Seattle?

[anley]

We are thinking of booking a cruise from Seattle to NYC, and would to know if it is worthwhile to spend a few days pre-cruise . Also what hotels would be best to stay at convenient to the port of embarkation for cruise ships?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Stan:cool::cool:

[minitor]

We enjoyed Seattle for a day prior to an Alaskan cruise. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel Downtown and enjoyed it. You can walk from there to the fish market (which is a must). Plenty of dining all around. If you are a runner- along the waterfront is a great path.

Depending upon when you are going- if it is summer time and you are from flatland, you may want to stay another day and rent a car. Drive to Mt. Ranier.

I recall the cab ride to the port was about 10 minutes from the hotel. Boarding was a usual HAL experience.

Enjoy your cruise.

[techteach]

Seattle has lots of funs things, especially if you like being outdoors. We have a new sculpture park at the waterfront that makes a great 1 hour walk. If you like rock music check out the EMP (Experience Music Project). A previous writer suggested Mt. Rainier, but it was heavily damaged this winter and entrance will be to limited areas, so check ahead with the National Park Service. Pike Place Market is a must, just eat your way from one end to the other and check out all the locally made arts and crafts. The Museum of Flight is about 20 minutes from downtown and is excellent. There's always the Space Needle for the view and if you like baseball you need to go to Safeco Field. If you like history do the Underground Tour of Pioneer Square, the tours are fun and it's amazing to think what we would have been like if we hadn't burned down in 1889. Lastly take the Seattle to Bainbridge ferry at sunset. Have your camera to capture the light reflecting on the buildings. 2 days easy. Enjoy!

[Darrell6t]

Seattle is a great city to explore and have some fun. Stay downtown and take the short ride to the HAL port when you sail away. We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront and could watch some cruise ships from our room. But not HAL ships, which use a pier a mile or two away. Good seafood restaurant in the hotel too.

[Luv2CruiseHal]

If you are a baseball fan, you will find few better ballparks than Safeco Field. Unfortunetly for Seattlelites you will find better teams than the Mariners.

[cactuslady]

If you get some tourist information before you go (Chamber of Commerce brochures and so forth), you will see that Seattle is a HUGE vacation destination in itself, and there are so many wonderful things to see and do. I lived there for 10 years and never got bored. A dozen of my favorites:

 

1. The boat ride to Blake Island and the dinner show there, featuring Native American dancers (with 8 foot long cedar eagle masks, no less) and traditionally cooked salmon. Blake Island is a state park with lots of walking/hiking trails to enjoy if you get there before dark. Buy tickets on the waterfront.

 

2. The Boeing 747 plant in Everett will leave you awestruck. One of the largest buildings in the world, no air conditioning, no heating needed.

 

3. A trip to Snoqualmie Falls, eat or even stay at the inn there.

 

4. A trip to Leavenworth, a complete (and completely ersatz) Bavarian Alpine Village set in the mountains.

 

5. A tour around the Olympic Penninsula to see glaciers and beaches in the same day.

 

6. A ride on a Washington State Ferry is an absolute must (I love boat rides).

 

7. Or take the fast ferry to Victoria, B.C. and have veddy British afternoon tea in the Empress Hotel (take your passport and book ahead). Go see Butchart Gardens if you have the whole day. Or stay in Seattle and have afternoon tea at the Olympic Hotel downtown.

 

8. Will your trip be in April? By all means see the tulip fields north of Seattle. Washington grows more tulips than the Netherlands, I understand.

 

9. If you have a long day available, drive down to Mt. St. Helens and look up at the new lava dome.

 

10. If it's summer, and you have a whole week or so, charter a small boat (crew or no crew) and explore the San Juan or Gulf Islands. See bright orange and purple starfish (no I'm not lying), catch and eat your own Dungeness Crab. (I love boat rides.) OR, take a seaplane over to Roche Harbor Resort.

 

11. For an easy afternoon, head down to Pt. Defiance Park in Tacoma to see some old-growth timber right in town, visit a wonderful zoo and aquarium, enjoy the views of Mt. Rainier on one side and the Olympic Mountains on the other, peer down at the boiling whirlpools under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (rebuilt since Galloping Gertie fell down decades ago). If you don't see whirlpools, I'm not lying, you just need to wait a bit for the tide to change.

 

12. While you are walking around Pioneer Square, stop in at what must be the country's smallest National Park -- Klondike Gold Rush National Park, Seattle Unit, at the corner of Jackson and Second.

 

Have a great trip!

[xpcdoojk]

If you get some tourist information before you go (Chamber of Commerce brochures and so forth), you will see that Seattle is a HUGE vacation destination in itself, and there are so many wonderful things to see and do. I lived there for 10 years and never got bored. A dozen of my favorites:

 

1. The boat ride to Blake Island and the dinner show there, featuring Native American dancers (with 8 foot long cedar eagle masks, no less) and traditionally cooked salmon. Blake Island is a state park with lots of walking/hiking trails to enjoy if you get there before dark. Buy tickets on the waterfront.

 

2. The Boeing 747 plant in Everett will leave you awestruck. One of the largest buildings in the world, no air conditioning, no heating needed.

 

3. A trip to Snoqualmie Falls, eat or even stay at the inn there.

 

4. A trip to Leavenworth, a complete (and completely ersatz) Bavarian Alpine Village set in the mountains.

 

5. A tour around the Olympic Penninsula to see glaciers and beaches in the same day.

 

6. A ride on a Washington State Ferry is an absolute must (I love boat rides).

 

7. Or take the fast ferry to Victoria, B.C. and have veddy British afternoon tea in the Empress Hotel (take your passport and book ahead). Go see Butchart Gardens if you have the whole day. Or stay in Seattle and have afternoon tea at the Olympic Hotel downtown.

 

8. Will your trip be in April? By all means see the tulip fields north of Seattle. Washington grows more tulips than the Netherlands, I understand.

 

9. If you have a long day available, drive down to Mt. St. Helens and look up at the new lava dome.

 

10. If it's summer, and you have a whole week or so, charter a small boat (crew or no crew) and explore the San Juan or Gulf Islands. See bright orange and purple starfish (no I'm not lying), catch and eat your own Dungeness Crab. (I love boat rides.) OR, take a seaplane over to Roche Harbor Resort.

 

11. For an easy afternoon, head down to Pt. Defiance Park in Tacoma to see some old-growth timber right in town, visit a wonderful zoo and aquarium, enjoy the views of Mt. Rainier on one side and the Olympic Mountains on the other, peer down at the boiling whirlpools under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (rebuilt since Galloping Gertie fell down decades ago). If you don't see whirlpools, I'm not lying, you just need to wait a bit for the tide to change.

 

12. While you are walking around Pioneer Square, stop in at what must be the country's smallest National Park -- Klondike Gold Rush National Park, Seattle Unit, at the corner of Jackson and Second.

 

Have a great trip!

 

That is a great list. Seattle is a great city to visit. I love to visit the islands (San Juan) a trip to Victoria is great as well. If you are taking that long a cruise and you have never been to Seattle I would spend at least a week there, but I wouldn't just stay downtown, although Pikes Street Market is a must. I truly think you have a great list. If you go in September and you get out in the country or on the islands the blackberries grow so thick and are so yummy! A friend of mine has a bungalow in a private reserve just north of Kingston and the blackberries are 15 foot high and they have to cut a path thru them to get to the beach on the Puegot sound. Amazing.

 

jc