psuboater

Yes, I was on the Quantum last year and while we made it back to Seattle early, we were not cleared to depart off the ship until 8:30. There were a lot of panicked people who were going to miss their flight. There's two roads to the airport- I5 and 99. If one of those has an issue, your 30 minute trip to the airport will easily be over an hour. SEA is hit or miss. I've seen it empty and I've seen lines down to the parking garage. Cruise season the airport is always packed. 11:30 would be my earliest gamble having TSA Precheck and CLEAR.

I've stayed at The Douglas, which was wonderful. It shares a building with the JW Marriott and a casino. Kind of feels like a cruise before a cruise 🙂 Most recently I stayed at the Marriott Pinnacle Downtown. While the rooms were a bit outdated, the lobby and restaurant were modern and great. The rooms were clean and comfortable and the location is in walking distance to where you need to go.

Ramen Danbo in Capitol Hill makes gluten free and vegetarian ramen- in fact, your whole bowl is customizable. I had it in their spot in Vancouver- it's phenomenal!

I always request "shared ride" which is significantly lower. Most of the time I get a private shuttle, but if you do have to share, especially if you're going downtown, it's going to be maybe one stop before you. 🙂

They do do contactless (or Apple Pay). If you've been to Europe, everything is paid for via the handheld terminals. For contactless/Apple Pay it never asked me for my pin.

Ramen Danbo - worth the wait (there is almost always a wait), I am not a huge Ramen fan in the sense where I crave it and I now crave that Ramen Go Ask Luigi - small handmade pasta in East Gastown - reservations highly recommended but they leave spots open for walk ins Miku - Right by Pacific Place - pricey, but the Pressed Sushi rolls are fantastic Miko - A small, local sushi joint that feels like you're in Japn Yasma - delicious Lebonese food that's right by Stanley Park.

The light rail is very easy, but given your mobility issues, an Uber or cab will be your best bet. It will run you around $30-40 and take about 25 minutes in normal traffic. The international district is safe, some restaurants and stores have been boarded up since the pandemic and haven't recovered, so parts look "gritty" but I walk through there when it's dark in the evening in the winter to my train home and haven't had any issues. If you like dumplings and noodles, Dough Zone is my favorite place down there. It's Seattle's local answer to the famous dumpling house Din Tai Fung- just as delicious and literally half the cost. Right next door is Hoods Famous Cheesecake- the Ube cheesecake is definitely worth trying. If you like sushi, Murashi's International District is literally every time where I pick up sushi on my way to the train when I'm heading home. Their sushi is delicious! Uwajimaya Seattle is an awesome Asian grocery store that's a lot of fun to browse in as well.

When we get closer to Seattle cruise season it makes me excited to see the questions roll back in! 🙂

When out of town employees come into the office, they stay at the Kimpton Vintage. Rooms are on the small side, but a very nice boutique hotel in a good location with lots to walk to.

There is an ongoing thread right below this one to discuss hotels: Princess leaves from Pier 91.

Correct - Cantrail is contracted through Amtrak. We were able to purchase the bus services directly from Amtrak's website.

From Pier 91 (if you're going directly to the Pier), the University of Washington Station is 21 minutes by car and the Seattle Bus Station is 17 minutes, but depending when you come in, UW might be faster because it avoids downtown traffic. From Vancouver, Burrard station is closest to most downtown hotels. If you're staying near the airport, check out Amtrak for their bus service. They have pickup in Richmond, BC, which is a lot closer to the airport. They'll take you to King Street Station in downtown Seattle, which is about a 20 minute taxi/uber from the pier.

On the low end, can be cloudy and drizzly in the low 50s, on the high end sunny in the low 70s. In the PNW we joke summer seems to start on July 5th, but in the past few years summer has been coming earlier and staying later.

Enjoy! When my husband and I went in July it was during the heatwave so we didn't walk as much as my friend and I did on this trip. Also, the Red Accordion was a funky bar converted from an old home with vintage furniture that was also worth a check out!

Just came back from a girls trip last weekend to Vancouver - here are some highlights: 1) We stayed at the Marriott Pinnacle Downtown. It was a great location and the lobby and restaurant were beautiful. The rooms were a bit outdated, but it was clean and comfortable. Last summer my husband and I stayed at the Douglas, which was more upscale and more of a resort type experience, but further from most sites you wish to see. 2) We took a wine tour via Lawrence Tours - it was a lot of fun with our tour guide Michael and we learned a lot about the region and BC wines (we don't have a trade agreement on wines with Canada to protect our wine sales, which is why you never hear about them here) - some of them were as good or better than ones I tasted in Sonoma. 3) Eating! A couple of favorite places: Ramen Danbo. There's always a line outside but it's worth it. I'm not even a ramen fan but my friend loves ramen. It was absolutely worth the wait and it was one of the best things I've eaten. Go Ask Luigi is a hidden gem in East Gastown that has fantastic homemade pasta. Miku has innovated pressed sushi that's very close to the cruise terminal. For a more traditional sushi experience, going to Miko Sushi felt like going to Japan. Granville Island is worth checking out as well - the farmers market will have you wishing you could take all the produce home with you and there's a lot of cute shops as well. Lawrence tours also offers a Granville Island food tour. 4) Drinking! If you love craft cocktails, the 515 bar and the Diamond Lounge had unique cocktails in cozy settings. 5) Exploring - Vancouver is quite walkable through all of their neighborhoods. You could spend a whole day walking the 6 mile loop around Stanley Park, taking in the views of the city. Gastown has a lot of cute shops (be sure to check out Made for locally made souvenirs, hidden among the touristy red plaid and moose touristy shops). It's a very safe city, although there are a few streets to avoid due to large homeless encampments. Any of the places I pointed out you can easily walk to avoid them if you see some "grittier" streets.

My favorite sushi places are Momji in Capitol Hill (uber from the Marriott) and Murashi's in the International District (also uberable). Also, just came back from Vancouver and Ramen Danbo was one of the best things I've ever eaten and they have a location in Capitol Hill as well if you're looking for other Japanese cuisine 🙂

For sushi fans, some non-secretive favorites are Momji in Capitol Hill (fancier) and Murashi's (casual) in the International District 🙂

Another option would to take two ubers - one to border, where you'll be able to clear customs by foot, then have an uber pick you up on the US side. It looks like it'd be between $65-70 CAN ($48-50) to the border, then another $60-65 to Bellingham Airport.

Your easiest way would be to take the Amtrak Cascades from Vancouver to Bellingham, then grab a 5 minute Uber to BLI airport. I don't believe you can use Uber to cross the border.

I've stayed at the Hampton Inn SeaTac as well as the Four Points SeaTac and both have been clean and pleasant. I live on one of our islands that need a ferry to get to, so if my flight gets in too late to get the last ferry, I stay at one of these hotels.

As I posted on Monday's thread... Word of warning- it was Seattle's spring break last weekend, so a busy time for the airport but not nearly the cruise crowds. People were lined up to the parking garage for security, taking over 75 minutes to get through. It's honestly hit or miss. If you don't have precheck, I wouldn't schedule a flight before 12:30. If you have precheck, 11:30 is the absolute earliest. If you have precheck and CLEAR you could flirt a little earlier but I wouldn't. My ship last year didn't clear customs until after 8am, making for some very stressed passengers. If you don't have precheck, highly recommend SEA Space Saver - https://www.portseattle.org/SEAspotsaver

They do offer One Ways -- I had one booked for last weekend (However, my friend's flight from Chicago was cancelled so we missed the morning clipper, thus canceling the Victoria leg of our trip and taking the bus to Vancouver, so Canada transporation is VERY fresh in my mind 🙂 ) (edited) and while it's as fresh as last night, here's 3 good views of why the train is the best way to go!

The easiest way would be to take the Amtrak Cascades - there is currently one morning train and one evening train. It takes approximately 4 hours, picks up at King Street Station in DT Seattle and will drop you off at Pacific Central Terminal. If you arrive too late for the morning train and don't want to wait until the evening, you can take a bus from King Street Station to Pacific Central Terminal. It takes between 4-5 hours, depending on traffic and customs. Both the bus and the train can easily be booked via Amtrak.com - I just took the bus up this Saturday and returned to Seattle last night via train.

Word of warning- it was Seattle's spring break last weekend, so a busy time for the airport but not nearly the cruise crowds. People were lined up to the parking garage for security, taking over 75 minutes to get through. It's honestly hit or miss. If you don't have precheck, I wouldn't schedule a flight before 12:30. If you have precheck, 11:30 is the absolute earliest. If you have precheck and CLEAR you could flirt a little earlier but I wouldn't. My ship last year didn't clear customs until after 8am, making for some very stressed passengers.

Currently on the train from Vancouver for a weekend girls trip. We didn't touch a single piece of Canadian currency the entire time. In fact, I barely used my card as every store accepted Apple Pay. We did a private wine tour and at the end we were going to go to the ATM for his tip, but he said we had US dollars he was happy for that given the exchange rate. I don't think there was one shop or bar that didn't take cards.