seattle short city tour
 

We arrive at port (Seattle) at 7am and fly out from Seattle airport at 1.30pm on Alaskan Airlines for Los Angeles, then on to Honolulu, do we have time to see anything of Seattle. Please help.

You would have time for breakfast at Pike Place Market.

We have a new art museum, new library, historic Pioneer Square neighborhood, Space Needle, bustling shopping district, and much more.

What are your interests?

To see anything would be great. Can we book in at the airport and then visit downtown? Is this an option? Or will we have to keep our bags with us? Your views would be appreciated we are 2 Australian couples

Your ship arrives at 7 but that does not mean you'll disembark that early - 9 or 9:30 would be more likely I'd wager.

The Port of Seattle has "Seattle Cruise Concierge" facilities at both the Pier 66 and Pier 30 cruise terminals (which ship are you on?) where you can leave bags for $3 each for part of the day, during which you can explore the city. If you're arriving at Pier 66 (mainly Norwegian Cruise Line) you can easily walk up to the Pike Market from the terminal, have a meal and a wander, then go back down to the terminal, collect your bags, and head off to the airport (20 min. by taxi - around $30) in time to check in.

If you're arriving at Pier 30 (Holland America, Princess) they also have a concierge, but you'd need to take a taxi to the Market instead of walking. Probably 10 min. and $15 each way.

Lines for the Alaska Airlines check-in on cruise days are very long, so don't shortchange yourselves in arriving plenty early for your flight. I'd try to be at the airport by 11:30 at the latest.

Thank you for your replies yes we are with Holland America. What sort of market is there? We have airport transfers included but we don't have to use them.
Can we go to the airport and leave our bags there or possibly book our bags in early if that is allowed. Is the airport close to the space needle, would it take long to get or other points of interest there? Or maybe a city tour?
Thank you for your help I really appreciate it

Pike Place Market is celebrating it's 100th year. Here is a url on it. Click on the link at the bottom, "Experience the market." It is probably the biggest tourist attraction in Seattle and for good reason. It overlooks the water, has flying fish, flowers, local crafts, fresh vegies, and more. It's a lot of fun.

The cruise terminal is much closer to downtown and the airport and they are in opposite directions. It would be quite time consuming to go to the airport to drop your luggage and then return to town. Not recommended.

The ship lets the people out who need to be somewhere first. So, if you want to see Seattle, you will want the ship to know you need to get off early. I'm not sure how that will work with the airport transfers. You may want to check that out on the ship.

We live in the Seattle area and when we went on the Alaska cruise (on NCL), we were in one of the last groups to disembark. If I recall it was 3 or 4 hours. That was fine with us, as we weren't in a particular hurry, but it would be very frustrating if you wanted to see the city.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Oops! Sorry, we were on Holland America, also, on the New Amsterdam. Getting my cruises mixed up!

If you aren't off the ship until 9:30 and need to leave for SeaTac at 11:00 (1/2 hr drive to airport + 2 hrs before flight for check-in), you really don't have much time.

suze's right--you don't have much time.

I could suggest a good walking route for exploring the waterfront, market, and downtown, but I assume you won't want to walk around town with your luggage.

I wonder if you could hire a private car for those few hours, who would pick you up at the port, put your luggage in the "boot", and then whisk you away for a short city tour before depositing you at the airport in plenty of time.

You might explain your situation and wishes to those on the cruise, and figure out what you have to do in order to be one of the first groups processed when the ship arrives.

Pretending it was 8:30 when you got into the private car (with hired driver, I mean)... you could indeed have a Seattle-like breakfast at the Pike Place Market (Lowells, Sound View Cafe, etc.). Then perhaps at about 10am, you could visit the Space Needle (which charges a damn lot of money for a visit - $16 each, for adults) for perhaps ONE HOUR.

I say all of this mostly because you are from so FAR AWAY... (I would never suggest this from someone who lived in Vancouver or Portland, Oregon).

In five years, when you hear something of "Seattle" on the television, they will show pictures of the "Space Needle"... and that is why you might want to have visited there.

So, in brief summary:

Hire a car and driver to meet you at the port.

Have breakfast at Pike Place Market (and the faster you eat, the more you can walk around the area)

The driver will be conveniently positioned nearby to transport you to the Space Needle. (hopefully you're there at perhaps 10:00am)

Go up onto the "observation deck" and just enjoy the views of Seattle and the surrounding mountains and waters.

At about 11:00am you would rendezvous with your driver near the foot of the Space Needle and from there he would drive you roughly 30 minutes to Sea Tac Airport.

Thankfully you would NOT need to go through customs for a domestic flight from Seattle to Los Angeles, so you really would be there in plenty of time.

I know the "cost per minute" of this self-indulgence would be considerable, but TIME is your greatest concern here and not money.

This is what I would suggest for far-away friends who might be coming through here for as many hours.

At the end of it you'll probably find yourself killing time for 45 minutes or an hour AFTER getting squared away at the airport, so it should be comfortable time-wise.

Hope this makes you think...

Here's a link to Shuttle Express:

http://tinyurl.com/3bxrjm

Their ads say that they can fill any transportation need...they have vans, limos, town cars, etc. I'm sure that they will be able to help you.