Last minute ? for recent Star or Golden pax

[amapola]

Leaving tomorrow for SEA (yay!!!!) and boarding the Star on Sunday. I know people have reported various degrees of chaos in the terminal on departure day, but I wanted to get a feeling of the most recent experiences. We're going to Mass at 8 am, so we could check out of the hotel around 10ish. Should we head on to the pier then, wait until later, go really late (after 2 pm maybe?).

 

We've always liked to get to port early and start our vacation NOW :). Any advice? TIA!

[joanne1]

It really depends on if you have been to Seattle before and what you would like to do after Mass . . . if the ship is you destination then head to the ship. We had been to Seattle a couple of times before so we were at the port by about 11. There were porters there that met the cab and took our luggage straight to the ship.

 

We headed to a desk to check in, with absolutely no line-ups. It was quick and easy up to that point . . . the door was closed to go through security and there were probably about 30 people ahead of us. When the door opened, I think it was about 11:15, we went into a huge warehouse type building, where we had to form a line, as security wasn't open yet. This is where it got hot, and I am thankful we were near the beginning of the line.

 

It is a very organized system but this building is not air conditioned, there is no where to sit and if it is hot outside, it will only be worse inside, as it starts to fill up. Once security opened we were on the ship quickly, headed to our rooms, put on our bathing suits and headed to the pool (it was hot that day).

 

It is nice to be one of the first on, but that being said, if you are not there by about 11 ish, I would probably wait until a little later and the huge line has gone through. If you want to see some of Seattle go ahead but be at the terminal by about 2.

 

Have a great trip,

[amapola]

Thanks for such a detailed response, Joanne! I appreciate your time and effort :) .

 

We've been to SEA before and we'll have all day Saturday (and we're staying over after the cruise too), so I think after Mass we'll head back to the hotel, check out at leisure, and be at the pier by 11. Thanks for the heads up about the temperature in the terminal! Coming from PR, we think anything below 80 is cold :rolleyes: so I'd probably be wearing a jacket :eek: if you hadn't warned me about it. Now I know to pack our jackets and just take the carryon with the meds with us.

 

Thanks again!