Departure from Seattle Airport after Cruise

[Trobrah]

Hello all,

 

I am cruising round trip out of Seattle this summer, and am in the process of booking my flights. The best return flight for me leaves Seattle at 11:45am. For those of you who have cruised out of Seattle, do you think I'll be able to make that flight, assuming the ship docks at 8am? I can leave later, but then don't get home until after midnight, which I'm trying to avoid.

 

Thanks for you help,

Susan

[mapleleaves]

My standard advice is ...... both piers are about a 30 minute drive to the airport, but give it an hour due to hwy/tunnel construction, city events, and the usual congestion. For a domestic flight you should arrive 2 hrs prior to departure. SeaTac is a very busy airport esp on summer weekends when thousands of cruise passengers are told to arrive at noon or later. So back into that equation to see if it meets your comfort level.

Keep in mind that you can go to any TSA checkpoint at SeaTac, not just the one closest to your gate, so if one line is horrendously long, send someone ahead to look at the others. There are usually 4 open on weekends.

 

http://www.portseattle.org/Sea-Tac/Maps-and-Directions/Pages/Security-Checkpoints.aspx

 

(#1 is where the cruiseline shuttles unload)

Edited January 29, 2017 by mapleleaves

[lucy2mb]

We have a 10:35 flight. It was originally closer to 11:00. We are Platinum with Carnival and will do self assist and the shuttle is scheduled at 7:00. I am hoping to be at the airport by 8:30. We have never been to Seattle but I know Miami is very busy and our shuttle arrived at the airport by 8:15. One year a couple that went with us was off the ship by 6:15. My PVP felt like we can make it. I know there are always things to slow you down.

[CruiserBruce]

The are many threads on this topic on the West Coast Departures board, where Seattle is covered, because it is not in Alaska. The standard recommendation is no flight before 11am.

 

If you are going to stick with 10:35, I would just walk off and grab a cab. Is the shuttle you refer to just for you? Or a shared shuttle? If shared, cancel, and grab a cab.

Edited January 29, 2017 by CruiserBruce

[jimsig]

One thing to think about would be getting TSA Pre-Check to expedite security. We stayed an extra day in Seattle but when we got to the airport there were at least 200 people in the security line around 430a. When we got to Pre-Check there were 2 people ahead of us already going through security so by the time we showed our boarding passes they were gone. It took longer to check our bags then it did to go through security.

[Sequim88]

I've seen the same thing with Precheck at SeaTac. One time I almost never stopped walking and was through in 90 seconds. Only brief stop was for the TSA person to check the boarding pass and ID which took about 5 seconds. Precheck alone could save half an hour over the regular line. Another factor is day of week - a Sunday can be much faster to get to airport than weekday morning.

[georgiavol]

You can make it easily. Just set up to walk off the ship on your own first thing. Only negative is ya gotta drag your own luggage but no big deal.

[Mrs.Gosse]

I would get a cab and not a shuttle but You should be just fine. You can go completely around the busy part of town to the freeway from the ship terminal.

 

Sent from my SM-N910P using Forums mobile app

[KarimaJ]

T

 

This is what I'm trying to decide to!!!

[Eaglecw]

If you are in the first group to walk off the ship with your bags and grab a cab to Sea-Tac you should be fine with an 10:45 flight.

[Nelie]

The ship docks at 8 right? But what time can you get off? Dealing with bags and people and then getting a shuttle or taxi. Half hour to airport with usual traffic according to goggle maps. You need to be at airport no later than 9:45 for 11:45 flight.

 

MMM I dunno. The paranoid me says don’t do it.

 

My 11ish Tuesday flight in July 2015 from SeaTac to San Diego was met with a huge amount of people that I didn’t expect. Its Tuesday!!!! It took ages to get through security. A man in front of me even flagged down an airport staff member and told them they were running late for their flight. The staff member took their paperwork looked at it and asked. “Did you get there two hours early?” The man was confused and was like “No” Staff member handed back the paperwork and was like “Well you’re supposed to get here two hours early” and then shrugged walked off.

 

So if you’re running late or if its tight no cutting lines. Personally I would chose a flight an hour or two later so you’re not rushing

[JudithLynne]

Last year we had a similar security experience to Nelie. We had a 12 PM flight. We were the only ship at Pier 91. We disembarked at 8 AM in the first group on a Monday, used Seattle Shuttle which left at 8:15 AM. Arrived at SeaTac in half an hour. We waited 20 minutes in line to check our bags which were already tagged. Then came the security lines which we also could not believe for a week day! That took us a good 60 minutes. We were stopped briefly because I wear a knee brace. Next time, I will pack that in a carry on and put it on post security. Bottom line.....we would never have made a 10:35 AM flight.

 

Susan....all things being equal, you should have little problem making an 11:45 AM flight. We are doing our same cruise this year and will take an 11:48 AM flight. Last year we even had time to have breakfast at the airport before our flight.

 

The flight program for cruise ships lists the earliest bookable flight at 11:30 AM.

 

Judith

[KarimaJ]

Update: Here what we did for our 11:00am flight. We lined up for easy walk off (Norwegian) at 7:15am on a Saturday, lots of people in line already. At 7:53am the line started to move off. Getting through customs was quick. We got our Lyft driver within 5 minutes of getting to the curb. No traffic getting to the airport. Check into Jetblue for the baggage drop was good, no lines. But I noticed other airlines did have a bit of a line. Security lines were busy, took about 30 minutes to get through. Though they said it gets worse as time goes on. We still had more then an hour to spare.

[Crew News]

Weekend airfares and the following Monday following cruise disembarkation are more than double fares on Tuesday, at least on Southwest. By staying in Seattle and departing on Tuesday AM, our airfare dropped $700 which was more than enough to cover hotel, meals, and rental car to visit the city. Might be worth considering.

[Fly and Sail]

My ship arrives/docks at 6am as per schedule (Celebrity Solstice). I'm an international passenger so there should be customs involved.

 

Is a 10:20am departure on American ex SEA too ambitious or quite comfortable to make? I never got off a ship at Seattle Port.

[CruiserBruce]

6 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

My ship arrives/docks at 6am as per schedule (Celebrity Solstice). I'm an international passenger so there should be customs involved.

 

Is a 10:20am departure on American ex SEA too ambitious or quite comfortable to make? I never got off a ship at Seattle Port.

 

Have you read the thread? 10:20 is very ambitious. Docking at 6 doesn't mean getting off at 6:05. I would not book this flight.

 

You will have Immigration and Customs, Immigration will likely take the most time. Customs has gotten easier and faster.

[Fly and Sail]

5 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

 

Have you read the thread? 10:20 is very ambitious. Docking at 6 doesn't mean getting off at 6:05. I would not book this flight.

 

You will have Immigration and Customs, Immigration will likely take the most time. Customs has gotten easier and faster.

 

Well I did and the last post was an example of a 7am docking and an 11am flight where the OP said they had more than an hour time left.

 

That being said I'm in no rush and would like to see the new Amex Centurion Lounge at SeaTac so probably I will have to take United at noon then.

[Ferry_Watcher]

3 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

Well I did and the last post was an example of a 7am docking and an 11am flight where the OP said they had more than an hour time left.

 

That being said I'm in no rush and would like to see the new Amex Centurion Lounge at SeaTac so probably I will have to take United at noon then.

That post that you referenced is from 2017,  SeaTac is even busier now!  There is a big difference between a 10:20 flight and a 11:00 flight, especially getting off a cruise ship.  There are factors that you just can't control (lines, taxi wait times, etc).  Best to play it safe with the 12 noon flight option.

 

[Fly and Sail]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

That post that you referenced is from 2017,  SeaTac is even busier now!  There is a big difference between a 10:20 flight and a 11:00 flight, especially getting off a cruise ship.  There are factors that you just can't control (lines, taxi wait times, etc).  Best to play it safe with the 12 noon flight option.

 

 

Well I have airline status and pre-check / CLEAR so lines at the airport aren't that relevant to me.

There is also a Delta flight with a proper plane (737 instead of regional aircraft) at 11:30 I think that's the winner then.

[Ferry_Watcher]

14 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

Well I have airline status and pre-check / CLEAR so lines at the airport aren't that relevant to me.

There is also a Delta flight with a proper plane (737 instead of regional aircraft) at 11:30 I think that's the winner then.

Relived to read that your AMEX Unobtainium card and Clear will get you through SeaTac without having to deal with the masses of ordinary travelers.

[Fly and Sail]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Relived to read that your AMEX Unobtainium card and Clear will get you through SeaTac without having to deal with the masses of ordinary travelers.

 

The only way to go. I'll keep monitoring if Jet Smarter has a private jet available on my route that day. Can highly recommend that service.

[Ferry_Watcher]

3 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

The only way to go. I'll keep monitoring if Jet Smarter has a private jet available on my route that day. Can highly recommend that service.

 

I hope your cruise and departure timing goes accordingly to plan.  All the best.

 

PS There is a heli-pad on the Solstice if you are really in a time crunch. ; )