Am I going to miss my flight in Seattle?

[sandycruzr]

The cruiseline told us not to book any flights until after 12 noon.

Unfortunately, the only flight we can get to our destination is at 11:10 a.m. We cannot stay an extra day so we must fly on disembarkation day which is a Saturday.

We will be on the Star sailing on 9/14/13. I have never sailed out of Seattle and I think the airport is 20 minutes from the port. We plan on carrying our luggage off the ship.

Am I crazy to try this? Does anyone out there have experience with carrying luggage off the Star in Seattle?

ANy insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[JimmyVWine]

There is no reason why you cannot make that flight if you arrange to be among the first off the ship. I've never disembarked in Seattle, but in Whittier, disembarkation began around 5:45. If Princess doesn't "approve" your travel arrangements, then it will assume no responsibility for you if you miss your flight, but they cannot prohibit you from making whatever arrangements you want. Mid-cruise, you will be given a form to fill out where you detail your travel arrangements. Based on that, they will assign you a disembarkation time. There will be a very early "Independent Arrangements" time, and you will want to get that one. If you do not, there will be a set time for passengers to meet with a disembarkation crew member who can manually change your time. Once off the ship, a taxi should be able to get you to the airport in plenty of time, assuming that there are no complications.

[pompeii]

We did self disembarkation off the Star in May and we were off by 8am. We were through customs and at our hotel near the Space Needle by 9am. It was the smoothest disembarkation ever. I don't know if that is the norm, but it worked great for us. Have you looked into EZ check, where they check your bags to your home airport?

[IdahoCruises]

Have disembarked in Seattle a couple of times without any hesitation to the process. Let them know what your plans are and they will do their best to get you off by 8 AM. Depending on mode of transportation to the airport (and traffic), it should take 45 - 60 minutes to the airport. Have a GREAT cruise!

[Potstech]

A way to beat any traffic problems is to take a cab to the Sky train terminal and take it to the airport. They run every 10-15 minutes and is only takes 22 minutes to get to the airport. Otherwise as stated 45-60 minutes easy to the airport especially early in the morning.

[sandycruzr]

I really appreciate all of your responses..Thank you for taking the time to reply to my message.

Have a great day!

[IdahoCruises]

Really good tip! When we were there, they had not built this yet. Would be fun to try!

[Cruiserkenn]

I have disembarked at least five times in Seattle, and it has been smooth every time. You should be fine with early self-disembarkation.

 

Enjoy:)

[Loonbeam]

As a reminder, with self-debarkation you will not get luggage assistance, so be aware that you need to pack accordingly. If you self-disembark I think you would be ok...

[caribill]

Have you looked into EZ check, where they check your bags to your home airport?

 

I doubt it would be available for flights leaving before the Princess recommended ealiest time.

[tamsno]

Just did EZCheck on the Star in July which worked perfectly. Well worth the $20 pp charge. We had 7:45 disembark and prearranged Towncar waiting. A taxi would have worked also. Both were quite reasonably priced for our party of 3. Saturday morning traffic is quite light and we had no trouble making our 11:30 Southwest flight. Even after slow security we were through by 10:00. SeaTac is always mobbed so the earliest disembark is necessary. The only other option for before 8 a.m. was self disembark. As well, unless you only have carryons, the long lines to check luggage would definitely slow you down. Our cruise was wonderful. Have a great time.

[gawyldcat]

We had an 11:15 a.m. flight last June when we sailed on the Golden due to the airlines changing our flight time. We disembarked on the first available time right after self-debarkation due to my Mother being older and unable to pull her luggage. We had a town car waiting and had no trouble making it to the airport on time. You should be fine if you arrange your transportation in advance and disembark as early as possible. Our biggest delays were the security/check-in lines at the airport from all of the other cruise ship passengers flying home.

 

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

[Cruiserkenn]

I doubt it would be available for flights leaving before the Princess recommended ealiest time.

 

Yes, that's right. Last year in Seattle, EZ Check was only available for flights leaving after 11:30am.