Getting There
First time we've ever flown west to catch a cruise - flying from Ft Myers (Regional SW Florida airport - RSW) to Seattle to catch NCL Pearl sailing on August 31, 2014. We left RSW on August 30th to ensure there wouldn't be any travel gremlins -- plus we hadn't been to Seattle for a while and wanted to see what our Alaska cruise clients would see pre or post-cruise.
Flew United with an airplane change in Houston (IAH) on-time arrival and on-time departure. Arrival in Seattle Tacoma (SEA) was smooth and all checked baggage arrived as expected. SEA taxis are very "Green" and all that we saw were Toyota Prius hybrids - great for environment; tough to fit cruise luggage into. Our driver was very resourceful and managed to get it all in by putting one bag in the front passenger's seat -- we couldn't have gotten a third person or another bag (three large checked bags and one wheelie carry-on) in if we'd wanted to. $42 plus tip and 20 minutes later we arrived at the Homewood Suites - 206 Western Ave West.
Hotel Accommodations
Great location - Safeway was three blocks away (for last minute pre-cruise purchases) and a large number of restaurants within a 4 block walk.
Pike Place Market was an easy 25 minute walk from the hotel. Homewood was one block from an elevated pedestrian walk that let us get down to the waterfront and a relaxing walk along the Elliot Bay trail.
Check In Tips for NCL
After an easy 20 minute walk we arrived at Pier 66 to check out our Embarkation location. Talking with the folks that worked there, we found out that we could arrive as early as 10:30 to begin our check in. You carry your bags into the building (there are porters to do this if you need them outside the baggage drop off door) and then walk around to the front of the terminal to check yourself in. This turned out to be great intelligence because when we checked in the next morning, there were no lines and we were done with check-in 10 minutes after we arrived. We began boarding at 11:30 and since we were early had nice seats right in front of the embarkation door.
Dining Experiences
We had two meals in Seattle - one at Blue Water Taco Grill (515 Queen Anne Ave N) where we had Steak and Shrimp burritos - large, good, and very filling and dinner at Roberto's in Pike Place Market (1501 Pike Place #200) - brand new Italian restaurant with an appetizer you must not miss - Caprese (heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, olive oil, and balsamic glaze) on a salt block.
First time we've ever flown west to catch a cruise - flying from Ft Myers (Regional SW Florida airport - RSW) to Seattle to catch NCL Pearl sailing on August 31, 2014. We left RSW on August 30th to ensure there wouldn't be any travel gremlins -- plus we hadn't been to Seattle for a while and wanted to see what our Alaska cruise clients would see pre or post-cruise.
Flew United with an airplane change in Houston (IAH) on-time arrival and on-time departure. Arrival in Seattle Tacoma (SEA) was smooth and all checked baggage arrived as expected. SEA taxis are very "Green" and all that we saw were Toyota Prius hybrids - great for environment; tough to fit cruise luggage into. Our driver was very resourceful and managed to get it all in by putting one bag in the front passenger's seat -- we couldn't have gotten a third person or another bag (three large checked bags and one wheelie carry-on) in if we'd wanted to. $42 plus tip and 20 minutes later we arrived at the Homewood Suites - 206 Western Ave West.
Hotel Accommodations
Great location - Safeway was three blocks away (for last minute pre-cruise purchases) and a large number of restaurants within a 4 block walk.
Pike Place Market was an easy 25 minute walk from the hotel. Homewood was one block from an elevated pedestrian walk that let us get down to the waterfront and a relaxing walk along the Elliot Bay trail.
Check In Tips for NCL
After an easy 20 minute walk we arrived at Pier 66 to check out our Embarkation location. Talking with the folks that worked there, we found out that we could arrive as early as 10:30 to begin our check in. You carry your bags into the building (there are porters to do this if you need them outside the baggage drop off door) and then walk around to the front of the terminal to check yourself in. This turned out to be great intelligence because when we checked in the next morning, there were no lines and we were done with check-in 10 minutes after we arrived. We began boarding at 11:30 and since we were early had nice seats right in front of the embarkation door.
Dining Experiences
We had two meals in Seattle - one at Blue Water Taco Grill (515 Queen Anne Ave N) where we had Steak and Shrimp burritos - large, good, and very filling and dinner at Roberto's in Pike Place Market (1501 Pike Place #200) - brand new Italian restaurant with an appetizer you must not miss - Caprese (heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil, olive oil, and balsamic glaze) on a salt block.
Overall, there isn't a single thing we would change on this portion of our trip - Arrive a day early with enough time to check out where you are getting on the ship, have a great meal, and get your taxi or shuttle scheduled for embarkation the next day.
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