, only DL/BC (if they're going home via a closed loop cruise). There are of course a couple of other WHTI valid pieces of documentation, but that would just confuse matters further here.

 

 

So, in most cases, Canada requires a US Citizen to have a US passport to enter Canada, because that's what they'd need to go home.

 

Not sure what the 'welcome comrade' statement is all about, but is that your way of saying "sorry - I was indeed wrong?"

[bottom-dragger]

"sorry - I was indeed wrong?"

 

okay. i was.