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I am having a difficult time trying to decide just where to stay in Seattle, WA and how to best get to Kings Station to catch early train to Vancouver. We will be flying into Seattle on June 7 and want to spend the day seeing Seattle and then catch the Amtrak early train into Vancouver on June 8. Any help would be appreciated.....

Another option that you should look at, is staying in Edmonds (15 miles north of downtown Seattle). , There are 4 hotels on or near the waterfront with plenty of nice restaurants. The train station is within 2 blocks of the hotels. It is a easy walk and the train arrives about 40 minutes after leaving downtown. The hotels are 60% cheaper than downtown Seattle.

Will need 2 pre-cruise nights in Seattle in August. We prefer Marriott-branded properties because we can use rewards points. We don't need luxury --- just clean and convenient! Any Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Residence Inn hotels convenient to Pier 91 that you'd recommend?

SeaTac airport is the best place to get Marriot Branded Hotels- at least 10 and is 1/2 of the price in downtown Seattle. Across Lake Washington (15 minutes from downtown Seattle), in Bellevue and Kirkland have several Marriot Branded Hotels. My advise is to stay out of Downtown Seattle, it has really gone downhill in the last 5 years- Homeless, drug addicts, piles of garbage and filth- urine and feces on the streets and in doorways. The mayor of Seattle is spending $100 million a year to help the homeless and wants $250 million for the homeless next year, All it does is attract homeless from all over the country.,

I think you'll be OK with the scanners if the cases are same proportions as 22" carryons - there's plenty of space on for another couple of inches width/depth from what I recall. As mentioned, with the hassle of schlepping your bags through CBP as well as Security and Check-in you may want to reconsider - especially since there are no Porters involved but fully unionized and well-paid Longshoremen.

 

If you want to minimise any risk of your bags getting lost, you can literally walk right up to the guy running the conveyor and hand the bag to him (there's a different conveyor for each side of Canada Place, so at that point it cannot possibly end up on the wrong ship!) Also, just in case thriftiness is a factor - tips are neither required nor expected. In fact there are signs up specifically saying you do NOT need to tip!

I agree that is just as easy to take it to the conveyor belt and put your luggage on. You may have to walk 100 feet down, depending where you get off. Some of the people hanging around trying to take your bags are not connected to the port or cruise lines. Be careful if you give your bags to one of these people ( mainly homeless) and make sure you se that your luggage gets put on the conveyor belt. Seattle has the same set up of conveyor belts, but most people give their luggage to the Porters (Longshorman that make $800+ for the day in pay). The converor belts in Seattle are further in the terminal and hard to find.

Just got back on a cruise that visited Grand Turk. The situation of getting the free Carnival chair has gotten a lot worse. One of the locals that sells lounge chairs (2 and a umbrella for $25.00) has 80 lounge chairs, all stolen from Carnival in which he sprayed numbers on the back. On the day when I was there, he was taking the free Carnival lounge chairs and moving it to his area on the beach to accommodate his paying customers. I cannot understand why Carnival and the security at the beach doesn't stop this practice. This time, at least another 150 Carnival free lounge chairs were not available.

Called southwest air and told them my wife was concerned if ship came back late or shuttle did not make to airport in time? they gave me a # to call if this happens somebody online called it flat tire rule? they said will book us on next available flight with no extra charges! nice going :D Southwest air stock went up $4.00 today I see why now!

Don't worry, the cruiseships dock at 7AM in Seattle. You are in Victoria the night before and leave Victoria at 12:01. The cruiseships only go 8 knots to Seattle as it is a short distance. Port of Seattle has the highest port charges in the world, and that is the reason for the docking at 7AM.

We want to grab lunch before the boarding the ferry. Looking at Diamond Knot / Ivars / Arnies. Good picks?

 

 

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Ivars isom the water right next to the ferry dock. Arnies is up from the parking lot. Both are excellent and you can get lunch for $9-15$ Diamond Knot is down the street and more expensive $20-$30, which includes beer. I have been at Diamond Knot 2 times and the service was fair- 1 and 1/2 hours for Lunch. Also there are many restaurants in the small towns on Whidbey Island that you can try. Research for the best.

Megans Bay is much nicer for kids. There are some rocks at Emerald Bay and drops off fairly fast. There is no pool or snorkeling at Emerald Bay. At Emerald Bay you can get a chair for $10 and there is 2 small bars that has WIFI. I have had to wait for a taxi for 30 minutes.

Also in the area of Boeing at Paine Field are the Historic Flight Foundation and the Flying Heritage Collection, the latter of which has WWII era planes from all nations involved - most of which are in flying condition and do on occasion.

 

Another favorite of ours is if weather is nice is to go watch boats (and fish) at the Ballard Locks & Fish Ladder.

 

Near Chihuly is the Experience Music Project (EMP) and Science Fiction Museum with an amazing collection of guitars and Jimi Hendrix memorabilia as well as a great Sci-Fi collection and rotating exhibits.

 

Or, take ferry to Bainbridge Is. or Bremerton for a cruise before the cruise.

 

We're doing HAL in June too but have 221 days (as of today) to do stuff before the cruise. There's plenty enough around here to do to fill even that many days. ;)

The Museum of Flight which is real close to Sea-Tac is the best attraction in Seattle, can easily spend 4 hours at the Museum. The Ballard Locks and Fish ladder (free) is another attraction that is always interesting - Salmon going through the Fish ladder, Boats, sea lions and the working of the locks itself up to a 32 foot drop. Downtown Seattle attractions are way overrated.

We sailed on the Magic last month and thought it was the worst ship we had been on as far as the smoke in the casinos goes.I think they could do a better job ventilating the casino area.

I was also on the Magic last month. It was really bad, burned your eyes. I counted 75 people standing around and using the Casino as a smoking lounge and not playing the slots or at the tables.

Just got back from Grand Turk. At least 500 Carnival lounge chairs have been removed by the locals and put in a field 600feet south of the beach. They have replaced with their own chairs -they charge between $20 to $25 for 2 chairs and a umbrella, some no bigger than a golf umbrella. Some of the chairs that were rented out were even were the nice Carnival chairs. My suggesting is to use the free blue and white Carnival owned chairs. If the ones on the beach are taken, there are plenty of chairs around the pool, with a short walk (100 Ft) to the beach,

I know ships haven't stopped there yet, but if you do--supposed to be in November-- would you post with what there is to do, if private tours can pick up there, etc.?

 

Hard to know how to plan the day; we usually do private tours or on our own. We'd like to snorkel the reef.

Which cruise lines/ships will be stopping here?

I've noticed that the casino is a lot smokier smelling since people were banned from smoking outside on their balconies. Go figure.

I have been on 4 Carnival cruises in the last 2 years. The casino is packed with smokers that treat it as a smoking lounge. The smokers stand around in groups or sit at the chairs by the slot machines and are no gambling.

It is open now, go to the WEB CAM, the Carnival Magic is coming in now.

Any experiences or ideas on what to do or see in Juneau outside of what the cruise offers? I think we are going to wait and do the whale watching once we get to Victoria. Has anyone done the whale watching there? I see they get to see a lot of the orca's!

Go to the new $124 million Alaska State Museum located 5 blocks north of the ship docks. It covers all of the Native tribes from 1500 to today, European expeditions, the takeover by Russia, Sale of Alaska to United States, Japan taking over 40 Aleution Island 2,000 miles west of Seattle in WW2. Mining, fishing, and timber industries all the way up to modern times. I have been to over 100 Museums and this one is near the top of the list.

We have an Alaska cruise booked for next July and would like to arrive a few days early to explore Seattle, as we have never been there before.

 

We won't have a car and are thinking it might be more convenient to stay downtown if we can find a hotel for a reasonable cost. I know it's almost a year in advance, but was thinking we could find lower rates if we book early.

 

Any suggestions about places to stay, and places we should visit would be greatly appreciated.

Book a Hotel at SeaTac, much cheaper, cleaner area and you can take the light rail into Seattle. See the West Coast Departures for more information.

We would like to book a few night pre-cruise in Seattle but don't want to pay the high prices of the downtown hotels.

 

The airport hotels are more reasonable and we can take the light rail downtown to visit the city and just use a cab or shuttle company to get to the pier on departure day.

 

Some of the hotels I am looking at offer free shuttle service within a few miles radius which would be the airport, light rail and nearby restaurants and they offer free breakfast.

 

 

Does anyone have any experience with the light rail system and staying up at the airport for a few days?

Staying at a Airport Hotel and taking the light rail to downtown is the right way to go. You can take the Hotel shuttle service to the Airport and take the light rail (a 5 to 10 minute walk to the Light Rail station). The light rail is not used much and mainly goes through the rough area of Seattle, but they have added security to make your ride safe. You can do all of the attractions in Downtown Seattle in 4 hours. The Museum of Flight- Over 100 Airplanes going back to WW1 to the latest Boeing Plane, the 787) is close to SeaTac and would be a fairly cheap Cab fare. Also staying at Sea Tac, you can rent a car easily and explore the area ( Mt Rainier is only a 75 minute drive from Sea Tac.)

This is not a correct statement. Pier 91 does, indeed, have longshoremen at least they do on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. They are hired by the cruise lines and handle only bags going on the cruise ship of the line by which they are hired. On Saturday and Sunday, the longshoremen (porters) hired by Princess are discernible by the lime green colored vests with silver reflective stripes on them. On Saturday, Sunday, and Mondays, the longshoremen hired by Holland-America are discernible by the orange vests with silver reflective stripes on them. I suspect that a similar setup is used on Friday when Celebrity and Royal Caribbean share the pier but I do not know which colors go with which lines. On Tuesday, there is only one cruise line, Carnival, is at the pier so there would be only one group of longshoremen there and the color would not be an issue.

 

Tom

What I was saying is that in the dropoff area out in the street, there are no Porters to handle or take your luggage. One or 2 Longshoremen are at the conveyor belt to help people with luggage, if they need help, to put their luggage on the conveyor belt. Most of the Longshoremen are at the end of the conveyor belt and handling the luggage to be put on the ship. My brother is a Longshoremen and the most Senior Longshoremen take the Cruise Terminal jobs because of the overtime after 6 hours on the Job. The Union contract calls for 6 hour of work and they get paid for 8 Hours.

Does anyone know if we take a taxi to pier 91 how far we will have to haul our luggage to check it and how far of a walk it is to the terminal from the taxi drop off? I have mobility issues and can't help much with the luggage and can't walk far distances.

Around 100 Feet to the terminal and thru the door and right past the door, you will put your luggage on the conveyer belt. Seattle does not have porters (Longshoreman) because they are paid $86/hr. Seattle Pier 91 has the best luggage drop off system of any of the ports I have been at.

The biggest complaint I've heard and read on here is that if you go through the buffet line for other items, then stand in line to get an omelet, the rest of the food is cold by the time you get your omelet. If you get the omelet first, then go through the line for the rest, your omelet is cold.

I have waited in line for 20+ minutes to get my omelet and I get eggs over easy for my spouse. They use eggs out of box, but I have found that most times the omelets are excellent. Several times the omelet is burned as they never cleaned the pan or put in the spray.

The Southeast Alaska Discovery Center (Green roof)1 block east of the cruise ship is very informative about the history of SE Alaska. You can easily spend 2 hours in the Center. The center is run by the National Park Service, you can use your Golden Age Passport to get in for free. Also you can buy your lifetime passport for $10 for those over 62 at the center. One passport covers all people in your party.

You can make Smoked Salmon Jerky yourself. Make sure you get fresh salmon at the market ( I catch my own). Put the salmon in the smoker 3 hrs longer than regular smoked salmon.

I have searched extensively for the most economical rates and have not come across the $25 car rentals. Which company rents the cars at this rate.

 

Because it is 5 of us, taking a cab would cost me more than renting the car from the hertz that is 5 miles away from the port. Thanks for the recommendation.

I am sorry, I was quoting a price that I had received before the cruise season. It looks like they have jacked up the rental rates to around $100.00 +/day. That what happens where there is 3 major car rental companies instead of 14 a couple of years ago.

Unfortunately, their websites show no availability for July 15th, which is when I would need their services.

Take a cab to the airport and rent the car- usually about $25/per day if rented 1-4 weeks in advance. Avoid downtown Seattle, as there is no parking and also downtown is full of homeless, panhandlers, crime and the smell of urine everywhere. It has got to the point that the area residents in the area do not go into Seattle. As stated in the above messages there is plenty to see outside of Seattle.

Your long day before your flight provides the opportunity to get out of the city and explore the one of the reasons why so many of us love western Washington. Mount Rainier is spectacular, a snow capped peak with old growth forests, waterfalls and glaciers, an easy drive from Seattle. The Park's historic log lodges, Paradise Lodge and the National Park Inn in Longmire, have nice menus and are worth a stop. You might feel that you've had enough scenery after a trip to Alaska, but Mount Rainier may just become your favorite.

I agree with this option. Take a cab to the airport and rent a car and go to Mt Rainier. It is a 90 minute trip and if you want , you can take a side trip to Mt St Helens. You can keep your luggage in the trunk. Car rentals at SeaTac are usually in the $25-$35 total for 24 hours. Mt Rainier at Paradise still has 8 feet of snow on the ground, but when the snow melts, the flowers come out in Reds white and Blues.

Seattle is the driest MLB city outside California, during the regular season. August is pretty reliably warm and dry. There is a small chance of morning fog that will burn off between ten and eleven.

 

Just don't tell anyone. This place is overrun with new residents as it is. ;0)

That is why Safeco field has a roof that closes when it rains. When baseball is played in April, the roof is closed 75% of the time, May 40% Sept 55% and the rest of the months 20% Seattle has more days of rain than 99% of the other major cities in USA. Average high temp in August is 72. The northwest wind usually kicks in around 6 Pm and cools down to the low 60's