Cracking down on Crime in Seattle before cruise season

[martincath]

I would like to hear from those who have visited Seattle prior to a cruise. Did you feel unsafe while being a tourist?

Not in the slightest, but honestly your question is not going to get any truly useful answers - my personal standards of what feels safe or unsafe are very unlikely to match yours and my tolerance and awareness of real vs. perceived dangers could be higher or lower than yours, as will the responses from any other tourists unless you get a statistically-significant number of opinions.

 

Depending where you live, Seattle could be statistically safer or more dangerous than your home - I would suggest comparing crime stats, which are easily found from official sources like the FBI Uniform Crime Reports page. Most large municipality police forces also make this kind of info available, usually broken down into a bit more detail, but if you live in a city of over 100,000 inhabitants the FBI data is a good place to look as they use very simple, broad categories.

 

As a really quick & dirty ballpark risk estimate though, if you have ever gotten off the ship on a Caribbean/Central or South American cruise and walked around you've probably been statistically in much more danger than in downtown Seattle...

[Casagordita]

Not in the slightest, but honestly your question is not going to get any truly useful answers - my personal standards of what feels safe or unsafe are very unlikely to match yours and my tolerance and awareness of real vs. perceived dangers could be higher or lower than yours, as will the responses from any other tourists unless you get a statistically-significant number of opinions.

 

Very true. You occasionally see people posting here who've gotten freaked out by seeing homeless people, or having a panhandler ask them for spare change--not demanding, not persisting and following them, not acting crazy, just asking. If that's your standard, then yes, you may feel unsafe in downtown Seattle! But if you're remotely used to urban life and the kinds of people you run across in any busy downtown, you'll probably be fine.

[Thedesertrat]

We went three days early. Stsyed near airport ride rail to town everyday. Toured underground Pike's pier and city. No problems anywhere and great trip!

[Coonelian]

Thanks for cab info. I have a sleeper on the train so don't know what side I will be on. As far as fares--pretty expensive. Could have flown first class in a few hours for what I am paying. Will enjoy beautiful scenery and be close to the ground. Flying used to be fun.

[Putterdude]

I would like to hear from those who have visited Seattle prior to a cruise. Did you feel unsafe while being a tourist?

 

Over the years I have spent a great deal of time in Seattle both on business, pleasure and before and after a cruise. Seattle is a big city and like all big cities it has issues. However, never once have I ever felt concerned, threatened or frightened even after dark in downtown Seattle. Now if you are from small town Idaho or somewhere else you may be a bit startled with what you see in terms of the homeless, drug addicts, people suffering from mental health problems and panhandlers but this goes on in any large city and Seattle IMO is no worse than any other large city and quite frankly better than many.

[5150lock]

Thanks for cab info. I have a sleeper on the train so don't know what side I will be on. As far as fares--pretty expensive. Could have flown first class in a few hours for what I am paying. Will enjoy beautiful scenery and be close to the ground. Flying used to be fun.

 

Hi Coonelian, we have done this same trip five times or so. Sometimes the Starlight can run late, and later :p we have had no troubles with getting a cab at all. Right out the front door. Since you have a roomette all your meals come with it at no extra charge and we try to do the latest dinner time before Seattle.

 

The Moore is a nice old place, no air but they will give you a small fan.:p Cab lets you off right in front and we have never had any problems. We have had rooms front, back and in between, front can be noisy but we seem to sleep fine. We may have been here to many times as the night clerk now knows us. ;)

 

They will call you a cab for your cruise, Coffee place is very small and very crowded and in same building, grab a foo foo coffee and goodies and if nice weather sit outside till time to leave. Most of all have a great fun time.

 

We enjoy this part of our trips as you can tell, don't forget to check out the parlor car it is on the way to the dinning car. Sit back and watch the world go by.

[Coonelian]

5150lock--thanks for your encouraging post. I carry ear plugs so noise in hotel is no problem I just requested a room with my own bathroom...I had read about the coffee place but thanks for heads up about being crowded. Getting excited.

[2red4u]

We just got back from our 2nd cruise from Seattle. We live in a smaller city than seattle with not much walking or public transportation. We felt very safe. We stayed in lower Queen Anne, went over to Freemont, pike market and blocks that surround it, all around the space needle, and a running trail down by the beach that goes by the grain elevators. Use common sense, stay aware of your surrounding and who is approaching you, don't weight your hands down with tons of bags. I also leave my designer purse at home and carry a small crossover turned in not out. We used Uber for the first time and loved it! Much better drivers than taxis and they won't try and bump their price up by taking you through traffic or on the "scenic" route, lol.