DUI Alaska cruise/Canada

[macnife]

We are planning an Alaska cruise for the end of May. One person in our group has a DUI on his record. Does anyone have any insight on him being able to do tours that go into Canada, specifically, the whitepass rail tour out of Skagway. Also, what about getting off the ship in Victoria. Of course, he won't be doing any driving. Thanks for any info!

[CC Help Michell]

We are planning an Alaska cruise for the end of May. One person in our group has a DUI on his record. Does anyone have any insight on him being able to do tours that go into Canada, specifically, the whitepass rail tour out of Skagway. Also, what about getting off the ship in Victoria. Of course, he won't be doing any driving. Thanks for any info!

 

Whether he's driving or not isn't really the issue. This comes up here from time to time and the bottom line is that Canada is being as picky on US citizens with criminal records as the US is on Canadian citizens. Here's a link -- http://www.1800duilaws.com/article/travel_to_canada.asp

 

Take this very seriously if this person's being able to accompany the group on excursions is a make or break issue -- Canada will.

[Putterdude]

We are planning an Alaska cruise for the end of May. One person in our group has a DUI on his record. Does anyone have any insight on him being able to do tours that go into Canada, specifically, the whitepass rail tour out of Skagway. Also, what about getting off the ship in Victoria. Of course, he won't be doing any driving. Thanks for any info!

 

You won't have any problem with WP&YR to the Summit but anything beyond that can be just a a bit of a crap shoot as it is entirely at the discretion of the customs officer to permit enterance in Canada, that is equally true with Victoria. That said if the offence occured 5 to 10 years ago and there has not been a reoccurrence and if there has been some rehabilitation then there likely won't be a problem. If you have any problem with the above then contact should be made with the Canadian councilate ofice closest to your home.

[macnife]

The offense has happened within the last two years.

[Yukon]

The offense has happened within the last two years.

 

Then he really doesn't want to plan to come to Canada. While Customs MAY not check , it would sure be embarrassing if they do. :( As was said, most of the WP&YR trips only go to the Summit, not into Canada.

[macnife]

What about the stop in Victoria? Would he just stay on the ship to avoid any confrontations?

[Yukon]

What about the stop in Victoria? Would he just stay on the ship to avoid any confrontations?

 

I certainly would

[Putterdude]

Based upon what I have observed and read about the level of checking in Victoria odds are that your cruisemate won't have a problem. The worst that is going to happen is that he/she is not going to be allowed pass the check point and will have to return to the ship. There is only a cursory examination of a passport or DL and the passports are not scanned. The risk is that Canadian customs have done a crim check on the passenger manifest pre arrival and his/her name has spun up. I just wouldn't book an excursion.

[Yukon]

The risk is that Canadian customs have done a crim check on the passenger manifest pre arrival and his/her name has spun up.

 

If Skagway does manifest checks ( http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=863746 ) it certainly wouldn't be unusual for Victoria to do it, as they only get a fraction of Skagway's cruise traffic.

[time4cruise]

What about the stop in Victoria? Would he just stay on the ship to avoid any confrontations?

 

At Victoria, nobody is there scrutinizing every passport. They just want to get the crowd through. With that said, you still need to be careful whether to get off ship there. Nobody knows if they decide to cherrypick people to check.

[macnife]

If Skagway does manifest checks ( http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=863746 ) it certainly wouldn't be unusual for Victoria to do it, as they only get a fraction of Skagway's cruise traffic.

 

After reading the above article, it made me wonder, will my brother-in-law have trouble going through customs in Seattle, since the cruise ship stops in Canada? I don't think many in the family know about the DUI, and he doesn't want them to. Thanks again to everyone for your insights and thoughts.

[kk-l]

After reading the above article, it made me wonder, will my brother-in-law have trouble going through customs in Seattle, since the cruise ship stops in Canada? I don't think many in the family know about the DUI, and he doesn't want them to. Thanks again to everyone for your insights and thoughts.

I hope everything works out. This gives us all something to talk about with our loved ones...there are unforeseen consequences for our choices.

[Excited to go crusing]

we took the WP rail trip out of Skagway & took our passports with us in case we needed them. No one asked to see them on the train or before we got on. I think they had a quick glance in Victoria, but again the emphasis seemed to be getting us out of the port area as quickly as possible, one guy kept shouting, keep moving. We did have to line up in the dining room one day with our passports, Btu I can;t remember what day it was. Think it might have been after we left Victoria & headed back to US ( Alaska) they had some US Customes & immigrations officials sail with us while they did the passport checks.

[Yukon]

we took the WP rail trip out of Skagway & took our passports with us in case we needed them. No one asked to see them on the train or before we got on. ......

 

But as you might have seen from the thread I posted the link to, they can and sometimes do check passports before you arrive.

[Hawaiian_A330]

At Victoria, nobody is there scrutinizing every passport. They just want to get the crowd through. With that said, you still need to be careful whether to get off ship there. Nobody knows if they decide to cherrypick people to check.

 

True, out of the last 3 stops in Victoria, they only checked passports once and it was just a quick glance.

[MsRed318]

I would do as another poster suggested and contact the Canadian Consulate in your region or why doesn't your BIL call/e-mail Canada Customs and get the info straight from them? Here's a link to the Canada Customs and Border Services site. Good luck.

 

http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

[wolfshadow]

One suggestion I have for you is, if you find out he can't participate on any excursion that enters into Canada then check ahead of time to make sure your ship has the Valet Service from the ship to the airport. By using this, costs around $20/pp, you are not being counted as entering Canada. You leave your ship by bus, go to a special Customs area where you fill out your declarations and go through inspection while remaining on the bus, then you are brought directly into the security check area at the airport. By using this service you are not considered as actually being in Canada since you have left the ship from the US and are flying directly back there. It was a very quick and painless process. My DH had a DUI from over 26 years ago and we did not want any problems so we just took the White Pass Railroad up to the summit and back. Then I found out about this Valet Service and we had no problems getting into and out of Vancouver by using it. We have some friends that couldn't enter into Canada a few years ago because he had a wreckless driving on his record and didn't declare it. They were turned away at the border and had already paid for a week long hunting trip up there. They lost out on all of that money! So, I would play it safe and make sure your ship uses this service.

[macnife]

I would do as another poster suggested and contact the Canadian Consulate in your region or why doesn't your BIL call/e-mail Canada Customs and get the info straight from them? Here's a link to the Canada Customs and Border Services site. Good luck.

 

http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

 

Thanks MsRed318 for the link

 

Wolfshadow, Our cruise is round trip Seattle, so we are not going into Vancouver at all. Our Canada stop is Victoria. They are not flying into Seattle either, they are driving. But your information is great, I wish it applied, it would make everything so much easier!

 

Again, I would like to thank everyone for their insight and thoughts!

[wrp96]

On my cruise this year, we had one person on our roll call that couldn't enter Canada for whatever reason. He got approval from the cruiseline in advance which allowed him to take the cruise without him being allowed off the ship at our Canada stop.

[nothriver]

We are taking a one way cruise and flying home from Vancouver. If someone in our group gets an DUI type of offense what happens in Vancouver? Would they be allowed to leave from the Vancouver airport? My 22 yr old nephew is flying home with my kids and I so this makes me a little nervous! Does anyone know if Celebrity has this valet service?

 

Very informative post, I've never heard of this!

[MsRed318]

Why some people cannot enter or remain in Canada

 

People can be denied a visa, refused admission or removed from Canada for any of a number of reasons.

Security They have engaged in, or there are reasonable grounds to believe they will engage in, spying, subversion or terrorism, or they belong to organizations that have engaged in, or will engage in, these activities.

Human or international rights violations They have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity. They are or were senior members or officials of a government that has committed terrorism, major human rights violations, genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Criminality

 

Serious criminality They have, or there are reasonable grounds to believe they have, committed a crime punishable by a maximum of 10 years of incarceration.

Other criminality They have, or there are reasonable grounds to believe they have, committed an indictable crime. They commit an offence while seeking entry to Canada, such as possessing or importing narcotics.

Organized crime They belong to an organization that is believed to take part in organized criminal activity or to engage in transnational crimes such as people smuggling, trafficking in people or money laundering.

Health They may be a danger to public health or cause excessive demands on Canada's health or social services.

Financial They are unable or unwilling to support themselves and their dependants.

Misrepresentation They provide officers with false information or withhold information that is directly relevant to a decision under the Act.

Non-compliance They contravene the requirements of the Act. Some examples include the following:

• not having a valid passport or visa;
  
• entering as visitors and remaining longer than authorized;
  
• trying to re-enter without the written permission of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, after being deported;
  
• working or attending school without CIC's permission; and
  
• breaching conditions imposed when they were first admitted to Canada.
  

Inadmissible family members They are the family members of someone who is inadmissible, or one of their family members is inadmissible.

In addition, permanent residents are in breach of the Act if they fail to meet the residency obligations set out in the Act. Permanent residents who are inadmissible for this reason may be issued removal orders.

 

 

 

 

This is directly from the Canada Customs website...I'd definitely contact them for your individual questions/concerns and not just rely on peoples suggestions from here, even if they are possibly valid (like the express debarkation etc.)

 

 

As a side note, a good friend of my family had a DUI and a drug possession charge against him back when he was 17, he still to this day cannot cross the border or fly into the US. So it's a 2 way street I guess.

[Putterdude]

As always there are a number of Canadian Gov't websites and here is a link to Citizenship and Imigration's site on the subject of "Overcoming Criminal Admissisibly". However as the previous poster has correctly pointed out this is a one way street, the US makes no such concession to Canadians, one strike and you are out for life.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/conviction.asp#individual

[neecee23]

On our cruise this summer, customs at Fraser just looked at our passports before we were let off the train, no checking on any data base for records. In Victoria there was no checking whatsoever.

[Putterdude]

On our cruise this summer, customs at Fraser just looked at our passports before we were let off the train, no checking on any data base for records. In Victoria there was no checking whatsoever.

 

I agree that is all that is done onsite but you don't know what is done pre-entry in terms of examination of the passenger manifests of ships and all they maybe doing is looking for certain names. So the question remains, is it worth the risk of being embarrassed in front of family and fellow pax by being turned back?

[macnife]

The new passport law goes into effect June 1. I think for now you can just use the birth certificate and license to go accross the border, June 1, you have to have a passport or passcard. Not sure if this will effect the srutiny of passports/passcard, or if it will be hit and miss like it seems now. (I am basing this assumption on the replies I have received here)