canadian border crossings

[quiller7]

hi

now that there have been several weeks of cruises to alaska, i was wondering how the border crossing into canada from skagway is being handled. are peoples passports being checked for criminal indiscretions.

 

do you have to show a passport or will a drivers license and or birth certificate suffice. has anyone been turned back at the border.

 

same question for getting off the ship in victoria.

[flamedic]

I assume you mean on the train or the bus/train excursion? On the website and the excursion book, page101 states US & Canadian citizens must have a government issued photo ID (passports preferred) & your ship ID.

 

I would like to know how they check also. I leave on my cruise in 2 weeks & have booked the "Ultimate Yukon & Whitepass Railroad" excursion.

 

How was the trip? Worth the price?

[quiller7]

havn't gone yet. we go on the pearl on the 17th. we are renting car in skagway and are interested in what you need at the border crossing on the way to emerald lake. do they check your passport on the computer

[gambit57]

Just back for the Sapphire Princess. Did the buss ride to White Pass. Driver said we HAD to have passports, even though we were going by car. Someone brought up the rule about just needing a DL and birth certificate. Driver said US customs made a stink about it and insisted we had to have passports for the trip. Customs waved us through and didn't even check anyone. Driver said he was stopped earlier and was surprised they let us through without even checking this time.

[TeeBuccs]

We traveled with passports and I would say it's a good thing we did. We had no problem leaving AK and entering Canada but the reverse trip was not nearly so easy. The guy letting us back into the US had stoney face and asked us a million questions and acted really annoyed. If we had made it more difficult by using DL and birth certificate I can only imagine how he would have been.

[gr8tfulscott]

it is just a dl and bc right now ,correct?

for land travel to and from canada.

 

just a little worried

scott:confused:

[Fergus]

We were surprised last year about how closely they scrutinized our documents, especially returning to US - we did have passports with us. Funny story - when we were crossing into Canada, my daughter (16 yrs) was asleep in the back seat of our rental car. So sound asleep, she didn't even flicker an eyelash when we stopped and were talking to the guard. He kept looking at her and finally asked us to wake her up - I guess just to make sure she was alive and we weren't transporting a dead body!!!

[Yukon]

it is just a dl and bc right now ,correct? for land travel to and from canada.

 

That is correct, Scott.

[qiangf2]

Just bring your passport and/or other IDs. oh, make sure you stay in your car while waiting for border crossing. I ventured out of my car to try to snap some pictures. That really upset the officer at the checkpoint. :)

[brunolvr]

havn't gone yet. we go on the pearl on the 17th. we are renting car in skagway and are interested in what you need at the border crossing on the way to emerald lake. do they check your passport on the computer

 

Hello, quiller7! We have a roll call going for the June 17th NCL Pearl. We're planning a get-together. Why not join us?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=424372

[Texascruisers]

We just returned from the NCL Sun Sunday night. We rented a car in Skagway and drove all the way up to Whitehorse in the Yukon. We had a couple from Canada who joined us for the drive. We all had passports. Both the Canadian and U.S. guards checked our papers. They just looked at them, no computer checks. Just be sure to stay inside your car.

[Budget Queen]

havn't gone yet. we go on the pearl on the 17th. we are renting car in skagway and are interested in what you need at the border crossing on the way to emerald lake. do they check your passport on the computer

 

Yes my passports were scanned at both locations.

[gambit57]

Just be sure to stay inside your car.

 

And don't take pictures of the border station. Put away the cameras and any snacks. The US guard seemed way too serious and suspicious. I know, better safe than sorry. But still. This is freaking Skagway and the Yukon. How much criminal activity really goes on up there?

[Yukon]

This is freaking Skagway and the Yukon. How much criminal activity really goes on up there?

 

You would probably be surprised :(

 

About the photos, though - somebody last week took a photo of the Customs officer coming through the train car. He seized the camera and erased the card (the entire card!) - this story was confirmed by a WP&YR executive on Friday - more :(

[Budget Queen]

And don't take pictures of the border station. Put away the cameras and any snacks. The US guard seemed way too serious and suspicious. I know, better safe than sorry. But still. This is freaking Skagway and the Yukon. How much criminal activity really goes on up there?

 

It's not the Yukon at the crossing, its British Columbia. Any border crossing has the potential for plenty of criminal activity. In New York, the big crimes seem to always be at the small crossings- thinking maybe they will be more lax etc. Think of all those cruise passengers and staff????? Plenty of opportunity for all sorts of stuff.

[gambit57]

You would probably be surprised :(

 

About the photos, though - somebody last week took a photo of the Customs officer coming through the train car. He seized the camera and erased the card (the entire card!) - this story was confirmed by a WP&YR executive on Friday - more :(

 

Yikes! No wonder our bus driver made such a big deal about putting away your cameras. He was hinting around at a story like that.

 

Stupid criminals are ruining it for everyone. I can understand the thinking that small borders will have more lax security, but the Yukon border is FAR from the main population centers where illegal goods would be offloaded. Doesn't make sense to try to smuggle anything through there. Not efficient enough.

 

Guess I'm just too used to California and the Mexican border. There, they usually just bombard the border with crap knowing there isn't enough security to catch it all. They're pretty brazen down there.

[Budget Queen]

For clarification, it is not the Yukon border with US. It is British Columbia. There is no "checkpoint" at the Yukon, and when there 2 weeks ago, the sign was gone. :) Maybe Murray can give an update on where that is expected back, or what happened to it??

[gambit57]

It's gotta be those darn criminals the border guards are so worried about!

[Yukon]

For clarification, it is not the Yukon border with US. It is British Columbia. There is no "checkpoint" at the Yukon, and when there 2 weeks ago, the sign was gone. :) Maybe Murray can give an update on where that is expected back, or what happened to it??

 

That border crossing confuses a lot of people because it even flies a Yukon flag. The sign is still gone for renovation, no date of expected return yet. It's partly due to the exchange in slogans from "Canada's True North" (which I hated) to "Larger Than Life", but it was also getting quite weathered. The "Welcome to Alaska" sign is taken down and put into storage for the winter (the snow is so deep in the pass that nobody would see it anyway), but the Yukon sign is up year-round.

 

Murray

[Kathy0418]

We rented a car and drove to Emerald Lake May 20 with lots of stops for photos along the way. The guard opened our passports, looked at them, and handed them back, asked us how long we were planning to stay, took about 10 seconds. That was it. When we returned to Alaska they asked us more questions such as if we bought or brought anything back.

[thawan]

May 17th we did the bus/rr combo. At the Canadain border the guard got on the bus and looked at passports (I think everyone had them). He even joked with us. On the train back they checked us at Skagway. With the warning that no one was to get off the train until they said. We were on one of the big busses, 40 people.

 

Maybe it's like so many things that shouldn't, depends on the border guards mood.

[Squirrel's Mom]

Thank you for your time

[rglbjl]

The sign is still gone for renovation, no date of expected return yet.

 

Murray

 

No wonder I couldn't find the sign. Thought I had missed it on the car ride up, but couldn't find it on the ride back either.

 

Like others - Canadian customs just looked at passport and asked how long we were staying and have a nice day. US customs scanned passports and went through 20 questions on what we were bringing back.

[qiangf2]

You would probably be surprised :(

 

About the photos, though - somebody last week took a photo of the Customs officer coming through the train car. He seized the camera and erased the card (the entire card!) - this story was confirmed by a WP&YR executive on Friday - more :(

 

I think I must be lucky last time. The border inspection officer only yelled at me to get back in my car when I tried to step out to shoot some pictures. I could have lost all the pictures I took on my way to summit. :eek:

[pacthepuppies]

Anyone catch the news this am? The border guard who let in that lawyer with drug-resistant TB has been placed on leave pending an investigation... The man was on the 'do not admit' list, but the guard didn't stop him- just glanced at his papers and let him in...(says the man)... I bet that they will be WAY WAY more careful now- for a few wks at least!