Staying @ Grand Hyatt Seattle - help w/planning pre cruise day

[ggto4]

In Sept., we are staying two nights pre-cruise at the Grand Hyatt-Seattle. Have read much info on Seattle, and have been there once before, but need a bit of help. We want to take a ferry to Bainbridge Island, and we want to see The Locks, and see the harbor areas. Please give me some tips on the best route, and best transportation to see all the best waterfront places. How far is our hotel from some of these places ? Thank you so much. gg

PS.....we are having a severe drought, here in Texas, wtih 30+, 100+ degree days, so believe me when I say we can hardly wait to come to the cool temps. of the great Northwest. And we will not complain about how much rain there is. We will enjoy it.

[mapleleaves]

The ferry terminal is on the waterfront, Pier 52. I assume you'll be a walk-on, you're not taking a car.

There's a free tourist bus #99 that runs along the waterfront, to Pioneer Sq, Pike Place Market. Even the Ferry Terminal ! Here's the map.

http://metro.kingcounty.gov/cftemplates/show_map.cfm?BUS_ROUTE=099&DAY_NAV=WSU

Your hotel is on 7th and Pine so you can walk downhill 6 blocks to catch the Market and the free bus.

For getting to the Ballard Locks or any other location, use the Metro Trip Planner. Enter 721 Pine as your start point and Ballard Locks as your destination. Be sure to visit the fish ladder while you're at the Locks.

http://tripplanner.kingcounty.gov/cgi-bin/itin_page.pl?resptype=U

[4cats4me]

we stayed at the Grand Hyatt two weeks ago and loved it!

[ggto4]

The ferry terminal is on the waterfront, Pier 52. I assume you'll be a walk-on, you're not taking a car.

There's a free tourist bus #99 that runs along the waterfront, to Pioneer Sq, Pike Place Market. Even the Ferry Terminal ! Here's the map.

http://metro.kingcounty.gov/cftemplates/show_map.cfm?BUS_ROUTE=099&DAY_NAV=WSU

Your hotel is on 7th and Pine so you can walk downhill 6 blocks to catch the Market and the free bus.

For getting to the Ballard Locks or any other location, use the Metro Trip Planner. Enter 721 Pine as your start point and Ballard Locks as your destination. Be sure to visit the fish ladder while you're at the Locks.

http://tripplanner.kingcounty.gov/cgi-bin/itin_page.pl?resptype=U

 

Maple....Right, we are flying in from Texas and & no rental car. Thank you for your help. I will look up both sites and make copies. Thank you so much for providing this info and for taking the time to help others. gg (in the 29th day of 100+ temps)

[ggto4]

we stayed at the Grand Hyatt two weeks ago and loved it!

 

 

Hi, 4cats4me....I could be 1golden4gg....we have a golden retriever. I am so glad to hear you loved the Grand Hyatt. Were you able to get a room with a good view and did you request it, or just luck ? What did you do pre or post cruise ? Were you cruising Alaska. If so, what excursions did you do or what did you do in each town?" gg

[4cats4me]

Hi, 4cats4me....I could be 1golden4gg....we have a golden retriever. I am so glad to hear you loved the Grand Hyatt. Were you able to get a room with a good view and did you request it, or just luck ? What did you do pre or post cruise ? Were you cruising Alaska. If so, what excursions did you do or what did you do in each town?" gg

 

Hi GG,

 

We had a fabulous view here. We booked a Regency Club room, so that automatically puts you on a high floor, floor 26-30, I believe, and the Club room was only $50 more a night than the regular rooms and included evening snacks, drinks, snacks throughout the day like cookies, apples, bottled waters, sodas, and a nice breakfast in the morning, all in the Regency Club. The breakfast was not a hot breakfast but more like a very comprehensive continetal with lox and bagels, fresh berries, all the coffee, tea, et cet, pastries, yogurt, granola! We felt it was worth the upgrade and with the Triple A card we got an even better deal!

We cruised on Princess -- I wrote a review. Click the link!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1446981

[ggto4]

Hi GG,

 

We had a fabulous view here. We booked a Regency Club room, so that automatically puts you on a high floor, floor 26-30, I believe, and the Club room was only $50 more a night than the regular rooms and included evening snacks, drinks, snacks throughout the day like cookies, apples, bottled waters, sodas, and a nice breakfast in the morning, all in the Regency Club. The breakfast was not a hot breakfast but more like a very comprehensive continetal with lox and bagels, fresh berries, all the coffee, tea, et cet, pastries, yogurt, granola! We felt it was worth the upgrade and with the Triple A card we got an even better deal!

We cruised on Princess -- I wrote a review. Click the link!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1446981

 

Great review. I esp. appreciated the part about going from hotel to the pier and all the details of embarkation. Sounds like you had a beautiful cruise, full of great weather. Thank you for all the info. gg

[elzbal]

I esp. appreciated the part about going from hotel to the pier and all the details of embarkation.

 

You'll want to double-check which pier your cruise leaves from, just to avoid mistakes. There's a pier on the downtown waterfront that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity use - it's technically a several block walk away from the hotel but you might want to take a cab if you have a lot of luggage or if you hate walking. The excellent review talks about the new cruise terminal just north of downtown, which serves Carnival/Princess/Holland America, about a 10-15$ cab ride away. Make sure you know which pier you're leaving from. :)

[ggto4]

You'll want to double-check which pier your cruise leaves from, just to avoid mistakes. There's a pier on the downtown waterfront that Royal Caribbean and Celebrity use - it's technically a several block walk away from the hotel but you might want to take a cab if you have a lot of luggage or if you hate walking. The excellent review talks about the new cruise terminal just north of downtown, which serves Carnival/Princess/Holland America, about a 10-15$ cab ride away. Make sure you know which pier you're leaving from. :)

 

We will be taking a cab and I will double check the pier number. We are crusing with Holland America and I believe out of Pier 91. Thank you so much for your information and help. We love the great Northwest and its people. gg

[4cats4me]

We will be taking a cab and I will double check the pier number. We are crusing with Holland America and I believe out of Pier 91. Thank you so much for your information and help. We love the great Northwest and its people. gg

 

 

We are on Princess, but the Holland America Westerdam was at the same pier, Pier 91, on the day our cruise sailed. Pier 66 is much closer than the pier we embarked from.

[ActiveTraveler]

I went to Seattle once and plan to go back. That trip included the aquarium, a bus tour, Pike Place Market, the weird First Street library, walking down the Harbor Steps, and a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. When I was there, the city was celebrating PPM's 100th anniversary with 100 painted pig statues and I had my picture taken with some of them (all painted differently). My sister loves Starbucks, so she insisted on buying her coffee at the original location, which is in Pike Place Market.

[ggto4]

I went to Seattle once and plan to go back. That trip included the aquarium, a bus tour, Pike Place Market, the weird First Street library, walking down the Harbor Steps, and a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. When I was there, the city was celebrating PPM's 100th anniversary with 100 painted pig statues and I had my picture taken with some of them (all painted differently). My sister loves Starbucks, so she insisted on buying her coffee at the original location, which is in Pike Place Market.

 

Thank you for your comments. What mode of transportation did you use to go to all the places you listed. Did you have your own car, or what ??? Thanks, g.g.