Alaska cruisers - you MUST have passports to fly from Vancouver to the US!

[HeatherD]

It sure would solve alot of problems. My opinion is if you can afford the cruise then you can afford the passport to go along with it.

I don't know that I'd say if you can afford to cruise then you can afford a passport. However, I agree with the sentiment - perhaps just rewording it that the cost of a passport should be budgeted into your cruise costs and planned accordingly. In light of spending $4-8K on this Alaskan cruise, another $400 isn't that out of bounds, if you've planned for it from the beginning...

 

[frozenmickey]

In June 2007 and May 2009 I booked the rail/bus excursion that goes all the way to Carcross one-way by train (with lunch stop in Bennett) - and BOTH years the tracks washed out between Bennett and Carcross just before we arrived in Skagway! We ended up taking the train to Fraser, then a bus to Carcross and back to Skagway. The scenery in the Yukon is beautiful, but I REALLY wanted to see it one-way to Carcross by train. Maybe I'll get lucky the 3rd time around!

I will keep my fingers crossed for you! I remember when I was younger the train actually came right to Whitehorse. I've only done the trip once and it was to Bennett. A lot of Yukoners take advantage of a discount that is offered during the long weekend in May since it is 1/2 price. It is in the shoulder season when there isn't a lot of tourists, there still could be snow and it is a Canadian holiday. Anyway, I was in awe the whole time and I live here, the scenery is so breath-taking. The engineering and construction of the line, especially for when it was built, is amazing.

I'm very excited that Disney is going to Alaska... whenever I saw a post about someone going to see the ships in dry dock, at the port, etc. I got so jealous... but not now!! We are definitely taking a day off work to go and see the Wonder.

 

[NancyIL]

Ok, this answers the Canadian/US requirements for getting to Vancouver, but what are the Canadian requirements for boarding a cruise ship that stops in US ports?

The fact that the cruise goes to US ports is irrelevant, because you first have to get to Canada to begin the cruise. If you arrive in Canada by plane, you'll need a passport. If you arrive by land or sea, a passport card will suffice, but you might as well get a regular passport - in my opinion.

 

[NancyIL]

I will keep my fingers crossed for you! I remember when I was younger the train actually came right to Whitehorse. I've only done the trip once and it was to Bennett. A lot of Yukoners take advantage of a discount that is offered during the long weekend in May since it is 1/2 price. It is in the shoulder season when there isn't a lot of tourists, there still could be snow and it is a Canadian holiday. Anyway, I was in awe the whole time and I live here, the scenery is so breath-taking. The engineering and construction of the line, especially for when it was built, is amazing.

I'm very excited that Disney is going to Alaska... whenever I saw a post about someone going to see the ships in dry dock, at the port, etc. I got so jealous... but not now!! We are definitely taking a day off work to go and see the Wonder.

I have no definite plans to return to Skagway...yet. I have gone to Alaska 3 summers in a row, so I'll take a year off in 2010. I hope to do a land trip in 2011, followed by a southbound cruise. If the ship goes to Skagway - I may jinx the railroad tracks if I try to book that excursion again!

One thing I noticed all 3 times I was in the Yukon (twice from Skagway and once from Haines): the sun seems to shine a lot more in the YT than it does in Skagway or BC!