Vancouver to Whittier Passport Required for Children?

[Dbld777]

5 year old going on a NB Princess Cruise from Vancouver to Whittier in late July. Applied for a passport on March 4, 2023. Still waiting. Passport application was kicked back twice for minor issues on the application, since both parents were not present when submitting application at the post office. If we don't receive the passport in time for sailing, can a child board the ship in Vancouver and go through U.S. customs and immigration with a certified birth certificate? Lots of conflicting info on this topic on both governmental websites and travel websites. Since it is a land/sea border crossing, a birth certificate should be adequate to reenter the U.S.

 

Has anyone actually embarked in Vancouver recently with a birth certificate for a minor child? Both parents will be present and have valid passports.

 

P.S. We are doing everything we can to expedite the passport, but it seems to be a difficult task to expedite a passport already submitted for standard processing.

[Ferry_Watcher]

I would say that the children's US birth certificates will only work if you plan to drive into Canada.  If you plan on flying, you will all need passports.

[Dbld777]

Just now, Ferry_Watcher said:

I would say that the children's US birth certificates will only work if you plan to drive into Canada.  If you plan on flying, you will all need passports.

Driving in to Toronto to catch flight to Vancouver. Passport not required for a child to cross the border by land.

[Ferry_Watcher]

Driving into Canada is one less obstacle for your situation.

 

We sailed out of Vancouver earlier this season (May, Vancouver/Seattle), and for the US Customs inspection prior to getting on the ship, there was a line of passport reading kiosks that scanned our passports and printed out a receipt that was collected by an US CBP Officer.  

 

Maybe @martincath or @Heidi13 might have local insight for you.

 

Wishing you the best outcome.

[martincath]

Appreciate the tap-in @Ferry_Watcher - my understanding backs up @Dbld777's interpretation, that only Air absolutely requires a passport for border-crossing, Land and Sea do not, BUT while this is fine and dandy from a governmental perspective unfortunately it isn't a government-run ferry service involved!

 

Whether or not you will be allowed on the ship comes down to the cruise line - their conditions of carriage are what you need to be compliant with since as US citizens, with both parents present, CBP are not going to prevent you or your child returning to your home country (even CBSA crossing into Canada, with both parents there, shouldn't give you any grief although they may ask some follow-up questions about your trip when the kid has no passport just to make sure you didn't book a flight back unaware that you could not fly!)

 

Princess' rules seem unfortunately very cut and dried - no cruise for you! Only Closed Loop cruises even mention the birth cert option for any age of traveler... so you definitely need to clear it with them, or you may end up unexpectedly vacationing in Vancouver and having to drive back over the border and fly domestic back home to Ohio!

 

Escalate it as high as you can, as fast as you can, because call centre minions are going to toe the company line, their supervisors likewise, so you need someone on the compliance side of things to sign off on your kid cruising without a passport I would guess - the folks who get involved on all the unlawful cruise combos actually seem to understand the rudiments of WHTI and PVSA laws at least!

 

Hopefully there's someone else who has done this, on Princess, and can walk you through their experience - and frankly I would love to be wrong here, for your sake! - but I think the odds are against you, this is definitely an uncommon situation.

 

Just in case you do make it as far as the pier and then get rebuffed, what's your exact departure date? Late July I should be in town and I've helped out in more troublesome situations in the past - a couple of Francophone ladies I was guiding around town got trapped when the US border closed during Covid, so their Amtrak to Seattle then flying home plan fell apart... at least you guys speak the local lingo and the border's open, so helping you figure out accommodation/travel/stuff to do in the mean time would be a doddle in comparison! Drop me an email at cruisecriticmarty @ gmail dot com if you don't want to share info publicly.

Edited June 22, 2023 by martincath

[Ferry_Watcher]

4 minutes ago, martincath said:

Only Closed Loop cruises even mention the birth cert option for any age of traveler.

Excellent point

 

5 minutes ago, martincath said:

ust in case you do make it as far as the pier and then get rebuffed, what's your exact departure date? Late July I should be in town and I've helped out in more troublesome situations in the past

What a gracious offer!

[Dbld777]

6 hours ago, martincath said:

Appreciate the tap-in @Ferry_Watcher - my understanding backs up @Dbld777's interpretation, that only Air absolutely requires a passport for border-crossing, Land and Sea do not, BUT while this is fine and dandy from a governmental perspective unfortunately it isn't a government-run ferry service involved!

 

Whether or not you will be allowed on the ship comes down to the cruise line - their conditions of carriage are what you need to be compliant with since as US citizens, with both parents present, CBP are not going to prevent you or your child returning to your home country (even CBSA crossing into Canada, with both parents there, shouldn't give you any grief although they may ask some follow-up questions about your trip when the kid has no passport just to make sure you didn't book a flight back unaware that you could not fly!)

 

Princess' rules seem unfortunately very cut and dried - no cruise for you! Only Closed Loop cruises even mention the birth cert option for any age of traveler... so you definitely need to clear it with them, or you may end up unexpectedly vacationing in Vancouver and having to drive back over the border and fly domestic back home to Ohio!

 

Escalate it as high as you can, as fast as you can, because call centre minions are going to toe the company line, their supervisors likewise, so you need someone on the compliance side of things to sign off on your kid cruising without a passport I would guess - the folks who get involved on all the unlawful cruise combos actually seem to understand the rudiments of WHTI and PVSA laws at least!

 

Hopefully there's someone else who has done this, on Princess, and can walk you through their experience - and frankly I would love to be wrong here, for your sake! - but I think the odds are against you, this is definitely an uncommon situation.

 

Just in case you do make it as far as the pier and then get rebuffed, what's your exact departure date? Late July I should be in town and I've helped out in more troublesome situations in the past - a couple of Francophone ladies I was guiding around town got trapped when the US border closed during Covid, so their Amtrak to Seattle then flying home plan fell apart... at least you guys speak the local lingo and the border's open, so helping you figure out accommodation/travel/stuff to do in the mean time would be a doddle in comparison! Drop me an email at cruisecriticmarty @ gmail dot com if you don't want to share info publicly.

Thank you so much for all the info @martincath. I really appreciate the time you've taken to help guide us through this dilemma. I will be reaching out to my CVP at Princess to start the escalation process to get a commitment one way or another on the possibility of boarding with just a birth certificate on this one way cruise. My understanding is that you're basically reentering the U.S. when you board the ship, as all future port stops are in the U.S. So I would think Princess should be okay with it since any disembarkation enroute(early or not) would be U.S. territory and no passport is needed to get back home from there. But as you say, their rules, not necessarily the government regs. will apply. We also appreciate your offer of help should we get rebuffed at the pier(possible even with pre-approval from somebody at Princess). I will email you closer to our sail date if we are taking the risk and haven't received the passport yet. I'm still hoping we can break through the bureaucracy at the passport agency and get the PP expedited. Much Thanks!