likesalot Posted March 16 #1 Share Posted March 16 Hi all! First post. I've been searching for a few days now and can't find an answer to this question. We'll be on the Encore in late June out of Seattle. Our flights were booked through NCL and include transfer. The ship disembarks around 8 am and our flight is at 9:45 pm -- which is fine with me since I want to see a little bit of Seattle. My question is, is NCL expecting us to take a shuttle early in the day with everyone else and sit at the airport all day? If that's the case, I need to cancel and make my own arrangements. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseaholic78 Posted March 16 #2 Share Posted March 16 I would check to see if NCL offer a combination of sightseeing tour which at the end drops you off at the airport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soaringfalcon Posted March 16 #3 Share Posted March 16 We used the transport to the airport, checked our bags with the airline, and then went sightseeing from there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted March 16 #4 Share Posted March 16 6 hours ago, likesalot said: Hi all! First post. I've been searching for a few days now and can't find an answer to this question. We'll be on the Encore in late June out of Seattle. Our flights were booked through NCL and include transfer. The ship disembarks around 8 am and our flight is at 9:45 pm -- which is fine with me since I want to see a little bit of Seattle. My question is, is NCL expecting us to take a shuttle early in the day with everyone else and sit at the airport all day? If that's the case, I need to cancel and make my own arrangements. Thanks! All ashore is 9:00-9:30. Once the last passengers are off, the shuttles stop. You can take a post-cruise shore excursion of the city ending at the airport. You can use the free Port Valet service to take your luggage from your room and deliver it to the airport, checking it in with your airline’s, then explore on your own. Pikes Place Market is a few blocks away. And the Space needle is walkable (but it is all up hill from the waterfront). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vswan Posted March 16 #5 Share Posted March 16 We used the port valet and only carried 2 backpacks for the day. On our way out of the terminal we picked up some maps of the area - not sure if they have them all the time or not - and figured out how to navigate the rail transportation system. Walked to Pikes Place Market, along the water front and took the rail to the Space Needle and when we were done walking around took the rail to the airport. Worked great for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Rick&Jeannie Posted March 16 #6 Share Posted March 16 Welcome to Cruise Critic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted March 16 #7 Share Posted March 16 I would cancel the transport and find your own thing. Yes, you will be expected to get on the bus and go straight to the airport. And since you have such a late flight, you won't even be able to check in yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare www3traveler Posted March 16 #8 Share Posted March 16 I would investigate getting a "Day Room" from one of the Airport Hotels. Check in, leave your bags in the room and off you go. Come back and enjoy a nice quiet dinner before heading to the airport. Depending on your airline, you may not be able to check into or flight or check your bags before about 7:30 P.M. Enjoy your time in Seattle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted March 16 #9 Share Posted March 16 1 hour ago, 1025cruise said: I would cancel the transport and find your own thing. Yes, you will be expected to get on the bus and go straight to the airport. And since you have such a late flight, you won't even be able to check in yet. While I personally wouldn't go to the airport that early, you can use the PortValet service in Seattle and your bags will go from the ship to the airport, next time you see them will be when your plane lands. So no issues with check-in or bags while exploring the city. Too bad other ports haven't caught on and offer the same service. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruiser2015 Posted March 16 #10 Share Posted March 16 5 hours ago, soaringfalcon said: We used the transport to the airport, checked our bags with the airline, and then went sightseeing from there Careful with this option - some airlines have a maximum amount of time that you can check bags pre flight. I've had 4 hour limits in the past. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea777 Posted March 16 #11 Share Posted March 16 (edited) 11 hours ago, likesalot said: Hi all! First post. I've been searching for a few days now and can't find an answer to this question. We'll be on the Encore in late June out of Seattle. Our flights were booked through NCL and include transfer. The ship disembarks around 8 am and our flight is at 9:45 pm -- which is fine with me since I want to see a little bit of Seattle. My question is, is NCL expecting us to take a shuttle early in the day with everyone else and sit at the airport all day? If that's the case, I need to cancel and make my own arrangements. Thanks! If it were us, we'd take the NCL transfer (that we'd have paid for) to the SEA airport and go to Baggage Storage to deposit all bags for several hours, and go on LightRail into Seattle and enjoy the day there. Then head back to SEA, pick up luggage and check in for the flight. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Smartecarte Sea-Tac Airport | Sound Transit A few years ago we stayed in a hotel near the SEA airport for a week and twice we travelled on Light Rail into Seattle (first was to Pike's Market and surroundings, and second was to Westlake for the Space Needle and Chihuly) - both times easy peasy and very good. P.S. Welcome to Cruise Critic! Edited March 16 by bluesea777 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted March 16 #12 Share Posted March 16 12 minutes ago, bluesea777 said: If it were us, we'd take the NCL transfer (that we'd have paid for) to the SEA airport and go to Baggage Storage to deposit all bags for several hours, and go on LightRail into Seattle and enjoy the day there. Then head back to SEA, pick up luggage and check in for the flight. Or simply cancel the transfer, use PortValet, enjoy a FULL day in Seattle. Pick up luggage when you get home. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea777 Posted March 16 #13 Share Posted March 16 4 minutes ago, julig22 said: Or simply cancel the transfer, use PortValet, enjoy a FULL day in Seattle. Pick up luggage when you get home. Yes, but it depends on which airline the OP is flying on. Port Valet - Enjoy Seattle Luggage Free! | Port of Seattle (portseattle.org) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
likesalot Posted March 16 Author #14 Share Posted March 16 Wow, you guys are awesome. Thanks for the great info and ideas. This was the key I was looking for from BirdTravels: All ashore is 9:00-9:30. Once the last passengers are off, the shuttles stop. That was a tough internet search. I think the PortValet is the way to go (was going to do that anyway). Really smart of Seattle to do this. Since the flights were booked by NCL I would think the airline (Delta) would qualify. So I'll cancel the transfer and do my own thing. Thanks again, and thanks for the links bluesea777. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
likesalot Posted March 16 Author #15 Share Posted March 16 And I see Delta is on the list of airlines that participate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted March 16 #16 Share Posted March 16 1 hour ago, likesalot said: Wow, you guys are awesome. Thanks for the great info and ideas. This was the key I was looking for from BirdTravels: All ashore is 9:00-9:30. Once the last passengers are off, the shuttles stop. That was a tough internet search. I think the PortValet is the way to go (was going to do that anyway). Really smart of Seattle to do this. Since the flights were booked by NCL I would think the airline (Delta) would qualify. So I'll cancel the transfer and do my own thing. Thanks again, and thanks for the links bluesea777. PortValet is run by the port. The fact that your airfare is booked through NCL has nothing to do with airline participation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
likesalot Posted March 16 Author #17 Share Posted March 16 Gotchya, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea777 Posted March 17 #18 Share Posted March 17 1 hour ago, likesalot said: Gotchya, thanks. I would wait until on board before deciding to cancel the NCL transfer to airport, in case the Port Valet doesn’t apply to NCL flights. If Port Valet will work in your favour, great! Otherwise…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted March 17 #19 Share Posted March 17 9 minutes ago, bluesea777 said: I would wait until on board before deciding to cancel the NCL transfer to airport, in case the Port Valet doesn’t apply to NCL flights. If Port Valet will work in your favour, great! Otherwise…. NCL participates in Port Valet. It's a program run by the port and has nothing to do with who booked the flights. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted March 17 #20 Share Posted March 17 While the port may run the program, the cruiselines do need to participate in it. It requires them to do behind the scenes work. For example, Carnival doesn't participate. I don't know why, but it appears they couldn't agree on some of the behind the scenes stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
likesalot Posted July 7 Author #21 Share Posted July 7 Just following up on this. I enrolled in the Port Valet program before the trip. Flew Delta. Didn't need an account unless I thought this would be a recurring thing in Seattle, so just enrolled as a guest. Enter your flight and cruise info and they take care of everything, for free (it's a smart idea for the city -- gets us out there spending money). The day before, information and our bag tags were delivered to our room. We just put our luggage outside of our room the night before and they were at baggage claim when we arrived at our home airport. You can also check on the status of your bags. Also want to recommend this city tour from Tours Northwest: https://www.toursnorthwest.com/tours/seattle-city-tour/ or https://www.viator.com/tours/Seattle/Premier-3-Hour-Seattle-City-Tour/d704-5396P10 Sad to say I was disappointed with Seattle. Before the cruise we stayed downtown at the Westin and while I'm sure the city was once beautiful, it felt (holding back on the colorful adjective I really want to use...) sketchy and unsafe, unfortunately, especially after dark. The tour was great because we got to see highlights of Seattle with a fun and informative guide (Bryan). Otherwise we would've just wandered around aimlessly downtown. After disembarking went to Pike Place market. Not much to do on a Sunday morning at 8:30... things are just opening and if you're not hungry there isn't much reason to go -- except to say you did -- and snap some photos. Also went to the museum of pop culture, which I can recommend if you're a music fan of a certain age : ) From the pier/pike place area, I would suggest walking to 5th and Pine to Westlake Center Station at 400 Pine Street and take the monorail right to Seattle Center (where the museum, the Space Needle, and the glass museum are). We took a bus there and the monorail back; the bus was much less convenient. Buy your monorail tickets with your phone and skip the kiosk line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julig22 Posted July 7 #22 Share Posted July 7 5 minutes ago, likesalot said: After disembarking went to Pike Place market. Not much to do on a Sunday morning at 8:30... things are just opening and if you're not hungry there isn't much reason to go -- except to say you did -- and snap some photos. Also went to the museum of pop culture, which I can recommend if you're a music fan of a certain age : ) From the pier/pike place area, I would suggest walking to 5th and Pine to Westlake Center Station at 400 Pine Street and take the monorail right to Seattle Center (where the museum, the Space Needle, and the glass museum are). We took a bus there and the monorail back; the bus was much less convenient. Buy your monorail tickets with your phone and skip the kiosk line. If you're going to POP, Space Needle, Aquarium, Chihuly and more, look into getting a C3 or City Pass. They are good for 9 days, so can be used before and after a 7-day cruise from Seattle. Sometimes the passes are available at a discount through Groupon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted July 7 #23 Share Posted July 7 I ended up doing Seattle siteseeing in the morning before heading to the ship. We were up early due to the time difference so decided to just do it. When we got back, we had a rental car, but ended up just staying at the hotel and crashing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumming cruisers Posted July 7 #24 Share Posted July 7 We did this NCL after cruise excursion. Bus picked us up in front of the port. after tour bus dropped us off at airport. We enjoyed it. Seattle, Washington Best of Seattle (Ending at the Airport) Excursion | Norwegian Cruise Line (ncl.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
likesalot Posted July 7 Author #25 Share Posted July 7 Adding that they also checked us in for our flight and our boarding passes were delivered to our room along with the luggage tags. Also forgot to mention that after taking the monorail to Westlake Center, we went downstairs to the light rail station and took the "1 Line" to Angle Lake (which is the stop after Sea-Tac) to the airport. It was $3 each, free for kids 18 and under. Felt safe and was very convenient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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