psuboater

Typically, Victoria is the last stop for US originating Alaska cruises, and you are right, one can get to Victoria from Seattle in 3.5 hours by boat. So getting to Seattle is not the problem overnight, your ship will stay just behind the international waters so the casino can stay open until as late as it can. When we were on the Quantum, this was the same thing. We arrived to the port well before 7am. The problem was that customs was delayed in being able to clear the ship. We were scheduled for a 7am walk off, it did not start until 8:30am. Getting off the boat, between your boat and the Eurodam, there's approximately 5k passengers needing to disembark. Also, keep in mind, if you are getting an Uber or Lyft, it's about a 1/4 walk to the Uber/Lyft drop off area from where customs drops you out. Your app is also competing with everyone else trying to get a ride share as well. Seattle is also unique in its geography how it's surrounded by water- there are only two main ways down to the airport from where you are. Most likely you'll be taking I5, the other one is Highway 99, which is less of a highway at times and more of a stop light/commerical road. (For locals, yes, they could take 405 but then you're going east to go south and that's not timely from Pier 91 at all :)) If ANYTHING happens on I5- it becomes nearly impossible to get to the airport in a timely fashion. I once planned to arrive to Amtrak on a Saturday with 90 minutes before boarding to spare. I left my house not too much further than Pier 91. Without traffic, the ride should have taken 20 minutes. It took 90 minutes to get off of highway and we missed our train. This also happened another time where we left planning to get to SEA 2 hours before take off. An accident happened on I5, we detoured to 99 and we literally got to our gate 10 minutes before doors close, but not before paying out the nose for the terminal parking and thanking our lucky stars we both have TSA Pre, CLEAR and were not checking a bag. I am the type of person who looks forward to the airport and will arrive way earlier than expected and be happy about it. Out of all of the cities I've lived in, the most close calls I've had missing my flight even with planning to use all 3 hours of my lounge access has been SEA. If you have a backup plan and missing that 10am flight won't break the bank, or you'll be OK with waiting a few hours for another flight or even another day (flights fly in and out full during cruise season), then I say take the gamble. If missing this 10am flight will cause you and your family a lot of stress and ruin a week's worth of fun and relaxation, I say don't roll the dice.

Hi there, I know it must be close to Alaska cruising season when I see this question asked 3 times in a week 😄 Here's how I responded a few days ago: SEA in the summer can be a MESS. I departed to NY on a day 3 ships disembarked in June. It took 45 minutes to do bag drop with Sky Priority access. TSA Pre Only can also have its set of headaches at SEA. There are more times than not that TSA Pre is 45+ minutes. The only "10 minutes or less" guarantee is with TSA Pre Check WITH Clear. If you're arriving back on a weekday, you're going to be fighting with traffic half of your trip getting into the city if you're on Quantum, who has their Pier north of downtown. NCL, downtown at Pier 66 will also face gridlock trying to get to the highway from downtown. Return to Office is back in full force, as is all of the traffic. Also adding, that on my 2022 trip on Quantum, we ran into customs delays and didn't start disembarkation until 8:30am. There were a LOT of stressed out people who were trying to get out ASAP, fight for a cab/uber, and try to make it through. You'll see people say "oh I got a 10:30am no problem" - and those people are very lucky. SEA is known for being too small based on the passengers it intakes, and that spills over into a lot of delays. If you're tight for time, also ask your driver to drop you off at Arrivals. It's only an esclator up to the Depatures floor and you'll save 10+ minutes on your car trying to fight for Departure access.

I just responded on another thread, but SEA in the summer can be a MESS. I departed to NY on a day 3 ships disembarked in June. It took 45 minutes to do bag drop with Sky Priority access. TSA Pre Only can also have its set of headaches at SEA. There are more times than not that TSA Pre is 45+ minutes. The only "10 minutes or less" guarantee is with TSA Pre Check WITH Clear. Factor that you're coming in on a Monday, you're going to be fighting with traffic half of your trip getting into the city if you're on Quantum, who has their Pier north of downtown. NCL, downtown at Pier 66 will also face gridlock trying to get to the highway from downtown. Return to Office is back in full force, as is all of the traffic. Also adding, that on my 2022 trip on Quantum, we ran into customs delays and didn't start disembarkation until 8:30am. There were a LOT of stressed out people who were trying to get out ASAP, fight for a cab/uber, and try to make it through. You'll see people say "oh I got a 10:30am no problem" - and those people are very lucky. SEA is known for being too small based on the passengers it intakes, and that spills over into a lot of delays. If you're tight for time, also ask your driver to drop you off at Arrivals. It's only an esclator up to the Depatures floor and you'll save 10+ minutes on your car trying to fight for Departure access.

Also adding to this - on a disembarkation day where there were 3 ships in port, it took me 45 minutes with Delta Sky Priority to do the self-tagged bag drop (I live here and was actually going on my own cruise to Bermuda 🙂 ) . TSA Pre lines can get as high a 1 hour waits here. TSA Pre/CLEAR is the only consistent "fast pass" past security. I took the Quantum in 2022, and we had customs issues with disembarkation. Because we lived here, we weren't in a rush, but disembarkation didn't start until 8:30am, which resulted in a lot of melt downs trying to disembark the ship. As someone who grew up and visits the East Coast frequently, I feel your pain with either really early or really late flights out of SEA. But it's not worth it to ruin a vacation being super stressed that you'll make your flight the day you leave.

The Centurion will allow you longer than 3 hours if you have arrived to LAX on the first leg and your connecting leg is at the same airport.

This was on the Joy, and this past June, so YMMV, but they did hold back a LIMITED amount of Vibe passes on board. By luck, our shuttle driver picked us up an hour early so we were at the cruise terminal and checked in when we got cleared for boarding. I went straight to Teppenaki and got one of the 2 last Vibe passes they had on board. We boarded at 11:15, Vibe was sold out before noon.

The one city you shouldn't get offended if someone tells you to eat a bag of Dick's 😄

We're on the trip right after you!

We were just on the Joy in June to Bermuda and thought that the Vibe was worth every penny, especially for embarkation day- it was wonderful to have a quiet place to sit with a drink as chaos outside ensued with everyone waiting for their rooms to open. The Joy's Vibe is expanding in February during her dry dock - laser tag is being removed to expand the Vibe area. We have our passes for June 2024 back to Bermuda.

(Raises hand) 🙂 I'm her daughter and I can attest our mother daughter cruise is always a highlight of my year, I'm 38 and we started this tradition when I was 21.

Trivia Addict's daughter here -- after having a great experience with the Vibe that past February (but not used as well as we hoped, it snowed on our trip from LA to Enesanda!), I checked every day online for Vibe passes from February to June (and I do mean every day!) - no luck. Hearing that "once sold out online, they're gone" I shifted my mindset to not having the Vibe to Bermuda (still going to Bermuda, who could complain?) We didn't plan on getting to the port so early in June, but our car pick up was over an hour earlier than scheduled. We had a Club Suite so while not first to board, we were one of the first. We sat down at Mixx and I told my mom I was going to just check Teppenaki *just* to make sure. I was shocked to see Vibe passes still available and I got into line. I was told they hold 10-20% back for onboard passes. We were one of the last people to get passes, I think they cut off the line 3 people after me. It was not yet noon, we boarded around 11:15 So if you don't have passes, getting to be one of the first on board, and do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not go to guest services as stated (I heard someone behind me say "well if they told me to come HERE first I would have gotten one!"), and may the odds be in your favor. The Joy will expand her Vibe footprint during her dry dock in February, taking over the laser tag space and making it two levels, so there will be more chances for all next season 🙂

Something to think about (and your son to think about)- there are many, many posts here from people when their checkin luggage was pulled to the "naughty room" for power strips, small appliances, alcohol in listerine bottles, etc. This brings me peace of mind that every piece of cargo going on the ship with us has been screened throughly. In the same vein of worrying - when ships stop at ports that have travel warnings from the US - having a good, safe experience is how these companies profit. They are not going to travel to any port that they feel will put a large amount of people in danger. Back in 2012, we stopped in St. Croix- it was the first time major cruise lines stopped there after years, because the ships pulled St. Croix from their itinearies because it wasn't safe for their customers to travel at the time. All travel assumes risk, but cruise ships will go above and beyond for safety as any incident (especially after COVID and their tremendous loss) of bad publicity that scares away customers is bad business. That being said, we will be on the Joy in June for our 5th time to Bermuda and our 3rd time on the Joy. It is our absolute favorite itineary - Bermuda is friendly, safe and clean. We hope to see you there!

Even bidding the max bid doesn't guarantee you a win. I've bid max bids a couple of times on the lower Haven categories and rejected each time.

I booked our Vibe for the Joy for 6/9/24 on 6/19/23.

Wanted to add to look into BC wines if you're from the US. I didnt realize how great they are until we went on a wine tour of the area. The US restricts Canadian wine imports which is why you don't see it here. Backyard Winery Reserve bottles rivaled Napa wines for us. Give it a try when you're there!

Please see #5 and #6 in this thread to the answer.

Cancellation here! We took the Summit every year to Bermuda and had a $500 Non refundable deposit for this past June. We took a quick trip on the Norwegian Joy to Mexico in Feb. We booked our Bermuda trip on board, and cancelled Summit as soon as we got home. Rebooked on the Joy for June 2024. Occasionally pop on here and see our decision was the right move. Even not being in Haven, we do add ons that give us a top tier experience for a fraction of X these days.

The Westin immediately comes to mind, and even closer to the market is The Thompson. There's also the Inn at Market which is right on top of Pike Place. Most of Aves are flat, the cross streets can be hilly. The nice thing is if the one cross street is too hilly for you, go one or two more blocks and it's much flatter.

Adding to this- I'm based in the Seattle area but went to Alaska on the Quantum last April. We had a custom clearance delay after we docked and the first people off the weren't allowed off until close to 9. We had no rush, but people with early flights who expected to get off at 7:15am were freaking out. Is a 10:20am doable and are others going to say they made it no problem? Sure. But SEA is a gamble in the heavy cruise season. Some days it's less than a 10 minute time through security, other times it makes the news when security times are over 90 minutes. Checking in baggage can also be a long wait. I have Sky Priority with Delta and it still took me 30+ minutes for bag drop. I avoid flying out of here from June-September, take that as you will 🙂

After baggage claim, head up on the esclator to the sky bridge. There are signs that will lead you to cruise transfers.

I remember I just found out I loved Sushi in 2009, and then being on the Equinox in 2010 with the afternoon tuna nigiri in the buffet....I was in Heaven!

It will also help to know where you're flying from. When we were in Alaska in May, I was on the top deck with flip flops and a sweatshirt, since I live in the Pacific Northwest. I saw others from Florida who were in full on winter jackets with fur. It just depends on your tolerance to colder and damp!

Yes, Celebrity is no longer a premium cruise line for the majority of their passengers (non suite), they're simply Royal Caribbean with a different color scheme. They're no longer worth the premium up charge because they have and are continuing to chip away at the special touches that differentiated themselves from their mainstream brand. We jumped from X to NCL for our annual Bermuda trip and no regrets. It's a mainstream cruise line but their base fare relflects as such and we pay for the extras we want.

Hi! Your corgo is adorable!

Seattle has a high rate of property crime, but not violent crime. I've had a package or two stolen from my front door, but that's about it. A good trip when visiting a large city, however, is to make sure you have nothing visible in your car that would tempt someone from doing a smash and grab. Granted, this has happened to us once, where my husband's wallet fell out onto the drivers seat...but this happened in a suburban gym parking lot in a very safe part of town...New Jersey. So if you're driving in a rental or your own, put everything away. That includes the odd coins that might be in your cup tray, or a phone charger (signalling that it might be worth smashing your window for your phone). I've lived in Columbus, OH and Philadelphia before moving here, so my view of "comfortable" and "safe" is a lot different than someone who has never lived in a big city. For me, Seattle is a very safe city. There are many blocks of both of my previous cities where I would neverever visit, where as in Seattle, I tell many to avoid 3rd Ave, but way different than "what ever you do, don't visit 3rd ave". I worked in the Belltown neighborhood, and yes, I reccomend being aware of your surroundings, working on your best 'I know what I'm doing face' and other such medium-to-big city sized recommendations. Bad things do happen, unfortunately, but they're happening everywhere, and you just need to be vigilant. I understand, however, the nervousness people feel. During the pandemic where I didn't need to go in often, the local news definitely made me skittish the first few times returning to the office. It took time for me to ignore the noise and just walk with confidence.