Departing Pier 91 to Sea Tac

[tourismtessy]

We will be cruising RT Seattle for the first time on Princess this September.  Our departure flight is on Alaska Airlines at 12:35 pm.  We are flying first class and are TSA pre. We plan on doing self disembark at the earliest time allowed and grabbing a taxi or shuttle van to the airport.  How far is the walk to catch them and can you pay with credit card or should we have cash? I’m nervous about check in times at SeaTac after all I’ve read. We will be traveling on a Saturday.

[CruiserBruce]

The walk is maybe a block from the front of the building, maybe another couple of blocks from the side of the ship to the exit of the building. The taxis take credit cards.

 

Assuming you are successful disembarking very early, you will have no problem with a 12:35 flight. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

Taxis are lined up awaiting passengers.  You will find the taxi line on the right side of the U shaped driveway as you exit the terminal building at Pier 91.  Many of the taxis are Priuses, so unless you are travelling with 4 or more family members, and need a van taxi, you will wait in a line and be directed to the first available taxi.  Unless you are cruising late Sept, expect to be sharing the taxi waiting line with fellow passengers from Holland America.

If you plan to 'self assist'  and go directly to SeaTac for a 12:35 pm flight, you will have time to enjoy a late breakfast there.   

[SSAtlantic]

We are traveling in August and have a 11:35am return flight on a Saturday. What is the best option from Pier to airport? I am considering switching flights to the red eye due to recent reports, but not a fan. 
 

[Ferry_Watcher]

@SSAtlantic, Walk off the ship carrying your own luggage as early as possible.

Pre-register for Clear to get thru TSA quickly (this may cost if you aren't offered a free trial), or add the SeaTac Spot-Saver app to your phone and reserve your timed entry into the TSA line.  You can book a time starting 3 days before your flight from SeaTac.

 

https://www.portseattle.org/SEAspotsaver

 

Good luck!

Edited May 18, 2023 by Ferry_Watcher

[SSAtlantic]

We are on Royal Princess and have TSA pre check. Is Spot saver a better

option then pre check?

[Ferry_Watcher]

24 minutes ago, SSAtlantic said:

TSA pre check. Is Spot saver a better

option then pre check?

 

Not better, just an option if you didn't have pre-check.

[SSAtlantic]

2 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

Not better, just an option if you didn't have pre-check.

Do you have any inclination why cruise disembarkation has been so delayed thus far this season?

[Ferry_Watcher]

8 hours ago, SSAtlantic said:

Do you have any inclination why cruise disembarkation has been so delayed thus far this season?

 

Could be early season hiccups.  Port Valet should start next week, so that might relieve some of the delay, especially if a lot of passengers take advantage of it. 

[Buckeye10640]

Disembarkation at Pier 91 was smooth today. We were walk-off and were at our gate at the airport at 9am.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Buckeye10640

[SSAtlantic]

47 minutes ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Disembarkation at Pier 91 was smooth today. We were walk-off and were at our gate at the airport at 9am.

Thanks for that update. How did you get to the airport and what ship where you on?

[Buckeye10640]

32 minutes ago, SSAtlantic said:

Thanks for that update. How did you get to the airport and what ship where you on?

We were on Royal and used a taxi, they are lined up waiting right outside the building.  Just happened to chat with someone here at the gate who also disembarked Royal. She said they had to wait a really long time for luggage and just got to the gate at 10:45am. Self-disembark/walk-off seems to be the way to go!

[Fyrmdc]

We just got off of the Ovation on Friday. There was also a Celebrity ship at the pier as well. After the nightmare of getting onto the ship on May 11th in Vancouver we were hoping for a better experience in Seattle. Unfortunately, neither port wins awards for their handling of embarkation/debarkation.

 

If you get off the ship early you will have no problem getting a taxi and getting to the airport quickly. I would give some serious thought to using the cruise line's pre-arranged shuttle to the airport or get off as early as you can (self-assist). We were staying in Seattle for an extra day and were in group 31 getting off of the ship. The leaving the ship part was quick and orderly and the baggage pickup was well organized. Once you left the terminal building everyone got mixed together and it went down hill from there. You walked out of the terminal there was no coordination by staff as to where the lines were. It was a massive mob of people crossing the road to get to all of the different transportation options. The taxi/Uber lines were atrocious. We waited in the taxi line for over an hour and had port staff directing people to go past us and get into the taxi line ahead of us (no good cue system/process). They didn't even have the strap barriers available to create a zig-zag line for the taxis. It became a free for all getting out of the port. After being in line for about an hour and the staff saying it would be about 2 hours more to get a taxi, we ended up sharing a gypsy cab (Uber driver dropping off that just drove over and offered a ride for as many people as he could fit in the vehicle) for $20 a person to get to downtown Seattle.  

 

The ride share parking lot is a decent walk from the terminal (1/4 - 1/2 mile). They do have a shuttle, but then you have to wait until you get to the parking lot to request your ride or you will pay a waiting fee or loose your ride. As we passed the ride share lot, the line was a good 200-300 feet long waiting for rides (it crossed the road to leave the port). There was traffic trying to get into the port backed up all the way to Alaskan Way. We actually saw a couple who had walked all that way getting picked up by an Uber/Lyft out there.

 

The people arriving (at 9:30 am) to board the ships were intermixed with those trying to leave. This caused even more issues because the traffic flow was all combined onto a road that was one lane in each direction in and out (split into 2-4 lanes at the terminal building). This was for all traffic (buses, taxis, ride share and personal vehicles dropping off and picking up). 

 

Even being early in the season for the port and cruise lines this should have been handled better. This wasn't the first year for either having cruise lines in port and the processes learned in past years shouldn't have to be re-learned each year.  

Edited May 21, 2023 by Fyrmdc
Changed other ship from Holland America to Celebrity

[Ferry_Watcher]

3 hours ago, Fyrmdc said:

We waited in the taxi line for over an hour and had port staff directing people to go past us and get into the taxi line ahead of us (no good cue system/process)

Sorry to hear about the challenges of leaving Pier 91 May 19 - this was the first 'double ship day" of the season at Pier 91, and sadly, early season hiccups occur.  No doubt that this first 'double ship' disembark will be the most challenging of the season, and the flow will improve and become more seamless.

 

The folks you saw being directed to 'bypass' the taxi line may have been passengers either walking to the Uber/Lyft lot, which is about 1/4 mile (10 minute walk), or passengers trying to get to Shuttle Express which picks up at the end of the bus lane.  Often times there is a taxi rep working as a line 'wrangler' helping passengers to the correct taxi (i.e., vans for large groups, etc) and  keeping peace among the taxi drivers.

 

The Uber/Lyft lot has parking slots for 33-34 vehicles, so passengers are encouraged to call for their ride once they arrive at the pick-up lot.

 

4 hours ago, Fyrmdc said:

The people arriving (at 9:30 am) to board the ships were intermixed with those trying to leave. This caused even more issues because the traffic flow was all combined onto a road that was one lane in each direction in and out (split into 2-4 lanes at the terminal building). This was for all traffic (buses, taxis, ride share and personal vehicles dropping off and picking up). 

Pier 91 has no control when embarking passengers arrive at the pier.  Everyone receives an arrival time, but many ignore it.  Sometimes there are passengers who arrive as early as 7:30 am, and just wait (even though there are no immensities at Pier 91).  

The goal is to move all 7K+ disembarking passengers safely and efficiently, reach zero count on the ships ASAP, and then open the terminal doors to begin embarking the next 7K+ group of passengers.

 

 

3 hours ago, Fyrmdc said:

This wasn't the first year for either having cruise lines in port and the processes learned in past years shouldn't have to be re-learned each year.

 

The Alaska cruise season is seasonal (May-Oct), so there is a small window at the beginning of the season when pier side staff (returning and new) need to remember/learn and get into the flow of the disembarkation and embark logistics.  Sorry that it was your early season cruise that was impacted.

 

The good news was that Pier 91 was able to open doors for the May 19 sailing of both ships around 10:15 - 10:20 am and passengers were walking on to the ships a bit after 11 AM