recent cruise port 91 experiences

[cruzer0007]

We are leaving out of port 91 in Seattle on the Westerdam in about a week, and this is our first time on Holland, and first time cruise out of Seattle.  We have a senior citizen in our party that has some difficulty with long walks, and long standing lines, and I was hoping to get some recent experience opinions from folks that have cruised out of port 91.  Concern is elevated because I have seen a number of posts about the general chaos in Seattle on boarding day, so we are trying to map out contingencies in advance.  Can we easily locate a wheelchair for our senior to use during the embarkation process ?  How strict will they be regarding our arrival time, for instance, if we have a noon appt time and we arrive at 11:15am, will this be acceptable ?  How far will we be walking from the passenger drop off area to the actual check-in processing area at the pier (for purpose of this question, assume we will take Lyft or Uber to get to pier91) ??   How about the reverse, when we depart at the end of the cruise, and we "walk off" with our luggage, how far do we have to walk to get from the cruise terminal building exit to the shuttle that takes you to the Lyft/Uber ride share area at pier 91 ?   Many thanks in advance for recent experiences and suggestions.

Edited August 29, 2022 by cruzer0007

[vswan]

Uber and lyft are quite a ways from the port. Taxis will get you closer. We had a check in time of 12:30 or so and went a bit early. Lines were not long and we were through quickly. If you are worried about lines the later you go the shorter the lines will be.  Have no experience with wheel chairs.

[REOVA]

Contact HAL ahead of time for wheel chair to see if they can provide . They book up early. 

[BigMattT]

Last week in Seattle, our Uber dropped us off about 50 feet from the Pier 91 terminal building door at Noon. There was no chaos, just a normal bustling port. There were lots of people dropping off their bags at the entry-door crosswalk, but no real wait. No one checked for our scheduled arrival time.

 

Then, there was a short line (5 minutes) to enter the terminal, at which point the line split into VeriFly or non-Verifly for health checks and ArriveCan completion.

 

The next line was security, about 8 minutes, walking through a well organized, constantly moving stanchioned queue area leading to metal detectors and bag scanners.

 

The final wait was roughly 10 minutes in line to match photos to our boarding pass/passport. From there it was a walk without stopping on to the ship. (There is a seating area here to rest if needed after you're checked-in.)

 

In total, it was ~30 minutes of standing and roughly 800 steps (according to my pedometer) through areas with very few places to stop or sit. (We noticed ~5 minute waits for elevators.)

 

At disembarkation, you'll walk roughly the length of the ship (~1,000 feet) from gangway through baggage claim, customs, and out to the transportation area. There is no place to sit while waiting for customs.

 

For Uber/rideshare app pickups, you'll hop on a short shuttle to a lot with numbered parking spaces where the Ubers pickup. There was no wait for the shuttle.

 

I would not recommend using the option to "walk off your own luggage" if a member of your party needs any mobility assistance. It is safer to wait onboard in a lounge for your bag tag to be called, instead of trying to navigate escalators, stairs, and elevator lines with baggage. On *EVERY* cruise I've been on, I've witnessed passengers with visible mobility deficits fall during debarkation trying to navigate escalators and queue stanchions with luggage.

 

[Euby]

12 hours ago, BigMattT said:

I would not recommend using the option to "walk off your own luggage" if a member of your party needs any mobility assistance. It is safer to wait onboard in a lounge for your bag tag to be called, instead of trying to navigate escalators, stairs, and elevator lines with baggage. On *EVERY* cruise I've been on, I've witnessed passengers with visible mobility deficits fall during debarkation trying to navigate escalators and queue stanchions with luggage.

 

 

@cruzer0007 You can notify HAL ahead of time if you will need assistance with embarkation and debarkation.  This is for assistance only.  They will not provide the wheelchair (that is a separate company).  Contact HAL via GuestAccessibility@HollandAmerica.com.  They can help answer any of your questions.  Also, it may be cheaper to rent a mobility device from a local DME store and use for the entire trip.