Questions about Seattle, Washington.

[sleepless]

DH and I are going on a cruise to Alaska in July of 2016, out of Seattle. We will be on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. We will be in Seattle for a couple of days, and we do not plan on renting a car. This is our first cruise to Alaska, however we have been cruising since 2008.

 

I am looking for suggestions on where to stay, transportation to the port as well as around the city, places to eat and things to do or see.

 

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

[mapleleaves]

Where to stay depends on your budget and the amenities you require...

Staying downtown is most convenient for sightseeing, but the hotels are pricey. The Inn at the Market is lovely especially with a view room, the Mayflower and Warwick are very convenient. If you have points to use, all the major chains are downtown. Hotels around the Space Needle area tend to be cheaper than the downtown core but you can be downtown via the monorail in 5 minutes.

Staying near the airport is the cheapest option but it also means commuting to each day to sightsee, however the Light rail from SeaTac to downtown is cheap and convenient ($3, 40 minutes).

 

Seattle Express has shuttle service to the pier from partner hotels, $12pp which is a great deal esp if you're staying out by the airport. And pier to SeaTac is also $12. Check out their web site and list of partner hotels

 

Either port is less than 10 minutes from any hotel downtown. Pier 91 being the furthest away and a $15-$20 cab ride from downtown.

 

Since your trip is a year away, there's plenty of time to research for your Seattle visit. Borrow Seattle and Alaska travel booksf rom your library, look at the town web sites for Seattle and the Alaska ports.

http://www.seattle.gov/visiting-seattle

 

http://www.visitseattle.org/visitor-information/

 

Also look at the Seattle forum of tripadvisor. There is a lot of helpful info under the TOP QUESTIONS section.

 

There are at least 60 trip reports and photojournals from 2014 in CruiseCritic's Alaska forum. (in a STICKY near the top of the page). The reports have lots of details about the ship, ports, excursions, things to do. Look for the reports that start in Seattle to find info on hotels, things to do etc.

[sleepless]

mapleleaves - thank you for all of the very useful information.

[Northern Aurora]

We fly down to Seattle to spend a few days every year, and the Mayflower Park is currently our favorite downtown hotel. With its location beside Westlake it is so easy to use the light rail system (i.e., attend a Mariner's game) or take the monorail out to Seattle Center. Also the Mayflower is within walking distance to Pike Place Market, the Seattle Art Museum and Benaroya Hall.

 

We actually stayed at the Mayflower prior to a cruise out of Seattle; that particular cruise embarked from Pier 66 and the cost of a taxi from the hotel to Pier 66 was $10 - 15.00.

[sleepless]

Thanks, Northern Aurora. I will check this out.

[deejae]

I started bidding on Priceline in February for our August cruise. In April, I won 2 rooms @ the Warwick Hotel (downtown) for $175 each per night. I was pretty happy with that price. There are 4 of us & we are using Alreadythere for transportation to & from the airport.

 

Have fun planning,

 

Janet

[BroncoLvrs]

Another alternative is FlipKey or HomeAway. They both have properties downtown (condos/apartments) at a fraction of the cost of a hotel. I've found them a great alternative.

[sleepless]

Another alternative is FlipKey or HomeAway. They both have properties downtown (condos/apartments) at a fraction of the cost of a hotel. I've found them a great alternative.

 

 

Thanks, I will look into them.

[Genessa]

My granddaughter and I spent two nights in Seattle before out r/t cruise. Since is was just the two of us, I didn't want to be spending a lot of time on transportation, and, anticipating inclement weather (we had three gorgeous sunny days) I picked a downtown hotel with an indoor pool - The Westin. Beautiful hotel, but not cheap.

 

We took the light rail from the airport $3 for me, $1.50 for her, and got off at the last stop (about 25-30 minutes) and the hotel was about 2 blocks away on 5th Avenue.

 

after checking in we walked down 5th ave to the space needle, stopping to eat at a delicious Mexican restaurant - only open for breakfast (I think) and lunch. Very fresh food, nice people, counter top type seating - Dos Amigos I think was the name.

 

Bought the city pass ticket since it was so nice out - I didn't want to buy tickets ahead 'cos if the weather wasn't good, I wasn't going to go up Space Needle. When I bought tickets, made reservations for 1/2 an hour later and for sunset that night. Great views! We went to Chuhily Glass Museum after, then walked back to hotel and went swimming.

We were a little tired by then, (flew from East Coast 7 AM flight) so after dinner we took monorail to Space Needle. Sunset from Space Needle - amazing.

 

In the morning, we ate in hotel (had dinner there, too). Food good, but expensive.

We bought tickets for Duck Tour, which we both enjoyed immensely. (duct not included in city pass)

After that, we walked to Pike's Market, walked around a bit (we're not shoppers), then went to aquarium (included). Nice aquarium, we spent a couple of hours there.

Then we rode The Big Wheel (not included) which gave a great view of everything.

 

We had ice cream for lunch, then made reservations for Argosy evening cruise (included) and went back to hotel for pool and nap.

 

first time I ever bought a city pass for any city, but felt it was worth it.

Took advice of hotel concierge and just hopped in a taxi to pier. Price was around $12 plus tip.