Will we need a passport?

[BSwarenson]

The plan is to take a southbound cruise from Anchorage to Vancouver and board an Amtrak train to Portland. This is a last minute plan and my wife and I are U.S citizens who have never had a passport but do have original birth certificates, drivers licenses. Will we need a passport since we are not flying in or out of Canada? I also posted this question to the CANADIAN CRUISERS board. Hope that is ok.

[mom says]

You will enter Canada, so you will need a passport. Or a passport card. Or a NEXUS card.

[Ferry_Watcher]

2 hours ago, mom says said:

You will enter Canada, so you will need a passport. Or a passport card. Or a NEXUS card.

 

Mom is correct.  Since your cruise ends in Canada, you need stronger documents than your US birth certificate & DL.

Best to start applying for your passports ASAP.

[Ferry_Watcher]

FYI, OP, if you poke around on the internet, you might see a reference to an Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) that would be acceptable to use to enter Canada.  Just so you know, Enhanced Driver's Licenses are only issued by 5 US states, all of which share a border with Canada -  MI; MN; NY VT & WA.  Your state of Georgia does not offer an Enhanced Driver's License.  Georgia may offer a Real ID DL, but that will not allow you to enter Canada.

 

Your only option is a US passport.

 

 

Edited April 18 by Ferry_Watcher

[sparks1093]

Well, Canada would let you enter with a birth certificate but to re-enter the US it's passport or passport card, EDL (which your state doesn't issue) or NEXUS.

[chengkp75]

The only time that a birth certificate/driver's license combination is legal documentation for cruising is for a closed loop cruise, one that starts and ends at the same US port.  Your cruise is not a closed loop, so this form of documentation is not allowed.

[Ferry_Watcher]

If the OP changed their cruise to to round trip Seattle sailing, then they could use their US gov't issued birth certificate and their driver's license to board the closed loop cruise out of Seattle.  OP, you could still take Amtrak from Seattle to Portland once your cruise was over.

[BSwarenson]

Thanks everyone for your advice. It was appreciated and helpful. 

[john watson]

I should say obtaining a US passport is by far a better idea than relying on a series of documents which may suffice under specific circumstances.  The rules may change in the future possibly without warning and you risk being denied boarding at some stage.

 

Regards John

[BSwarenson]

Point taken. I have made an appointment.

[DeclanJohn]

Following with interest. I just chickened out on a booking website and will call the same place tomorrow and book by phone.

I want to take my mother on a closed loop cruise that stops one day in Canada but otherwise is entirely within the US. I have a passport. She does not but does have a WA EDL. She is 81 years old and this is the first time I've ever gotten her to let me treat her to any sort of vacation like this (she hates road trips by car and won't fly...who knew a trip on a ship would finally get an okay)?

I'm 99.9999% sure just her EDL will be fine but still...it's so much money to risk if I'm wrong. I suppose we'd have time to get her a passport but this trip would be the single time I could ever see her using it; a lot of hassle and expense we'd prefer to avoid.

[njhorseman]

15 minutes ago, DeclanJohn said:

Following with interest. I just chickened out on a booking website and will call the same place tomorrow and book by phone.

I want to take my mother on a closed loop cruise that stops one day in Canada but otherwise is entirely within the US. I have a passport. She does not but does have a WA EDL. She is 81 years old and this is the first time I've ever gotten her to let me treat her to any sort of vacation like this (she hates road trips by car and won't fly...who knew a trip on a ship would finally get an okay)?

I'm 99.9999% sure just her EDL will be fine but still...it's so much money to risk if I'm wrong. I suppose we'd have time to get her a passport but this trip would be the single time I could ever see her using it; a lot of hassle and expense we'd prefer to avoid.

An EDL is perfectly acceptable for your cruise, which I assume starts and ends in Seattle. Just make sure it actually is an EDL and not a REAL ID license. Many people confuse the two. However if it is a REAL ID license she can still cruise with that plus an official birth certificate (assuming she was born in the USA). If she's a naturalized US citizen she would need her original naturalization certificate plus the drivers license.

 

One other caveat. There are some cruise lines...typically super premium and luxury cruise lines, that require all passengers to have a valid passport even if lesser documentation is legally acceptable. One cruise line that does closed loop Alaskan cruises from Seattle that requires a passport for all passengers is Oceania. There may be others. Typically the mass market lines such as NCL, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, Holland America and Celebrity do not require all passengers to have a passport. You should check your cruise line's website FAQs for their requirements.

[DeclanJohn]

Thank you for the reply. I had a look; it is definitely an EDL. The cruise is on Princess; a rare and one-off itinerary from Seattle that does NOT go to Alaska; after a day in Victoria it heads south all the way to San Diego (but not into Mexico) and then returns to Seattle.

 

Funny enough, I was at my mom's yesterday and asked about her naturalization papers (she was born in Perth to an Aussie nurse and handsome US Navy radioman near the end of the war; she's lived here since she was 2), She went and showed me those very papers, which included a photo of herself at 18; don't think I'd ever seen them before.

 

What kicked off my fear was attempting to book the trip on a third party agency (same price as Princess but some significant perks) and reading the ID requirements they had there...they made no mention of the closed loop exception. But Princess' website was reassuring; I'm going to book the cruise to get the cabin I want now!

Edited April 22 by DeclanJohn

[Ferry_Watcher]

Since you live in Seattle, I know that when you say that your Mom has a WA State Enhanced DL, that you know what you are describing is accurate.

 

Like @njhorseman said, your Mom could also use her original US Naturalization Certificate as a 'back-up' document to her EDL.

Hope you both have a wonderful cruise!

[KBS1607]

On 4/21/2024 at 9:24 PM, DeclanJohn said:

Thank you for the reply. I had a look; it is definitely an EDL. The cruise is on Princess; a rare and one-off itinerary from Seattle that does NOT go to Alaska; after a day in Victoria it heads south all the way to San Diego (but not into Mexico) and then returns to Seattle.

 

Funny enough, I was at my mom's yesterday and asked about her naturalization papers (she was born in Perth to an Aussie nurse and handsome US Navy radioman near the end of the war; she's lived here since she was 2), She went and showed me those very papers, which included a photo of herself at 18; don't think I'd ever seen them before.

 

What kicked off my fear was attempting to book the trip on a third party agency (same price as Princess but some significant perks) and reading the ID requirements they had there...they made no mention of the closed loop exception. But Princess' website was reassuring; I'm going to book the cruise to get the cabin I want now!

I hope you have a great time!  That’s cool about the photo you had never seen. 

[Mum2Mercury]

Call the cruise line and be SURE of what you'll need for this sailing.  

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Call the cruise line and be SURE of what you'll need for this sailing.  

Cruise line telephone customer service reps will not tell you because they don't know and aren't permitted to tell you. Even if a customer service rep told you something their statement isn't binding on the cruise line. The cruise line website documentation FAQs  generally have reliable. information and are a far better source than customer service reps.. In the end it's the passenger's responsibility to find the answer.

 

BTW, since two different posters asked questions about required documentation, which one are you addressing, or is it both ? The answers to the two questions are different because the itineraries are different. One is a one way cruise from Alaska to the Vancouver followed by a train ride from Vancouver to Portland. The other is a closed loop cruise departing from and ending in Seattle.