Disembarkation In Seattle

[LAnderson469]

Panic mode in effect..... we originally booked our flight out 4 hours from porting as recommended but our flights have been changed to an earlier flight and Im concerned we will not make our departing flight. Can anyone tell me from your past experience how long it took you to get off of the Norwegian ships in Seattle and get to the airport? There are 3 travelers and we are capable of self assist when leaving.

[www3traveler]

The Port of Seattle has a Baggage Valet program.  Depending on your airline carrier and the time of your departure, you might be able to use it.  Check with Guest Services when you board.  You put your luggage out the night before, it will go from the ship to your air carrier to your home airport.  You will get your airline boarding passes the day before your cruise ends so you can go straight to the TSA lines, which could be very long.

 

There will be lots and lots of cabs out front of the terminal to take you to the airport.

 

Enjoy your cruise

 

 

[LAnderson469]

Flight is now departing at 10:25am . I contacted airline and have been told there could be several more changes between now and September and wait a few more weeks to see if the flights change again... Worst case I would just have to stay overnight and get a flight out the next morning. 

[mapleleaves]

You should be fine but it's a little tight.

NCL uses  pier 66 which is downtown Seattle.  It's generally a 20-30 minute drive from the pier 66 to SeaTac, but give it an hr due to the usual lousy Seattle traffic, city events, Viaduct demolition, etc.  SeaTac is a VERY busy airport so you need to be there a good 2 hrs prior to departure. So .... backing into this equation, your cab needs to be LEAVING the pier by 7:45am.  Allow for a long line of other pax waiting for taxis.

 

Check the Valet program to see if your airline participates.  I don't know if there are flight restrictions, ie only for flights after noon.  Check when you board the ship.  But self disembark always works.   https://www.portseattle.org/page/port-valet-enjoy-seattle-luggage-free

 

Good luck !

Edited April 22, 2019 by mapleleaves

[BirdTravels]

7 hours ago, LAnderson469 said:

Flight is now departing at 10:25am . I contacted airline and have been told there could be several more changes between now and September and wait a few more weeks to see if the flights change again... Worst case I would just have to stay overnight and get a flight out the next morning. 

Port Valet only accepts bags for departures after 11:00 am. 

 

You should be fine. You must plan on doing a self assist. Last year, you could disembark starting around 6:45 am if you were carrying all of your own bags. You could be at the airport as early as 7:30. We caught the cruise line shuttle back to the airport (buses waiting at the door). 

[Anet01]

Do you have precheck or clear? That would also expedite security screening. 

[erdoran]

If you are worried ask your airline to switch you to a later flight, since this is their change, not your choice.

[bonvoyagie]

I have not tried getting off one of the larger ships - Bliss or Joy so from what I remember from 2012 and the Pearl they started walk offs around 7:45 AM. This Is where you carry your own baggage off - you don't set it out the night before. Otherwise they have staggered deembarkation starting around 8:00 and ending around 11:00. We were in a suite then so we could get off whenever we wanted.  I believe that NCL has discontinued the Bags program where they process your luggage directly to the airport for a small handling fee. I know they did that in 12 when we cruised but on our next cruise in 16 they dropped it.

 

Seattle is set up good for taxi service as they have a line of them along the curb and a person to direct traffic..

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, bonvoyagie said:

I have not tried getting off one of the larger ships - Bliss or Joy so from what I remember from 2012 and the Pearl they started walk offs around 7:45 AM. This Is where you carry your own baggage off - you don't set it out the night before. Otherwise they have staggered deembarkation starting around 8:00 and ending around 11:00. We were in a suite then so we could get off whenever we wanted.  I believe that NCL has discontinued the Bags program where they process your luggage directly to the airport for a small handling fee. I know they did that in 12 when we cruised but on our next cruise in 16 they dropped it.

 

Seattle is set up good for taxi service as they have a line of them along the curb and a person to direct traffic..

There a Valet Bags program in Seattle but it is a Port of Seattle program not Norwegian.

[hilcadon]

We did the luggage valet program offered by the city of Seattle when we were on our Alaska cruise on Celebrity. I believe that there is a time limit on when your flight leaves in order to be eligible. We used it and it was fantastic to not see your bags until we landed in Newark,NJ and were able to spend some additional  time in Seattle before we left. 

[smplybcause]

I'm planning on the luggage valet since my flight is at noon - any opinions on if a solo traveler should do the ncl transfer or uber? 

[www3traveler]

51 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

I'm planning on the luggage valet since my flight is at noon - any opinions on if a solo traveler should do the ncl transfer or uber? 

I travel solo all the time---NCL transfer.  37 Norwegian cruises almost all with the transfer.

[BirdTravels]

On 4/23/2019 at 10:01 PM, bonvoyagie said:

I have not tried getting off one of the larger ships - Bliss or Joy so from what I remember from 2012 and the Pearl they started walk offs around 7:45 AM. This Is where you carry your own baggage off - you don't set it out the night before. Otherwise they have staggered deembarkation starting around 8:00 and ending around 11:00. We were in a suite then so we could get off whenever we wanted.  I believe that NCL has discontinued the Bags program where they process your luggage directly to the airport for a small handling fee. I know they did that in 12 when we cruised but on our next cruise in 16 they dropped it.

 

Seattle is set up good for taxi service as they have a line of them along the curb and a person to direct traffic..

Better information. 

 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, smplybcause said:

I'm planning on the luggage valet since my flight is at noon - any opinions on if a solo traveler should do the ncl transfer or uber? 

Usually cheaper than a cab. 

[bonvoyagie]

OK judging from the list posted above, your not going to be guaranteed making a 12:00 flight using the NCL shuttle. SeaTac is a busy place all the time but even more so during cruise season when you have as many as three ships heading to AK (and returning).

I have not tried an Uber - if they can sit in the taxi line to wait for you then I suppose that is the way to go. There are spaces for buses and taxis and not much else. I suppose you could walk down the street a block to meet your Uber.

 

[smplybcause]

11 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Usually cheaper than a cab. 

 Yikes! If the 12:30pm time on the photos you posted is right, I might miss the cutoff to use NCL's transfer by 25 minutes. Though when I log into NCL they gave me the option to pay for the transfer now after I input my flight info. 

[alisonslp]

6 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 Yikes! If the 12:30pm time on the photos you posted is right, I might miss the cutoff to use NCL's transfer by 25 minutes. Though when I log into NCL they gave me the option to pay for the transfer now after I input my flight info. 

We have an 11:30 flight and NCL gave us the transfer option as well. We are going to take an uber or cab because we will have 3 with us. Will be cheaper

[ZsaZsa2019]

Our TA just contacted us today to see if we wanted her to set up the NCL transfer for us in Seattle.  Our flight was bumped up to 11:15 am.  Would you do a self assist starting at 6:45 and grabbing an uber or taxi, or do the shuttle?  I think I feel we will do better on time doing self assist.  I hate to cut anything close, that's just a stress bomb for me.

[www3traveler]

3 minutes ago, ZsaZsa2019 said:

Our TA just contacted us today to see if we wanted her to set up the NCL transfer for us in Seattle.  Our flight was bumped up to 11:15 am.  Would you do a self assist starting at 6:45 and grabbing an uber or taxi, or do the shuttle?  I think I feel we will do better on time doing self assist.  I hate to cut anything close, that's just a stress bomb for me.

There will be lots and lots of cabs parked in front of the terminal building.  Fast and easy.  

 

You might want to see once you board if your flight qualifies for the Port of Seattle Bags program.  Your bags would go directly from the ship to your airline AND you would receive your boarding passes the day before you return to Seattle.  From the ship straight to the TSA Security lines which can be a nightmare.  Remember that your ship is not the only ship disembarking passengers-- 2 maybe 3 more.

[LAnderson469]

Our flight was changed to 10:25am.... 

Does anyone know if we can use the Port Valet for our luggage with a flight that early? 

[BirdTravels]

On 4/25/2019 at 11:18 AM, smplybcause said:

 Yikes! If the 12:30pm time on the photos you posted is right, I might miss the cutoff to use NCL's transfer by 25 minutes. Though when I log into NCL they gave me the option to pay for the transfer now after I input my flight info. 

So that transfer time in the photo is the time bags handled by porters will be in the baggage hall. If you self walk off, check to see if they are releasing buses. When we used it, as soon as a bus was full, it left for the airport.  

[BirdTravels]

51 minutes ago, LAnderson469 said:

Our flight was changed to 10:25am.... 

Does anyone know if we can use the Port Valet for our luggage with a flight that early? 

Nope. 11:00 flight earliest (last year) 

[smplybcause]

4 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

So that transfer time in the photo is the time bags handled by porters will be in the baggage hall. If you self walk off, check to see if they are releasing buses. When we used it, as soon as a bus was full, it left for the airport.  

 

Sweet. I'm planning on using the port valet so it should work for me to. Thanks!!

[pmcx68]

My wife and I were in Seattle on the Bliss in September 2018. 

You may be cutting it close on that time frame.

We were on a Southwest flight and used the Luggage Valet.  That worked great and we had no problems.

Getting off the boat took about 30 minutes.  It was easy not having to worry about luggage. 

We then walked about 10-12 blocks to WestLake Center and took the train to the airport but you can take a cab for pretty cheap.

Warning, there are some steep hills going up from the pier.  

The train took about 35 minutes to get to the airport and cost us $10.00

It was nice having our boarding pass and getting through security took about 20 minutes.

All said it we were off the boat by 8:00 am and took about 90 minutes to get to our gate.

[Peachypooh]

When we disembarked in Seattle we  did self assist and since we were in a suite had priority disembark. From the time we wheeled our luggage out of our room, hailed a cab and got to our gate it was around 9 a.m.  That said, it easily could have taken much longer. We try to get a flight around 12 noon from SEATAC and if the airline moved you I would call and request them move you to a later flight if that is what you want. One time  the airline moved our flights when we were cruising out of Miami and the new connection in Atlanta was only 45 min. I called and explained that this would be difficult for me since I am a senior citizen and they moved me to another connecting flight that was much more user friendly. If they have the space I think they will do it for you.