I will be flying into Seattle on May 17th. I will cross over into Canada to go on an Alaskan cruise May 20th. Since I will be driving into Canada and then taking a cruise will I need a passport or will a birth certificate and picture ID do?

Passports are not required until 2008 for land or sea travel to Canada. Since you are flying into Seattle, then driving into Canada, you will be fine in May. If you were flying to/from Canada, then you would need a passport.

You can look at the State Department website for more info.

Assuming you are a US citizen, the gov't is requiring passports for travel to Canada by air now - and by land or sea by 2008.

But - you should double check with your cruise line. Many of them require passports for all travelers - since they don;t want to have to deal with problems in either Canadian or US ports.

I was going to answer "yes" to this question without even reading the details. 45 minutes in line, and 10 weeks in processing....

Better check with your cruise line. They often have their own rules.

I don't think it's 10 weeks processing at this point due to the change in law.

I thought the passport was required to get back INTO the US--so how will you be doing that, cweldon? Anyway, don't take our word for anything, check with the cruise company.

mah;

It is 10 weeks processing right now unless you have it expedited. Direct from the horse's mouth at the application center here, as of last Friday.

Do you need one?
Maybe not, check with the cruise line.

Should you have one?
Absolutely. Don't leave home without it, especially for flights and cruises (and you're going on an international cruise).

Remember, it's not going there that's going to be a problem, it's coming back.

While passports maynot be required for land or sea travel, an argument often given for getting one anyway is that what happens in event of emergency and you need to fly home.

I would cough it up and pay the expedited service amount and get one.

I applied for a passport in Feb. I am a US citzen and will be flying back into the lower 49 from Anchorage. Ihope to have the passport by then. I have now called the cruise line and they didn't seem to have a problem. Thanks for all the information,I'm just getting the jetters this close.

I received my passport on May 6th, almost 10 weeks after mailing it out.

I think everyone should have a passport

We're sailing on Holland America to Alaska...and we're boarding in Seattle.

We were debating spending the extra $200 for our passports, and our TA said we should definitely have them.

I would call the Cruise Line, you sure don't want to not be able to go!