Pier 91 in Seattle

[puddytat]

We came back from our Alaska cruise with HAL, but I guess it is useful to share the Pier information with Princess cruisers.

The Pier is located in the end of a relatively long narrow drive. As your car proceed closer, there is no open place for you to drive around. You have to line after all the other cars in order to get out of there. When there are two ships at the pier, it got really crowded and almost chaotic to unload luggage and find a porter.

On the day of our sailing. Seems like all the porters was there to help Princess passengers and not HAL's, although I heard other said just the opposite. We ended up having to drag all the luggage through the crowd into the terminal building.

 

On disembarkation, the line to get out of there is depressing. You either have to wait for the shuttle with all your luggage to the parking lot or you still need to wait in line for whatever transportation you choose. A porter told us that on a bad day, going out of there can take up to an 1 hr. Fortunately we had decent weather on both embarkation and disembarkation day, just imagine when it rains .....

 

With that fiasco, when I am going again, I will probably choose Vancouver departure. Yes you need to deal with the long line at the border, but after all you are sitting in your car and not dragging the luggage.

[chris2597]

We were there at the beginning of June and had no trouble on either end. Yes, the drive it narrow and there were loads of people trying to get off the ship and those trying to get on but the traffic flowed smoothly and we were out of our transport and in the terminal within 10 minutes. Again, at debarkation the line of transports were lined up but we were in our Town Car within minutes and on our way to the airport in no time. It looks much worse than it actually is. The people that seemed to be having more problem was those that did not have transportation set up ahead of time. They were frantically trying to get a cab or arrange transport with a shuttle. We book Already There TownCar in advance and the driver was at the sidewalk to pick us up almost immediately.

We have sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale, Galveston and now Seattle and found everything about the same for the most part.

[JSWalk]

Did you drive youself and use the parking garage? I have heard conflicting reports that say to drop off passengers & luggage first then park the car and take the shuttle. Then I have heard that the shuttle lets you take luggage because they don't want extra traffic in by the pier. Can you tell me which is the best way?

[Colo Cruiser]

Did you drive youself and use the parking garage? I have heard conflicting reports that say to drop off passengers & luggage first then park the car and take the shuttle. Then I have heard that the shuttle lets you take luggage because they don't want extra traffic in by the pier. Can you tell me which is the best way?

 

 

Never heard of a parking garage, thought they had a large lot?

[JSWalk]

Never heard of a parking garage, thought they had a large lot?

 

sorry My Bad :o I meant parking lot.:D

[puddytat]

We drove to Seattle in our own car. The driver unload everyone else and drove back to the parking lot then take shuttle back to terminal. On the way out, all of us lined up for the shuttle to take us to the parking lot. We asked if it would be easier that just the driver goes out to the parking lot and came back to pick the rest of us, that was when we were told that it could take an hour for the arrangement to happen.

We previously sailed out Los Angles and San Francisco, have never been in such a crowded and an unorganized situation as in seattle. I think the main problem is the parking lot is a bit too far from the terminal, whoever goes in with their own car all have to board the shuttle. The other ports these people can simply walk to the terminals and not causing the congestion. Anyway our embarkation day was May 31

[JSWalk]

We drove to Seattle in our own car. The driver unload everyone else and drove back to the parking lot then take shuttle back to terminal. On the way out, all of us lined up for the shuttle to take us to the parking lot. We asked if it would be easier that just the driver goes out to the parking lot and came back to pick the rest of us, that was when we were told that it could take an hour for the arrangement to happen.

We previously sailed out Los Angles and San Francisco, have never been in such a crowded and an unorganized situation as in seattle. I think the main problem is the parking lot is a bit too far from the terminal, whoever goes in with their own car all have to board the shuttle. The other ports these people can simply walk to the terminals and not causing the congestion. Anyway our embarkation day was May 31

 

 

So were you able to take your luggage on the shuttle to the parking lot?

[puddytat]

Yes most everybody took their luggage onto the shuttle.

[Hulagirl]

We sailed on May 31 on the Star Princess and had absolutely no problem at all. We drove to the port and my husband dropped us all off with the luggage. He then went and parked the car. We had one of the dock people take our luggage and we waited at the front of the building for my husband to come back on the shuttle. It was about 10 minutes later and he was there. The shuttle driver told him that we could have parked the car in the parking lot and along with our luggage they would have driven us to the pier area. So yes, you can park and then board the shuttle and they will drive you over.

 

After the cruise we disembarked about 9:40, found our luggage, walked out of the building over to the shuttle to the parking lot. They boarded us along with the luggage and off we drove to the parking area. Drove out at 10:00 and were home by 10:40.

 

After worrying about the new pier, we found it to be not that bad. I know others are having troubles, but for us it actually was very easy.

 

Agree, it does look worse than what it actually is. Granted there is only one lane in and out of the actual pier area, but it didn't take us long either way to get where we were going.

[JSWalk]

We sailed on May 31 on the Star Princess and had absolutely no problem at all. We drove to the port and my husband dropped us all off with the luggage. He then went and parked the car. We had one of the dock people take our luggage and we waited at the front of the building for my husband to come back on the shuttle. It was about 10 minutes later and he was there. The shuttle driver told him that we could have parked the car in the parking lot and along with our luggage they would have driven us to the pier area. So yes, you can park and then board the shuttle and they will drive you over.

 

After the cruise we disembarked about 9:40, found our luggage, walked out of the building over to the shuttle to the parking lot. They boarded us along with the luggage and off we drove to the parking area. Drove out at 10:00 and were home by 10:40.

 

After worrying about the new pier, we found it to be not that bad. I know others are having troubles, but for us it actually was very easy.

 

Agree, it does look worse than what it actually is. Granted there is only one lane in and out of the actual pier area, but it didn't take us long either way to get where we were going.

 

Thanks so much for this information. I think we will stick together and ride the shuttle with our luggage.

[puddytat]

y were lucky on Star princess that day, since like I mentioned in my original post that seems like all the porters were helping the Princess passenger and Hal passenger had to drag our own luggage. We asked why it was that way, one porter said they belong to the union and signed up to work for different cruiseline, they can't cross over to help the other passengers otherwise the foreman will have an issue with them.

[California Native]

just returned TODAY from the Pacific Princess..

more will follow about disembarkation.

but Pier 91 was a MAJOR PITA

if you can self disembark and pay for a taxi ...

DO IT...

we were purple 2 which was right after self disembark 9am ..

the longshoremen were having a fricking tea party...I should have gone back onboard

flagged down Doru or Herminio (head waiters)

and asked them to send out some scones.

they must be hourly and we could all take lessons on how to milk the hourly wage from those men.

only TWO porters..i kid you not..

from disembarktion until airport was 2 hours...

we had a bunch of credit onboard so we paid for Princess

shuttle, we never do this and now we know why.

airport arrival

and that's when the fun just begins...

flying Southwest...it is clear at the opposite end of the terminal and that is once you finally enter the terminal from where the shuttle bus parks.

once again only 2 porters who are also assigned to meet Princess arriving passengers.

there are luggage carts for 4.00, but you need to be wiki wiki to grab one of those...seriously...

this is where you and your party are back into reality and one must use the strategy of divide and conquer.

This was the 1st time in my last 12 trips/cruise that I have carried more than one bag and carryon because

Southwest didnt charge for it and hey we were on a) a 14 day cruise b) needed bulky clothes for cold weather

it was a whop over the head to never ever waiver from less is more mantra.

anyway I will be doing a full report on everything...

it was a perfect cruise until they unceremoniously punted

us into reality!

let me reititerate....

 

DIY on the transportation to the airport!

K.

[chris2597]

I have to agree to Wheretonext about the lack of porters. We handled our own luggage both at embarkation and debarkation. The shuttle dropped us and there were only a few porters around that were helping the pax's that were getting off the ship. We found very few available porters when we were leaving the terminal. We opted not to wait and got our luggage to the waiting driver.

[Cruisers from WA]

Ity took my son over an hour to get into the pier to pick us up....Here are a couple pictures of the Narrow road:

[missygirl]

Where their plenty of taxi's waiting? Usually we just grab one but if it is this bad should we call ahead for limo service?

Missygirl

[mrsihopes]

We drove to Seattle for our Alaska cruise on Golden leaving May 30th. We arrived at 9:30 at pier 91, I dropped dh off with luggage at pier, no problems there because it was early. I went and parked the car and took the shuttle back, they laughed at me and said I was traveling light when I got on the shuttle with no luggage, so yes you can bring your luggage. We waited a little while outside, looking at ship and watching everything that was going on and then checked our luggage and went to check in. We boarded not too long after that. After the cruise we left the ship :( and walked back to the parking lot which isn't a bad walk at all. We had 2 suitcases so we each pulled one. So overall our experience with Pier 91 was great.

 

PS: I WANT TO GO ON ANOTHER CRUISE!!!!

[allentownahoy]

If I don't do self-disembark BUT don't need a porter once off the ship- will my luggage be easily available for me to pick up at my appointed disembark time or will it not have been offloaded yet?

 

I am getting nervous as I have an 11:50 flight. I will also be on Pacific Princess and was hoping that the combination of it being a small ship and the only ship at Pier 91 on Thursday would make for a smooth process.

[san diego sue]

Has anyone taken Princess transportation from the airport to the ship/ In Ft. Lauderdale when we did this, didn't have to deal with the luggage. Was told all the luggage on the bus would go directly on the ship? Is that true at pier 91? we are leaving on the Star in August. Was planning on a cab but if we don't have to deal with luggage, will go the Princess transportation route? Does anyone know how the offloading of luggage on bus is handled?

thank You

San Diego Sue

[California Native]

That is not true in this case

You claim your luggage and then you haul it to the bus/taxi

....it is not exactly close.

pack like you can do it yourself

there were only 2 porters.

Also the longshoremen were VERY slow unloading and blocked us from getting to our luggage even though we could see it ...it was not a safety issue, it was their laziness bum issue in removing the barricade.

BTW, whoever finds those 2 porters automatically gets to go to the front of the line. This happened to us and those in our long line that were standing waiting to be allowed on the bus. When I calmly mentioned it to the Princess shoreside operation. He told me the longshoremen could do anything they wanted to do here and he would not and could not say anything to them.

also, per regulations NO ONE with Princess is allowed to help you with your bag. period..no matter how much you THINK you will tip them.

That's part of the longshoremen union among many other reasons.

I would suggest getting together with people on your roll call and hiring a driver who will be waiting for you

that is EXACTLY the approach we will take if we ever sail out of this terminal again.

Also, it might be a new terminal, but there are no bells and whistles and nothing nearby.

[Colo Cruiser]

We arrived at the pier via the hotel shuttle, around 10:30 and it went like clockwork. We walked our own luggage in and the foot of the escalator we decided to just carry on all our stuff ourselves. We had been blessed over the last few cruises to get our bags very late so this was heaven getting on at 1140 in our cabin and unpacked within an hour. ;)

[California Native]

well, arrival went PERFECTLY for us too...

I'm talking strictly departure

[California Native]

If I don't do self-disembark BUT don't need a porter once off the ship- will my luggage be easily available for me to pick up at my appointed disembark time or will it not have been offloaded yet?

 

I am getting nervous as I have an 11:50 flight. I will also be on Pacific Princess and was hoping that the combination of it being a small ship and the only ship at Pier 91 on Thursday would make for a smooth process.

 

honestly you should be nervous...

yesterday, we were the 1st called after self disembark.

it was 910am, we went out the longshoremen didn't move the barricade until 930am. we stood in line for the bus and bus left at 10:10, we arrived at the airport at 10:45...you are dropped off NOT IN FRONT OF YOUR AIRLINE, but in a bus zone..where the international departures are....pull up at Seattle airport map to locate.

you then need to check in and go through security. I can't estimate your lines.

ALSO IMPORTANT NOTE ...on victoria day internet is EXTREMELY SPOTTY and will go down completly..you may or may not be able to do online checkin.

so, if I were you..I would arrange your own transportation.

I made sure to pay attention to times because I wanted to report back on cruisecritic.

this will all be added to my full report I create

[wizard-of-roz]

We drove to Seattle for our Alaska cruise on Golden leaving May 30th. We arrived at 9:30 at pier 91, I dropped dh off with luggage at pier, no problems there because it was early. I went and parked the car and took the shuttle back, they laughed at me and said I was traveling light when I got on the shuttle with no luggage, so yes you can bring your luggage. We waited a little while outside, looking at ship and watching everything that was going on and then checked our luggage and went to check in. We boarded not too long after that. After the cruise we left the ship :( and walked back to the parking lot which isn't a bad walk at all. We had 2 suitcases so we each pulled one. So overall our experience with Pier 91 was great.

 

PS: I WANT TO GO ON ANOTHER CRUISE!!!!

 

We are also driving from L.A. [your drive was a bit further] to Seattle, leaving on September 5th to Alaska....I'm doing the Doc Dance as I write this......Thank you for being so exact on your description of the process at Pier 91. This has been worrying me for a long time. I'm not stressing but if you have easy directions to the Pier, as well, that would be much appreciated.

We are traveling with a Service Dog and I must drop off DH and dog (Brenda), along with a large container filled with all her stuff and the necessary items needed for the cruise.

Will I have a problem, at approx. 10:30am with finding a longshoreman to assist in getting our luggage and this container onto the ship?

In L.A., we NEVER have a problem. There are so many porters to assist and the process always goes very smoothly. This will be Brenda's 12th cruise so neither she or we are new to the process.....but Pier 91 sounds like a "nightmare!"

Should I get there earlier than 10:30am?

Please enlighten me!!!! :rolleyes:

[California Native]

10:30am you should be fine...

Have you consider calling the port in Seattle and letting them know you will be arriving..or asking Princess for the shoreside contact number so they are in the loop and can advice the longshoremen rep that you will be arriving...just 2 thoughts that came to mind

There was a service dog on our cruise..and while I don't know the intricacies of behind the scenes the staff seemed to handle it perfectly and throughout the cruise the owner seemed very happy with the process.

[Colo Cruiser]

well, arrival went PERFECTLY for us too...

 

I'm talking strictly departure

 

Was commenting to the op who talked of embarkation.