Princess to SEA-TAC for 10:30 Departure?

The never ending question... will I make my flight or should I try to push it a day?

1. My wife and I are cruising on Princess Ruby with my parents who are Platinum Princess members and get early disembarkment.
   
2. Ship is set to dock at 7am on a Saturday
   
3. My parents wont be flying so we only need to get ourselves to the airport
   
4. We have TSA PreCheck and Global Entry
   
5. We have 1st Class tickets on Alaska Airlines
   
6. We have a 10:30am Flight booked
   
7. We have no ground transportation arranged but will use taxi or Uber
   
8. We will carry our own luggage off the ship
   

Crazy or doable? Or do we pay the $125 per ticket to push the reservation to Sunday and enjoy a night in Seattle?

I’m the biggest optimist about SEA flight times that you’ll find in this forum, and you are very much on my optimism bubble. If you said “10:45”, I would point out where the lounges were for a quick beverage. You’re a half hour too early for the Port to handle your luggage with the complimentary Port Valet service, which should serve as a strong indication that your flight is a little sooner than recommended.

Which Saturday are you thinking?

Working backwards, you need to *present to the ticket counter* at 0945 to check bags. Since you’re not fighting for overhead space and can board at your leisure, as well as use Pre, I’m comfortable that you can make it from counter to gate in under 30 minutes. Remember that all security checkpoints are connected airside and #4 is exclusively for Pre.

Assuming a typical Saturday that has you in the Uber at 0900, which isn’t patently unrealistic but doesn’t allow much contingency/disaster recovery.

Hence, why the question about which Saturday. We have some construction projects and summer events which might swing me from “most likely ok” to “hells no”.

Saturday May 19th... just around the corner....we fly to Seattle on Friday and start our cruise on Saturday the 12th...

Too close for me

Just a little reading on the board would reveal flights are not recommended before 11am.

Did you already book this flight before you knew the logistical issues?

As a local of course my choice would be for you to stay an extra day and make Saturday enjoyable rather than nail-biting.

Where are you flying? Is the 10:30 departure the only one of the day? Reason being, Alaska might put you on a later departure if you miss the first one, but it would be at the airline's discretion.

If you did stay over, there are lots of fun things to do with the extra day. Maybe you and your parents could get a car and explore some of our wonderful region for a day?

I agree with VibeGuy that it's date-dependent. May 19 is early enough in the summer, yet projects do pick up strong steam by then. Gardyloo, Alaska does often only do one flight per day to many of their destinations, so 10:30 or bust is logical; otherwise it's with Alaska partners and therefore no longer direct.

IMHO, with Pre you're OK. You should get very familiar with this map (https://www.portseattle.org/sea-tac/security-screening-checkpoints). Note that CP4 is Pre only (and supposedly also 5, but that doesn't match what I remember). Also, the times are either newly updated or wrong; I'm used to CP3 being the only thing open until 0500 or 0530, and CP5 being peak times only (CP1 is seasonal for cruise season and potentially not in use yet by 5/19).

I’m going to give this a “not insane” rating, in some part because I’ll be 1500 miles away. You have every success factor going for you and southbound traffic impacts are looking minimal.

A couple of hints:

1) If the Departures drive is backed up, either use Arrivals or, better, tip the Uber driver and have him enter the parking structure and drop you on Level 4. Check the various webcams after you leave downtown and be suspicious of backed-up right lanes.

2) speaking of Uber: start looking at wait times and car availability before you step off the ship. Generally you’ll want to order the car just as you come off the gangway if the wait is about ten minutes in the app.

Bon Voyage, and if it all goes sideways, you were warned. ;0)

As said above, if you are confident that you will be on your way to the airport no later than 9AM you should be fine. I fly a lot and under the worst of TSA PRE conditions it never takes more than 15 mins from curb to lounge/gate (and you can always sign up for CLEAR and skip the TSA PRE line as well). You might have to hop a train to the N gates but those run every 2 mins and shouldn't add much time.

Also, do you have any status on AS? MVP Gold and above now have 24 same day change which you might be able to use if the ship is delayed.

I also agree with Gardyloo...the 10 day forecast shows sunny weather the weekend you return. There are worse places to be than Seattle on a sunny day.

There are no direct flights later that day and we'd end up turning a 3 hour flight into 9 hours of travel time. The purpose of the vacation is to relax...I won't be relaxed if I'm obsessing about making our flight on time. I ponied up the extra money to move the flight to Sunday and we'll instead enjoy a relaxing evening in downtown Seattle. Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this...I appreciate it!

SeaTac has the most inconsistent security timelines of any airport I have ever experienced. You definitely need to be TSA pre-checked and even then you could end up waiting longer than anticipated.

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There are no direct flights later that day and we'd end up turning a 3 hour flight into 9 hours of travel time. The purpose of the vacation is to relax...I won't be relaxed if I'm obsessing about making our flight on time. I ponied up the extra money to move the flight to Sunday and we'll instead enjoy a relaxing evening in downtown Seattle. Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this...I appreciate it!

I would say you made a smart choice. If it turns out you could have made it oh well, there's worse places to spend the day! ;) We flew out early on a weekday after our cruise, and the lines were awful! There were a couple of ships that day, and it was in the summer, but it was bad. They had staff members trying to help people with the lines since they were so long!

If you don't mind my adding to this, I have a similar question. I think I know the answer, but I figure locals may know something about any planned construction activities or events in late August. I got notification from American that our mid-afternoon domestic flight was cancelled. They rebooked us for an 8:45 a.m. flight. I know that's not doable, but looking at options, they are showing either a flight at 11:00 a.m. or waiting until 8:00 p.m. or later and doing a red eye to the East Coast. We are on Ruby Princess and due into port at 7:00 a.m. Do you think the 11:00 is feasible? I see if you have Princess book a flight, the earliest is 11:30 a.m. We have TSA Pre-Check and are traveling in FIrst, so that should ease checking baggage and getting through security. I should note that I have to travel with lymphedema treatment equipment, so walk-off may not be viable. Anyone have any thoughts about our making the 11:00 a.m. flight? Also, I am trying to find out if Port Valet is an option, given the flight time. I can't find the cut-off time on the Port of Seattle site, but I read 11:00 as the time on a few posts here. Thanks, John

If you don't mind my adding to this, I have a similar question. I think I know the answer, but I figure locals may know something about any planned construction activities or events in late August. I got notification from American that our mid-afternoon domestic flight was cancelled. They rebooked us for an 8:45 a.m. flight. I know that's not doable, but looking at options, they are showing either a flight at 11:00 a.m. or waiting until 8:00 p.m. or later and doing a red eye to the East Coast. We are on Ruby Princess and due into port at 7:00 a.m. Do you think the 11:00 is feasible? I see if you have Princess book a flight, the earliest is 11:30 a.m. We have TSA Pre-Check and are traveling in FIrst, so that should ease checking baggage and getting through security. I should note that I have to travel with lymphedema treatment equipment, so walk-off may not be viable. Anyone have any thoughts about our making the 11:00 a.m. flight? Also, I am trying to find out if Port Valet is an option, given the flight time. I can't find the cut-off time on the Port of Seattle site, but I read 11:00 as the time on a few posts here. Thanks, John

If you do the earliest non-walk off departure what time do you think you will be off the boat? And what day of the week is your arrival?

The ship comes in on Saturday, 8/25. If it docks at 7:00, I would assume I could walk off the boat by 8:00 or 8:30 at the latest. If I didn't have to worry about luggage, I'd be fine, allowing an hour or so for taxi or Uber/Lyft.

The ship comes in on Saturday, 8/25. If it docks at 7:00, I would assume I could walk off the boat by 8:00 or 8:30 at the latest. If I didn't have to worry about luggage, I'd be fine, allowing an hour or so for taxi or Uber/Lyft.

On that Saturday morning (no Seahawks, Mariners, or Sounders...and Seafair weekend is Aug 3, 4, and 5) if you are off the boat in a cab by 9AM you will be fine and under normal circumstances 9:30 would be enough time as well.

I haven't cruised for a while and have made a huge mistake -- reserving our return flight without reading these boards. We are arriving in port on Sunday, June 10 at 7 am. Is it truly impossible to make SEA/TAC for a 10 am flight? We are flying American and are pre-checked.

I haven't cruised for a while and have made a huge mistake -- reserving our return flight without reading these boards. We are arriving in port on Sunday, June 10 at 7 am. Is it truly impossible to make SEA/TAC for a 10 am flight? We are flying American and are pre-checked.

I would try to get a later flight to eliminate the stress and worry while on vacation.

I haven't cruised for a while and have made a huge mistake -- reserving our return flight without reading these boards. We are arriving in port on Sunday, June 10 at 7 am. Is it truly impossible to make SEA/TAC for a 10 am flight? We are flying American and are pre-checked.

It is so dicey at the airport. I commented before how long the lines were just to get checked into the flights. We had pre-check as well, but even that has gotten so much longer with so many more people doing that now. I would try to book a later flight if you can. It just wouldn't be worth the stress to me. Good luck!