Mini-Review - Puget Sound and San Juan Islands - September 8-15, 2018

[SteelMagnolia9]

On 12/24/2018 at 10:55 AM, DaveinCharlotte said:

SteelMagnolia9 - You said ship returned to Shilshole Marina the day before airport departure, so I assume that is where you took the taxi from.  That marina appears to be some distance north of Seattle downtown -- do you recall how long your taxi ride to the Sea-Tac airport took? 

It was no more than 30 minutes. It was a Saturday morning and traffic was light.

[puli]

If you could only choose one  Pacific Northwest cruise would you opt for this cruise over the Columbia River one?

[jklc123]

We are also thinking about booking the Hudson River cruise. Which of the ships would you recommend?

[SteelMagnolia9]

On 1/12/2019 at 11:37 PM, puli said:

If you could only choose one  Pacific Northwest cruise would you opt for this cruise over the Columbia River one?

Difficult question as both are wonderful cruises. If you enjoy history (Lewis & Clark), the Columbia & Snake River cruise would be a great choice. You also go through a series of locks on that cruise. Puget Sound & San Juan Islands was a more scenic cruise. 

[SteelMagnolia9]

On 2/18/2019 at 9:51 PM, jklc123 said:

We are also thinking about booking the Hudson River cruise. Which of the ships would you recommend?

I, along with a friend, am booked on the American Constitution for October 2019. We selected this ship as it is new, with a few more public spaces/lounges. 175 passengers. 

 

I’ve been on the American Star twice on two different itineraries and enjoyed it, it is smaller and older with less passengers than the Constitution. The price point for the Hudson River cruise on the Star is a bit lower. That is always a plus.

 

I’ve not been on the Indepence, so can’t comment on it beyond what is stated on the ACL website.

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by SteelMagnolia9

[jklc123]

6 hours ago, SteelMagnolia9 said:

I, along with a friend, am booked on the American Constitution for October 2019. We selected this ship as it is new, with a few more public spaces/lounges. 175 passengers. 

 

I’ve been on the American Star twice on two different itineraries and enjoyed it, it is smaller and older with less passengers than the Constitution. The price point for the Hudson River cruise on the Star is a bit lower. That is always a plus.

 

I’ve not been on the Indepence, so can’t comment on it beyond what is stated on the ACL website.

 

Thanks for your reply. We tend to like smaller ships. If stateroom size is the same, we might go with the Star. However, new is attractive, too.

[Ray in NH]

On ‎12‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 10:55 AM, DaveinCharlotte said:

SteelMagnolia9 - You said ship returned to Shilshole Marina the day before airport departure, so I assume that is where you took the taxi from.  That marina appears to be some distance north of Seattle downtown -- do you recall how long your taxi ride to the Sea-Tac airport took? 

I am not SteelMagnolia9, but was on the cruise following, and we docked at a different pier at the conclusion of our cruise.  Instead of Shilshole Marina, we docked close to Seattle center city.

It might be worthwhile to contact ACL as exactly where you will be docking.  They usually use Shilshole Marina, but they had two ships in Seattle on the day we returned.  We being the smaller ship, we were designated for the downtown location, which was nice since we docked there the evening prior to disembarkation, which made for an easy jaunt to downtown Seattle for an evening experience, if one desired.

 

NRayH 

[DaveinCharlotte]

Thanks Ray.  Have just received the mailed package for our May cruise, and it's saying Shilshole Marine leaving & returning.  Given what you've said though, I guess it's always possible they could change that when the time actually comes.  Good to know this alternative location is actually closer to the airport, so looks like Steel Magnolia's estimate would be the "worst case" and actual time to the airport might be even less.