How are the Embark and Debark at Seattle?

[whitford]

How far is the airport (SEATAC) and how much for a cab. What is the general feeling about this port? Recommended hotels?

[grsnovi]

We sail out of Seattle frequently since we live down the road in Portland, OR. So, no clue on the cab fare. How long to SEATAC will depend on when you arrive and traffic. It shouldn't take much more than a half hour if the roads were empty. As far as hotels, again, since we live in Portland, we don't stay however we have stayed in town at the Best Western Plus Pioneer Square and I was quite pleased. It is convenient to downtown and reasonably priced. It wouldn't likely be my choice if all I was doing was flying in to sleep and then getting on the ship. I seem to recall that they can load/unload (at least) 2 cruise ships where HAL docks these days. There may be room for a third (I'm sure a local will correct me). The facility is large enough that we never felt crowded waiting to board and we've always parked right there so schlepping luggage to the car is always easy.

[kentuckycruiser]

We went out of Seattle last week on the Oosterdam. We stayed at the HGI downtown - very easy Uber ride to the port the next day for the 4 of us. We lucked out on our timing, we got there at 11:10, went straight to the NS line check in after security, got the A boarding group pass and without slowing down a step, they called group A at 11:30 and we walked right being about the 10th person onboard! The rooms were ready to go. At that time there were loads of people looking camped out in chairs waiting  for their boarding group to be called. 

I think getting there at noon or so would be the smart way to not have to wait, unless you are NS or 4 star or above.

[kentuckycruiser]

Another note for Seattle. If you take a cab you get dropped off right by the ship, if you take an Uber you have to walk just a bit - probably 3 ship lengths. So when we got off ship, we just jumped in a cab that was right outside the door instead of doing an Uber. They also have a shuttle from the Uber pick up/drop off to the ship but on a nice day it is much easier (and faster) to walk. We pack super light - only carry on's so walking with luggage isn't a big deal.

[kevingastreich]

19 hours ago, kentuckycruiser said:

We went out of Seattle last week on the Oosterdam. We stayed at the HGI downtown - very easy Uber ride to the port the next day for the 4 of us. We lucked out on our timing, we got there at 11:10, went straight to the NS line check in after security, got the A boarding group pass and without slowing down a step, they called group A at 11:30 and we walked right being about the 10th person onboard! The rooms were ready to go. At that time there were loads of people looking camped out in chairs waiting  for their boarding group to be called. 

I think getting there at noon or so would be the smart way to not have to wait, unless you are NS or 4 star or above.

I saw an email recently where they are requesting people to show up at the cruise terminal at a designated time depending on what deck your cabin is on.  I've never seen that before.

[Paulinda]

8 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

I saw an email recently where they are requesting people to show up at the cruise terminal at a designated time depending on what deck your cabin is on.  I've never seen that before.

I think it's a suggested time.  Our last cruise this past March we were told to arrive at 1pm.  After checking out of our hotel at 10am we went straight to the terminal.  We were on board and in our room around 11:30 am and there were no issues. 

[ricko999]

50 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

I saw an email recently where they are requesting people to show up at the cruise terminal at a designated time depending on what deck your cabin is on.  I've never seen that before.

This is true. We received that email from HAL and it stated our arrive time. 12:39pm.

RO

[2pbears]

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 8:41 AM, whitford said:

How far is the airport (SEATAC) and how much for a cab. What is the general feeling about this port? Recommended hotels?

 

We sail out of Seattle next week and will be staying one night pre-cruise at the Mayflower Park Hotel.   We have never stayed there before but the friends that we are cruising with have stayed there and recommend it highly.  It's located right near the Westlake light rail station so you can take the train from SEATAC to downtown and the hotel is a 5 minute walk from the train.  Very easy and inexpensive to do.    It is about a six block walk to Pike Market.  Oh, just a note about the Mayflower, if you are uneasy about ghosts, the hotel is rumored to be haunted.   We're not bothered by that but some people might be.

 

A recent post here showed signs at the taxi stand outside the ship that say the taxis are a flat rate of $47 from the cruise terminal to SEATAC. 

[thera]

Not sure about a cab but we did an Uber Pool from the airport to our hotel (Hampton Inn Downtown Seattle Center) for $35 on a Friday afternoon with very little traffic.  Took less than 25 minutes.  The hotel worked out nicely for us-grocery next door, within walking distance of several restaurants, near the Space Needle and a bus stop at the back of the hotel.  We took an Uber to the port (less than $10, less than 10 minutes) and arrived at noon.  It is a little walk though from the Uber drop off, as mentioned above, but they have a shuttle to the ship.  The port was super busy, we stood in line for probably 45 mins to do security/check in.  Everyone we encountered, from the Seattle porters to the HAL folks were super nice tho.  When we disembarked, we had pre-booked a ride with Seattle Express for $18 to the airport and it worked out fine.  However, the SeaTac security lines were really long.  It took us well over an hour to get through.

[grsnovi]

6 hours ago, kevingastreich said:

they are requesting people to show up at the cruise terminal at a designated time

They have been doing that for a while and they may start enforcing it at some point however for all of our boardings in the last couple of years we have never seen a total crunch in the departure lounge. They will assign you to a group when you arrive and you'll have to wait until they're ready to board that group. Rooms have been ready so you don't have to lug your carry-on around with you and often luggage is already in the room. Seems they have gotten a lot better at the pre-cruise logistics.

[kentuckycruiser]

Interesting how cabs work at Sea Tac. You go to a certain level in the parking garage and taxi's are on the right, and executive car rides are on the left. There was a big black suburban ready to go and it was the same price as a cab. We went on a Saturday night to downtown and little to no traffic. It was $50 plus a $5 tip. We usually tip more but the ride took hardly any time. I also appreciated being able to spread out more as we travel with two teenage boys. Uber rides from downtown to port are super easy and cheap. Maybe $10.

[cruises42]

On ‎6‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 1:03 PM, 2pbears said:

 

We sail out of Seattle next week and will be staying one night pre-cruise at the Mayflower Park Hotel.   We have never stayed there before but the friends that we are cruising with have stayed there and recommend it highly.  It's located right near the Westlake light rail station so you can take the train from SEATAC to downtown and the hotel is a 5 minute walk from the train.  Very easy and inexpensive to do.    It is about a six block walk to Pike Market.  Oh, just a note about the Mayflower, if you are uneasy about ghosts, the hotel is rumored to be haunted.   We're not bothered by that but some people might be.

 

A recent post here showed signs at the taxi stand outside the ship that say the taxis are a flat rate of $47 from the cruise terminal to SEATAC. 

We're staying there at the end of August. How are you planning to get to the ship, then from the port to the airport?

[2pbears]

On ‎6‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 7:09 PM, cruises42 said:

We're staying there at the end of August. How are you planning to get to the ship, then from the port to the airport?

 

We called the Mayflower to see if they had a shuttle to the pier and they do not but they said that we could talk with the concierge upon arrival and he/she would be happy to arrange for a shuttle service with one of the companies that they have a relationship with.   We will most likely do that as there will be four of us with luggage so we will need to make sure that we have a vehicle large enough to accommodate us.

 

From the port to the airport we will be using the Port Valet and therefore will not be carrying luggage so in that case we will most likely either  use Uber or the fixed price taxi ($47). 

[cruises42]

8 hours ago, 2pbears said:

 

We called the Mayflower to see if they had a shuttle to the pier and they do not but they said that we could talk with the concierge upon arrival and he/she would be happy to arrange for a shuttle service with one of the companies that they have a relationship with.   We will most likely do that as there will be four of us with luggage so we will need to make sure that we have a vehicle large enough to accommodate us.

 

From the port to the airport we will be using the Port Valet and therefore will not be carrying luggage so in that case we will most likely either  use Uber or the fixed price taxi ($47). 

Thanks. We've take a shuttle (set up by the concierge) twice before and may do that again. We were also thinking of taking Uber or a taxi to the airport. Please let me know how it all works out for you. Our cruise isn't until the end of August. What ship are you going to be on?