Help create an Official "Seattle FAQ" -by members for members!

[ctrinco]

Cruising out of Seattle...flight home isn't until 11:50 at night.  We were in Seattle last summer so we've seen the "sights".  Is Mt Ranier doable with 10 hours to kill?  Is the best way to rent a car near the pier?

[Anita Latte]

Hello...I'm wondering if anyone has experience renting a car with Sixt? Rates are good but not as good as something like Fox and not as bad as others I have used in the past. Help appreciated!

[trivia addict]

We have used Sixt 3 times. Once in Austria, where although we waited in a very long line, we had no problems.
Then in Seattle, which I honestly cannot remember the problem. But my husband fought with the company over it and received a credit.

We then used the credit in San Francisco, where they insisted that we had not filled up the gas tank and charged us for a full tank. Luckily the credit card receipt with which we provided them with the time and amount of gas bought, resolved the problem.

We will not use them again.

[techteach]

@ctrinco I’m sure you can rent a car downtown, but then you’ll need to return it to downtown. You could walk to Westlake, if docking downtown at Pier 66, take light rail to the airport, then take a shuttle to the rental car, and then off you go to Mt. Rainier. (Get a real map) Depending upon which day of the week it’s about 2 hours, traffic and where you’ve going dependent, to the mountain.  We love Tipsoo Lake on the far eastern side. I don’t check this board regularly so if you want to ask me other questions be sure to include my name. Have fun!

[kywildcatfanone]

Hi, is a 10am flight doable out of Seattle if the ship docks on time at 7am and you do express walkoff? 

 

Can get a direct flight at 10am.  Have done this regularly out of FLL.  Google says it's a 30 minute ride from cruise terminal to airport.

Edited January 31 by kywildcatfanone

[psuboater]

On 1/31/2024 at 7:19 AM, kywildcatfanone said:

Hi, is a 10am flight doable out of Seattle if the ship docks on time at 7am and you do express walkoff? 

 

Can get a direct flight at 10am.  Have done this regularly out of FLL.  Google says it's a 30 minute ride from cruise terminal to airport.

Hi there,

 

I know it must be close to Alaska cruising season when I see this question asked 3 times in a week 😄

 

Here's how I responded a few days ago:

SEA in the summer can be a MESS. I departed to NY on a day 3 ships disembarked in June. It took 45 minutes to do bag drop with Sky Priority access.

 

TSA Pre Only can also have its set of headaches at SEA. There are more times than not that TSA Pre is 45+ minutes. The only "10 minutes or less" guarantee is with TSA Pre Check WITH Clear. 

 

If you're arriving back on a weekday, you're going to be fighting with traffic half of your trip getting into the city if you're on Quantum, who has their Pier north of downtown. NCL, downtown at Pier 66 will also face gridlock trying to get to the highway from downtown. Return to Office is back in full force, as is all of the traffic.

 

Also adding, that on my 2022 trip on Quantum, we ran into customs delays and didn't start disembarkation until 8:30am. There were a LOT of stressed out people who were trying to get out ASAP, fight for a cab/uber, and try to make it through.

 

You'll see people say "oh I got a 10:30am no problem" - and those people are very lucky. SEA is known for being too small based on the passengers it intakes, and that spills over into a lot of delays.

 

If you're tight for time, also ask your driver to drop you off at Arrivals. It's only an esclator up to the Depatures floor and you'll save 10+ minutes on your car trying to fight for Departure access.

Edited February 1 by psuboater

[kywildcatfanone]

1 hour ago, psuboater said:

Hi there,

 

I know it must be close to Alaska cruising season when I see this question asked 3 times in a week 😄

 

Here's how I responded a few days ago:

SEA in the summer can be a MESS. I departed to NY on a day 3 ships disembarked in June. It took 45 minutes to do bag drop with Sky Priority access.

 

TSA Pre Only can also have its set of headaches at SEA. There are more times than not that TSA Pre is 45+ minutes. The only "10 minutes or less" guarantee is with TSA Pre Check WITH Clear. 

 

If you're arriving back on a weekday, you're going to be fighting with traffic half of your trip getting into the city if you're on Quantum, who has their Pier north of downtown. NCL, downtown at Pier 66 will also face gridlock trying to get to the highway from downtown. Return to Office is back in full force, as is all of the traffic.

 

Also adding, that on my 2022 trip on Quantum, we ran into customs delays and didn't start disembarkation until 8:30am. There were a LOT of stressed out people who were trying to get out ASAP, fight for a cab/uber, and try to make it through.

 

You'll see people say "oh I got a 10:30am no problem" - and those people are very lucky. SEA is known for being too small based on the passengers it intakes, and that spills over into a lot of delays.

 

If you're tight for time, also ask your driver to drop you off at Arrivals. It's only an esclator up to the Depatures floor and you'll save 10+ minutes on your car trying to fight for Departure access.

Sounds like you know the area well.  Thanks for the thorough reply.  Perhaps indulge me with a couple of follow up questions, as I have not been there before.  This will be in May on Discovery Princess on a Saturday.  A calendar I saw online said there are 3 ships that day, Norwegian Bliss, Discovery Princess, and HA Eurodam.  Princess and HA are at pier 91.  Itinerary shows last stop before disembarking as Victoria, which looks by the itinerary map to be pretty close to Seattle.  Ship is current set to disembark at 7am.  I do realize that can change, and have had that happen to us before.  We have not missed a flight yet, but FLL is closer than SEA to the terminal.  We have had one really close call.  I can get a direct flight home at 10am, so I'm thinking IF things are on time, I should be in a taxi  or other transportation by 7:30 by walking off with my own luggage.  Would a Saturday morning be really busy traffic wise in May?  And 3 ships, and pier 91 add to issues getting on the road under normal conditions?

[psuboater]

46 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Sounds like you know the area well.  Thanks for the thorough reply.  Perhaps indulge me with a couple of follow up questions, as I have not been there before.  This will be in May on Discovery Princess on a Saturday.  A calendar I saw online said there are 3 ships that day, Norwegian Bliss, Discovery Princess, and HA Eurodam.  Princess and HA are at pier 91.  Itinerary shows last stop before disembarking as Victoria, which looks by the itinerary map to be pretty close to Seattle.  Ship is current set to disembark at 7am.  I do realize that can change, and have had that happen to us before.  We have not missed a flight yet, but FLL is closer than SEA to the terminal.  We have had one really close call.  I can get a direct flight home at 10am, so I'm thinking IF things are on time, I should be in a taxi  or other transportation by 7:30 by walking off with my own luggage.  Would a Saturday morning be really busy traffic wise in May?  And 3 ships, and pier 91 add to issues getting on the road under normal conditions?

 

Typically, Victoria is the last stop for US originating Alaska cruises, and you are right, one can get to Victoria from Seattle in 3.5 hours by boat. So getting to Seattle is not the problem overnight, your ship will stay just behind the international waters so the casino can stay open until as late as it can. When we were on the Quantum, this was the same thing. We arrived to the port well before 7am. The problem was that customs was delayed in being able to clear the ship. We were scheduled for a 7am walk off, it did not start until 8:30am.

 

Getting off the boat, between your boat and the Eurodam, there's approximately 5k passengers needing to disembark. Also, keep in mind, if you are getting an Uber or Lyft, it's about a 1/4 walk to the Uber/Lyft drop off area from where customs drops you out. Your app is also competing with everyone else trying to get a ride share as well.

 

Seattle is also unique in its geography how it's surrounded by water- there are only two main ways down to the airport from where you are. Most likely you'll be taking I5, the other one is Highway 99, which is less of a highway at times and more of a stop light/commerical road. (For locals, yes, they could take 405 but then you're going east to go south and that's not timely from Pier 91 at all :)) If ANYTHING happens on I5- it becomes nearly impossible to get to the airport in a timely fashion. I once planned to arrive to Amtrak on a Saturday with 90 minutes before boarding to spare. I left my house not too much further than Pier 91.  Without traffic, the ride should have taken 20 minutes. It took 90 minutes to get off of highway and we missed our train. This also happened another time where we left planning to get to SEA 2 hours before take off. An accident happened on I5, we detoured to 99 and we literally got to our gate 10 minutes before doors close, but not before paying out the nose for the terminal parking and thanking our lucky stars we both have TSA Pre, CLEAR and were not checking a bag. 

 

I am the type of person who looks forward to the airport and will arrive way earlier than expected and be happy about it. Out of all of the cities I've lived in, the most close calls I've had missing my flight even with planning to use all 3 hours of my lounge access has been SEA.

 

If you have a backup plan and missing that 10am flight won't break the bank, or you'll be OK with waiting a few hours for another flight or even another day (flights fly in and out full during cruise season), then I say take the gamble. If missing this 10am flight  will cause you and your family a lot of stress and ruin a week's worth of fun and relaxation, I say don't roll the dice.

Edited February 1 by psuboater

[kywildcatfanone]

18 hours ago, psuboater said:

 

Typically, Victoria is the last stop for US originating Alaska cruises, and you are right, one can get to Victoria from Seattle in 3.5 hours by boat. So getting to Seattle is not the problem overnight, your ship will stay just behind the international waters so the casino can stay open until as late as it can. When we were on the Quantum, this was the same thing. We arrived to the port well before 7am. The problem was that customs was delayed in being able to clear the ship. We were scheduled for a 7am walk off, it did not start until 8:30am.

 

Getting off the boat, between your boat and the Eurodam, there's approximately 5k passengers needing to disembark. Also, keep in mind, if you are getting an Uber or Lyft, it's about a 1/4 walk to the Uber/Lyft drop off area from where customs drops you out. Your app is also competing with everyone else trying to get a ride share as well.

 

Seattle is also unique in its geography how it's surrounded by water- there are only two main ways down to the airport from where you are. Most likely you'll be taking I5, the other one is Highway 99, which is less of a highway at times and more of a stop light/commerical road. (For locals, yes, they could take 405 but then you're going east to go south and that's not timely from Pier 91 at all :)) If ANYTHING happens on I5- it becomes nearly impossible to get to the airport in a timely fashion. I once planned to arrive to Amtrak on a Saturday with 90 minutes before boarding to spare. I left my house not too much further than Pier 91.  Without traffic, the ride should have taken 20 minutes. It took 90 minutes to get off of highway and we missed our train. This also happened another time where we left planning to get to SEA 2 hours before take off. An accident happened on I5, we detoured to 99 and we literally got to our gate 10 minutes before doors close, but not before paying out the nose for the terminal parking and thanking our lucky stars we both have TSA Pre, CLEAR and were not checking a bag. 

 

I am the type of person who looks forward to the airport and will arrive way earlier than expected and be happy about it. Out of all of the cities I've lived in, the most close calls I've had missing my flight even with planning to use all 3 hours of my lounge access has been SEA.

 

If you have a backup plan and missing that 10am flight won't break the bank, or you'll be OK with waiting a few hours for another flight or even another day (flights fly in and out full during cruise season), then I say take the gamble. If missing this 10am flight  will cause you and your family a lot of stress and ruin a week's worth of fun and relaxation, I say don't roll the dice.

Thanks again.  One more question, are there cabs ready and waiting upon disembarkation?  At FLL, we just walk out of the terminal to the cab line and are gone in a flash.  Do they have that at Seattle?

[psuboater]

2 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Thanks again.  One more question, are there cabs ready and waiting upon disembarkation?  At FLL, we just walk out of the terminal to the cab line and are gone in a flash.  Do they have that at Seattle?

There is a cab line outside of the terminal - however, lines tend to get long quickly because you'll be competing with the passengers on the Eurodam.

 

In my experience with both - FLL is way better set up for cruising than SEA is. 

[Prost Seattle]

As a heads up, in the summer the security lines frequently snake out of the terminal into the garage.  For real.  I personally wouldn’t book a 10 AM flight after a cruise.  I was a flight attendant for over 35 years  28 of them based in Seattle.  The amount of customers that go through the terminal are far greater than the building can handle comfortably.

[jlocole]

My flight into Seattle lands at 1:00 pm.  Is that plenty of time to wait for luggage, grab a rideshare and be at NCL Bliss by 3:00?  I think passengers are supposed to be onboard 2 hours before departure at 5:00 pm.

Also what pier number for drop-off at NCL Bliss?

Edited February 16 by jlocole
Add a question

[Prost Seattle]

NCL uses Pier 66 downtown.  If your flight is late…yikes. 

[REAMMI]

On 2/1/2024 at 2:38 PM, psuboater said:

Hi @psuboater and thank you for the information you shared.  I'm considering an 11:30 am flight out of SEA.  I'll be disembarking from Pier 91 in late September (9/28/24).  Given your advice (love the idea of being dropped off at arrivals rather than departures) what are your thoughts on making this flight?  It's the same scenario for me - it's the only direct flight that day.  I guess the most fair question is - what time do you suggest is best for booking return flights (I think I read somewhere that noon or after is best)?  Appreciate the insight!!

 

 

 

 

 

Hi there,

 

I know it must be close to Alaska cruising season when I see this question asked 3 times in a week 😄

 

Here's how I responded a few days ago:

SEA in the summer can be a MESS. I departed to NY on a day 3 ships disembarked in June. It took 45 minutes to do bag drop with Sky Priority access.

 

TSA Pre Only can also have its set of headaches at SEA. There are more times than not that TSA Pre is 45+ minutes. The only "10 minutes or less" guarantee is with TSA Pre Check WITH Clear. 

 

If you're arriving back on a weekday, you're going to be fighting with traffic half of your trip getting into the city if you're on Quantum, who has their Pier north of downtown. NCL, downtown at Pier 66 will also face gridlock trying to get to the highway from downtown. Return to Office is back in full force, as is all of the traffic.

 

Also adding, that on my 2022 trip on Quantum, we ran into customs delays and didn't start disembarkation until 8:30am. There were a LOT of stressed out people who were trying to get out ASAP, fight for a cab/uber, and try to make it through.

 

You'll see people say "oh I got a 10:30am no problem" - and those people are very lucky. SEA is known for being too small based on the passengers it intakes, and that spills over into a lot of delays.

 

If you're tight for time, also ask your driver to drop you off at Arrivals. It's only an esclator up to the Depatures floor and you'll save 10+ minutes on your car trying to fight for Departure access.

 

[psuboater]

3 hours ago, REAMMI said:

 

It depends on a few factors -- it looks like there are two boats disembarking that day (Bliss and Eurodam) so it will be a busy day for the airport, but not as busy as when 3 ships come in.

 

Are you good walking off with your own luggage? Do you have any priority with your airline (ex: Delta Sky Priority has a separate line to check in/bag drop). Do you have Pre Check and/or CLEAR? (The only consistent less than 15 minute option with security in SEA has been Pre and CLEAR combined that I've experienced).

 

Ideally, a noon or later flight is best (especially if you can do Port Valet, which takes 30+ minutes off your airport experience not having to check your bag), but given that it's a Saturday so you won't have rush hour traffic, the Huskies are playing Rutgers in New Jersey so you won't have game day traffic, if you're comfortable with navigating airports, I would make the gamble.

[juliecat]

Seattle public transit finally has an app - no need to buy an Orca card anymore 

 

https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/metro/fares-and-payment/ways-to-pay/transit-go-ticket