psuboater

I've stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton and the Hampton Inn by SeaTac, and both offer shuttles that are free and a quick drive from the airport. The Hilton Conference center also looks like it has a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. I'd take the shuttle that late at night, it's hard to navigate from the airport to the hotel on foot. If you want to go downtown, the rooms aren't going to be cheaper than what you can find at the airport. If you're asking if it's safe to take a taxi/uber to the hotel that they're staying at downtown to stay with them, then yes, it's safe to take a direct mode of transportation from the airport to downtown.

It was effective as of 6/1/22, so you might have gotten lucky! I've been denied getting to the airport 4 hours before, and with SEA being extremely busy during cruise season I don't see that changing.

Connections are exempt from the 3 hour rule, but for your first airport, it's 3 hours prior to depature for both Centurion and Sky Clubs - that change happened last summer.

The new Centurion is gorgeous at SEA! It's in the food court between C and B gates. If you're facing the window, it will be on the left hand side next to Evergreens salad place. It's on the 2nd floor. Note that all lounges will only let you in 3 hours prior to your departure now.

On the Summit last year they had the hotel pedals -- so cages for sneakers on one side, Delta clips on the other. Your Peloton at home uses SPD clips. I used my sneakers with the cages.

The answer is going to vary WILDLY -- it depends on your ship, the week you leave, how full the ship is, and how much you paid for your original cabin. So if someone booked a Suite, their Haven bid offer is going to have a starting minimum bid that's a lot lower than someone who booked a balcony class. I have tried Upgrade Advantage, or the same program on X and RC multiple times, and I've bid the minimum and the maximum on cabins and haven't been lucky yet. Others bid the minimum on a half full ship and are pleasantly surprised with a Haven or Grand Suite NCL and the cruise lines keeps this process purposely opaque, so the only strategy is: 1) Book the cabin you want at the price you can afford 2) If bidding, bid a number that you feel comfortable with if you win (if you win, you're automatically charged, and cannot change) 3) Make sure you're not bidding more than what it would be to do a price change, because if you can afford the bid, you can afford the price change with a Haven guarantee 4) Leave a small ship under your pillow for the upgrade fairy and hope for the best 🙂

What's your budget? That will help us point you in the right direction. Very few, if any, have free shuttles to Pier 91. An Uber/Lyft or having the hotel calling you a cab is the best bet. Favorite budget airport hotel- Four Points Sheraton SeaTac Favorite mid tier downtown- Hilton Garden Inn, South Lake Union Favorite splurge- Lotte Hotel Seattle

It was my one gripe of the vibe. There's an elevator that will stop at 18 and you can walk up the stairs if you're able, but the area stops in the Haven area which is not accessible if you're not in Haven. It would take us forever to get the ONE elevator that would go to 19. It's also frustrating there's not an "18-19 only button". We'd hit up, only to get an elevator that only went to 17, and we'd see the 19 elevator head down to 5. If the elevator is your only option up there, just be aware on sea days to pack your (very long) patience.

Just as an FYI, all lounges do not allow entry any sooner than 3 hours before take off now. This applies to all lounges at SEA.

This varies by your comfort level with public transportation. There really isn't a great public transport to Pike Place from Pier 91. It's set back in an industrial port that takes not the most pedestrian way out of the pier. Your best bet back to downtown is an Uber or taxi. Getting to the airport from downtown, our light rail is $2.75pp and goes directly to the airport. It's about a .25 mile walk from the light rail to security, but it's all covered from the parking garage into inside. If you're leaving during rush hour, it'll take shorter or just as long than getting an uber or taxi. Otherwise; a ride share/taxi will cost $45-60 from downtown to the airport.

Honestly, $90pp for an all day tour with transportation at the airport is a pretty good deal. Taking an Uber from Pier 91 is going to be $15-20 (x 2-3 Ubers based on group size) then another from downtown to SEA would be another $45-50 in rush hour traffic (x 2-3 Ubers based on group size), and you're stuck without a bus to hold your larger carry on items all day. With children and a mobility challenged group, I wouldn't recommend my other option which would be to Uber into downtown then take the light rail down to the airport when you're ready- there's a lot of walking involved. Saturdays in the spring tend to be very congested downtown as you'll have those boarding on Sunday and Monday ships, as well as the ones leaving later the day Saturday. With a large group of yours it might be worth the $ to make the end of your trip seamless.

If you're using port valet and have TSA Pre, I think you could stretch it to 2.5 hours before. The only issue I would foresee is our TSA Pre lines can take up to 30-45 minutes on very busy days.

My mistake, that's why I need you as backup 🙂 I always thought it was just the RCL/X that went out of 91.

Princess usually leaves from Pier 66, which is downtown. The cheapest way is going to be the light rail ($2.75pp). Follow signs to the Light rail, and take it to University Street Station (~40 minutes). From there, it's a 17 minute/0.8 mile walk down to the pier. Uber is another option for you, which will cost you anywhere from ~$40-$65. Follow sign to App/Ride Share on Floor 3 of the Parking Garage connected to the terminal. Depending on traffic, it might take you as long as the light rail. Taxis are also plentiful, on the same floor as Uber, which is a flat $40 from the airport to downtown. If you have a large group or a lot of luggage, highly recommend Premier Airport Shuttle, which uses Sprinter Vans to get you to the pier. I'm showing reservations in advance for 2 is $56 total for a shared ride ,or $168 for 6 passengers, which will most likely get you the whole use of the van.

Agree with Ferry Watcher - Olive Way will merge into Stewart. 3rd from Pine to Union seems to have the most issues, but I've also walked this in the middle of the day and have been fine. If you find yourself on 3rd/Pike, it's not the end of the world, you'll just see some interesting characters -just don't engage. And locals know to avoid the McDonalds on 3rd and Pine - that's been notoriously bad years before the pandemic.

I highly recommend ditching the car rental and exploring by foot. A perfect day trip is to Bainbridge Island. You can walk on the ferry from the pier downtown, and then enjoy the views of the Puget Sound (and Rainier if she's out!) and sea life on your 45 minute trip to Bainbridge. The town of Bainbridge is in walking distance of the ferry and has tasting rooms, cute shops and restaurants. If you want to go out a bit further Uber is available on the island - we went to Bainbridge Distillery's tasting room, which was right next to a brewery and wine tasting room and had a wonderful day. As others have mentioned, driving here is not enjoyable in the city cooridor, and with only two days before the trip, you can get out of the city without putting undue stress on the trip. Woodinville is also great, but a bunch of tasting rooms have closed in the past few months, so make sure the places you want to try are still there.

For Group 1 with your mom, I'd recommend taking an Uber, Taxi, or Transporation service. It's approximately a 0.25 mile walk from the terminal to the light rail station, and then once you get to Westlake station downtown, it's another 17 minute walk (assuming a 20 min/mile) -- with all of the luggage I'm not sure if it's worth the issue. Group 2 with your daughters, I wouldn't go on the light rail at 11:30pm at night (factoring time to get off the plane, get the bags, walk to the light rail, etc). I stand by Seattle being a fairly safe city with a low violent crime rate, but as a 37 year old woman myself, I wouldn't go not knowing the city, plus having the 17 minute walk once you get off the station. Westlake station is fine during the day, but to be avoided that late at night. The downtown corridor doesn't have much nightlife that late (mostly offices and hotels). Premier Airport Shuttle is also a great option to pre-book, I use them to/from the airport as well, but Uber/Lyft is reliable and plentiful here as well.

As someone who had to go into downtown for work a few times in 2020/2021, it is now a VAST improvement of what it was when we didn't have any tourists. I now go in once a week and don't feel unsafe at all. Like any large city, walk with purpose and with few distractions, and don't engage with anyone that makes you feel unsafe. I'm in my late 30s and female, and lived in Columbus, OH and Philadelphia, and can say that Seattle is the safest city I've worked in. Our issues are mainly with property crime, and very low in violent crime.

We weren't able to get into our cabins until 3:30pm, and the luggage came at 6 -- definiely the latest we've experienced.

Got off the Joy on the 24th. It didn't affect our cruise in any negative way. To me, it's more of hotel housekeeping now. We met our room attendant on day 2 or 3 because he was so busy. The 1x a day worked for us especially that we spent more time in our room than usual with the cold weather, so we didn't have to worry about a 2nd service later in the day. I think the only negative was the lack of towels. We were given 2, and if one was overly wet, there wasn't a replacement until the next day. I think if they just gave us 4 to begin with, it wouldn't have been an issue. I plan on asking for extra towel on our next cruise- problem solved.

Yes, it does.

It's so hit or miss! Usually I do CLEAR and notice that the TSA Pre line is also pretty short. I went out on a Saturday last month and had to do TSA Pre only to stay with my mom, and the line was 30 minutes. It's inconsistent from what I see as a frequent flyer, so I always tell people to err on the side of caution.

On the Joy so there's no Cabanas, but thank you for the tip!

Thank you for this! We sailed on the Joy two weeks ago and I was chatting with a Haven passenger. It blew my mind of how little one gets in Haven for what is sometimes triple the price from Club Balcony. I took your advice- booked Vibe, upgraded to the Free and Sea Plus - and feel like I wasn't missing much more than the dedicated Haven lounge. We're not big on being fussed over, so the Butler isn't an appeal. We booked a Club Balcony for our next trip in June- and the only sad thing is Vibe is already sold out 😞

I was also on this cruise and I felt we got lucky. Someone gave the heads up of the different pier on the facebook group prior to going, so we planned to carry off our luggage as soon as we could. From announcement to taxi, we were off in 20 minutes. We were surprised to hear later on that so many people had issues!