Is a Nexus Card Adequate for a Cruise to Alaska that Ends in Vancouver?

[RoyMartin]

We're taking an Alaskan cruise in September that starts in Seattle and ends in Vancouver. My wife and I have expired passports that we could renew but our 8 year old son does not have one. It would be a bit of a hassle to get that remedied, as we have no plans to go overseas anytime soon.

We have valid Nexus cards which are good for crossing between the United States and Canada. They are a form of trusted traveler card, so we get to wait in the short lines at the airport too. I'm thinking our Nexus cards should be adequate for this cruise. Does anyone have experience with this? Thanks.

[1025cruise]

Nexus cards are good for land crossings only.

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, RoyMartin said:

We're taking an Alaskan cruise in September that starts in Seattle and ends in Vancouver. My wife and I have expired passports that we could renew but our 8 year old son does not have one. It would be a bit of a hassle to get that remedied, as we have no plans to go overseas anytime soon.

We have valid Nexus cards which are good for crossing between the United States and Canada. They are a form of trusted traveler card, so we get to wait in the short lines at the airport too. I'm thinking our Nexus cards should be adequate for this cruise. Does anyone have experience with this? Thanks.

The “short” lines in US airports is for “Pre.” Nexus is for cars and would be useless for travel by ship. Also, remember that, if you need to fly home (emergency) from outside the US, you’ll need a passport book (passport card won’t work).

Get the passports and order the extra pages.

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

Nexus cards are good for land crossings only.

 

 

1 hour ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

The “short” lines in US airports is for “Pre.” Nexus is for cars and would be useless for travel by ship. Also, remember that, if you need to fly home (emergency) from outside the US, you’ll need a passport book (passport card won’t work).

Get the passports and order the extra pages.

Not so:

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/nexus/card

NEXUS Cards

 

 

If you are approved to participate in NEXUS, you will receive a membership identification card to use when entering Canada or the United States at all designated NEXUS air, land and marine ports of entry.

[RoyMartin]

If it works for air and land crossings, we're set. The ship only docks in Alaska (three ports) and then to Vancouver, B.C. for us to disembark. We live in Washington state so we'll be traveling home by train. I've already purchased those tickets and Amtrak took our Nexus info. The cards will be with us in case they need to be seen.

If there's an emergency, we'll be flying from Alaska to Washington so there's no border crossing.

Can anyone find fault to this logic?

Edited February 2, 2023 by RoyMartin

[njhorseman]

2 minutes ago, RoyMartin said:

I'm still not seeing the need for passports. Tell me what's wrong with this analysis.

 

We live in Washington state. If we should need to fly back from Alaska, there's no border issue. We can use our Nexus cards to get into the fast line at the airport. All of our ports except for the day it drops us off are in Alaska.

 

The ship docks in Vancouver, B.C. as its final destination. There we'll disembark. We'll take a taxi to the train station. We can use our Nexus cards to cross the border. I already have train tickets purchased to return home by rail. Amtrak required our Nexus card numbers and they'll be available to inspect.

While it may be legal to use a Nexus card, some cruise lines, particularly luxury lines, require all passengers to have a valid passport expiring no earlier than 6 months after the completion of your voyage. Your question can't be answered without knowing which cruise line you'll be on.

[RoyMartin]

2 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

While it may be legal to use a Nexus card, some cruise lines, particularly luxury lines, require all passengers to have a valid passport expiring no earlier than 6 months after the completion of your voyage. Your question can't be answered without knowing which cruise line you'll be on.

Thanks. We're on Royal Caribbean. The phone agent who made the reservation, since transferred to an agent, said Nexus cards would work. But I'm not sure how knowledgeable he was. He placed me on hold to speak with someone and then came back on the line. That's why I'm wanting to confirm.

[Flatbush Flyer]

32 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

 

Not so:

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/nexus/card

NEXUS Cards

 

 

If you are approved to participate in NEXUS, you will receive a membership identification card to use when entering Canada or the United States at all designated NEXUS air, land and marine ports of entry.

Learn something new each day.

[martincath]

5 hours ago, RoyMartin said:

We have valid Nexus cards which are good for crossing between the United States and Canada.

Since you don't need to fly anywhere (except in an emergency) I'd be OK with doing this - we've boarded Amtrak, cruises, and flights with our NEXUS card as the only ID used, whether online advance check-in and also at the station/pier/airport. We have had pushback from airport gate staff in the US - even from Canadian airlines - when attempting to board planes back home, so to expedite getting on we just pull our passports out rather than escalate to supervisors etc., but both governments are absolutely on-board with NEXUS being used to cross the border by all the modes of entry as the links above note.

 

If things go pear-shaped and you end up flying home from Canada, just be sure to go from/connect through an airport with Preclearance during operating hours - once CBP clear you with your NEXUS, the airline staff (lack of) training doesn't matter any more as you'll be on a Domestic flight, so you could even show a driving license at that point!

[RoyMartin]

1 hour ago, martincath said:

Since you don't need to fly anywhere (except in an emergency) I'd be OK with doing this - we've boarded Amtrak, cruises, and flights with our NEXUS card as the only ID used, whether online advance check-in and also at the station/pier/airport. We have had pushback from airport gate staff in the US - even from Canadian airlines - when attempting to board planes back home, so to expedite getting on we just pull our passports out rather than escalate to supervisors etc., but both governments are absolutely on-board with NEXUS being used to cross the border by all the modes of entry as the links above note.

 

If things go pear-shaped and you end up flying home from Canada, just be sure to go from/connect through an airport with Preclearance during operating hours - once CBP clear you with your NEXUS, the airline staff (lack of) training doesn't matter any more as you'll be on a Domestic flight, so you could even show a driving license at that point!

Thanks. The only way we'd be flying home from Canada could happen is if the ship made an unexpected docking. We land only in Vancouver, from which the fastest way home is the train. We're in Bellingham, which is maybe an hour by car from Vancouver plus the time it takes to stop at the border. Presumably the train doesn't stop.

[martincath]

5 minutes ago, RoyMartin said:

Thanks. The only way we'd be flying home from Canada could happen is if the ship made an unexpected docking. We land only in Vancouver, from which the fastest way home is the train. We're in Bellingham, which is maybe an hour by car from Vancouver plus the time it takes to stop at the border. Presumably the train doesn't stop.

No Skagway excursions over the land border on the horizon? Very popular option, so I figured I'd give you a heads-up about plane niggles just on the off-chance you get e.g. bad news from home or medical issues while on WP&YR.

 

Southbound, Amtrak is Precleared at Pacific Central station before boarding, but does always stop right at the border for a few minutes. Because the train has extremely slow speed limits through the suburbs and often ends up stationary at a couple of bottlenecks, there's a possibility of stowaways or illicit cargo being attached so CBP always runs a visual check of the train exterior/underneath, usually with a dog team, sometimes even a geiger counter or other detection equipment.

 

While that's happening pax are asked to hold up their IDs and a few CBP agents walk the interior looking at them and 'randomly' selecting people for an extra question or two - I can't recall any delay over 10mins, so it's almost always faster than the regular car queues but annoyingly enough usually slower than the NEXUS lanes! 

 

It's still way less hassle than any of the bus services though - especially with NEXUS, as your entire bus waits for the last person to be cleared so no Trusted Traveler card helps you get on the road again quicker.

[RoyMartin]

2 hours ago, martincath said:

No Skagway excursions over the land border on the horizon? Very popular option, so I figured I'd give you a heads-up about plane niggles just on the off-chance you get e.g. bad news from home or medical issues while on WP&YR.

 

Southbound, Amtrak is Precleared at Pacific Central station before boarding, but does always stop right at the border for a few minutes. Because the train has extremely slow speed limits through the suburbs and often ends up stationary at a couple of bottlenecks, there's a possibility of stowaways or illicit cargo being attached so CBP always runs a visual check of the train exterior/underneath, usually with a dog team, sometimes even a geiger counter or other detection equipment.

 

While that's happening pax are asked to hold up their IDs and a few CBP agents walk the interior looking at them and 'randomly' selecting people for an extra question or two - I can't recall any delay over 10mins, so it's almost always faster than the regular car queues but annoyingly enough usually slower than the NEXUS lanes! 

 

It's still way less hassle than any of the bus services though - especially with NEXUS, as your entire bus waits for the last person to be cleared so no Trusted Traveler card helps you get on the road again quicker.

Thanks for that heads up. I like to know what to expect.

If there's any excursion that interests me, it's the train ride but my wife thinks our son will prefer to stay on the ship. She may be right. He'll be more interested in the room (he loves hotels), the dining and the ship itself. So that's the plan but I guess we could reevaluate.

[1025cruise]

3 hours ago, RoyMartin said:

Thanks for that heads up. I like to know what to expect.

If there's any excursion that interests me, it's the train ride but my wife thinks our son will prefer to stay on the ship. She may be right. He'll be more interested in the room (he loves hotels), the dining and the ship itself. So that's the plan but I guess we could reevaluate.

I can't imagine taking an Alaska cruise and not getting off the ship....

[RoyMartin]

7 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

I can't imagine taking an Alaska cruise and not getting off the ship....

We'll get off the ship in each port. Just not sure we'll venture beyond walking distance. We'll see. It's our first cruise so we're figuring it out. I'm not investing in excursions in advance though. If we enjoy it, we'll do it again and perhaps do more next time.

[sparks1093]

On 2/2/2023 at 3:24 AM, martincath said:

No Skagway excursions over the land border on the horizon? Very popular option, so I figured I'd give you a heads-up about plane niggles just on the off-chance you get e.g. bad news from home or medical issues while on WP&YR.

 

 

I know nothing about those excursions but is it even possible to get off the train on the Canadian side? I know that personally bad news from home would be met with finishing off the tour and flying home (if necessary) from the US side. If one can de-train from the Canadian side are there even medical facilities nearby, or is the closest medical assistance back in Skagway? I would think that the risk of something happening for most people on a short excursion would be so low that they would be ok with assuming the risk, which is the analysis they should have done before boarding anyway. 

 

OP, we'll likely be in the same situation when our 2025 cruise comes along. Depending on when we sail our passports will be close to being expired or will have recently expired. We would likely wait until sometime after the cruise to renew depending on when our next trip over to Europe turns out to be. Our state issues Enhanced Drivers Licenses and since we have them we'd use those for any cruising that we'd do before renewing the passports. 

Edited February 3, 2023 by sparks1093

[martincath]

5 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I know nothing about those excursions but is it even possible to get off the train on the Canadian side?

Yes, you can get off the train again this year - and all the bus trips have been 'passport or equivalent required' except when the border was closed during the pandemic of course. Many tours take pax right through BC into the Yukon (the train stops at Fraser, but Emerald Lake, the dogsleds etc. are around Carcross which is another ~50 miles up the road), but for folks who are unable/unwilling to cross the border there are also 'summit trains' which technically cross onto Canadian soil but don't let anyone off before they head right back to Skagway.

 

And also yes, odds of closest medical aid/desperately need to get home finding OP arranging transport from the Canadian side of the border are of course slim, which is why I'd tolerate the risk myself of such a journey without a valid passport available - even in your situation with only an EDL which gives you no right to fly internationally, I think I'd be OK with it. But giving first-timers a heads-up about a niggle in the otherwise superb NEXUS program, with a simple way to avoid that particular hassle (i.e.  use a Preclearance airport if you do need to fly) will hopefully not be info they ever need, but it didn't take long to type...

 

As to the nearest medical options - for all those trips to Carcross, where most time is spent as that's where you get lunch on the long tours and get to ride the dogsleds etc., Whitehorse is noticeably closer (45 rather than 65 miles plus no border delay) and has vastly superior medical facilities (a General Hospital with 50+beds - actually bigger than Juneau's Bartlett! - on-site surgeons and ER vs. a tiny day clinic with Nurse-Practitioners and no MDs at all). If you do need to get somewhere the airport is also enormously busier than Skagway, (multiple daily scheduled commerical flights, >350,000pax a year pre-Vid, 3 runways including one longer than JNU, and a seaplane dock vs. a single tricky 3500' GA strip notorious for bad wind conditions & seaplane air taxis handling less than 5% of that volume combined at Skagway).

Edited February 3, 2023 by martincath
spelling

[RoyMartin]

This discussion has helped me to feel secure traveling to Alaska and Canada with just a Nexus card but also leaves me realizing that, if we like cruising, we'll definitely want to renew our passports so we can take great deals, when they arise, to international ports.

Just noticed a 17 day cruise from Miami to Haifa for something like $700 per person before taxes and port fees. In other words, around $50 a day. Seems crazy cheap. That's for an inside cabin but still. It's last minute and I imagine the troubles in Israel have caused those with refundable fares to bail. The ship's probably half empty.

Since we're new to cruising, I'm not considering jumping on this. Too many days at sea when we don't have any idea if that's something that will appeal to us. There are port days but around half of the total are sea days, a whole bunch contiguous. We don't know if we tend toward seasickness. We have a 38 foot sailboat but it never gets out of the Puget Sound into the open ocean. All those days crossing the Atlantic could be a bit much.

[sparks1093]

16 hours ago, martincath said:

Yes, you can get off the train again this year - and all the bus trips have been 'passport or equivalent required' except when the border was closed during the pandemic of course. Many tours take pax right through BC into the Yukon (the train stops at Fraser, but Emerald Lake, the dogsleds etc. are around Carcross which is another ~50 miles up the road), but for folks who are unable/unwilling to cross the border there are also 'summit trains' which technically cross onto Canadian soil but don't let anyone off before they head right back to Skagway.

 

And also yes, odds of closest medical aid/desperately need to get home finding OP arranging transport from the Canadian side of the border are of course slim, which is why I'd tolerate the risk myself of such a journey without a valid passport available - even in your situation with only an EDL which gives you no right to fly internationally, I think I'd be OK with it. But giving first-timers a heads-up about a niggle in the otherwise superb NEXUS program, with a simple way to avoid that particular hassle (i.e.  use a Preclearance airport if you do need to fly) will hopefully not be info they ever need, but it didn't take long to type...

 

As to the nearest medical options - for all those trips to Carcross, where most time is spent as that's where you get lunch on the long tours and get to ride the dogsleds etc., Whitehorse is noticeably closer (45 rather than 65 miles plus no border delay) and has vastly superior medical facilities (a General Hospital with 50+beds - actually bigger than Juneau's Bartlett! - on-site surgeons and ER vs. a tiny day clinic with Nurse-Practitioners and no MDs at all). If you do need to get somewhere the airport is also enormously busier than Skagway, (multiple daily scheduled commerical flights, >350,000pax a year pre-Vid, 3 runways including one longer than JNU, and a seaplane dock vs. a single tricky 3500' GA strip notorious for bad wind conditions & seaplane air taxis handling less than 5% of that volume combined at Skagway).

Yes, letting folks know about potential niggles is one of the benefits of Cruise Critic and that's why I asked the question, and I thank you for the information. An Alaska cruise is on our radar at some point, just not sure when.