What was your earliest flight home from Seattle?

[estebofarr]

There is an 11:20am flight I would like to book but am concerned it might be tight. Has anyone made this flight or what should be the earliest I book? We live on the east coast and there are no direct flights to Tampa so it will be a long day.

Thanks.

[rhgru]

We live in Florida also- but on the east coast- We are flying Delta- I originally had a flight out of Seatle at 11:30AM and delta canceled it- Wanted to put us on a 7:00AM flight out of seattle- impossible to make- so we changed our arrival city from West Palm Beach to Ft Lauderdale and are now flying out of seattle at 1:00PM- direct to Ft Lauderdale- arrives at 11:30PM EST- going to be a long day too!!

 

But princess says any flight after 11:00AM should be fine.

[Skyglider]

There is an 11:20am flight I would like to book but am concerned it might be tight. Has anyone made this flight or what should be the earliest I book? We live on the east coast and there are no direct flights to Tampa so it will be a long day.

Thanks.

My perspective is that in these days of less flights due to rising fuel costs, most flights will be over-booked. Read your airline contract for how they handle passengers if everyone shows up. Not pretty! We will always book flights to allow checking in at least 2 hours prior to departure time. Cutting it close and arriving close to departure time might end up in being bumped off the flight. No guarantees but a lot better chance of not being bumped we think.

 

On our May 2008 Alaska cruise, our flight departure time was 5:20 pm. We used HAL's signature express baggage service to have our "checked" luggage sent from the ship to destination. The hotel we stayed at prior to our cruise allowed us to leave our large carry-ons there for a few hours while we toured the Seattle waterfront. A nice way to end our vacation "with no stress".

 

Skygliders

[estebofarr]

Thanks for the replies.

Our last trip out of SF was a very early arrival. We went to the departure gangway and stood for almost two hours as ONE passenger failed to respond to repeated announcements. They would not let anyone off. We were carrying our own luggage off for early departure. We made our plane but just barely.

I am asking this far in advance as I will be trying to redeem frequent flier miles and that needs to be done as early as possible.

[wrp96]

Most cruiselines recommend flights no earlier than noon, RCCL doesn't recommend flights before 12:30. Yes, it is possible you might make an earlier flight, but I would not plan on it (as you said, you've already experienced the fun of waiting on that one person that won't come when called).

[MSMcDuffy]

A couple weeks ago I had an 11:28am flight out of Seattle and had no problem at all.

 

I did the self-disembark, which was supposed to be around 7:30am but was closer to 8am because they were waiting for a few people to go to the front desk. I got on the Cruise Express shuttle and waited for about 15 min for it to fill up (a cab would be quicker).

 

At the North airport parking lot the Cruise line (Holland America) had tents set up for baggage check-in and boarding passes (I didn't know about this beforehand). I was inside the aiport and checked in by 9:05 am and had 2 hours to kill.

 

I was on another cruise (overseas) where I also had an earlier flight out and had no problem. When I came to these boards I was kind of surprised to hear that so many people say they'd never have a departing flight before the early afternoon.

 

But I suppose it's good to leave room for the margin of potential errors that could happen.

[brucory]

After recently cruising into Seattle on the Oosterdam with a 7am arrival time, we leisurely left the ship by 830 and were at the airport by around 9am (It was a Saturday). With easy check in and fairly efficient security, we were at our gate by 930. If I were to do it again, I would have no hesitation booking a flight any time after 1030am, as we could have been off the ship much earlier.. This may depend where you had sailed in from, as delays could possibly happen. We also sailed into Seattle a few days earlier than this on the Amsterdam and we got off midway through disembarkation, but it was still before 9am. My tip would be to ensure you take a cab and not the ship transport. No mucking around will get you to SEATAC earlier... :D :D :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

We had a bad experience in Seattle this past May.

 

We were on HAL and there was also a Princess ship sharing terminal 30. A couple of crew members from Princess didn't clear immigration until nearly 8 AM.

 

As a result no one from either ship could disembark until both ships were cleared at the same time. We finally got to start disembarkation at 8:15!!

 

Too risky to schedule an 11 AM flight.

[salty dingo]

I would not risk an 11:20 am flight, but that's just me. It's a much nicer experience to spend the night in Seattle post-cruise if you can swing it. Then you have your pick of flights the next day, and you get another day of vacation.

[grandmato4]

I would never book a flight out of Seattle before noon and would try very hard not to book one leaving prior than 1 p.m. We had a 12:40 p.m. flight last August and never sat down in a chair within the airport for even a minute as they were already boarding the plane when we arrived at the gate. Debarkment from the ship was slow to say the least, then the trip from port to airport took quite a bit of time as had to wait since boats were passing and the bridge was up, checking in our luggage at the airport took FOREVER, and the security lines were very long and slow. Hopefully, if you take that 11:20 flight things will go much quicker for you than they did for us !:)

[estebofarr]

Darn, maybe I should have made this a poll! There are five of us, two flying to NJ, three to FL. With luggage it probably means two cabs, unless I can snag a van. Thoughts?

[wrp96]

You will have to get 2 cabs or use a shuttle service. You might try Shuttle Express and see if you can arrange a private shuttle to meet you.

 

Also one note, there is talk that next year instead of Terminal 30 the cruiseships will be using Pier 91 (I believe that is the correct number). It is even further away from SEATAC than Terminal 30.

[BillyMetz]

I just made a reservation for a flight leaving Seattle at 11:05 am following our Alaska cruise on the Star Princess. We will use Self Debarkation and hope for the best. The next flight going our way would have been late in the afternoon.

[joanne1]

We just got back from the Star Princess (Pier 30) and had a 11:20 flight, back to Canada . . . what day are you catching your flight. Our's was a Sunday, so there was very little traffic in the morning. We used the self-disembarkation service, which was a little unorganized, but were off the ship by 8:15 and at the airport before 9. There is a huge line up of cabs and they are ready to go . . . personally, I wouldn't wait for a shuttle as they will not leave until the bus is full, and you really it doesn't save much money. It is a $30 flat fee to the airport from Pier 30.

[seychellesdream]

Hi there ! I took the 11:45 am flight from Seattle to Orlando (via Atlanta). We disembarked at 9:00 am and had plenty of time (2 hrs) at the airport before our flight. This was on a Friday. I did check-in our luggage all the way through, so I did not have to deal with it once off the ship.

[BillyMetz]

Joanne1 my 11:05 am flight is also on a Sunday after our cruise on the Star Princess. So hopefully we will have the same luck you had.

[Lois R]

It is always a long day of flying when you live on the

East Coast...I have a 12:05 flight out of Seattle and arrive

home at 11:00pm too.

[SoonerFan20]

We had an 11:00 flight on June 27, 2008, after our Celebrity cruise. No issues whatsoever with making that time. Self disembark at the early time, take a cab and you'll have a lot of time to kill in the airport. I wanted to check our bags at the ship, but they wouldn't do that for flights earlier than 11:30 - no exceptions (I say that because they did let us check our bags in San Juan in 2006 for another 11:00 flight with the 11:30 rule in place). It would have made disembarking much less a hassle, but on the bright side we did save $40 by not doing it.

[estebofarr]

So if I spot a cab in line that looks like it will hold 5 can I grab it or do I incur the wrath of the other drivers?

[estebofarr]

Sorry, I forgot, we sail Friday to Friday, no such luck having a weekend.

[wrp96]

So if I spot a cab in line that looks like it will hold 5 can I grab it or do I incur the wrath of the other drivers?

 

 

You won't find any cabs in Seattle that will hold 5 people.

[estebofarr]

No vans?

[SeattleCruiselover]

No vans?

 

Van cabs in Seattle are reserved for the ADA clients (physically challenged) only.

[estebofarr]

ok, well that is good to know. I'll be booking this Saturday so wish me luck, getting three rewards (ff) and purchasing two tix from two cities Newark and Tampa and coordinating it all.

[jasl]

I'll wish you luck.........Have a great cruise, good to see you on the board. Talked to Jean earlier this week.................................

 

P.S. We were in Seattle in May and also had a long wait for a taxi, so don't cut it too close.