Questions about pre and post cruise stays in Seattle...

[orchid76]

Aloha,

 

My son and I will be on the NCL Pearl for the September 9, 2007 sailing. We'll be arriving late night on the 8th from Amtrak. Our cruise doesn't depart until 4pm on the 9th and I think we need to be onboard by 3 or 3:30pm. My questions is, where should we stay the night....closer to the train station or closer to the pier? We'll be arriving somewhere around 8pm on the 8th. Any low-cost (as low cost as it can be in Seattle)/or perfect location hotel suggestions???

 

Secondly, we are getting back into Seattle early morning on the 16th. Our flight isn't until 9:20am on the 17th. Should we book a hotel in downtown Seattle so we can sight-see a little on Sunday or should we just book an airport hotel since we'll have to be up so early on Monday for our flight? Since we'll have our bags, I can't see how we'd be able to get off the cruise, do a little sightseeing, THEN catch a cab to an airport hotel. Where would we keep our bags? I have never been to Seattle before, so I'm assuming it wouldn't be a good idea to catch a cab to an airport hotel, check in and drop off bags, then go back into the downtown area to sightsee??? :eek: Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. It'll be me (30) and my son (6) and 3 bags. lol :D

 

Orchid

[love2cruiseseattle]

I will try to answer your questions. There are not any hotels located close enough to the Amtrak station to walk (at least not at night). I believe NCL is sailing out of Pier 66 and there are 2 hotels that are located across the street and up the block, but they can be very pricey (not sure if you can maybe find a sweet deal??) Marriott Seattle Waterfront and The Edgewater Inn. There are plenty of hotels in the downtown Seattle area and close to the Seattle Center where you can get some reasonable deals. I would take into account the cost of catching a taxi from the Amtrak station to the hotel and then from the hotel to the cruise terminal. Check out other threads as there are some very good hotel suggestions. I have read that The Red Lion Inn on 5th Avenue does have a hotel / cruise shuttle??

 

Part 2 to your questions: You will probably get better pricing if you stay close to the airport on your return. According to another thread you can store your luggage as you explore Seattle:

 

Both cruise terminals have a concierge service where you can store bags for $3 a bag. Here's a link to the Port of Seattle Website with info.

 

http://www.portseattle.org/seaport/c...oncierge.shtml

Pier 66 is a short walk to the Pike Place Market, Seattle Aquarium, lots of shopping and we have a great bus system. If you wanted to save some $$$ getting to the airport you can catch one of our city buses to the airport and then catch a hotel shuttle to your hotel and then the shuttle back the next day. Or you can just catch a taxi from the cruise terminal once you are done exploring Seattle to a hotel near the airport, it will run you about $30-$35.

Hope this helps??

[dcsam]

My favorite place to stay in Seattle is Inn at Harbor Steps. Very nice with free wine, cheese and appetizers from about 4-6 pm. It really is our dinner. They also include a fabulous breakfast. We absolutely love to stay there. We prefer the rooms that have the balcony over the city area. The other rooms are probably nicer, but they're on the bottom floor with no view - just garden area. You won't find many reviews about this place, and I'm just letting you in our little secret hideaway.

Caroline

[love2cruiseseattle]

I agree with dcsam, I have taken a tour of The Inn at Harbour Steps and it is a nice hotel. It is a short taxi ride from the Amtrak station and next to Pike Place Market. I would check the web to see if maybe they have any deals going on when you will be in Seattle.

[orchid76]

Thank you so much for all the great information. I'll definitely look into the concierge at the pier and also the suggested hotels. I appreciate the information. :)

[mollyeilis]

There is actually the new Silver Cloud hotel close to Amtrak and Qwest Field. I'd walk it during the day. I wouldn't walk it at night, though. Quick cab ride. :)

 

I hear it's expensive, though, especially if your'e going when there's a baseball or football home game! Definitely check that out ahead of time, even just for traffic's sake.

 

Where is the ship leaving from? Pier 66 (downtown, Alaskan Way), or Terminal 30 (a bit further south)?

 

If I had money to burn for a cab, OR renting a car, I wouldn't have MUCH problem getting off the ship, going to an airport hotel, then getting back up to Seattle. airport to terminal 30 is only 11 miles, if memory serves, along Hwy 99. Though it's only 45 mph, so that makes a little difference in timing. And it's not that far north to get to pier 66 (though if you want to go crazy, hotel $-wise, the Edgewater is fabulous and RIGHT near Pier 66).

 

But many people get great deals on downtown hotels through places like priceline! I love the Westin in Seattle..only stayed there twice (once with a discount through a work functino, next time was a splurge), but if I got a deal, I'd stay there again!

 

 

King street station and either of the cruise terminals are very close to each other, all of downtown is, really. :)

 

Hope some of that helps!

[pitdoctor]

Also keep in mind that if Amtrak says you're going to arrive at 8pm, there is a good chance you'll arive closer to 10pm.

As far as after the cruise, going to an airport hotel and then coming back into Seattle would be a huge waste of time. If you can check your bags at the pier after the cruise, then I would do that, explore Seattle, and then head to the airport hotel after that, if that's what you end up doing.

 

Someone else mentioned the bus system. We really do have a very good bus system in the Seattle area. A bus from downtown to the airport is very easy to do.

For example, if you stayed in downtown seattle after the cruise, You could catch a route 194 from downtown to the airport, the ride would be approx 30 minutes, and cost $2 for you and 50 cents for your son.

Service on Sunday is not as frequent as Mondays.

http://transit.metrokc.gov/ is the website for the local busses. They have a very useful trip planner function on the site.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We took the Coast Starlight (or something like that) in August 2004 from Southern California into Seattle. We were scheduled to arrive around 8:40. We got there near midnight. I remember checking the status of trains for months (not sure if you can still do that at amtrak.com) and much of the time, the train came in at least a few hours late (whenever Amtrak and a freight train need to be on the track at the same time, the Amtrak train always gets sidetracked).