Seattle- Kings Street Station Amtrak

[acct1975]

Taking an Alaskan cruise in July out of Vancouver. For cost reasons, we're flying into Seattle and taking Amtrak up. The Amtrak site for Kings Street Station is woefully lacking and I'm looking to get some information so I can plan out our wait time between flight arrival and train. Luckily we are flying in the day before so we don't need to worry about that.

 

At the station, can you check your luggage super early or have them hold it while we go eat somewhere?

 

Any recommendations for a place to eat near the station what will be ok for a peaky eater 10 year old?

 

 

[princeton123211]

11 minutes ago, acct1975 said:

At the station, can you check your luggage super early or have them hold it while we go eat somewhere?

At most Amtrak stations you can check your bags up to 24 hours in advance. The first Cascades service departs around 6am daily so presumably there will be someone there to check them well before that time. 

 

15 minutes ago, acct1975 said:

Any recommendations for a place to eat near the station what will be ok for a peaky eater 10 year old?

Where are you staying downtown? It's not a bad area near the station but there are far more interesting ones to walk around and eat. If your hotel is in one of those maybe it makes more sense to check your bags with the hotel and go to Kings Street closer to time of departure? 

 

If they like sandwiches, Salumi around the corner from Kings Street is very, very good. They make their own cured meats (mole salami is insanely good) and you can order them on sandwiches. I usually will stop here to bring something on the train with me as the onboard cafe on the Cascades is somewhat lacking. 

[acct1975]

9 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

At most Amtrak stations you can check your bags up to 24 hours in advance. The first Cascades service departs around 6am daily so presumably there will be someone there to check them well before that time. 

 

Where are you staying downtown? It's not a bad area near the station but there are far more interesting ones to walk around and eat. If your hotel is in one of those maybe it makes more sense to check your bags with the hotel and go to Kings Street closer to time of departure? 

 

If they like sandwiches, Salumi around the corner from Kings Street is very, very good. They make their own cured meats (mole salami is insanely good) and you can order them on sandwiches. I usually will stop here to bring something on the train with me as the onboard cafe on the Cascades is somewhat lacking. 

We aren't staying overnight in Seattle. It's basically off the plane at 11am and then to the 6p train out of Seattle. As long as we can check the bags at the station, we can walk around or jump in a taxi/Uber to anywhere around the city.

 

Getting a sandwich for dinner on the train is a great idea though!

 

[Glaciers]

Check the menu for 13 Coins. It's a restaurant next door to the train station and is very good. Very popular place.

[martincath]

You should be able to check your bags on arrival no problem since you're leaving same day; the big issue on checked bags is being too late to check them (I've watched multiple people be turned away who did not meet the cap of at least 45mins before departure).

 

On the dining front, I'm not a great source of recommendations for you between not having dined in Seattle since Covid and not paying attention to kid-friendliness of menus in general, but if you check the recently-updated Eater article on kid-friendly Seattle dining it should be a solid start! On top of that, the staple of tourist dining Ivar's is definitely kid friendly, convenient for some popular waterfront attractions, and for a chain does a very solid clam chowder - which you can get onboard Amtrak if you like it enough to want some for dinner too! Being raised on British Rail 70s food my standards for train-based dining are probably lower than Princetons, but I've genuinely enjoyed both breakfasts and dinners on the Cascades: their brekkie sammiches and oatmeal are better than on any mainstream cruiseline, and for dinner I keep it simple with a bowl of chowder, a grilled cheese (very hard to screw up!) and a decent local beer at what feels like a pretty fair price.

 

If you have a little Canadian cash left afterward, and are returning the same way, you can also spend CAD onboard Cascades at a fair exchange rate.

 

Edit - since you're flying same day, even with several hours of padding it would be a good idea to have a Plan B in place. Nine times out of ten if there's an issue with the evening train it's late - potentially already by three hours at Seattle and often at least an hour - which makes things easier for you, but if your flight gets canceled/connection missed etc. you might still not have time to make it. Making a second, refundable booking for the next mornings Amtrak - which should get you here in time barring disaster, as it has no dependencies on any other service, all staff and engines and rolling stock 'live' in Seattle overnight so it's basically always on time leaving - could be a very cheap bit of insurance... but if you've got a nonrefundable hotel booked in Vancouver, checking whether you can book a refundable car rental for the evening might be the most effective action...

Edited May 16 by martincath

[psuboater]

Another recommendation for 13 coins. It’s right next to King Street Station, is open late hours, and is essentially a diner so your kid will find lots of things to eat on a picky palette. 
 

 

To anyone reading this who wants to take Amtrak the same day as their cruise, I am on the Cascades right now to Everett to get home. We’ve stopped twice now- once because we lost air pressure (30 minute delay) and now for freight train access (10 minutes). We are already 40 minutes delayed for what should be a 45 minute train ride for me. Not sure what’s to come on the way up, but factor in any customs problems at the border, and you’re not making your cruise. Definitely plan an overnight if you’re taking the train up!

[acct1975]

31 minutes ago, psuboater said:

Another recommendation for 13 coins. It’s right next to King Street Station, is open late hours, and is essentially a diner so your kid will find lots of things to eat on a picky palette. 
 

 

To anyone reading this who wants to take Amtrak the same day as their cruise, I am on the Cascades right now to Everett to get home. We’ve stopped twice now- once because we lost air pressure (30 minute delay) and now for freight train access (10 minutes). We are already 40 minutes delayed for what should be a 45 minute train ride for me. Not sure what’s to come on the way up, but factor in any customs problems at the border, and you’re not making your cruise. Definitely plan an overnight if you’re taking the train up!

Completely agree! We get into Vancouver late the day before our cruise and booked a hotel so we can be rested the day of. Wanted to plane for ANY travel delays including train and airline.

 

Anyone who talks to be about trying cruises, I always tell them it's work the extra money spent to fly early. Better to spend a couple hundred on a hotel then lose the whole cruise cost to missing embarkation

 

[Glaciers]

37 minutes ago, psuboater said:

Another recommendation for 13 coins. It’s right next to King Street Station, is open late hours, and is essentially a diner so your kid will find lots of things to eat on a picky palette.

We ate at 13 Coins on Tuesday. Timed it so the Mariners game had started hoping it wouldn’t be too busy. Forgot about the Stones concert on Wednesday. It was packed with elderly concertgoers who were headed to the concert the next evening. 30 minute wait.

[acct1975]

3 minutes ago, Glaciers said:

We ate at 13 Coins on Tuesday. Timed it so the Mariners game had started hoping it wouldn’t be too busy. Forgot about the Stones concert on Wednesday. It was packed with elderly concertgoers who were headed to the concert the next evening. 30 minute wait.

Good point. I checked there wasn't a game but didn't check to see if there was something else going on

[Gardyloo]

Another alternative (way cheaper than 13 Coins) is the food court at the iconic Uwajimaya pan-Asian supermarket and department store.  It's a couple of blocks from the station, and the food court (or vast takeaway section in the market) is likely to have something for your child.  

 

Uwajimaya is something of a Seattle landmark, a tourist destination in its own right.  Your son/daughter might enjoy visiting the branch of Kinokuniya, Japan's biggest bookstore, that's inside the market.  

 

Map - https://maps.app.goo.gl/w9bdcxu9FZccfsjT8

 

 

 

[jeromep]

1 hour ago, Glaciers said:

We ate at 13 Coins on Tuesday. Timed it so the Mariners game had started hoping it wouldn’t be too busy. Forgot about the Stones concert on Wednesday. It was packed with elderly concertgoers who were headed to the concert the next evening. 30 minute wait.

Also important to note that 13 Coins runs a different menu on venue nights; they don't offer their full menu when there is something going on at Lumen or T-Mobile.  If it is just a normal night in SODO, then there will be a full menu.  And yes, this is another vote for 13 Coins.  It is about the most convenient real food near King Street Station.  Flatstick Pub, is nearby also, a bit north of the station, and is good, too.

 

2 hours ago, psuboater said:

To anyone reading this who wants to take Amtrak the same day as their cruise, I am on the Cascades right now to Everett to get home. We’ve stopped twice now- once because we lost air pressure (30 minute delay) and now for freight train access (10 minutes). We are already 40 minutes delayed for what should be a 45 minute train ride for me. Not sure what’s to come on the way up, but factor in any customs problems at the border, and you’re not making your cruise. Definitely plan an overnight if you’re taking the train up!

 

Out west, Amtrak is notorious for not being able to maintain their schedule.  A lot of this has to do with the track being owned by freight lines.  Now, strictly speaking, passenger service is supposed to take priority over freight service, however the freight lines have conveniently made most freight trains super long, miles and miles long, which means that they can't be moved onto a siding to allow the passenger train to go through.  Since the passenger train is much shorter, and fits easily into nearly all sidings, the freight trains get priority by default.  And that leads to most of the delays on the Amtrak system.  Back east Amtrack owns more of their track, however a lot of that owned track is also specialized service (electrified, or higher speed), and the east coast relies on the train for commuting a lot more.  Amtrak works much better in the east than the west and a lot of it has to do with distances between places, convenience of track relative to places, and the demand for service.

 

But I'm sure glad that @acct1975 is using the train to get to Vancouver.  Cascades is a good service, even if it might not run totally on time.  I'm sure you'll enjoy the trip up.  Some of the scenery is spectacular.

[ccqueenanne]

Another vote for Uwajimaya - it's awesome and not something you get to experience in every city.

 

One more note on the train to Vancouver... even when you arrive in Vancouver you don't get to just get off the train. They excuse each train car one at a time so the line for passport control doesn't get too long. One our trip last week, ours was the last car excused and it was at least 45 minutes after we had arrived, if not an hour. That was a bummer. This was the morning train and it was sold out - it may be that the evening train won't be as full.

[disneyochem]

We’ve taken the evening train to Vancouver many times after flying into Seattle.  
 

I like to use DoorDash before getting on the train,  Usually we’re pretty tired after our morning travels so it’s nice just to have your food delivered.  We may eat the food before but most of the time we eat on the train.  We’ll buy wine or a beer on board.  It’s nice to have food especially since you arrive late (after 11 pm).

 

But, when we do go to a restaurant, we really like 13 Coins as well.