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Sad But True, the Up to the Minute Update on Terminal 91 Seattle

SeattleCruiselover

By SeattleCruiselover,
in West Coast Departures

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SeattleCruiselover

SeattleCruiselover

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So, I went to Maggie Bluffs at the Elliott Bay Marina this morning, with the ulterior motive of checking up on things at the new cruise terminal at Terminal 91 It was interesting to say the least. Current pictures may be found here:

 

 

If you are traveling early in the season, plan at least an extra hour to hour and half to get to the Terminal. The cab drivers have ABSOLUTELY no idea where it is, I kid you not. I gave him point to point navigation with my GPS and he still drove around in circles for 30 minutes trying to find it, then for another 15 trying to get on the bridge to get to where we were told the parking and shuttle lot might be.

 

The guard at the gate had no idea where the parking is going to be once the season started, she just kind of pointed vaguely north and said she thought it would be "over there somewhere", and couldn't say anything about the arrangements for getting from the parking area to the cruise terminal itself.

 

The building that I think is actually going to be where check in and the gangways will be is all the way at the South End of Pier 91, so it will be a bit of a hike even from where the shuttle buses will drop off to get there. And I only think that because it is the newer of the two buildings (the other one still appears to be a cold storage for the fishermen). They wouldn't let us walk out onto the Terminal Area because we didn't have Port of Seattle ID badges, so the closest I could actually get was from the Marina about 1/4 of a mile or so away to take pictures.

 

I have the dreadful feeling that the first half of the season is not going to be pretty, until they get their routines down. (In fact, I am seriously considering rebooking to leave from Vancouver......:().

 

Note that I live about 3 miles from Terminal 91 and it was about $10.00 on the taxi meter.

 

Questions, my friends?????:confused:

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wrp96

wrp96

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Thanks Karen for keeping everyone updated. Maybe miracles will happen before the first ships arrive (not holding my breathe on that one).

 

 

I have the dreadful feeling that the first half of the season is not going to be pretty, until they get their routines down. (In fact, I am seriously considering rebooking to leave from Vancouver......:().

 

 

If you feel the need to rebook from Vancouver, consider one leaving May 30th.;)

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SeattleCruiselover

SeattleCruiselover

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Thanks Karen for keeping everyone updated. Maybe miracles will happen before the first ships arrive (not holding my breathe on that one).

 

 

 

 

 

If you feel the need to rebook from Vancouver, consider one leaving May 30th.;)

 

I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'. Thanks for posting this over on RCI boards for me.

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Theta_Potata

Theta_Potata

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It can't be that complicated. I live in the area too and I am not confused, although I am not going to rely a taxi to get there.

 

http://www.portseattle.org/about/maps/terminal91cruise.shtml

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=seattle+pier+91&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.819956,49.042969&ie=UTF8&ll=47.632675,-122.384584&spn=0.006955,0.019226&t=h&z=16

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SeattleCruiselover

SeattleCruiselover

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I tried to explain it to him, but he just didn't get it.

 

I don't own a car, but, if I did, I wouldn't go over there and pay $13 a day to leave it locally while cruising. Hopefully, the major cab companies will have some kind of in depth training before the first of May (*crosses fingers*)

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Got2Cruise "Live from...." Rare

Got2Cruise

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Karen, I have been following this thread since you started it last year. I really didn't pay attention to the details of the pier issue since I knew I was leaving from Pier 66. But anyways, you called it last year. . .you didn't think it would be up and ready as promised. That said, compared to NYC, navigating Seattle is a cakewalk. It will all work out and Alaska is the worthy goal.:D good luck everyone and bon voyage.

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Sauvignon

Sauvignon

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So, I went to Maggie Bluffs at the Elliott Bay Marina this morning, with the ulterior motive of checking up on things at the new cruise terminal at Terminal 91 It was interesting to say the least. Current pictures may be found here:

 

 

If you are traveling early in the season, plan at least an extra hour to hour and half to get to the Terminal. The cab drivers have ABSOLUTELY no idea where it is, I kid you not. I gave him point to point navigation with my GPS and he still drove around in circles for 30 minutes trying to find it, then for another 15 trying to get on the bridge to get to where we were told the parking and shuttle lot might be.

 

The guard at the gate had no idea where the parking is going to be once the season started, she just kind of pointed vaguely north and said she thought it would be "over there somewhere", and couldn't say anything about the arrangements for getting from the parking area to the cruise terminal itself.

 

The building that I think is actually going to be where check in and the gangways will be is all the way at the South End of Pier 91, so it will be a bit of a hike even from where the shuttle buses will drop off to get there. And I only think that because it is the newer of the two buildings (the other one still appears to be a cold storage for the fishermen). They wouldn't let us walk out onto the Terminal Area because we didn't have Port of Seattle ID badges, so the closest I could actually get was from the Marina about 1/4 of a mile or so away to take pictures.

 

I have the dreadful feeling that the first half of the season is not going to be pretty, until they get their routines down. (In fact, I am seriously considering rebooking to leave from Vancouver......:().

 

Note that I live about 3 miles from Terminal 91 and it was about $10.00 on the taxi meter.

 

Questions, my friends?????:confused:

 

 

This post seem to be lacking in one important aspect...FACT... lots of thoughts, opinions and assumptions but not much fact.

 

Why would some random gate guard know exactly where the parking is going to be... how do you know exactly where the shuttle busses will drop off? Stop scaremongering!

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SeattleCruiselover

SeattleCruiselover

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This post seem to be lacking in one important aspect...FACT... lots of thoughts, opinions and assumptions but not much fact.

 

Why would some random gate guard know exactly where the parking is going to be... how do you know exactly where the shuttle busses will drop off? Stop scaremongering!

 

See my response to you on the Princess thread.

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SeattleCruiselover

SeattleCruiselover

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Karen, I have been following this thread since you started it last year. I really didn't pay attention to the details of the pier issue since I knew I was leaving from Pier 66. But anyways, you called it last year. . .you didn't think it would be up and ready as promised. That said, compared to NYC, navigating Seattle is a cakewalk. It will all work out and Alaska is the worthy goal.:D good luck everyone and bon voyage.

 

I was going to go to NYC this year, but circumstances and finances prevented. It looks pretty daunting at that (we were going to sail from Red Hook in Brooklyn).

 

They still have about five weeks to get totally done (the first ships will be in the last week of April), give or take a day or two. If we don't have two or three more weeks or pouring rain and/or snow, they might just be able to pull that part off without much trouble. I'm more concerned about logistics than the building itself...they can use it empty and uncompleted for the insdie portion until they get it done.

 

Signage needs to be better; the Port and cruiseline staff, and transportation operators (taxis, limos and buses) will need to be trained well in advance or it could get a little dicey for a while.

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FunInTheSun03

FunInTheSun03

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I was going to go to NYC this year, but circumstances and finances prevented. It looks pretty daunting at that (we were going to sail from Red Hook in Brooklyn).

 

They still have about five weeks to get totally done (the first ships will be in the last week of April), give or take a day or two. If we don't have two or three more weeks or pouring rain and/or snow, they might just be able to pull that part off without much trouble. I'm more concerned about logistics than the building itself...they can use it empty and uncompleted for the insdie portion until they get it done.

 

Signage needs to be better; the Port and cruiseline staff, and transportation operators (taxis, limos and buses) will need to be trained well in advance or it could get a little dicey for a while.

 

Hi SeattleCruiselover,

 

If you don't mind me asking we are leaving for our cruise May 31, on NCL do you know will be leaving from Pier 66?

 

Thanks for any information you can provide. :D

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wander

wander

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Why would you expect a gate guard to know exactly where the Cruise Ship terminal parking would be several months before it was in place?

 

I have been to two different, ONE DAY events involving Pier 91 and the gate guards knew exactly where to send us for parking.

 

Granted it is a bit more difficult and further from the airport to go to Pier 91 than the two previous cruise ship terminals, but I suspect that at the most it will take one cruise weekend and the taxi drivers that line up at the Airport will know exactly where to take you, if not sooner. Many will be waiting for the passengers getting off the ship when it arrives in Seattle for the season.

 

My first time at Pier 91 HAL used it for parking for a new cruise ship event. They then bused us to the cruise ship. Hundreds of cars successfully found the parking lots for the events. With a decent map we had no problem getting to the guard gate and they provided the parking lot directions, no GPS needed, just a run of the mill Seattle map. I don't understand the problems your taxi driver had.

 

Of course there will be some glitches when a new terminal opens for business, but let's not second guess what they will be.

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wineforhealth

wineforhealth

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Posted
So, I went to Maggie Bluffs at the Elliott Bay Marina this morning, with the ulterior motive of checking up on things at the new cruise terminal at Terminal 91 It was interesting to say the least. Current pictures may be found here:

 

 

If you are traveling early in the season, plan at least an extra hour to hour and half to get to the Terminal. The cab drivers have ABSOLUTELY no idea where it is, I kid you not. I gave him point to point navigation with my GPS and he still drove around in circles for 30 minutes trying to find it, then for another 15 trying to get on the bridge to get to where we were told the parking and shuttle lot might be.

 

The guard at the gate had no idea where the parking is going to be once the season started, she just kind of pointed vaguely north and said she thought it would be "over there somewhere", and couldn't say anything about the arrangements for getting from the parking area to the cruise terminal itself.

 

The building that I think is actually going to be where check in and the gangways will be is all the way at the South End of Pier 91, so it will be a bit of a hike even from where the shuttle buses will drop off to get there. And I only think that because it is the newer of the two buildings (the other one still appears to be a cold storage for the fishermen). They wouldn't let us walk out onto the Terminal Area because we didn't have Port of Seattle ID badges, so the closest I could actually get was from the Marina about 1/4 of a mile or so away to take pictures.

 

I have the dreadful feeling that the first half of the season is not going to be pretty, until they get their routines down. (In fact, I am seriously considering rebooking to leave from Vancouver......:().

 

Note that I live about 3 miles from Terminal 91 and it was about $10.00 on the taxi meter.

 

Questions, my friends?????:confused:

 

I did a B2 B a few years ago out of Vancouver and what you are describing is not a nightmare at all.

 

When we docked I got off and it took us about 2 hours to get Thur customs about 11 am.

 

The Lines were beginning to form for the trip back to Alaska.Our group decided to get lunch and return about 2 pm. When we returned the cruise ships had not started boarding either ship. By then the line was out of the terminal and way down the street. We got in line at 5pm and finally boarded at 8 pm I swore I would never leave from Vancouver again.

 

I think within a few weeks the Taxis will have it all figured out.

 

A cruise vacation is still the way to go

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redtop101 Holiday Sharing Rare

redtop101

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Please do. Since you are one of the first to leave, your experiences will be invaluable to those of us who will be following in your footsteps....:o

 

Karen - we will be arriving at Pier 91 - not leaving. But I'll still post about our experience.

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