Need Seattle Transportation Help!

Thanking you in advance for your help! First timers to Seattle - need transportation for 5 adults from Sea to Mariott Waterfront. Would a shuttle service be our best bet or do they have large van type taxi's? How far is the airport to the hotel and roughly what would the cost be? Again, cost from hotel to Pier 91, cost and distances. Finally, from Pier 91 back to airport - how far is that? Thank you!!!

it's about a 30 minute drive from the airport to downtown. Pier 91 is about 10 minutes north of downtown.

If your party is 5 adults with luggage you probably won't fit into a cab, so you will need a car service or shuttle service. STILA has the airport contract so they always have various sized vehicles available at the airport. It's $45 to downtown but will be higher for 5 pax. Call them for an estimate: http://www.portseattle.org/Sea-Tac/Parking-and-Transportation/Ground-Transportation/Pages/Taxis-and-Limos.aspx

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Shuttle Express is $15pp from pier to Airport.

Or call a car service.... Already There and Century have rec'd good reviews on this forum.

Or if you think you'll fit into a minivan, http://www.flatrateforhire.com will be about $45.

We have taken this trip many times.

For airport to hotel service, I highly recommend using Shuttle Express. Reliable and easy to locate at the airport.

For hotel to ship, ask the hotel front desk to arrange a taxi for you....let them know you need a van, they are available. It will cost under $20 to reach the pier from the Marriott Waterfront.

For the return from the ship to either a hotel or the airport, you can prebook with Shuttle Express or just wait in the taxi line. The disembarkation pickup area tends to be a bit chaotic...using one of those two options seems to be the easiest. We've waited for a private van service and have waited for a very long time due to traffic backups. Shuttle Express fills up the vans as people arrive and the taxi lines seems to run quickly.

A million thanks to both of you for some very helpful information! Thanks again!

Just an FYI. Shuttle express quoted me $22pp from pier 91 to airport. Have not talked with anyone at flat rate for hire yet. Can they pick us up at pier?

Just an FYI. Shuttle express quoted me $22pp from pier 91 to airport. Have not talked with anyone at flat rate for hire yet. Can they pick us up at pier?

Yes, flat rate can pick up at the pier, as can uber, lyfft, etc

Thanking you in advance for your help! First timers to Seattle - need transportation for 5 adults from Sea to Mariott Waterfront. Would a shuttle service be our best bet or do they have large van type taxi's? How far is the airport to the hotel and roughly what would the cost be? Again, cost from hotel to Pier 91, cost and distances. Finally, from Pier 91 back to airport - how far is that? Thank you!!!

There are 3-4 ways to get from Pier 91 to SeaTac.. I'll go briefly through them here. (Note: Prices stated below are current as of last year (2015.) I will update to 2016 prices as soon as I get them.)

1. Shuttle motor coach arranged for onboard your ship. There will be papers delivered to your room on one of the last days of your cruise. One of the options offered will be prepaid bus transportation to SeaTac. You will be given information about cost, what to do with your bags, etc. at that time. If you opt for this, you will be directed to the bus area after collecting your baggage and clearing customs. (NOTE: If you opted to check your baggage through to your destination then you will not have to bother with your luggage as it will have already been taken off the ship and will be taken directly to the airport to be loaded aboard your flight, otherwise, you will need to pick up your luggage PRIOR to going through customs.) After you exit the building, you will proceed straight across the driveway to the right side of the bus lot where, depending on the airline on which you will be departing, you will join one of two lines leading to the buses. You will be loaded onto the bus which, as soon as it is filled, will depart for SeaTac which is normally a 30-45 minute drive, depending on traffic.

2. Seattle Express or Shuttle Express. These are smaller motor coaches that can provide transportation from the pier to the airport. Both Seattle and Shuttle Express load at the far end of the bus lot so upon exiting the terminal building, you should procede down the middle of the covered walkway directly across from the exit from the building to the far end of the bus lot. As with the procedures outlined in 1. above, unless you have checked your bags all the way through to your final destination prior to leaving the ship, don't forget to pick up your bags before clearing customs. Cost for Seattle Express is $12/person and cost for Shuttle Express is $17/person with one free person under 17 for each person over 17. (Website says $22 for Shuttle Express, I was told $17 in an email from them.)

Shuttle Express Info:

http://shuttleexpress.com/seattle/cruise-transfers/

Phone: (425) 981-7000 or (888) 787-8598

Email: sales@shuttleexpress.net

Seattle Express Info: http://www.seattleexpress.com/21501.html or

EMAIL: mattseattleexpress@yahoo.com

CALL: (206) 793-8430

3. Taxicab. Yellow Cab is, I believe $42-45 to SeaTac (flat rate) other cabs, I don't know prices. (Not a good way to start our a cruise!!)

Again, I will update pricing information for 2016 as soon as I get the new information.

Tom

I guess it depends on just how much luggage we are talking about, but I have been able to get a taxi from the Seattle cruise port that was able to accommodate six people and luggage. I f I recall, there was a fixed per-passenger charge (relatively small, It looks like $0.50 per person) for each passenger beyond the first two, plus the regular fare. In the end, I recall it still came out quite a bit cheaper than a shuttle would have, but that was for door-to-door service to a house instead of to any hotel or the airport.

Also, it looks like the trip you're talking about (to the Marriott Waterfront from the airport) would fall under the fixed rate price of $40 to downtown Seattle from the airport, although I'm not sure how that would work with the extra passengers.

Five adults with luggage sounds like the perfect use case for Uber SUV (not UberXL), seeing as how it will usually be an Escalade or similar vehicle. Pick up times from any of these locations will be about ten minutes after you click in the app, and if they don't show up (unlikely) there's a backup ten minutes out, which is not something the various car services are particularly good at. They will pick you up at any even-numbered door on the Arrivals level, which is closer than the limo or shuttle pickup point in the parking garage. Five people and luggage, tax, title, license and tip should be $65 for UberBlack.

Actual distance from the hotel to Pier 91 as the crow flies is just over two miles, but metered distance would be just a shade under 2.5 miles from door to door due to how you access the cruise terminal. Two options - one Uber SUV ($28 with typical traffic) or two UberX (usually a Prius, seating 3), $8 each for a total of 16.

On the way back, one thing you might consider is using Princess EZ-Check to schlep your checked baggage from the pier to the airport, avoiding having to touch it at all after you put it in the hallway on the last night of the cruise. Five adults with just hand baggage/personal items would then fit in the cheaper and more available (5-8 minute wait times) UberXL service, $52 with typical traffic. The Uber SUV option as from the airport would be right at $80 from the cruise terminal to the airport assuming typical summer traffic.

Personally, I hate motorcoaches *almost* as much as I hate crawling into an underairconditioned 15 passenger van while waiting for 14 other people to get their individual and collective acts together. Shared rides like this harsh my cruise-induced mellow, and I'll never use one again. I like service providers that have an obligation to me and my party alone, and that can easily be replaced for non-performance.

There are 3-4 ways to get from Pier 91 to SeaTac.. I'll go briefly through them here. (Note: Prices stated below are current as of last year (2015.) I will update to 2016 prices as soon as I get them.)

 

1. Shuttle motor coach arranged for onboard your ship. There will be papers delivered to your room on one of the last days of your cruise. One of the options offered will be prepaid bus transportation to SeaTac. You will be given information about cost, what to do with your bags, etc. at that time. If you opt for this, you will be directed to the bus area after collecting your baggage and clearing customs. (NOTE: If you opted to check your baggage through to your destination then you will not have to bother with your luggage as it will have already been taken off the ship and will be taken directly to the airport to be loaded aboard your flight, otherwise, you will need to pick up your luggage PRIOR to going through customs.) After you exit the building, you will proceed straight across the driveway to the right side of the bus lot where, depending on the airline on which you will be departing, you will join one of two lines leading to the buses. You will be loaded onto the bus which, as soon as it is filled, will depart for SeaTac which is normally a 30-45 minute drive, depending on traffic.

 

2. Seattle Express or Shuttle Express. These are smaller motor coaches that can provide transportation from the pier to the airport. Both Seattle and Shuttle Express load at the far end of the bus lot so upon exiting the terminal building, you should procede down the middle of the covered walkway directly across from the exit from the building to the far end of the bus lot. As with the procedures outlined in 1. above, unless you have checked your bags all the way through to your final destination prior to leaving the ship, don't forget to pick up your bags before clearing customs. Cost for Seattle Express is $12/person and cost for Shuttle Express is $17/person with one free person under 17 for each person over 17. (Website says $22 for Shuttle Express, I was told $17 in an email from them.)

 

Shuttle Express Info:

http://shuttleexpress.com/seattle/cruise-transfers/

Phone: (425) 981-7000 or (888) 787-8598

Email: sales@shuttleexpress.net

 

Seattle Express Info: http://www.seattleexpress.com/21501.html or

EMAIL: mattseattleexpress@yahoo.com

CALL: (206) 793-8430

 

3. Taxicab. Yellow Cab is, I believe $42-45 to SeaTac (flat rate) other cabs, I don't know prices. (Not a good way to start our a cruise!!)

 

Again, I will update pricing information for 2016 as soon as I get the new information.

 

Tom

Thank you, Tom, based on your information, I was able to contact Seattle Express this moring and reserve RT transportation. :)

Thank you, Tom, based on your information, I was able to contact Seattle Express this moring and reserve RT transportation. :)

Great, Karen! Glad that the info helped and you were able to get everything set up. Hope that the rest of the trip/cruise goes as easily as the transportation thing did and that you have a great vacation.

Tom