For those flying in to Seattle, do you stay the night before at a hotel or do you do go straight from the airport to the docks?

It depends on when you fly in. There are plenty of hotels near the docks. But you could also go directly from the airport if you fly in early enough. Shouldn't take more than around 20 minutes.

We came in one day early but it depends on the flight times. For us the flights from ORD got it about 5 hrs. prior to embarkation which it plenty of time. However thats not much in terms of delays that may occur so we came in a day early. There are many economic hotels close to the airport and most have free shuttle sx. to the ships too.

TennesseVol, Jacketwatch
Thank you for your responses
Can you recommend a hotel that offers a shuttle and is in an interesting immediate area to explore the day before the cruise?

Hmmm. Not sure about that. We stayed at the Best Westren Loyal Inn pre cruise and the area immediately surrounding was OK but not too interesting. I was up early on the day of departure, a Sunday and walked about 1 block to a coffee shop. Along the way I saw a place offering peep shows and such open, along with "interesting" displays in the window. Bear in mind this was about 0700 on a Sunday. Yikes! For interest w/i walking distance you're talking downtown and we did stay 3 days post cruise a hotel there. I forgot the name but its a Kimpton property and its a boutique style hotel. Its very nice but much pricier of course. Good luck. Larry

Now I remember. Its called the Vintage Park as in wine. Each room had a winery themed decor.

Larry,
Peep show? Great because I have to bring my trenchcoat anyways! lol Thanks for the tip on Vintage Park it looks ideal.
Frank

Great. I'm sure you will like it. Have a nice cruise. Larry

I can't really recommend a hotel since I've never stayed in one there (I used to live there). But most of the hotels in the downtown area would be in safe areas. If you stay downtown, then there are plenty of things to see. On one end of downtown is Pioneer Square. The other end would be closer to the docks but also be close to some can't-miss attractions. If the weather's nice, then go up in the Space Needle (if not, it still has a nice gift shop). But if you don't have much time, to me the essential place to go is Pike Place.

I definitely stay a night at Seattle cause you don't know if your flight will be on schedule/delayed. Then you might miss the ship. Some cruiselines/hotels offers shuttle transportation to ports depending on which ones. I always wanted to go see the Space Needle in Seattle. Have fun. Alaska is wonderful.

We're crusing to Alaska in August and will absolutely fly in to Seattle a day early. We're staying at the Grand Hyatt...walking distance to the Pike Market and the monorail to the Space Needle...and lots of good restaurants. We'll take a taxi to the Pier the next day. Don't want to miss the ship!!! Leaving a day after the ship comes back, as well.

We have been to Seattle 3 times for a cruise. If your looking for transportation, we used Four Points the last 2 times. The first year the company we used kept us waiting 40 mins each time except from the Crown Plaza to the pier as Four Points has a contract with them. After waiting for 40 mins when we came off the ship we seen the driver who brought us from the Crown. He checked on us and we said we been waiting for 40 mins. He said get in I got you guys. These guys never messed anything up with us and we had 26 people with us last year. I can't ever remember there phone number but a Google search for Four Points Seattle finds them every time. Hope this helps

Sorry forgot to add this, but transportation provided from the cruise lines in $26 a person one way. These guys were half that price per person to the airport.

jharp,
Thank you for the response, but we already went in 2010 but I hope your advice might help someone looking for this season. We ended up flying the morning of the cruise, taking the metro to Downtown, buying flowers for the room at the central market then taking a short cab ride($15ish w/tip) to the docks

I will say, We really did LOVE our cruise and cant wait to go again