Boeing Tour morning of cruise?

[mcgratru]

Trying to plan trip for in laws who are sweet but keep adding requests. So, looking for opinions. Is it possible/wise to do a boeing factory tour morning of departure? We sail July 11 on crown Princess at 4:00 pm.

 

I would somehow have to arrange pickup at Ramada Tukwila to Boeing factory, luggage storage while on tour and then transportation to the pier?

 

Any ideas/opinions would be appreciated.

[Eaglecw]

I wouldn't do it, it's a long ways to Everett. You want to start thinking about heading to the Pier around 10:45am. I'd only do the Boeing factory tour if I had a full day.

Edited May 9, 2015 by Eaglecw

[Budget Queen]

This tour is usually around 4 hours from Seattle with transportation. This isn't going to work with you sailing out the same day as they will not be dropping off at the ship, adding at least 3/4 hour. This tour is in Everett and would be a big cab fare from there to the cruise ship. Verify this.

 

Only way to do this is to rent a car, in my opinion. get the first tour, and have a downtown car rental drop off.

 

Otherwise, arrange your schedule and do it a different day.

[Potstech]

Not sure if you can do it but buy tickrts ahead of time and as advised do the first one. It will be close and any little hick up and you would likely miss ypur ship. BIL works there and he would say don't do it.

[momto2js]

On departure day, Everett is too far out of the way and the traffic in Seattle is unpredictable (except you know from 6am-9am and from 3pm-6pm it is going to STINK). They could possibly do the tour IF they stay in Everett the evening before, get the first tour in the AM and then head to the port by 11 or noon at the latest.

[peety3]

First thing to mention: you can book the tour itself directly for $18 with advance purchase. Don't buy the "package" which includes transportation unless that ends up being a good value in the grand scheme of things. I love the tour, and have done it several times over the years. I'm usually the geek with a printout of which aircraft is in which bay on the 747 and 787 lines, and which aircraft are supposedly parked where on the flightline. It's 90 minutes including a 6-minute video to start. Remember that it's a no-electronics tour, so leave everything in the car or one of the lockers inside. As expected, the tour finishes by dropping you into the gift store, and there is a mini-museum (perhaps micro-museum) to walk through afterward if you have a few minutes to kill (if you go, I highly recommend you find the small hands-on display showing the various materials used in aircraft building new and old. It's impressive to see the differences in weight, strength, and stiffness between the materials.)

 

That said, transportation and luggage storage could become a challenge. If you're in Tukwila, you could scoot right up 405; once you're on 405, it's essentially two turns to get to the Everett plant (and you get to drive by the Renton narrow-body plant, which does NOT do tours, but cranks out 2 737s every workday or 42 per month - always amazes me what they can produce) and avoids the I-5 mess. However, a rental car could be a challenge to return if you wanted to finish at the cruise terminal. One luggage option MIGHT be to call ahead and see if you can store your bags at the Hilton Garden Inn that's at the Future of Flight tour center...perhaps that's a way to handle them while you're on the tour.

 

Although nothing the same as the factory tour, you may instead want to visit the Museum of Flight. It's close to I-5, and more in line with your general direction of travel to the ship. They have a 787 you can walk through and a Concorde, lots of aircraft on display inside and out, and another favorite of mine.

[BCHappyGal]

I would not attempt it as the Boeing Plant is a long way from downtown Seattle and the docks and the tour with museum takes at least a half day then you have the transportation issue which would eat up the other half of the day... I consider the Boeing Plant tour a full day excursion. If they really want to do this they need to change their plane tickets and fly in a day earlier... then book it as a Greyline Bus tour so they get the transportation to and from downtown Seattle ...

[mapleleaves]

Can they handle the physical demands of the tour?

<<<The Boeing Tour involves walking down and up two steep flights of stairs at each end of the factory, walking through two large tunnels, the first .3 miles (.5 km) round trip, the second shorter, and riding two freight elevators to balconies overlooking the Boeing factory floor.>>>

 

As BQ stated, a rental car is the only option given your short time frame. Tours that include transportation require 4-5 hrs.

If you rent from Enterprise, Alamo or National ( who have kiosks at the piers) you can drop off the car at their downtown office and they will take you to the pier. Plan on a 30 minute drive to get to Everett in the morning, but closer to an hour to return to Seattle.

 

http://www.futureofflight.org/boeing-tour-seattle

Edited May 10, 2015 by mapleleaves

[mcgratru]

Thank you all for the replies. I don't think it is doable this trip and I am, frankly, a little relieved not to have to plan this. I think I will just suggest hubby and father in law head to the Museum of Flight which is pretty close to our hotel in Tukwila. They could be there for opening at 10:00, spend an hour or two and then head to the terminal for cruise without too much difficulty.

[Mercruiser]

The Museum of Flight, at Boeing Field, is an excellent choice. I was there last weekend. It's an excellent museum that happens to be located midway between Tukwila and downtown Seattle.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7

[Suzanne123]

Or, you could take this Snoqualmie Falls and Seattle tour if you're not into airplanes. They drop you off at the pier.

Really nice.

http://www.shuttertours.com/snoqualmie-falls-tour.php

[GreySkies]

The Museum of Flight is definitely the better way to go. Just be aware that the 747 and a NASA plane are sitting behind some construction that has recently gotten underway. The 787, Concorde, and another plane are still accessible, though. Personally, I like the Wright Flyer replica inside better.

[Mercruiser]

The Museum of Flight is definitely the better way to go. Just be aware that the 747 and a NASA plane are sitting behind some construction that has recently gotten underway. The 787, Concorde, and another plane are still accessible, though. Personally, I like the Wright Flyer replica inside better.

 

The "another plane" is the first Boeing 707 Air Force One, used by Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. It was open for viewing when I went two weeks ago. I thought it was very interesting to see how the POTUS traveled in the 1960s.

 

See http://www.museumofflight.org/aircraft/boeing-vc-137b-707-120sam-970-air-force-one

[Budget Queen]

Kennicott- a contributor on this board, his father is part of an historic exhibit inside the Museum of Flight museum- Mudhole Smith. :) Also exhibited at the Anchorage flight museum. My husband, also has a donated plane, there, from USAirways, he actually serviced. A few years ago, a docent offered a look at the log books (well he did kind of hint around, :) ), that confirmed it.