Staying in Seattle

[HottyToddyCruzer]

Going on an Alaskan cruise Sept 2014. We are leaving out of Seattle. We plan on arriving on the day before sailing. Anyone have recommendations on where to stay? Will not be getting a rental car. Would like to possibly stay downtown. Any hotels with shuttle service from the airport? Thanks for any help.

[sweetcruiser106]

Hello fellow Mississippian! Welcome to Cruise Critic! We love Seattle. There aren't really any hotels downtown that offer a shuttle service from the airport. Seattle has a light rail service from the airport to downtown and Shuttle Express has decent service from the airport to downtown. As far as places to stay, when we sailed out of Seattle, we stayed at the Marriott waterfront (pricey, but very nice) which is across from Pier 66. If you are sailing from Smith Cove (Pier 91), you will need a shuttle from your hotel (there are no hotels near that port). Cost from the Marriott was around $10.00 per person ( it was $7.00 3 years ago, I'm. accounting for inflation ;)). There are lots of really nice hotels in the area. Just look for what works for you. Have a great trip.

Anne:)

[mapleleaves]

visit the WEST COAST DEPARTURES forum where there are frequent posts about hotels and areas.

Downtown Seattle is about 1/2 drive from the airport so no shuttle service. If you can manage your luggage easily, Light Rail is only $2.75 to downtown. Otherwise http://www.eastsideforhire.com will be about $30 for a cab.

[biojeep]

We stayed at Crowne Plaza which is within walking distance of Pike Place Market. Nice hotel & good food. Shuttle transported us to hotel & to NCL Pearl for departure. Would definitely stay there again.

[CruisingCoral]

Whatever you do, do not stay at the Kings Inn Seattle. We stayed there the day after our cruise on the Oosterdam and it was the worst hotel ever!! My father booked the hotel (he's not allowed to anymore) and thought he was getting a great deal at getting a mini suite for only $75. The elevator was broken, the hotel was falling apart, no hot water for showers, it was just awful. So whatever you do, don't book there!

 

 

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[Putterdude]

We have stayed at the Silver Cloud-Stadium, it is little out of the swim of things but does offer a free shuttle to & from the downtown area and to the cruise terminals. We have also stayed at the Red Lion which is a great hotel and well located in terms of Pike Place Market, restaurants and other downtown attractions.

[DaveOKC]

We stayed at the Marriott Waterfront in Sept. Nice hotel, rooms a bit small IMO for the money. Great location, especially if you are sailing out of pier 66.

 

Taxi to pier the way to go - cost less than $20 with tip.

 

DaveOKC

[dfb]

We loved Red Lion Inn right downtown conveniently located between the lightrail and monorail stations. If you can do some walking, you won't need the car.

[HottyToddyCruzer]

Thanks everyone. All your suggestions are greatly appreciated. :)

[msdash]

stay at the Mediterrian Inn

[HeatherC430]

We stayed at the Westin downtown for 3 nights pre-cruise to Alaska. We didn't rent a car either, and found the location to be walkable to everything we intended on doing during our stay. We used hotwire and booked the 4-star in the downtown area for a reasonable price. We were happy with the Westin for our stay. All the details are in my trip report (in signature below). They do not offer a shuttle from the airport or port, but taxi/shared vans were relatively inexpensive.

[jsf]

Moore Hotel downtown, across street from Pike Place, reasonable pricing.

[busydad12]

You have a couple of options, you can stay at a hotel by the airport, most have a stay and cruise package where they shuttle you to the ship the next morning, is included in the price, and then take the light rail into downtown Seattle to sightsee. The closest hotel to light rail terminal is the holiday Inn. The hotels at the airport are generally cheaper than down town. The next one is to stay at a down town hotel, and then you can walk around to sightsee. Some of those have stay and cruise packages also. We live about two hours from Seattle and spend a lot of time there. We generally will spend the night, so I have stayed at the airport and down town. We have taken the Alaska cruise and love it. If you have any more questions let me know.

 

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[RSF Cruiser]

You have a couple of options, you can stay at a hotel by the airport, most have a stay and cruise package where they shuttle you to the ship the next morning, is included in the price, and then take the light rail into downtown Seattle to sightsee.

 

I checked several of the Marriott airport hotels and didn't see any cruise packages. What airport hotel offers transportation to the port?

[busydad12]

I know the double tree, which is a Hilton property does, as does the Red lion, make sure you go to the hotels website, because it won't show if you are on Expedia, Hotels.com etc.

 

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[RSF Cruiser]

I think I figured out how to get from the hotel to the ship. We're staying at the Fairfield Inn near the airport and I found out they (and several of the hotels) have a shuttle service for $12 each way to the ship. You can even take the shuttle back to the hotel, and then grab the free shuttle to the airport. It's probably a lot easier to take a ship shuttle directly to the airport...

 

The shuttle leaves the Fairfield at 10:00 AM and noon, and leaves the ship at 9:00 and 11:00. From what I could figure out, many of the airport hotels offer this same service at the same price.

Edited March 31, 2014 by RSF Cruiser

[MojitoMadness09]

We have stayed at the Silver Cloud-Stadium, it is little out of the swim of things but does offer a free shuttle to & from the downtown area and to the cruise terminals.

 

Thank you for your post. We were searching hard to find a decently priced hotel for our pre-cruise stay (there is a huge music festival that wknd) and because of your post we chose the Silver Cloud - Stadium. The boyfriend is looking forward to sneaking a peak at the stadiums and the free shuttle to the pier is ideal. Thanks again!

[dmdicato]

I think I figured out how to get from the hotel to the ship. We're staying at the Fairfield Inn near the airport and I found out they (and several of the hotels) have a shuttle service for $12 each way to the ship. You can even take the shuttle back to the hotel, and then grab the free shuttle to the airport. It's probably a lot easier to take a ship shuttle directly to the airport...

 

The shuttle leaves the Fairfield at 10:00 AM and noon, and leaves the ship at 9:00 and 11:00. From what I could figure out, many of the airport hotels offer this same service at the same price.

 

The Sleep Inn and the Best Western at Seattle airport offer the same thing.

[Nick55]

We stayed at the hilton airport. (Side note: they are famous for their crossants for breakfast - pastry chef is from Paris and they are shockingly wonderfull). Next to the light rail system for sightseeing into the city. You will want a cab to get to the ship as almost all the hotels do not provide shuttle. Also it is very cheap by comparison to downtown stay. If you can go in a couple of days early, there is so much to see in Seattle, it is a great start to an alaska cruise.

 

Some expamples are Public Market - you can spend hours walking around it and seeing all that it has to offer from food, snack, trinkets, flowers etc.. Paseaos - voted best sandwich in the US, amazing place they only stay open while the food lasts. Underground tour - a full tour under the streats of the old city that the new city was built above. Duck tour - kind of silly fun but also very informative about the city and the adjoining lake Union, Great city views, houseboats (sleepless in Seattle) sea planes taking off, space needle view. Space Needle - great views on clear days, and food was actually better than expected if you decide to have dinner or lunch there. Aquarium - right on the waterfront, great for kids and some very good seafood right nearby. If you rent a car you can also visit the Boeing factory tour, visit to Mt. St helen or mt Rainier are not bad for day drives.

 

We spent a week there after a cruise and fell in love with the city. We did the day in the city before the cruise and toured northern washington for 4 days after our first cruise.

 

The light rail goes from the airport to downtown. Last station lets out beneath Nordstroms downtown. Also bus service in Downtown proper is free. Great for tourists, you just need to familiarize yourself with their route so you don't head outside the zone. Downtown streets are walking friendly but keep in mind it is a big downtown area and is on a hill, so part of the walk is always uphill - lol. Also depending on the cruise ship, the one downtown is on the other side of a freeway, which has to be traversed via stairs or elevators, and the other is about a mile or 2 from downtown. In most cases, unlike San Juan PR, you will still take a cab to the terminal no matter where the hotel is.

[olemissreb]

Going on an Alaskan cruise Sept 2014. We are leaving out of Seattle. We plan on arriving on the day before sailing. Anyone have recommendations on where to stay? Will not be getting a rental car. Would like to possibly stay downtown. Any hotels with shuttle service from the airport? Thanks for any help.

 

Saw your name and just had to jump in and say "Hotty Toddy"!

 

We stayed downtown after our southbound cruise last year. We stayed at the Red Lion. It was within walking distance of Pike Place Market as well as the monorail that would take you to the Space Needle/Chihuly Glass Museum & Gardens.

 

I've also stayed at the Westin which I believe has a walkway that connects with the original Nordstroms. It's also within walking distance of Pike Place. I'm not sure how close either of the hotels is to the pier though.