The question usually comes up at a kitchen table, with the cruise confirmation open on the laptop and a drawer of old documents pulled out beside it. Someone finds a passport that expired, someone else wonders whether a driver’s license will do, and a child has never held a passport at all. Alaska cruises that touch Canada make the answer a little less obvious than it sounds, so it helps to sort it out before the suitcases come down.
Do you need a passport for an Alaska cruise?
A passport is the safest document to carry, and it is the only one that works in every situation you might meet on the way. Several Alaska itineraries, including the roundtrip sailings Princess Cruises runs from Vancouver, begin in Canada, so you are dealing with two countries and two border agencies before you ever see a glacier.
What U.S. Customs and Border Protection accepts depends on how you come back into the country. Entering by air has the narrowest list. Entering by land or sea has a longer one. The table sets the two side by side for the three kinds of travelers most readers ask about.
| Traveler | Entering the U.S. by air | Entering the U.S. by land or sea |
|---|---|---|
| Adult U.S. citizen | Valid U.S. passport, Trusted Traveler card (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST), U.S. military ID on official orders, or U.S. Merchant Mariner document for official maritime business | Valid U.S. passport, Passport Card, Enhanced Driver’s License, Trusted Traveler card, U.S. military ID on official orders, Merchant Mariner document, Form I-872 American Indian Card, or Enhanced Tribal Card |
| U.S. citizen child | Own passport (an Indian/tribal card cannot be used for air travel) | Birth certificate (original, photocopy or certified copy) or other proof of citizenship, for children under 16, or under 19 with a school, religious or youth group |
| Lawful permanent resident | Valid Permanent Resident Card, no passport required | Permanent resident card (Form I-551) or other valid evidence of permanent residence status |
Adults: which document to bring
For an adult citizen, the passport book covers every row of the table, which is why it is the habit of most seasoned cruisers. The Passport Card, the Enhanced Driver’s License and the tribal cards are land and sea documents only. They are fine for a ship arriving at a port, but they do not get you onto a flight.
A Trusted Traveler card (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST) appears on both lists. Canada’s own government says that a NEXUS card saves time at the border if you cross between Canada and the United States often. A regular driver’s license, without the enhanced marking, is not on either list.
Children and green card holders
Families have the most to plan. By sea, a child can travel on a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship, but a child who flies must present a passport of their own. Since an Alaska cruise often ends with a flight home, from Anchorage or from a Canadian city, many families simply get the child a passport and stop worrying about which leg needs what.
Lawful permanent residents are treated differently. They do not need a passport to enter the United States by air, but they must carry the Permanent Resident Card.
If the card has expired while a renewal is pending, CBP says a resident may show the expired card with the receipt notice to return to the United States. It adds a warning worth remembering: that evidence is not enough to enter other countries, so a green card holder boarding a ship that calls in Canada should think about that before sailing.
If you are not a U.S. citizen
Canadian citizens flying to Canada need a valid Canadian passport to board, and permanent residents of Canada need their permanent resident card to re-enter.
What about a cruise that starts and ends in the U.S.?
Alaska has many ports that sailings can use, and the stops named on Princess Cruises’ Alaska itineraries include Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway.
That longer list is what makes a passport optional on paper. In practice, plenty of travelers bring one anyway. The reason is the rest of the trip. A cruise is rarely only a ship, and the flight to the departure port, the flight home, a stop in a Canadian city before or after the sailing, and any change of plan all pull the traveler back toward the narrower air list.
The flights on either side of the ship
Inside the United States, the airport checkpoint asks for identification from every adult passenger aged 18 and older. TSA currently accepts an expired ID up to two years after it expires, for the forms of identification on its list. A temporary driver’s license is not acceptable, and the list itself is subject to change without notice.
Children under 18 do not have to show identification to TSA on flights within the United States. That is a domestic rule, and it does not change what a child needs when flying into the country from abroad, where the child must have a passport. TSA also accepts variations on name suffixes on boarding passes and ID, and a suffix is not required on the boarding pass, so a Jr. or III missing from one document is not a reason to panic.
Cruisetours and sailings from Vancouver
A sailing that starts in Vancouver is a different case from one that starts in a U.S. port. Princess Cruises offers roundtrip Alaska cruises from Vancouver, a Voyage of the Glaciers itinerary of seven or more days, and Alaska Cruisetours of ten or more days.
The Star Princess is one of the ships that sails in Alaska. When your trip begins in Canada, you will be crossing the border before boarding, whether by land or by air, and the documents in the table apply to the way you cross.
Travelers who drive to Vancouver can check land border wait times for crossing from the United States into Canada. Those who fly in can use Advance Declaration in ArriveCAN to submit their customs and immigration declaration before they leave, and select Canadian airports can save time for travelers connecting between international flights. Border officers may also examine digital devices at the Canadian border, which is worth knowing before you hand over a phone holding your boarding passes.
What if you miss the ship in Canada?
If you miss the ship in Canada, your passport becomes the document that matters most, because you are suddenly an individual traveler in a foreign country and no longer a passenger on a ship’s manifest. It is the only reliable and universally accepted travel identification document, and it proves your right to return. That is the strongest argument for carrying it even when the sailing itself would allow something less.
Getting home by air
Getting home from Canada by air puts you on the narrow list. A U.S. citizen adult needs a valid passport or one of the other air documents, such as a Trusted Traveler card, a U.S. military ID on official orders, or a Merchant Mariner document for official maritime business. A Passport Card, an Enhanced Driver’s License and a tribal card will not do for the plane, however well they worked at the ship’s gangway.
Children need their own passports for the flight, and a birth certificate does not replace one in the air. This is the situation where a family that planned around the shorter sea list can be caught short, which is why a child’s passport is often the quiet insurance on a Canadian departure.
Getting home by land
A traveler who crosses back by land can use the longer list, including a Passport Card, an Enhanced Driver’s License and the tribal cards. Children under the age limits in the table can use a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship. Wait times at the land border can be checked before you set out, and a NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST card can move you through the line at the port of entry.
CBP also describes Enhanced Passenger Processing, a pre-primary line segmentation process for U.S. citizens entering the United States, and mobile apps that help expedite entry. Neither replaces a document, but both are part of how the crossing is organized once you arrive.
Green card holders and Canadian residents
A lawful permanent resident of the United States needs the Permanent Resident Card by air, and the card or other valid evidence of status by land or sea. If the card has expired, CBP says the resident may show it with a receipt notice, or a valid passport with a valid USCIS ADIT stamp, to return to the United States. That evidence is meant for coming back to the U.S. and is not enough to enter other countries, so a missed ship in Canada is a case to think through with care.
Permanent residents of Canada need their permanent resident card to re-enter Canada. Canadians who fly need a valid Canadian passport to board. Canada also has a Canadian Travel Number, which helps avoid airport delays when your name is the same as, or similar to, that of someone on the No Fly List.
Good to know before you go
Look at the expiration date of every document before you book, and keep the passport and any child’s birth certificate together in one place you can reach quickly. On a trip that crosses into Canada, bring items made from listed wildlife species only with the right paperwork, since CITES permits are needed to transport, import or export them. If you buy a souvenir carved from a protected species, ask whether it needs a permit first.
Sources
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/western-hemisphere-travel-initiative), checked October 11, 2026
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. citizens (https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens), checked October 11, 2026
- Canada Border Services Agency, Cross the Canadian border (https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/menu-eng.html), checked October 11, 2026
- Government of Canada, Travel documents (https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/documents), checked October 11, 2026
- Princess Cruises, Alaska cruise tips (https://www.princess.com/en-us/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/alaska-cruise-tips), checked October 11, 2026
- Transportation Security Administration, acceptable identification (https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification), checked October 11, 2026
To plan your stay
- Alaska Cruise in May: Port Weather, Whales and Glaciers, and the Cruise Lines
- Alaska Cruise Ports: Ketchikan, Skagway, Sitka, Icy Strait Point and Where Cruises Start
- How Much Does an Alaska Cruise Cost?: Cruise Lengths, What's Included and Extras
- Alaska Cruise in June: Weather, Ports, Wildlife and Glaciers