3 Hours Post-Cruise Seattle - What to Do?

[allpak1]

This guided tour of the market looks like fun. Savor Seattle Tours - Look up their website for times. We plan to do in in Sept. after our Alaska cruise.

[wendyp247]

we are also on the. Same Disney cruise. We have rented a car sice our flight doesn't leave until 10:30pm W

e want to go to Pikes Market and do the Boeing tour .Which should we do first? We want to purchase Boeing tickets in advance. What's a good time to pick for the tour

Any suggestions for parking at Pikes market

[zenjenn]

Ok, so I called the hotel where we are staying pre-cruise - and they are saying they will NOT hold our bags because they do not have room (and I offered to pay.)

 

Makes me nervous about this plan. If a hotel where we had stayed as recent guests will not hold our bags, why will another hotel do so?

[rchoi]

We're on the same DC as you, and we'll be staying until Wed. night to come home. I found so many great suggestions here... however, if I recalled our DC in 2007, the disembarkation was long. It took us a while after docking. I don't know how it is now, but doing any sightseeing in such a short time frame I'd be worried, especially with children and an elderly (that sounds bad, because some 70 year-olds are actually more fit than I am:o).

 

I'd probably taxi to Duck Tour as you'd planned and leave your bags there. Grab a bite for lunch near the Duck Tour and then head back to the airport. That's what I would do when traveling with kids. Do the Pike Market pre-cruse since you'll have more time then.

 

You'll be fine! Have fun planning! Hope to see you on Cruise!

:)

[Islandgirl4242]

The Duck Tour departs next to the Seattle Center where the Folk Life Festival will be Memorial Week-end. Getting around anywhere in that area will be difficult with all of the additional cars/people. Plan you time wisely...it can be frustrating to sit in traffic instead of out enjoying the sites.

 

I can understand why a downtown hotel would not be able to store your luggage, especially with you not staying there at that time. This is a busy Seattle week-end with lots of Seattle area residents and out of town travelers converging on the downtown area. Seattle Center is considered downtown, but not the downtown core area. Even the monorail from Westlake Center to the Seattle Center can have long lines that week-end...been there, done that. Downtown Seattle has easy walking. You can take the steps at the back of Pike Place Market down to the waterfront and explore there...IMax, Aquarium, etc.

 

Enjoy your time...Seattle is a beautiful city. ~~Judy

[zenjenn]

2 pages of thread and many weeks later and I am STILL completely befuddled as how to best manage our time after the cruise.

 

Pier 91. I just still remain so unclear as to how easy it is to walk or get a taxi, how long it will really take to have our feet on dry land and ready to go after the cruise, etc, and how the music festival will impact traffic.

 

I have half a mind to save myself the stress and just go right to the airport, but our cruise is scheduled into port at 9 am and our flight leaves at 3 pm, and I am not liking the idea of sitting at the airport for 5 hours.

 

Would really love to hear what people have done in the past in this situation and whether it worked/hasn't worked!

[Casagordita]

2 pages of thread and many weeks later and I am STILL completely befuddled as how to best manage our time after the cruise.

 

Pier 91. I just still remain so unclear as to how easy it is to walk or get a taxi, how long it will really take to have our feet on dry land and ready to go after the cruise, etc, and how the music festival will impact traffic.

 

I have half a mind to save myself the stress and just go right to the airport, but our cruise is scheduled into port at 9 am and our flight leaves at 3 pm, and I am not liking the idea of sitting at the airport for 5 hours.

 

Would really love to hear what people have done in the past in this situation and whether it worked/hasn't worked!

 

Pier 91--I think people are having trouble giving you a definitive answer here because there isn't one. There are so many variables to getting off your ship and being ready to roll from the dock, it's just not something you can predict with any certainty. Your timing is so tight, any delay could cause you to miss whatever you'd planned. You're going to have to accept a certain amount of uncertainty and be willing to be flexible.

 

Folklife--The festival will make a mess of traffic all around Seattle Center, but if you avoid that area, you should be okay. Personally, that would mean I would avoid Ride the Ducks that day, even if they have a pickup point at Westlake, unless they could assure me that the same vehicle wouldn't also be stopping at their Seattle Center headquarters. It definitely means no Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, or Experience Music Project.

 

That still leaves places like Pioneer Square (shopping, the Underground Tour, the Klondike Gold Rush Museum, Smith Tower) or Pike Place Market--IF you can figure out what to do with your luggage. If you want to go someplace halfway to the airport, how about the Museum of Flight? Check with them to see if they will store your luggage--I can't remember but they might have a check room for coats, so it's a possibility, worth asking about. I'm sure they've heard the request before.

 

I think other people have suggested it, but renting a car from the pier and using it as a rolling luggage locker is another possibility. Yes, parking around most of the tourist sites is hard to find and expensive, but you can usually find something if you're willing to pay enough. Anyplace outside the downtown/Pioneer Square core is more likely to have its own parking. That would be true at the Museum of Flight. You could drive out to Rays Boathouse (you're partway there at Pier 91) and have a nice lunch with a view of the Sound, and stop at the Ballard Locks if you have the time. Or you could drive over to Salty's at Alki (lunch, view of the bay), and drive around Alki Point (Seattle's beach community). Then drive to the airport and return the car there.

 

If you just can't find a place to dump luggage, and you're not willing to 1) rent a car for a few hours and use the trunk as storage, or 2) take a post-cruise tour where they handle luggage for you...then I think you just may be SOL. You have some limitations that may simply make any more sight-seeing impossible, and might make sitting at the airport your only option. Sorry!

[Islandgirl4242]

Casagordita, you wrote some good thoughts on this subject...there really are too many variables, it's a holiday week-end, and then there is an added time contraint.

 

Disembarking depends a lot on the cruise line and also the passengers. We've been off the ship 1/2 hr. after arrival in port and we've also sat in a lounge for 2+ hrs while the ship tried to locate a passenger with an outstanding bill...no one was allowed to disembark until he was located.

Pier 91 is not considered on the downtown waterfront like Pier 66 is and not as easily accessible for walking from the ship to downtown.

 

Zenjenn, I would imagine there will be a line of taxis at the pier as you disembark. If this is a concern, you could always pre-arrange for a towncar/liimo to meet you when the ship arrives.

 

SeaTac airport does have some nice shops and several Seattle restaurants also have opened there. No one relishes the thought of 5 hours in an airport, especially with kids. It looks like this will be a decision for you to make once you are off the ship with luggage in hand

[zenjenn]

Casagordita - for all the (appreciated) brutally frank response, you actually gave me the PERFECT answer.

 

Museum of Flight.

 

They DO have luggage storage, and it looks like it is on the way to the airport, so not a lot in extra cab fares. Not only that, but we have a science museum membership with a ASTC museum, and Museum of Flight is on the passport program, which means we'll just have to pay for Grandma's ticket - the rest of us can get in for free. We can eat lunch either there or at the airport.

 

A perfect way to kill a couple hours! :D THANK YOU! (And thank you too, Islandgirl! :)

[Casagordita]

Casagordita - for all the (appreciated) brutally frank response, you actually gave me the PERFECT answer.

 

Museum of Flight.

 

They DO have luggage storage, and it looks like it is on the way to the airport, so not a lot in extra cab fares. Not only that, but we have a science museum membership with a ASTC museum, and Museum of Flight is on the passport program, which means we'll just have to pay for Grandma's ticket - the rest of us can get in for free.

 

A perfect way to kill a couple hours! :D THANK YOU!

 

Well, COOL!! It's a great museum--lots of stuff for kids and for grownups. If you have the time, try not to miss the historic planes parked across the street--the very first 747, a former Air Force One, and a retired Concorde, among others. You can go on board most of them and see them inside and out.

 

And good to know that they will store luggage! I thought they would have heard that question before--like you said, it's pretty much on the way from downtown to the airport. I'll bet they attract a lot of travelers with some time to kill on their way out of town.

 

Enjoy!