Seattle Parking - Help!

[Bedruthen]

I am trying to book the cruise parking at Pier 91 Smiths Cove in SEATTLE. However because we live in the U.K. we can’t find a way to book for our rental car as the site insists on a zip code, which we obviously don’t have. I have emailed the company several times but received no reply and there is no number to contact from U.K. 

Has anyone got any suggestions for alternative long term parking because I am panicking that we will arrive, try to park at the terminal and there will be no spaces. 
Does Princess themselves offer any sort of way to book cruise parking? 

[Wandawithdogs]

Do they want a zip for credit card or location? If location but the rental car zip code?

[Rick&Jeannie]

No, Princess has no connection with the parking vendors.  Can you not just call the US number direct?

[Bedruthen]

27 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

No, Princess has no connection with the parking vendors.  Can you not just call the US number direct?

I could but my mobile to USA number is $18 per minute!

[Bedruthen]

50 minutes ago, Wandawithdogs said:

Do they want a zip for credit card or location? If location but the rental car zip code?

That’s not a bad idea - I will try it with the rental locations detail in San Francisco and see if that gets me past the booking address. Cheers!

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 minutes ago, Bedruthen said:

I could but my mobile to USA number is $18 per minute!

Oh no!  Well, I can certainly see why you would not want to go that direction. 

Edited February 8 by Rick&Jeannie

[Ferry_Watcher]

The address zip code for Smith Cove is 98119.  Maybe try that and see if will be enough to book a parking spot. 

FYI, the on site parking at Pier 91 is quite large, so I wouldn't worry, but you do need reservations.

[Linsuesue]

On 2/8/2024 at 3:44 PM, Ferry_Watcher said:

The address zip code for Smith Cove is 98119.  Maybe try that and see if will be enough to book a parking spot. 

FYI, the on site parking at Pier 91 is quite large, so I wouldn't worry, but you do need reservations.

Someone in my group will be parking at that garage this July. When they get to the pier 91 should they drive through the drop off line so one of them can get the big bags to the porters from the curb and the other can circle back and park in the parking area? I just want to be able to tell them the most efficient way that they don’t have to drag their luggage too far. Do you know the current price for parking?

[jeromep]

@Bedruthen I have to ask, if you are from overseas, will you be renting a vehicle here, or is there some other arrangement wherein you will have access to a vehicle but you can't "dispose" of it while you are on the cruise?  I would think that if you were coming to the states and renting a car, that you would want to return the car to the rental agency so you weren't paying for days where you were not going to be using it.

 

There is one large parking lot at Pier 91 that is operated by the Port of Seattle.  There is an offsite parking lot that is privately operated.

 

Seattle Cruise Park  https://www.seattlecruiseparking.com/ is the privately owned facility.  They do mostly valet parking and shuttle you to and from the port.

 

https://www.portseattle.org/page/pier-91-transportation-directions-parking  Is the Port of Seattle's site regarding ground transport and parking for Pier 91.  The port contracts out parking management to Republic Parking and there is a link on that page to them.

 

If you are trying to book parking online, you are being asked for the Zip code as part of the credit card authorization process.  Credit card/debit card fraud is rampant and there are a number of technical tools in use to limit fraud on self-serve booking systems.  Asking for the Zip code is one of those processes.  It is a quick and easy way for the merchant processor to verify that the card is being used legitimately by the cardholder.  You are probably saying to yourself, "wouldn't a pin number eliminate this issue?"  The answer would be yes, however we only see widespread use of pin numbers with card transactions when people use debit cards.  Credit card transactions remain "signature" transactions.  There has been great aversion to pin based credit card transactions, and there is a push, based on how debit card are utilized, to move them toward signature transactions.

 

It may be worth $18/minute to call the parking lots and find out how you book with them without using the online system.

 

May I also suggest booking a hotel park and fly (or cruise) package.  Most hotels with parking lots or garages offer park and fly (cruise) options, especially during the summer.  Park and fly is offered by all the hotels down at SeaTac on account of their proximity to the airport.  Seattle downtown hotels start to offer park and cruise options during the summer specifically for the cruising public.  Then you'd just Uber/Lyft to the port on embarkation day from your hotel.  A park and fly (cruise) package is quite cost effective, you get a hotel night plus the parking for one reasonable fee.  The cost of parking your car at one of the lots near the port is like half of the cost of a hotel package.

[Ferry_Watcher]

6 hours ago, Linsuesue said:

Someone in my group will be parking at that garage this July. When they get to the pier 91 should they drive through the drop off line so one of them can get the big bags to the porters from the curb and the other can circle back and park in the parking area? I just want to be able to tell them the most efficient way that they don’t have to drag their luggage too far. Do you know the current price for parking?

 

There is no parking garage at Pier 91 - it is a large open parking lot.  Pier 91 is port for HAL, X, Princess, Carnival and Royal.

Pier 66 is used by Norwegian cruise lines, and there is a parking garage there, which has limited availability.  

If your friend is parking at Pier 91, it is best to go straight to the parking lot with the luggage, and wait for the shuttle to come pick you up.  There are two tent canopies in the lot, and your friends should walk to the canopies and catch the shuttle there.  I am not sure what the current weekly parking rate is.

 

If your friend is sailing from Pier 66, and is able-bodied,  I would also suggest parking the car , then either taking the skybridge with an elevator to Pier 66, or walk out to the street and walk a  short  block / half block down to Pier 66.  It is a busy road with traffic lights, and if you walk you will cross over train tracks.  The way the road (Alaskan Way) is divided, it is not easy to drop off luggage from the car and return to the parking lot.

Edited March 20 by Ferry_Watcher

[Glaciers]

Another parking option is the Olympus Parking Garage on Clay St. They have a cruise special for $75/week.  It would require transportation from there to Pier 91, $15-$20. About a 10 minute walk to Pier 66.

[Gardyloo]

On 2/8/2024 at 2:12 PM, Bedruthen said:

I could but my mobile to USA number is $18 per minute!

Subscribe to a VOIP (voice over internet protocol) service like Skype and your calls to a landline or mobile in the US can run around 2p per minute.  

 

How Much Does Skype International Calls Cost? (softkeys.uk)

[Ferry_Watcher]

The other parking option for either Pier 91 or Pier 66 is the off-site Seattle Cruise Park which uses a very secure parking lot (a former armory).  This parking option was many spots, but it does fill up (especially during the peak summer cruising months) and you do need a reservation.  Seattle Cruise Park has their own shuttle service to bring their parking customers to either Pier 91 or Pier 66.

https://www.seattlecruiseparking.com/safe-and-secure/

 

 

If you use either the on-site parking at Pier 91 (Republic Parking), or the off-site parking option (Seattle Cruise Park), please try to remember which parking lot you booked.  We have so many passengers who literally can't remember, and will accidentally go to the wrong lot.  Sometimes pier side staff has to ask multiple questions trying figure out which of the 2 parking lots the disembarked passengers has parked their car in. 

 

Pier 91 (only) On-Site parking is Republic Parking.  Their shuttle located at terminal parking slots A & B  and is driven by Longshore workers

 

Pier 91 & Pier 66 Off-Site parking is Seattle Cruise Park aka 'the Armory'.  Their shuttle located for Pier 91 customers at terminal parking slot "R"   I am not sure exactly where Pier 66 passengers are picked up after disembarkation.

[Bedruthen]

Thank you to everyone who helped with this enquiry. Yes we are renting a car, but we start and end our trip in San Francisco. The one way rental charges outweigh the cost of parking for a week. We finally got a response from Seattle cruise park and have booked our parking. Rather alarmingly, they have issued no paperwork so how they will know we have prepaid, I have no idea ( and no, they didn’t require a car registration plate!)

[Ferry_Watcher]

@Bedruthen, hope you plan to drive along the Oregon Coast on either direction between SF and Seattle.  It's quite beautiful.

[Bedruthen]

11 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

@Bedruthen, hope you plan to drive along the Oregon Coast on either direction between SF and Seattle.  It's quite beautiful.

We certainly do! We leave SFO on 25 April, then plan is a couple of nights Napa valley, then 2 weeks to drive along scenic coastal highway up to Tillamook, then 3 nights Portland, 2 nights Olympia, 2 nights Seattle, then cruise. Then returning via inland route, bit more unsure of that leg! Probably stay Portland for one night, then down to Ashland, Redding and then staying in Palo Alto for 4 nights to take train in to San Francisco and use rental car to visit coast, maybe Big Sur, Monterey. Fly home 28 May. If you have any recommendations please reach out. It’s our first and last trip to West Coast so hopefully I have captured the highlights, (apart from Olympia National Park area, but something had to give)

[jeromep]

On 3/22/2024 at 2:35 AM, Bedruthen said:

last trip

I certainly hope not.  That sounds so ominous.  But if it is your "last" trip here, make it a good one.

 

Since purchasing a used motorhome a couple of years ago, we have visited the Oregon coast almost annually.  We like to camp at Fort Stevens up near Astoria in Oregon, which is at the mouth of the Columbia River.  I believe it is the largest state park campground in the U.S.  And it is massive.  It is also very popular, if you want to camp there during the summer, and have specific campsite in mind, like full hookups, you pretty much have to be on their web site at 7am 6 months to the day in advance of when you want to be there to book at site.  There is a museum there, and the fort was a coastal defense platform from 18-something until just after WWII.  There are a number of coastal defense positions in the Pacific Northwest.  There are 3 at the mouth of the Puget Sound.  The three up north in Washington never fired a shot in anger, basically built and never used.  They were all abandoned by the military and handed over to the states years ago and have all been converted into State Parks.  The concrete battlements, barracks and gun positions are all still in place.  Since they are unlit, the are an eire reminder of a past time.  Fun to explore, but also rather spooky.  U.S. 101 runs close by Fort Stevens, but you have to detour off from it a bit to get there.

 

101 will take you directly to the edge of Astoria and put you on the Astoria-Megler bridge that crosses the Columbia into Washington.  Megler is just a little bend in the road on the Washington Side, and going eastbound along the Columbia.  If you wish to continue on the 101, then you'll turn west off the bridge and keep heading north.  As a Washington State resident, it is kind of humorous that I've never been to much of the Washington coast.  The Washington coast is much more rocky and rough compared to the Oregon coast which has a lot of sandy beaches.  There is some sand beach coastline along Long Beach and up a ways form there, but the farther north you get the rockier and rougher it becomes.

 

Be sure to stop in Astoria and go up to the Astoria Column.  It is both historical and has the most commanding views of the confluence of the Columbia and Pacific Oceans.  Astoria also has some very nice breweries and places to eat.  And the Columbia River Maritime Museum there is excellent.  A lot of history about the bar pilots that guide ships past the treacherous sand bar and currents that occur between the Columbia and the Pacific, plus plenty of history about shipping on the Columbia.  People think of the Portland, OR, as a coastal city, however it is very inland.  It is 102 miles by the River from the Pacific to the outermost terminal in Portland.

 

https://www.portofportland.com/Navigation

 

I would suggest visiting Portland on your Southbound journey and stay on 101 at least till Astoria.  From there you can cross the river at Astoria and continue up the 101 into Washington and then decide where to cross over to get to Olympia, or you could take U.S. 30 from Astoria to the next bridge over the Columbia and Cross at Longview.  Longview will put you on I-5 toward Olympia and large cities in Washington.

 

Tillamook is a great stop.  It is rather inland, you don't see much coastline from 101 at Tillamook, especially at the Tillamook Creamery, but the 101 snakes inland and back to the coast as you travel it.  If you like cheese and ice cream, this is the place to stop.  When I was growing up, Tillamook was just a Pacific Northwest brand, but they now have almost national presence.  They are a co-op, a cooperative, so all the farmers sell their milk to the creamery and are basically owners of the creamery operation.  They make cheese there and have a gallery where you can see the cheese making in action, along with packaging, and depending on when you arrive you might also see the tanker trucks coming and going.  They have a huge cafe area, selling all kinds of stuff made with Tillamook cheese and dairy products.  It's good food.  And they have all their dairy products for sale along with the typical gift shop stuff.

 

https://www.tillamook.com/visit-us/creamery

 

There are a number of different agricultural co-ops in the northwest.  Another one is Tree Top, located where I live, which is a huge apple and fruit food products processor.  They are most well known for applesauce and apple juice, but they take apples and turn them into just about any food product you can imagine.  Those little pieces of peach in Quaker Peaches and Cream oatmeal, yep, they are really dried apple pieces, from Tree Top, flavored like peaches, using peach juice.  Apple can become just about anything you imagine with enough processing.

 

The state Capitol at Olympia is a good looking place to visit, but I'm not sure what your own plans are for Olympia.  It isn't a touristy destination for locals, unless you have business with the state.  Elementary school kids used to go to the capitol at least once to see the legislature in session, but the place isn't really a huge draw.  The capitol campus is attractive enough, but the city isn't anything special.  You are going to find a lot of homelessness, people living out of ramshackle RVs and tents and such in the Olympia/Tumwater/Lacey area (Seattle, too).  I'd suggest passing on Olympia and booking a room just outside Mt. Rainier NP.  Or if you can find one, maybe a room at the Paradise Lodge in the park.  National parks in the U.S. are not free, plus this year they are starting timed entry tickets for Rainier because it is so popular.  There are numerous cabins and rentals outside the park boundary for rent, many on rivers with spectacular views and relaxing locations.  I'd have you do that rather than hang out in a city, especially Olympia.

 

Seattle is very touristy, plenty to do and see.  You can blow most of a day at the Seattle Center, Space Needle and Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP).  You can take a harbor cruise of Elliot Bay, or you can take a similar cruise that goes up the locks to Lake Union.  Downtown Seattle is walkable, but it has lots some of its vibrancy.  Not nearly as commercial and a lot less shopping and stores.  Depending on where you stay and walk in Seattle, you'll find quite a few unoccupied storefronts.  Boeing's Museum of Flight is excellent.  The outdoor air park has many historical aircraft under cover and nicely preserved.  The Museum of Flight even has a Concord that you can walk through.

 

These are just suggestions and food for thought.

[Eaglecw]

On 3/21/2024 at 1:10 PM, Bedruthen said:

Thank you to everyone who helped with this enquiry. Yes we are renting a car, but we start and end our trip in San Francisco. The one way rental charges outweigh the cost of parking for a week. We finally got a response from Seattle cruise park and have booked our parking. Rather alarmingly, they have issued no paperwork so how they will know we have prepaid, I have no idea ( and no, they didn’t require a car registration plate!)

We park at the Seattle Cruise ship parking lot by the Armory every year and we always get a confirmation e-mail with a receipt that shows the date and the cruise ship we will be on.

A word to the wise when parking anywhere in Seattle don't leave anything in your car.

[Bedruthen]

16 hours ago, Eaglecw said:

We park at the Seattle Cruise ship parking lot by the Armory every year and we always get a confirmation e-mail with a receipt that shows the date and the cruise ship we will be on.

A word to the wise when parking anywhere in Seattle don't leave anything in your car.

That’s definitely worrying as we had no email, nothing. I will have to bring the credit card receipt with me. They have certainly taken the money!